DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Pluto on the Browns. Good info here

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Savage puts high priority on Browns' offensive line
By Terry Pluto
Before deciding what to do with the No. 3 pick in the NFL Draft, General Manager Phil Savage asked himself some questions.

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Savage puts high priority on Browns' offensive line
By Terry Pluto
Before deciding what to do with the No. 3 pick in the NFL Draft, General Manager Phil Savage asked himself some questions.

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Best.............article.............ever.

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Before deciding what to do with the No. 3 pick in the NFL Draft, General Manager Phil Savage asked himself some questions.

The Browns ranked 31st out of 32 teams running the ball; is drafting a quarterback the best way to address this problem?

The Browns ranked 29th out of 32 teams in stopping the run; how does drafting a quarterback impact that?

The Browns' offensive line has been a problem for years. The key position is the left tackle. Since returning in 1999, the following have been the main starters: Lomas Brown (1999), Roman Oben (2000), Ross Verba (2001-2002), Barry Stokes (2003), Verba (2004), L.J. Shelton (2005) and Kevin Shaffer (2006). At best, the incumbent Shaffer was rated average. How does drafting a quarterback change that when the Browns have had six starting left tackles in eight years?

As the general manager realized: ``Our offensive line was in much worse shape than our quarterback position. If we could fix the line, that will help us run the ball better. If we run better, we probably will pass better. If we run and pass better, that should help the defense defend the run because they won't be on the field as much.''

So two weeks before the draft, Savage decided he was picking Wisconsin left tackle Joe Thomas. He didn't tell anyone. He figured quarterback JaMarcus Russell would go first, and that wide receiver Calvin Johnson would be picked second -- by the Detroit Lions, who would keep Johnson or trade him. In the end, the Browns would be looking at Adrian Peterson, Brady Quinn or Thomas with the third pick.

As the Browns considered the third pick, it's believed that they had the players ranked this way: 1) Thomas. 2) Peterson. 3) Quinn. They told Quinn the night before the draft that he would not be their No. 3 pick. It was a wise move, because Quinn respected their honesty, and it kept him from getting his hopes too high. Then, when the Browns traded for him, he felt better about the organization because of the communication before the draft.

The Browns gave serious thought to Peterson, the star running back from Oklahoma. There was some concern about his physical problems, but that wasn't why they backed off in favor of Thomas. It came down to this: THEY HAD TO FIX THE LINE. They made a major move signing free agent Eric Steinbach to play left guard; now they wanted to finish the job.

The Browns thought veteran running back Jamal Lewis could buy them time as a presence in the backfield as they put their draft picks and free-agent money into the offensive line. You can't get everything all at once, and for too long, Savage believed that the line had been ignored. He believes that there is usually only one top left tackle in every draft, and Thomas was it. Next year, they might not be in position to draft the best left tackle.

The Browns don't believe that Thomas will immediately be a great left tackle. That's a lot to ask of any rookie at such a demanding position, where he usually has to block the best pass rusher on each team. But they see him as smart, tough and experienced. He can be good right away. He's not quite as athletic as Jonathan Ogden, nor as strong as Tony Boselli, two elite left tackles. But he has more than enough strength and quickness to start immediately. They do believe that he'll make as much an impact as D'Brickashaw Ferguson did with the New York Jets this season. Ferguson was the top left tackle in the 2006 draft.

The Browns are in no rush to deal Shaffer, last year's left tackle. Nor do they see him as a candidate for the open right guard spot. They believe that he is a tackle. They have had some conversations about moving Ryan Tucker from tackle to right guard, and playing Shaffer at right tackle. They believe that Tucker might be a better fit at right guard than Shaffer.

With all the injuries on the offensive line over the years, Savage is reluctant to trade any of his veteran offensive linemen. If they do trade Shaffer, they will want, at least, a first-day draft pick in return (something in the first three rounds).

Savage believes that the Browns have real depth at guard. If Tucker is past his emotional problems, he's a possibility. He also gives depth at tackle, as the Browns have three -- Thomas, Tucker and Shaffer -- for two spots. Steinbach is the left guard. The Browns believe that veteran Seth McKinney can start at guard, assuming he's fully recovered from the neck injury that sidelined him last year. They say Isaac Sowells (fourth-rounder, 2006) has made progress and is also in the picture. McKinney also can backup center Hank Fraley. They have veteran Lennie Friedman to backup several spots. ``I wanted to get several experienced guys,'' Savage said. ``I'm starting to feel good about this.''

Talkin' Quinn

Savage will not say where he had Quinn ranked on his draft board. He had been saying Quinn was in the Top 5 for months before the draft, so that's probably the case. As the draft opened, he never imagined being able to come up with Quinn and Thomas. As the draft approached and he had decided on Thomas, his focus was on finding help at cornerback.

Before the draft, Savage didn't talk about the need for a cornerback. It was obvious the Browns were thin at that spot -- only Leigh Bodden is a viable starter. But Savage didn't want other teams to know how this concerned him, and how his second-round pick would probably be a cornerback.

