Designed Downfield Option

You heard it here first, folks. (No, I'm not smoking anything this morning, I promise.)

Greg,

I’ll be the fuel that keeps your engine running.

If this Sunday’s Ravens game was an XBOX 360 game, I’d do one of the following to win:

A)
• Run 4 wide receivers all game with sugar huddle. Quinn calls the routes from the line. This will keep the Ravens in a dime package all game.
• Edwards and Mass outside, Furrey and Robiskie inside
• Cribbs lines up in the backfield to pick up blitz or be the safety valve.
• I use their defensive line domination against them, with a safety valve on each side of Quinn. I don’t even attempt anything past the line of scrimmage until they begin limiting their penetration. When they do, I attack with longer routes over the top.
• All week I practice evading penetration with unorthodox throws (sidearm, underhanded, pitches) to guys 8 feet away. “Hit the brakes, they’ll fly right by...” that Top Gun philosophy is my offense. Lure them in and use their aggression against them.

B)
• Max protect, 2 tight ends, fullback, tailback
• Run the ball on first and second down, pass on third and hope you can convert
• Make enough first downs to keep the Ravens offense off the field and keep your defense fresh
• Use every second of clock
• Manage the game so I’m not too embarrassed in post-game presser


(A) would be my choice. If I’m going down, I’m going down chucking the ball all over the place. In fact, I’d implement my option all over the field offense in this game. I’m telling you, it’ll happen. I’m the grandfather of the designed downfield triple option.

I can see it now...

Announcer: “Third and five. Quinn drops back. Heavy pressure...he underhands the ball to Cribbs and avoids 3 Raven defenders! Cribbs gets a key block from Steinbach and crosses the line of scrimmage....He cuts left and looks to get drilled but NO! He pitches the ball to Massaquoa who darts between tacklers.. OH MY! Mass gets drilled by Ed Reed but before he does he pitches the ball to Braylon Edwards who splits the 2 remaining Ravens and races to the endzone for the 48 yard score. WOW! What a play!”

A new offense is born.

The bet is on

Since gambling is so damn fun, let’s bet what our favorite new FO is doing right now.

First, we need dates. Hard facts that can’t be disputed.

Whallah! The Calendar! (gotta love the internet)

Feb. 18-24: Scouting Combine — to do list: First, they must deal with the current scouting staff. If moves are to be made, new scouts must be entrenched by the scouting combine. Therefore, its safe to assume the new FO has been meeting with each scout to determine their loyalties and commitment to the team. Out with the old, in with the new. Do you think the old scouts get to keep their Browns gear and official Browns whistles? I don’t either.

Bet? 3 new scouts.

Feb. 19: Deadline to designate franchise and transition players. – to do: It’s a safe bet that Rob Ryan and Co. have moved their favorite recliner into the Browns filmroom. You know those old Dracula movies where the dudes melt when the sun hits their skin? That’ll be effect when Mangini finally lets Ryan out of his cave. The one question I have? Does the film room actually still make the old ‘tick,tick,tick’ sound of the film running through the old camera? Darn digital-era. Watching film just doesn’t feel the same without it. After 6 non-stop days of film, I’ll bet Ryan hooks up his i-pod to the A/V equipment and rocks out to Zepplin. Love the hair!

Bet? No franchise or transition on Sean Jones. Mike Adams should be pursued. Travis Daniels! Way to go, brother! What a steal for a draft pick, eh, Savage?


Feb. 26: Deadline for club to make qualifying offers to restricted free agents. - Good news? Louis Leonard is the only guy on the list! Great news, fellas! He seems to be a decent player, especially considering his salary, but I’m just a good typer (lousy speller), nothing more.

The bet? Ryan never leaves the film room, forgetting to make a suggestion one way or the other.

Feb. 27: Veteran free agency period begins; trading period begins. - Ah, the good stuff! Think really freakin’ great garage sale with loads of money in your pocket. Problem is, the other dudes have bigger pockets (salary cap reference, no slight to your pocket, Mr. Lerner) and more expensive running shoes. They’ll be much more nimble, swift and probably make some dumb decisions. “Look at that shiny lamp! I gotta have it,” says Jerry Jones. Not to be outdone, a suddenly wise Daniel Snyder mumbles “That one, right there. I want that one and I’ll pay double what anyone else will.”

Taking in the whole sale will be our trusted new FO tandem. I can hear the press and fans now, “We’re 8 days into free agency and the Browns have yet to sign anyone.”

Don’t fret, I say! Mangini and Co. have a plan. Wait it out and get the guys with a chip on their shoulder (hey, isn’t that a good draft strategy as well?) at a reduced cost. Get them on a 1 or 2 year deal so they are already playing for their next deal. Get the Sunday-warrior guys that want to do nothing else, not the pretty boys wary of their post-football stardom.

