DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum TE help on the way.

Well, we had no choice here.

It seems like he may be an upgrade from having Fraley line up outside the tackle. lol

http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/article.php?id=10021

This is one of those moves that results from situations not being thought out correctly.
We had Rucker..and even if he wasn't a prolific blocker..dude was never given a chance to show his recieving skills..

Can this one catch? All help is welcome. Just catch, baby!

Not that I'm owed any, but I've not yet received any reasonable explaination for dumping Rucker..

we didn't see much of him, but in College, he was a pass catching machine. Seems to me, that would be better than Royal... JMO however

Well Philly picked him up right after we cut him and I don't think he's seen the field with them yet.

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We had Rucker..and even if he wasn't a prolific blocker..dude was never given a chance to show his recieving skills..

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Maybe not in games, but I'm sure he was given opportunities at practice.

If Rucker is still on Phillys practice squad, the Browns can still have him if they wanted to.

Ah, who knows? I think the bottom line is that they just didn't want a pass-only TE.

That is what I sense...Yet they signed a blocking only TE in Royal..so I see some guys defending the coaches in one sense(which is what usually happens in here) but then another example exposes the mistakes they make.
Royal can't catch worth a lick and yet he starts..he wasn't that good in Buffalo.

It's true. What I don't understand is that they go out and get a TE that can only block, but then they throw to the guy all the time.

So do you want a pass cartcher or a blocker? Cause you rarely find a guy who excels in both.

I have zero faith in this organization from top to bottom .

Royal ; yea there was the answer at TE ??

You can find some who do both..but you will find them in the draft...not FA..

In this instance we had a TE who stretched the field and was a complete mismatch on LB's/safeties..Phil saw he was going to have issues with K2 and drafted his replacement..almost a clone..not as talented but still a recieving threat..
So I didn't have a problem with that because the TE was supposed to be a big part of the offense..I didn't complain about K2's blocking that much..

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he's on their practice squad still.

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Ahh, so it might be that he's just not ready to play in the Pros yet? Anyway, I guess I'd have liked to see them try him out more.. but like so many things, we don't know all the details that may have caused them to drop him... Just another wasted pick

Oy... another stone-handed blocking TE. Just what we needed.

I wish Heiden was healthier. He's the best we got at TE right now, but I don't think he's back enough yet to be an every down guy. Royal is terrible.

this guy was sitting at home eating chips and waiting for a phone call.
True, he has starting experience,but is he in any kind of football shape? gotta wonder 6 weeks into the season

This is October 21 ..... he was released by the Bears on October 17 .......

I could do some chips in that time. Why did the Teddies dop him?

(This is pure speculation but) my guess is when they got their new QB, they planned to have the TE as a big part of the offense. "Hands of Stone" Royal just doesn't cut it when it comes to pass-catching! JMHO Go Brownies!!!

They signed two TE's ... those Packers are not gonna know what hit 'em ... they didn't game-plan for the likes of Michael Gaines and Colin Cloherty!


Browns sign 2 tight ends

BEREA, Ohio (AP)—The Cleveland Browns have signed free agent tight end Michael Gaines(notes).

Gaines has spent parts of seasons with Carolina, Buffalo, Detroit and Chicago. He was released by the Bears on Oct. 17 after playing in one game. He has played 74 games—41 starts—and caught 79 passes for 819 yards and five touchdowns during his NFL career.


The Browns are thin at tight end. Steve Heiden(notes), who had offseason reconstructive surgery, missed last week’s game in Pittsburgh and tight end Robert Royal(notes) left the game with an unspecified leg injury. Royal was one of 12 players who stayed home Wednesday with the flu.

With Heiden and Royal out, the Browns lined up guard Hank Fraley(notes) as a tight end in their loss to the Steelers.

The Browns also signed tight end Colin Cloherty(notes) to the practice squad. Signed as an undrafted free agent by Indianapolis in April, Cloherty was released by the Colts on Sept. 29.

Cloherty replaces offensive lineman Phil Trautwein(notes), who was signed to St. Louis’ 53-man roster.

McCoy would be a nice 2-3 round pickup. Big dude, with size and hands. A nice target for QBs and he tries to make plays down field.

Is he a Junior or Senior? Even as a Junior I think he comes out to the NFL.

If Royal was a one year fix, Why did they sign him to a four year deal?


Robert Royal Tight End 3/4/2009: Signed a four-year, $10 million contract. The deal includes $3 million guaranteed. 2009-2012: Under Contract, 2013: Free Agent

All contracts in the NFL are really one year deals. The teams hold all the cards.

j/c I would guess that if the front office thought that there was anything to Rucker....they would just go out and sign him off their practice squad. Since that didn't happen...then there probably more to the story.

He's a senior.

