A "Quinn to Cleveland" blurb on Yahoo.com's front page. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO2. When you follow the link you get this:
3. Cleveland Browns – Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn. The Browns could be sitting pretty if the draft plays out differently and the Raiders take Calvin Johnson. Such a scenario would give Cleveland its choice of quarterbacks. But even with just one still on the board, they come out as winners as they could potentially flip-flop picks with the Buccaneers.3. So Yahoo! has the Browns taking Quinn. Let's check out ESPN (insider):
Dammit.
Projected pick: Brady Quinn, QB, Notre Dame
Needs: RB, CB, OT, DE, QB
From the sounds of it, Cleveland's coaches would go with the player who can make a more immediate impact (RB Adrian Peterson), but the team's front office wants to use this on a future franchise quarterback (Quinn). We all know which side will win that battle.
4. OK. It's looking like Quinn. I think we all know where I stand on this. Fox Sports has a mock draft that goes three rounds(!), let's see who they have the Browns picking:
First Round: Quinn (with Thomas and Peterson still on the board).
Second Round: Charles Johnson, DE Georgia
Third Round: David Iron, CD Auburn
5. 3 rounds, no offensive lineman. Sadly, this seems to be extremely plausible.
6. At least no one has the Browns trading up... what's that Peter King?
The fear of the mega-mistake. The last one -- unless Eli Manning shows significantly more than he's shown in three shaky seasons, and fast -- came in 2004. Manning was picked by San Diego at No. 1 overall and Philip Rivers was chosen fourth by the Giants, and then New York traded Rivers for Manning and threw in future first-, third- and fifth-round picks. The first- and third-rounders became Pro Bowlers Shawne Merriman and Nate Kaeding, while the fifth-rounder was dealt to Tampa Bay for temporary starting left tackle Roman Oben.The trade looks bad now, and all it does is scare off teams thinking of trading future high picks to move up a few spots. You don't think Cleveland GM Phil Savage (I think the odds are tall that he'd trade up anyway, from what he tells me) will be very hesitant to trade a second-rounder, or next year's first to move up for JaMarcus Russell? All that's at stake is his job.
God mother fucking dammit.
7. The Browns are in no position (I repeat: no position) to be giving away draft picks. Hell, their owner is saying they don't have a lot of 'core players' and they need to solidify their foundation. You know a great way to do that? Stockpile draft picks AND draft well (and draft the trenches). Trading away picks to take a skill position player is the worst possible move.
9. What did Paxson have to lose by trading a first rounder for Welsch? He was as good as gone anyway, why not give up the next season's first rounder in a desperate move to save the season (and his job)? Odds were good that he wouldn't be drafting that June.
10. By the way, last week King said the Browns were going to trade up as well. I didn't read the column, but Dwayne Rudd's Helmet takes King to task.
11. I'm in favor of exactly none of the above scenarios. Actually, all of 'em scare the crap out of me. Maybe there are some fans who are looking forward to the draft, but not me. I'm absolutely mortified of what the Browns will do. At this point I will be shocked (shocked I say!) if the Browns take the safe way out and draft Wisconsin tackle Joe Thomas.
12. Lord help us all if the Browns trade up. Something will catch fire. It way be a car (OSU style!), it may be a complex in Berea or it may Panini's Bar & Grille. Either way, something is going down.
13. Speaking of going down, how bout that Cavalier season eh? Goodbye 2-seed, hello 5-seed!
14. The Cavaliers, they're soft. In the crunch.
15. Windhorst mentions something that I've been wondering about all season:
Instead of having LeBron dribble, why not set up a play for Sasha and see if LeBron can get open away from the ball. Or why not see how Sasha handles himself in the clutch. Surely he commits bad turnovers, but an aggressive turnover any better than a wild 25-footer over a double team. I know it is cliche, but why not put LeBron in a better position to be successful and Sasha as well? Maybe it will fail, but what's going on now is broken and everybody can see it.16. I've been watching the Nuggets recently and I'm amazed at where 'Melo receives the ball. It's a stark contrast to LeBron and the Cavaliers. 'Melo gets the ball on the block repeatedly and sometimes on the wing (you know, good scoring positions). Watch the Cavs, where does LeBron get the ball? 25 feet from the hoop, at the top of the 3pt arc. Are we surprised that he takes terrible shots all the time? Look at where he's starting out; it takes so much work to get off a good shot, it's not exactly a shock that he lofts bad jumpers- he's going 1 on 4. The Cavs never set LeBron up down low. No one ever drives and dishes to LeBron for a dunk. This doesn't happen.
