DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Weeden says playoffs possible

Yeah and, as a result, I think he won't play timidly. Now, because he's a rook and has to make the same adjustments every new QB in this league has to make, I think we have to be prepared for some pretty ugly play early on. However, if Weeden ends up "getting it" down the road, his confidence and aggressiveness will be a real asset (and a whole lot of fun to watch).

We'll see...

Cleveland Browns coach Pat Shurmur hints he could name Brandon Weeden the starter by beginning of training camp | cleveland.com
http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2012/06/cleveland_browns_coach_pat_shu_20.html

BEREA, Ohio -- Browns coach Pat Shurmur hinted today that he could name rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden his starter by the start of training camp in late July.

He said he'd like to name the starters "sooner rather than late.''

He said the competition is playing out here much like it did in St. Louis in 2010, when they named No. 1 overall pick Sam Bradford the starter at the beginning of training camp.

"He had a pretty good year for us,'' said Shurmu, who was the Rams offensive coordinator at the time..

Bradford, who beat out veteran A.J. Feeley in the offseason practices and minicamps, led the Rams to a 7-9 mark in 2010 and almost a playoff berth.

Weeden has been the first quarterback getting the first-team with the starters in minicamp and last week's OTAs. The first week, Colt McCoy took the initial first-team reps.

Shurmur said Weeden is getting good work in with all of the receivers so that he'll have good chemistry with the starters in the event he's named the No. 1.

"He's quickly getting a feel for his receivers,'' said Shurmur.

McCoy has been mostly going second in reps and Seneca Wallace third. Thad Lewis has been fourth.

Good, let's get this show on the road and stop pretending.

i agree, Grossi is re-writing history to paint a rosy picture on Weeden being the "best" guy.

though it seems strange to have Grossi painting the rosy picture

ESPN on Weeden. (even though they hate us .....)

Weeden has the look of a franchise QB - AFC North Blog - ESPN
http://espn.go.com/blog/afcnorth/post/_/id/49180/weeden-has-the-look-of-a-franchise-qb

BEREA, Ohio -- No one can say whether Brandon Weeden is going to lead the Cleveland Browns from the ranks of the worst teams in the NFL. No one, and this includes Mike Holmgren as well as Pat Shurmur, can declare that Weeden is going to stop the Browns' quarterback carousel that has spanned 16 starters since the city's return to the NFL in 1999.

But, after 40 days and 10 practices with the Browns, there is one assessment of Weeden that everyone can agree upon: The rookie first-round pick has the look of a franchise quarterback.

It only takes one practice to see how Weeden has the size and the arm to live up to that billing. The building excitement with Weeden comes from the fact that his potential extends beyond physical gifts.

He has the comfort level to tell quarterbacks coach Mark Whipple about a couple of red-zone plays he "wasn't a big fan of." He has the courage to throw a deep touchdown pass to Travis Benjamin after nearly getting picked off. He has the confidence to tell reporters about his goal of winning a Super Bowl even before taking a snap in a regular-season game.

While it's way too early to predict Weeden winning championships, he has brought hope to a franchise that has recorded 10 double-digit loss seasons and no playoff victories over the past 13 years. Everyone else in the AFC North went to the postseason last season, and everyone in the division has a franchise quarterback. The only way the Browns can get out of last place is to find one of their own. That's why Weeden is the crucial piece of the Holmgren era in Cleveland.

Browns officials haven't named Weeden the starter because they want him to earn the job. Technically, he's battling Colt McCoy and Seneca Wallace. Unofficially, the Browns' mandatory minicamp this week has served more as a coronation than a competition.

Weeden took the first snaps with the starting offense throughout Tuesday's practice. He was the quarterback standing at the podium addressing reporters after the workout. He looks like "the guy" in Cleveland, even though Weeden himself refuses to acknowledge it.

"Not yet, just because nothing is formal," Weeden said. "We're still two months out until we play our first preseason game. I'm still working my tail off just to get better and keep learning. I'm getting more comfortable with what we are doing, but I still have a long ways to go."

The most overused term with Weeden is that he's mature. This has become a polite way to say Weeden is old. He'll turn 29 during the season, which makes him the Betty White of rookie quarterbacks.