And with the way he's been playing I think he's a first rounder.

I'd rather have him at LB but if we're not going to use him...

put Alex Hall at TE. He played it in college before switching to DE during his junior (senior?) year. He probably knows the offense better than either of these guys and he's certainly more athletic.

Rucker??? Got news for you Attack...you want Rucker in on Passing downs? I'd rather have Robo in and move him around like you would have with Rucker.

So we picked up a Blocking TE...thats all thats available out there and we got two TEs down for how long???

The kids I'm really curious about as in PASS CATCHING is the Estonia kid.

He's 6'8" I'd love to see him on goal line and in the slot and get the 5'11" Nickel CB on him and let him establish inside and just toss it up high. So we got two TEs Gaines for our run game and Estonia possibly for the passing game. If the kid can't catch then I'm putting Robo in the Pass Catching TE match ups.

JMHO

if you know something I don't , then enlighten me.

let's just hope he's not the estonia-hands kid.

"So we picked up a Blocking TE...thats all thats available out there and we got two TEs down for how long??"

"if you know something I don't , then enlighten me."

???? not sure exactly what you're talking about...but we just picked up a blocking TE Gaines last with the Bears. Thought this thread was about that

I was referring to your remark about Rucker...U said it as if he sucks at catching..Royal blows at catching..was never good at it..

I'm saying a big WR like Robo - I'd rather have in there then Rucker.

Just what did Rucker do to impress me that we miss him. Royal not having good hands doesn't make RUCKER any better.

He's with Denver and with who I think is the Best Offensive mind out there...we'll see what he does there. But their O is clicking a little better than this one. Possibly he couldn't grasp what we were doing here. Possibly in Denver everything is clicking.

As for what I said about Rucker - I don't know if he Sucks at Catching or not. He didn't CATCH on too well here with the system - I didn't see anything Special...nor anything real bad. I would have liked him here a little longer to develop. But Royal has played well in the Running Game. He has understood his routes and ran them well. He has had a couple significant DROPS - I'd like to think that we will get a youth here to take his place soon. He also has caught one of our FEW TD passes and the only one with some Yardage involved.

JMHO

I thought Rucker went to Philly.

At any rate, what the hell good is a TE who runs great routes if he can't catch the ball?

That's like saying "this guy is the best doctor around except all of his patients die."

I wonder if there is any decent TEs in the UFL that is staying in shape that the Browns could pick up around Thanksgiving. Just a one year deal to finish out the season. One more injury to a TE and thats a very possible solution.

Im very suprised that they didnt sign Rucker off of Phillys PS since he already knows the offense and can step in right away. Its also possible that they tried to contact Rucker and he told them no. Im sure a PS player has the right to refuse a teams offer he is was contacted. Some could say, why would he do that? Well, maybe he felt dissed by the Browns and he sees a better oppurtunity in Philly to work his way onto the 53 man roster instead of coming back to Cleveland for the rest of the year and go into the offseason without a contract. In Philly, he at least knows hes wanted and he could stick it out with them knowing his time is an injury away. he also might have just settled into the area knowing he is in the plans down the road.

The TE picked up from Chicago is the same thing Bellicheck use to do all the time. He was always picking up players for a week or two when he had an opponent coming up, the team the player use to play for, and try to get some pointers. I wouldnt doubt, unless he really impresses and makes the best of the oppurtunity, if he gets cut soon after the Chicage game. That would also give Heidon and Royal a couple more weeks to get healthy.

Stucky wasnt given much time to learn the new offense when he was put in and it shows. He has made little to know impact. I can think of 3 drops off the top of my head and no catches. I dont see these no TEs making an impact. It was nice to see that they found a way to get fraley into the game. It would really catch the opposing defense off guard if Fraley slipped out and caught a TE screen. Unless Anderon thrown a 100 mph bullet to Fraley whose standing 5 yards away from him. It would be worth a try and it would show the players that the coaches are trying anything new to win a game. It would also make the defense have to keep an eye on Fraly to make sure he doesnt go out for an easy catch. With Anderson throwing there is no such thing as an easy catch. With Fraley staying on the line every play, it allows the defense to drop back and have 5 defenders cover the 2 or 3 targets going out for a pass. Like the USC vs Notre Dame game. USC rushed 3-4 defenders and had 7-8 defenders covering 3 WRs. They could double team every target.

I thought Rucker went to Philly.

DOH! What an Ass...lol

I went to NFL.com and looked up players and under R got Rucker and saw at first glance "DEV" in the first column and thought Denver...then clicked his name cause I wanted to see if he had any stats. and it had Denver as one of his opponents and again the first thing I saw was Denver...lol

and his 2 catches were 08

Just too many meds dawgs...what can I saw...lol

thanks for the correction.