DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Your 2013 Cleveland Browns FINAL 53

I thought we released Bogotay? I just heard that we placed him on IR. Weird.

Yes this afternoon

Yes, his contract was terminated.

If you notice the players we picked up, they were cut from the very best teams in the league ... interesting

OK, I have to admit, I don't get the LJ Fort cut.. I thought that kid played pretty well..

But hey, if they feel they got someone else that's an upgrade, I won't complain. I'm pretty sure he'll end up getting an offer elsewhere.

Dennis Johnson runs like a wrecking ball:
http://www.youtube.com/v/pijo3OaOYaY

Bobby Rainey...small back with good hands, good moves, but lacks break-away speed:
http://www.youtube.com/v/2vLGWMhSshA

I really like Rainey. I think he will take Lewis' place. Change of pace and third down back. The guy has great moves, very good hands, is fast enough, and stronger than you would think.

Not sure about the other moves, but I really like this one.

mac, the problem is that you NEVER post objectively. You have not said ONE good thing about the FO. You act like EVERYTHING they do is bad. Hard to take you seriously.

And yeah mac............we probably won't have a kicker during the regular season. We'll just go for it all the time.

I can't get the Johnson vid to play. Darn.....would love to see it.

I was familiar w/Rainey, but not Johnson.

Yeah, this Rainey played for Western Kentucky.

He had some big games and was on ESPN Game Day a couple of times for his performances.

Questions for anyone familiar with him: does he have the ability to break big plays? And how is he catching the ball out of the backfield?

Watch the You Tube video. Excellent hands. Breaks lots of big plays. Great moves.

I said a few days ago that i would probably keep the top 40 to 42 guys and cut the rest and start over. I never dreamed our FO had the nads to do just that lol. The top 40 of our roster was pretty damn solid but that bottom was reaking of arena league.

I truly applaud Lombardi for the moves he made this week. I cant stand the guy but he brought in guys with a lot of upside. Rainey was a huge pickup and a kid that I see as a true #2 back now.

Gray I have also heard as a Josh Cribbs type with a TE body. This signing has Chud's hand prints all over it.

The big TE from Louisiana Monroe is needed cause our TE's sucked at blocking this entire preseason.

Anyway if you know guys just dont have it, why keep them? The Lewis kid played center better than all of our backups so why not bring him in?

LJ Fort sucked in preseason. I thought he played with no instincts and was majorly outplayed by Tank. Fort was ok in zone coverage but man he killed us on run plays.

Still waiting for the kickalicious announcement lol.

If you take a look at a number of the guys we picked up, a number of them are from squads where they're already pretty deep at that position, or the guy they have starting is not in question.

RB Bobby Rainey (from Baltimore) Ray Rice, Benard Pierce
RB Dennis Johnson (from Houston) Arian Foster, Ben Tate
LB Brandon Magee (from Dallas)
OL Patrick Lewis (from Green Bay)
TE MarQueis Gray (from San Francisco) Vernon Davis,
TE Keavon Milton (from New Orleans) Jimmy Graham...

Good one!

Hopefully at RB we sign someone like Willis Mcgahee, who if I remember correctly has seemed to help out the teams that he went to pretty good. At kicker I'd be satisfied with Dan Carpenter or obviously Crosby, or this shouldn't be an issue and we should have good ol' #4 at that position.....

Actually I didn't take the time to read the whole thread before I posted before. I just watched the videos of the two runningbacks and I love the combination of power and speed that we just got in those guys. It is nice that our front office actually has the guts to go out and do stuff unlike when we were stuck in the holmgren era.

Rainey reminds me of Danny Woodhead.

Wow .... I don't see this as a Heckert leftover at all.

QB: We added Campbell and Hoyer
RB: We added the 2 new guys today, plus traded for Lewis, who, unfortunately, was hurt.
TE: All new except for Cameron
WR: We added Bess, who I expect to be a huge addition.
OL: Not a lot added, but not a lot needed.Mostly added backup types
FB: Moved Obi and dumped Marecic

DL: Added a pair of Bryants
LB: Added Kruger, Mingo, Groves, and a bunch of young guys
DB: added Owens, Aubrey, and McFadden

We also added a new P and will add someone at PK.

We probably turned over fully 1/3 of the roster, or more. They did not make the huge mistake that many new front offices/coaching staffs make when they come in and dump everyone. This staff seems content to play out this year and see what they ahve in this syste. Step one was to see how the holdovers and new players they brought in do in the preseason. Now they've identified those players who don't fit, and have brought in replacements. I suspect that they will churn the bottom of the roster all season long looking for pieces that fit. This isn't a big deal to me.

I didn't want that to come in and start from scratch. In many ways, that was my biggest concern. They seems to be taking a careful approach, one not artificially accelerated by the fear that they'll be one and done like happened under the previous owner. They know that they will get the time to build the team, so they can take this year to evaluate players they had that showed promise.

The RB situation was Richardson being carefully managed so as to avoid injury, while, unfortunately, almost every other RB we had got injured. We still have Trent and Obi, one very good RB and one solid RB/FB ..... and the only other guy of those presumed to be on the roster who survived was Jackson, and he wasn't impressive in the preseason. I have no problem with the Browns dumping him for other guys. RB is a position where guys can come in and contribute right away. Outside of pass protection, the routes and plays, and such, are fairly simply for a RB. If the front office feels that the 2 guys we picked up are better than Jackson, then I have no problem with them bringing the new guys in.