The better description for Weeden is he's grounded. He hasn't been coddled like many first-round quarterbacks. He has tasted failure as a minor-league pitcher (he went 19-26 after being drafted in the same round as Joey Votto) and only became a winning quarterback at Oklahoma State after making the climb from a third-stringer.

Weeden understands what it takes to rebound from struggles, which will serve him well this year. All rookie quarterbacks make mistakes. The successful ones don't crumble from them.

Weeden's resiliency came through Tuesday when a miscommunication with Josh Cribbs led to an interception. He came right back to hit Mohamed Massaquoi on a deep cross pattern.

"I won't make that same mistake again and if I do, shame on me," he said "I think you guys will find I'm pretty even-keeled, but I think my track record shows -- I put that one behind me. They always say, 'Wash your hands and move on.' That's kind of the approach I take, and that comes from baseball. I gave up a lot of home runs in baseball and they're very similar. So you've just got to toe the rubber, you've got to take snaps and move on and make the next play."

Shurmur was reluctant to give any glowing remarks about Weeden on Tuesday. It was kind of a game to watch him turn questions specifically about Weeden into answers that addressed the entire quarterback group.

He was even hesitant to put a timetable on naming the starting quarterback. "I think it's important to do it as quickly as possible," Shurmur said. "But yet, it needs to happen at a pace where the guys here have a chance to compete."

If Weeden's progression since his first practice on May 11 is any indication, he'll be ready to start against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sept. 9.

"I'm leap years farther along right now than I was obviously Day 1, Day 2," Weeden said. "I think even from rookie minicamp, where I'm at right now is that I look like two totally different quarterbacks -- in my footwork, and you can tell I'm processing stuff a little bit faster and I'm not thinking quite as much."

Weeden added, "When you stop thinking so much and you just react and go through your reads one, two, three to your back, that's when you start moving the ball down the field and start getting completions and first downs."

Moving the ball down the field in short chunks isn't Weeden's forte. What stood out about him in Tuesday's practice was the amount of deep shots he took.

"Sometimes in this West Coast offense it can get labeled as an underneath route, catch-and-run route [scheme]," Weeden said, "but any time you can really step into one and let it rip, that's fun."

Weeden is entering the NFL at a time when expectations for rookie quarterbacks are at an all-time high.

Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco led their teams to the playoffs in their first seasons in 2008. Mark Sanchez helped the Jets to the AFC championship as a rookie in 2009. And Cam Newton threw for over 4,000 yards and Andy Dalton went to the Pro Bowl last year.

This doesn't faze a quarterback like Weeden, who has already said he wants to win a Super Bowl before he's done playing.

"We put the pressure on ourselves to win games," Weeden said. "We want to get to the playoffs. We want to take our team as far as we can. That's the way good quarterbacks should think."

That's exactly the way franchise quarterbacks should talk.

Do I enjoy when The Browns lose?

No of course not..

Would I rather lose because our QB tried to win the game and threw an interception, as opposed to managing it?

Yes.

However, I never got the Bret Favre love. He won 1 SB, great, but he LOST alot more games than he won being the gunslinger, it's all about balance. Picking your spots. Not breaking WRs arms...

I enjoy hearing the talks of Super Bowl.. and right now is his opportunity to do that because he hasn't taken any snaps in the league yet. It'll be harder to say those things if the losses start adding up.

Cribbs did the same thing a few years back.. He was very adamant about getting wins for the fans, and then after a while it just got old..

Hopefully we can get some wins this year.

yeah, total crap. Weeden is only 1.625" taller than Griffin, btw.

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Secondly, we didn't draft TRich to play decoy. We will be running the ball a lot to take the pressure off of Weeden and asking him not to do too much.

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That's true, and Richardson can also catch passes..

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Thirdly I'd say Weeden won't be passing over 20 times a game at first. As his skills grow, so will his attempts.

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That will depend on the score... if we can keep games close (or God forbid get a lead) you are certainly correct. I don't see us grinding it out in the 4th if we are down 2 scores... play to win the game.

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Fourthly it seems you wish to put the blame of Oklahomas system and playcalling on Weeden. He just played in the system and ran the plays the coaching staff at Oklahoma ran.

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And he did it rather successfully.

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Fifthy,

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Fifthy?

Hey man! I'm getting old and don't edit as much or as well as I used to.

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Firstly, he didn't pick the offense Oklahoma ran nor did he call the plays.