17. My solution? Have LeBron set picks for other players. Set him up near the hoop and let Hughes and Pavlovic go to work. Make them single cover the other players while LeBron is close to the rim. Don't let him stand outside the 3pt line, make him stay inside while the other guys work. This will result in at least a few easy baskets for him.
18. Create for LeBron. Set LeBron up. Don't rely on him to make every play. Take the degree of difficulty down a notch.
19. This hurts my head.
20. I've missed Joe Chats.
21. Fucking Milwaukee? Really? What the hell is wrong with baseball?
22. So instead of moving the series to Anaheim and switching a later series in CA to Cleveland, they take home games away from the Tribe. Great idea. Not only do they lose games at home, in friendly confines, in front of their fans... they are also losing revenue. Great. The Dolans are losing revenue. Now they'll have to trade Trot Nixon.
23. Nevermind the fact that they gave Seattle a four game wrap around series in their only visit to Cleveland. Not smart.
24. And why are they playing West Coast teams this early? Why not play them later, why not give the dicey weather games to division opponents, who they face multiple times this year? I know hindsight is 20-20 and you don't expect this kind of weather this late, but this couldn't have gotten more fucked up. Everything that went wrong did; no off days, no make up dates, west coast team... wow.
25. Speaking of fuckups... this attorney things just keeps going... and going... and going... and going
26. I've said it before, but I'll say it again: I've become a big fan of HBO. We all know about The Sopranos (I just finished Part One of Season 6. I can't wait to get my hands on the new ones) but their other shows are just as good, if not better. Six Feet Under was the most realistic portrayal of a family I've ever seen. You can't even compare The Wire to over shows- it's too deep. And Rome and Deadwood? I never really cared for period pieces before, but my lord. Just wow. Most period pieces I've seen before deal with some huge event or something (not that these don't) but the shows/movies never really showed the day-to-day activities. Rome and Deadwood are just fascinating- you see how these people lived and went about their day. Not just the 'important people' but the normal folk. I can't recommend those shows enough.
27. Speaking of fantastic shows, The Shield has a new episode tomorrow- that show is god damned brilliant. FX has some quality shit as well. The Shield, Rescue Me and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia are great shows.
28. As for notsogood shows, Andy Barker, PI got canceled.
29. I like reading and I like books, but this does not look comfortable.
30. This weeks music contribution? Well, it's not exactly 'new' but it's pretty recent and mind blowing. Enjoy.
Muse - Knights of Cydonia
4 comments:
Is there a support group we can form after the Browns don't draft Joe Thomas? I liked Quinn in the 8-10 spot with an additional second round pick. Not #3. Or--god forbid--#1.
Randy Lerner wants Brady Quinn. Desperately. Phil Savage wants JaMarcus Russell. Desperately.
Who wins this debate? Yep. The guy who saved Savage's job when John Collins wanted to fire him.
The trouble is, everything Lerner has touched in the past four years has turned to shit.
Guess we'll be looking forward to several seasons of Quinn getting sacked and intercepted into oblivion before the Browns finally get fed up and cut him, while Russell tears up the league for the Raiders, Lions or Bucs.
We'd all like to chalk the upcoming botched draft pick up to TCE, but we'll see this one coming, so we really can't. Quinn is going to be a megabust as the Browns starting QB.
I can't fathom why so many Browns fans want to draft Quinn. He isn't a franchise QB simply because he's projected as a top-five pick. He is merely the second-best QB in an incredibly weak draft class.
Look at what happened to Tim Couch. Look at what happened to Joey Harrington. Look at what happened to David Carr.
You can't draft a QB in the high first round with out giving him the line and offensive weapons he needs.
They get hit. They get sacked. They don't have the guys to help him out. Plus, they are facing enormous pressure to be 'the man'.
It doesn't work.
Say they add Thomas and the left side of the line if fixed. And Charlie Frye goes out there and still sucks ass and the Browns lose a lot of games. Next year would be the time to draft a QB. Set him up behind a good line, with a top receiver like Edwards and with Winslow and Bentley returning.
You put a young QB in the right position to win. You don't put all the pressure on him and not give him the tools to succeed.
Very true, everything you said.
But the Browns have unfortunately swallowed the hype -- hook, line and sinker -- that Quinn and Russell are gotta-have prospects. They aren't thinking in terms of building a team. They are thinking in terms of stealing the golden egg that will reverse the fortunes of this franchise overnight.
That, at its core, is the reason why the Browns are a lousy football organization.
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