I would have liked the Browns to have been more aggressive in free agency at CB .... but they did go hard after Grimes, only to lose out to the Dolphins. I don't know how the other guys we could have got will do, and I don't know how our guys will do with a real pass rush. I do think that they'll do better when the opposing QB can't hang in the pocket all day long. How much better I don't know. I am cautiously hopeful so I don't pull my hair out. lol Hopefully Skrine will develop more this year. Stranger things have happened. Hopefully we get a good thing happen for us this time.

The TE position was another one that confused me ..... but it's obvious that the staff felt that Cameron would be the starter, and would be a quality starter. They also felt that Barnidge would be better in a new environment, and he did look good when he played. I also wish that we would have brought in a high end guy ..... but no team fills every hole. We'll see how their plan works, or doesn't.

Again, some of their moves I agreed with, and some concern me. I am actually glad that we didn't panic at S, because I like the young players we have there. Moreover, I like that we are going to see how some of these young players do on the field. If they work out, then we have really gained something. If not, then we know for sure that we need to go find a middle of the road starter in free agency next year. (because that's about all that is generally available at S) I would rather take the cautious route with some of the youth and be wrong, then to go grab a bunch of so-so veterans without any real upside, who are just space fillers.

YTown, next sunday all starters except Kruger will be from Heckert. Maybe Bryant if he's healthy enough, which I doubt and at least he'll get spelled by Winn, who's another Heckert guy. And as I said, those signings never would have happened if not for the cap he left over. Even the rotational guys and top backups are mostly Heckert guys (Hughes, Winn, Kitchen, Cooper, Carder, Bademosi). I even count 5-6 positions where a Heckert player got bumped up on the depth chart (Greco, Cameron, Skrine, Obi, Gipson, Robertson).

As I said, Kruger and a boatload of rookie UDFAs who fill roster spots 45-53. Add Bryant, Bess and Owens and you have 2 starters and 2 backups who will see action and two of those are injured. That's it. When the refs blow the whistle we're playing with Heckert's guys. Hell, they have promoted more of his guys to starters than added starters themselves. That's FACT.

Let's look at those starters .....

TE: Cameron. Should be an effective TE in this offense. He is at least worthy of an extended look.
RB: Trent. Starter. No question
QB: Weeden. Starter, Could have been replaced by Campbell, but the new coaching staff stuck with him so they can see what he gives them.
FB: Obi. Changed positions. Probably was the 2nd best RB on our team.
OL: Thomas, Greco, Mack, Schwartz. 4 quality starters. Who would you replace just to have new players? The 5th starter is our 5th string G because of injuries.
WR: Little and Gordon. (when he returns from suspension) Who would you have preferred we sign/replace?

DL: Bryant, Taylor, and Rubin. Again, I don't have a problem with the starters here. Do you?
LB: Kruger, Robertson, DQ, Sheard. Again, I like this group of starters. Maybe Robertson could have been upgraded, but I really do want to see what he's got. I think that he'll be good in this defense.
DB: Skrine, Haden, Ward, Gipson. I like the 2 Safeties. I like Haden. Yeah, Skrine concerns me, but we'll see how he does with a strong pass rush up front.

Out of this whole group of players, the only once I could see potentially being replaced with a new group coming in are Cameron, Weeden, the other Guard, Gordon, (because of off field issues) Robertson, Skrine, and Gipson. These guys could have been replaces, but they all also have potential, and could flourish in a new scheme. Maybe they don't, but this staff has decided to give them a shot, and not to replace them with so-so talent.

There were some solid TEs available, but it seems like most decided where they were going early on. Maybe we could have persuaded them, and maybe not. We got one of the better QBs available, and if Weeden bombs then we'll probably see Campbell take over. We have 3 Guards who can start and fill out a quality OL, plus we drafted a guy late to develop. I don't have a problem here, even though we had injuries. Gordon .... we may not have known about his suspension before the draft. I can't remember when that story broke. Regardless, maybe we have to replace him, but the time to do so is probably not this year.

I like Robertson in the role he will play in this defense, and am glad that he is getting a shot. I think that he could be a real steal for us there. I also like Gipson. (and the other 2 young Safeties) There were not a lot of high end Safeties on the market, and I didn't like most of them at FS. I am glad that Gipson (and maybe Bademosi if Gipson slips) will get a shot. Skrine is probably the biggest concern I have on the defense, and in fact, on the team.

Skrine is my biggest concern on defense, by far. Again, they tried to get Grimes to come in, and he eventually turned us down. We didn't throw insane money at guys who they didn't feel deserved it, and who knows which guys would have wanted to come here anyway. Keenan Lewis, the guy I wanted, went to New Orleans. He got to go home to play. (He's from the New Orleans area) Could we have signed him? Maybe .... but unlikely once the Saints were involved. He even said that he wanted to go home to play. (which had to drive his agent nuts)

I look at what guys got paid at the position this year, and none of the guys available got big money. That kind of says what the league thought of them. Sean Smith got a 3 year deal worth something like $18 million. The fact that no one beat that tells me that no one thought that there were shutdown type corners available. Smith went to Denver, a Super Bowl contender. It's a 2 way street when it comes to signing a free agent. They have to want to come here as much as we want to sign him.

Which starters would you have replaced, and with who?

Some concerns, but I think we'll be ok. It just shows that Heckert's players are better than our record indicated. New offensive/defensive schemes, attack minded coaches, and overall attitude/culture changes...I like it, but we'll have to wait and see how it translates on Game Day.

I like it alot. I forgot about him. The guy is a bulldozer with some speed. He has everything you want. Good size, speed, some juke, decent hands and played at a top level in a top league. This guy could become a steal.