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Irrelevant, since it's Weeden himself who says it's his mentality to take shots down the field. I neither referenced his offense in college nor the plays called. It's his words, not mine.

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I'll take the under. Secondly, we didn't draft TRich to play decoy. We will be running the ball a lot to take the pressure off of Weeden and asking him not to do too much.

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That always sounds good to bad teams...until the bullets start flying.

I'm certain we didn't intend on having McCoy do "too much" but the chipmunk always ended up throwing the ball.

Weeden will as well.

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Thirdly I'd say Weeden won't be passing over 20 times a game at first. As his skills grow, so will his attempts.

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Care to make a wager on that?

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Fourthly it seems you wish to put the blame of Oklahomas system and playcalling on Weeden. He just played in the system and ran the plays the coaching staff at Oklahoma ran.

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Your fourthly and firstly are the same, and so you coulda saved yourself the fifthly

Well I thought it might take two attempts for that part to sink in.

No, Weeden "prefers" plays to be called that gives him the option to go downfield. Somehow, from what I read from you, it seems you think he will just go downfield regardless of the play call or which WR is really open. He will pick the open WR and not force the ball down field.

And if you think we went to the lengths we did in order not to make TRich the work horse, we simply disagree. I look for him to tote the rock about 30 or more times a game at first anyway.

Now on the flip side, I do believe you will see Weeden go downfield more often than colt did, I think Colt only threw for over 40 yards 4 or 5 times last year. But I feel we both know why.



You'll never stop the "8 men in the box" if you can't throw and complete passes down field.

But if you think we'll throw early and often at the beginning of the season. I feel you're sadly mistaken. So yeah, you can PM me and if we can agree on an over/under average number of pass attempts during the "first four games", I'd be happy to work something out with you.

This was the highest Weeden-related thread. So here . . .

Browns QB Brandon Weeden vows to sign rookie contract before training camp

By Nate Ulrich Published: June 11, 2012

Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden reiterated this afternoon that he will sign his rookie contract before training camp starts in late July.

Weeden, the 22nd overall pick, and running back Trent Richardson, the third overall pick, are the only members of the Browns’ 2012 draft class who have yet to sign their rookie deals. Of course, they’re also the team’s only first-round selections this year.

“I’m ready to sign it,” Weeden told the Beacon Journal today during the 13th annual Cleveland Browns Foundation Golf Tournament at Firestone Country Club. “I’m not gonna miss any time. I’m gonna sign before [training] camp. It’s just nitpick stuff, but we’ll get it done. I’ll get it done.”

Richardson also believes his deal is close to being finalized.

“As far as the business side, I think it’s pretty much wrapped up,” Richardson told 92.3 The Fan today during the golf outing. “I think everything is pretty much done. There’s just some language in there that they have to get done. But as far as business-wise, it’s pretty much done.”

The new collective bargaining agreement has streamlined the process of drafted rookies signing with their teams. Still, Browns defensive tackle Phil Taylor, the 21st overall pick in 2011, missed the first four practices of training camp last year because his contract was not done.

Weeden has made it clear for some time now that he does not intend to follow suit.

“I’d have signed two weeks ago if I could have,” Weeden told reporters on May 22. “I’m not going to hold out. We just want what’s fair for me. My agent’s doing that. I haven’t even talked to (the Browns) about it. Whenever the day comes, I’ll sign the paper and go on about it.”

Good to hear though I never expected this to be a problem.

Everything is pretty straight forward now. The only real snag that can happen is when you have a cluster of players before and after your guy who are unsigned. I can see that being a problem as everybody is looking to see if the model holds true. You don't want to sign, then have guys behind you signing for more.


Here it sounds like the numbers are settled. They will both be in camp.

Standard rhetoric that you would expect to hear in this situation.

Smart move to get the contract out of the way and concentrate on football. Also a smart PR move to appear at the Browns podium wearing a Cleveland Indians' tee-shirt. Cleveland fans eat that stuff up.

i know i thought it was awesome. especially him having played in the yankees' org.

BTW, is it just me or does he look like he's really 36? I hope we're not going to find out he's really an albino Dominican named Carlos Hector Almonte and lied on his birth certificate to get drafted high.

Anyone want to bet that Weeden and Richardson miraculously sign on the same day?

The Browns really seen to be going out of their way to make sure these 2 guys are seen as a team within the team.