They’ll quickly move from table to table, “Middle-linebacker, defensive end, corner, wide receiver, maybe 2, running back. That’ll do it.” They’ll pile their stash into Mangini’s Suburban and be off with a puff of smoke, back to Berea.

The bet? Browns field calls for DA, Braylon, K2, but publically deny it. They’ll trade DA but not the others unless they get a stellar offer. After all, Braylon is in his contract year. He’s going to be playing for the next deal and will only drop 5 balls all season! Wow! What an upgrade. Stallworth will be cut (if he hasn’t been already).

April 17: Signing period for RFA ends. - um, signing another teams RFAs means losing draft picks. Considering we don’t have many, I’d say this little nuggest is off the table.

April 24: Deadline for old club to exercise first right of refusal for RFAs who have been offered contracts by other teams. - Hmm. Leonard? That’s ok, you can have him.

April 25-26: NFL Draft – should be lots of fun. We’ll hit this in depth down the road.

June 1: Deadline for old clubs to tender offer to unsigned unrestricted free agents to receive exclusive negotiating rights for rest of season if player is not signed by another club by July 22; deadline for old clubs to tender offer to unsigned restricted free agents or to extend qualifying offer to retain exclusive negotiating rights. -- Man, that’s a lot of crap, there. Um, I’m tired of typing all this so I refuse to think about it.

June 15: Deadline for old clubs to withdraw qualifying offer to unsigned restricted free agents and substitute offer of 110% of previous year's salary in order to retain exclusive negotiating rights. - See answer above.

Mid/Late July: Training camp. Date TBD.

July 22: Signing period ends for UFAs who received qualifying offer.

Sep. 1: Rosters cut to 75 players.

Sep. 5: Rosters cut to 53 players.

Jan. 30: Browns win Super Bowl (ok so I added this one)

Let's-build-a-snowman MOCK

Greg, you lazy bastard. I'll bet you are home building snowmen in the backyard today, rather than working like the rest of us. Just in case, I figured I'd provide you a Wednesday dose of Browns Improvement Plan - 400 level.

First, I made 3 trades. DA to the Vikings for a 2nd and 6th and K2 to Buffalo for a 3 and a 5. Charles Ali for a 7th. Now we’ve got 9 picks to net some new talent.

Snow-filled Wednesday Mock:

1/5: Brian Orakpo, DE – Texas – 6’4” 265
2/37: Alphonso Smith, CB – Wake Forrest – 5’9” 193
2/54 (trade DA to Vikings): Nick Harris, SS – Oklahoma – 6’3” 233
3/75 (trade K2 to Buffalo): Phil Loadholt, OT – Oklahoma – 6’7 340
4/101: Rashad Jennings, RB – Liberty – 6’1” 230
5/133: A.Q. Shipley – C – Penn St. - 6’1” 300
5/139: Cedric Peerman, RB – Virginia – 5’9” 210
6/182 (trade DA to Vikings): Ryan Palmer, CB – Texas – 5’9” 190
7/197 (trade Charles Ali to someplace): Henry Melton, OLB – Texas – 6’2” 262

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• 2 new running backs means buh-bye Jamal & Jason Wright.
• Orakpo is a given to start
• Smith is an aggressive corner that’ll push to start but be very capable as a nickel
• Harris would be a thumper in run support and no more a liability than Sean Jones
• Loadholt would be the opening day starter at RT
• Shipley wasn’t the remington award winner for nothing. Dude can play. Great pick here
• Remember the other end at Texas? The converted fullback, too atheltic, nasty and fast to keep off the field? Henry Melton. Or should I say Adalius Thomas!

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The talent infusion will enable Mangini to concentrate on moving the chains, rather than satisfying play-maker egos (Edwards/Winslow/Lewis). Quinn will hand-off left, right, middle, delay — then throw off the play-action. Best way to win. Control the clock, stop the run.

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You can resume snowman building. Remember, use a carrot and resist the urge to put it in the wrong place!

Browns Ramblings

Liberty running back Rashad Jennings met with the Patriots, and was requested for a second meeting with the Cleveland Browns. An interesting coincidence to the Browns' interest in Jennings is that the team's director of player personnel, T.J. McCreight, played tight end for Liberty when he was in college. Other teams who have been in contact with him are the Seahawks, Bengals, Vikings, Panthers, Jets, Chargers and Broncos.

This, I don’t mind. Jennings might turn out to be a very good running back. They can look at all the backs for all I care. We need one.

The Browns continued to work the field of Senior Bowl talent aggressively, spending time with Navy fullback Eric Kettani and Cincinnati cornerback DeAngelo Smith.

