It's time to temper the enthusiasm about the Browns in 2010.
I know the team won four of it's last five games.
I know Randy Lerner was able to woo and lure the Big Show to little old Cleveland. I know Mike Holmgren is known as a Quarterback guru, and an offensive mind. I know he has a resume that includes turning two franchises around and taking them both to the Super Bowl.
I know he kept head coach Eric Mangini, has somewhat praised him in various interviews, and I know it seems like Mangini feels less pressure to run the franchise and just coach the players on the field.
I Jerome Harrison provided a spark to the offense last year down the stretch.
I know we landed a very good football mind in the hire of Tom Heckert.
I know Holmgren, Heckert, and Mangini want to incorporate "tough, smart" football players to this team.
I know Brian Robiskie keeps getting attention for his play in OTA's and mini camp.
I know.
I just wished I knew more. Like seeing them on the field before we say they'll be improved.
Over the last 2 years since the aberration in 2007,, the Browns have gone 4-12, and 5-11. I don't include any other years the comparison here because, let's face it, this team has been remade more times than Charlie Sheen's career.
Even with all the good news that has surrounded the team in the last six months, there is plenty negative aspects of the team that is still around.
First, Holmgren didn't turn around Green Bay and Seattle in one year, and those teams didn't go to the Super Bowl until he was in his fifth and seventh year's with the Packers and Seahawks, respectively.
Second, even Holmgren has downplayed this first year saying many times that "you can't fix everything in one year."
Also, he's not coaching this team. With regards o the play on the field, he is just an admitted tie-breaker.
The offense is purported to be run, run, then run, first. Great running teams can win just as much and sometimes more than high flying arial shows, but they have to have a good defense to do it. Maybe great.
It takes longer to score as a running team. If the defense can't play and hold the other team for longer than two quarters, something the Browns couldn't do much of last season, then Jerome Harrison can run for 300 yards and 3 touchdowns all day, but they'll lose 24-21 a lot.
Yes, they traded for Sheldon Brown, and spent their first rounder on a corner, which should mean they have three now, including Eric Wright. And they added hitters at the safety position with T.J. Ward and Larry Asante.
But if Haden starts at corner the defense is only one injury away from lining up two rookies at safety, assuming Ward or Asante starts out of training camp, which is likely. That's three rookies for four spots by my count. And that's scary.
Also, last year when they were able to beat Kansas City, Oakland, and Jacksonville y rushing the ball effectively to end the season...well, those teams combined for 16 wins last year So, I'm not placing a lot of weight on those performances.
Lots of players and teams are already packing it in by that point in the season. So, let's just wait and see who we can and can't run against this year.
And if Jerome Harrison is so good, why did the team feel the need to trade up into the second round to grab Montario Hardesty, a player who was listed as injury prone? It's especially alarming since at the time the Browns had a total of 15 caught balls leftover for the previous years wideouts.
Speaking about the WR's, why all the talk about Brian Robiskie in OTA's and mini camp? Maybe he has made some strides and looks good. I just get this feeling in my gut that the team is trying as hard as it can to prop up his spirits.
I know he's a strong willed kid who's game is built on fundamentals. That was why I was glad they drafted him.
But if the best thing you can say about the WR's at this time of the year is that a player who caught seven balls for 106 yards last year is "looking good," then I think our offense has a lot farther to go than some media reports are making it sound.
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