Then Quinn began to drop and drop and drop in the draft. And Savage realized that this was a chance that he might not have a year from now. He refused to call Quinn a ``franchise'' quarterback. Why pin that label on him? So few quarterbacks live up to that hype. He had been through so many quarterbacks with the Baltimore Ravens, he knew how the position is so demanding. He also knew how the Browns have been through so many quarterbacks since 1999. But he also believed that Quinn can be a solid starter for many years, so he began calling teams for a deal.

A trade eventually was made with the Dallas Cowboys -- the No. 1 in 2008 and the No. 2 in 2007 for the Cowboys' 22nd pick to take Quinn. The Cowboys had Quinn ranked No. 8 on their board, and some members of the Dallas media wonder why the team didn't take Quinn and forget the trade. It's not as if Tony Romo is John Elway, but the Cowboys wanted the picks instead.

There is no rush to start Quinn. The front office believes that in some ways, Charlie Frye was given a very difficult assignment. He has had two offensive coordinators in two years while playing behind a patched-up line. The first coordinator, Maurice Carthon, liked a drop-back quarterback with a strong arm. That's not Frye, who is best throwing on the move. The offense often didn't suit him. When Carthon was fired at midseason, it was too late to make serious adjustments.

The Browns believe that new offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski can suit an offense to help Frye and nurture Quinn. Just as at left tackle, the Browns need to settle on an offensive coordinator. They have had seven men in the past eight years calling the plays.

The only concern Savage had in making the trade was NOT so much the No. 1 pick in 2008. It was the second-rounder in 2007, and how that would prevent him from finding a cornerback. But he thought a chance to get Quinn was worth the gamble.

Talkin' Wright

The Browns believed there were five cornerbacks available who could help: Darrelle Revis, Leon Hall, Aaron Ross, Eric Wright and Reggie Nelson. Nelson was a safety at the University of Florida, but the Browns thought that he could play cornerback.

By the end of the first round, Revis, Hall, Ross and Nelson were gone. Wright was definitely No. 5 on their list. But he represented the last hope for the Browns to find someone who had, at least, a chance to start sometime as a rookie. The other cornerbacks available had a significant flaw -- lack of speed, size, something -- that would prevent them from playing soon.

The Browns knew about the date-rape charge against Wright, that had been dropped. They interviewed him at length in Cleveland. They did an extensive background check. As Savage said, ``He went to an all-boys high school and was an honor student. He had no problems before (the 2005 incident), and none since. I'm not excusing what happened, but this has not been a pattern of behavior for him.''

As the second round progressed, Wright remained available. Teams were concerned about the character questions, especially with the NFL's new get-tough policy. Because of the Quinn trade, the Browns had no second-rounder. If Wright somehow remained on the board for the third round, the Browns planned to take him. Savage then called his new best friend, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. They had just made the Quinn trade -- giving the Cowboys two second-rounders. Now Savage wanted one back.

Another deal was cut: the Cowboys would take Wright with the 53rd pick. The Browns would give their third- and fourth-rounders to the Cowboys and also flip picks in the sixth round. Because they planned to take Wright in the third round, they viewed the trade as just giving up the fourth-round pick to move up and get Wright.

The Browns' biggest concern about Wright is he has not played that much college football. He was a redshirt freshman at USC, where he started four games. Then he transferred to UNLV, sat out a year, played nine games -- missing three with a knee injury. So that's 13 college starts.

The Browns say Wright has a lot of natural talent, and he proved it by starting four games as a redshirt freshman at USC. But his experience is limited, and a key will be the coaching of Mel Tucker, who drew praise for keeping the injury-ravaged defensive backfield functioning last season.

The Browns hope ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. is correct when he wrote after the draft: ``Wright has first-round talent... you could argue he's better than Leon Hall and Darrelle Revis -- but slid because of character issues.'' If the Browns are correct on Wright's attitude, this trade could be just at important as the Quinn deal, given the desperate state of their cornerbacks.

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You can't get everything all at once, and for too long, Savage believed that the line had been ignored.

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That darn OverFrog guy never gets anything right..

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Hell man, I can't even boil water

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Agreed. Actually, I hope that Frye never gives up the job and Quinn is shipped for a pick.

OR, Frye blows up, doesn't want a new contract here, and is shipped for a pick.

Either option works for me

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Really? What happened Soup and Mensa hit U over the head with something?

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Hmmm... it appears I broke it.

It was blowing up on the bullets when inserting it into the database.
I substituted all bullets for [ * ] (without the spaces) and posted just fine.

The break is a result of fixing something else.... I'll get it resolved tonight.

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Ok, it's fixed... resume regular posting

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contracts won't let that happen.. you can't have a 1st rounder as a backup eating up your salary cap.

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Finally, as noted, Quinn won't be the starter.

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It makes no sense to start a rookie unless he's the 2nd coming, and Quinn isn't that (sorry Diam *L*).

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At this point, Frye should start with Quinn coming in down the road. That's best for everyone.

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you can't have a 1st rounder as a backup eating up your salary cap.

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what about me??? *LOL* ...

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It's like sex bro.........the anticipation makes it better

I don't want Quinn rushed. He's not in the same class as Manning who benefited from starting day one. I think he needs a little work and time to get settled, and I happen to think the way we handled Frye was the best way to go. It's the best way to go for Quinn as well.