Just what we need, another fullback. If I were McCreight and one of my scouts was sniffing around fullbacks, I’d kick him in the jimmy. We have 2 good fullbacks and don’t need another.

I’M A GENIUS, SO LISTEN UP...
I watched Tuesday and Wednesday’s Senior Bowl practices on the NFL Network. Far and away the most dominant player is DT BJ Raji from Boston College. He’ll be a top 10 selection. He made the interior lineman look silly.

Of the centers, Alex Mack looked strongest. Max Unger is a tall dude, looks like a tackle. Mack seems able to get lower and has better core strength. I wish AQ Shipley were playing in this game. I’d have loved to see him battle against these DT’s.

Trevor Cantfield, G Cincinnati, looks good. Not a fat dude. Seems athletic and solid.

Marcus Freeman has done nothing to diminish his stock. He’s physical and athletic and has looked good.

Clint Sintim is fast becoming a favorite for me. If the Browns look to trade down and acquire picks, Sintim would be a natural fit later in round 1. Something tells me the Browns would draft him and move him to tight end because they love his versatility. “He’s going to be a special player for us someday,” they’d say.

“Hey Browns! Draft a fullback, a long snapper, a kicker and a punter, please. Who cares if we can’t stop anyone. We all know how important special teams are. We’d be dominant!”

Maybe reverse psychology will help.

More picks - best player, dammit!

It is still early and we’ve got to give the guy a chance to prove something on the field, but the Browns reaching for Beau Bell is still a pricey mistake. Maybe not as much as giving up your third round pick to land Rucker, but considering the LB’s that were still on the board, it’s mind-boggling.

Here is an example of the type of player available to the Browns, had they been patient:

Colts Expecting DE Marcus Howard To Step Up In '09
...There’s a feeling around Indianapolis that DE Marcus Howard can make a similar jump in ’09, even though he won’t be winning a starting job. Howard’s incredible speed rivals that of fellow Colts DE Dwight Freeney, and if he can improve his defensive awareness, he’ll be given more of a green light to ply his craft in Year Two. (Howard was drafted 161st in last years draft (pick 26 of round 5)).

I can already hear the argument, “We already had Wimbley, a speed rusher. We didn’t need Howard.”

2 words. Best Player. Run your draft based on need and you’ll always be in need. Take great players and you’ll wind up loaded with playmakers. Yes, it is true the Colts have a completely different defense that relies on smaller DE’s with speed. Don’t care. Great coaches and organizations find ways to get playmakers on the field.

Holati Ngata is an absolute beast. Nice scouting Savage.

Tuesday

I concede, the Browns stand little chance at winning consistently in the AFC North. With the Steelers and Ravens in the division, how could they? The Rooneys have cornered the market on organizational consistency and tough, intelligent coaches. Their physical brand of in-your-face football has been the mainstay in the division for the last 10 years.

Then there's the Ravens. Want to know how they are able to rebound so quickly from a down year? Simple. Look at their draft history.

1996 - 1 - 4 - Jonathan Ogden, T - UCLA
1997 - 1 - 4 - Peter Boulware, DE - Florida State
1998 - 1 - 10 - Duane Starks, DB - Miami (FL)
1999 - 1 - 10 - Chris McAlister, DB - Arizona
2000 - 1 - 5 - Jamal Lewis, RB - Tennessee
2001 - 1 - 31 - Todd Heap, TE - Arizona State
2002 - 1 - 24 - Ed Reed, DB - Miami (FL)
2003 - 1 - 10 Terrell Suggs, DE - Arizona State
2004 - 2 - 51 Dwan Edwards, DT - Oregon State
2005 - 1 - 22 Mark Clayton, WR - Oklahoma
2006 - 1 - 12 Haloti Ngata, DT - Oregon
2007 - 1 - 29 Ben Grubbs, G - Auburn
2008 - 1 - 18 Joe Flacco, QB - Delaware

Ozzie Newsome truly is a wizard. Every one of their first round picks, save Boller and Dwan Edwards have been in the very productive to all-star status. It's mind boggling. Lerner should give Ozzie the keys and the title and let him drive.

Cleveland? Oh yeah. Well, we've got Joe Thomas!

Actually, it's not that bad. The Browns proved they have the personnel to hang with the big boys by crushing the Giants on Monday night last year. It shows how important emotion is to football. Top-down, the organization wanted that game. Coaches and players were focused and executed from start to finish. It was a thing of beauty.

But that was the past. Mangini and Co. need to find the nucleus and add to it, some by subtraction. Edwards will be in a contract year so you can count him in for major production. Question is, will the production come in Cleveland or with another team like say, Arizona or Seattle?

The bottom line is talent on the field. We need more of it. This is a very important draft for the Browns. Let's hope they get it right so we can close the gap.

Fixing the Browns

I'd start with this guy.