Drink this Kool-Aid with me!
Posted 08-27-2011 at 03:48 PM by Enigmatic Evil
I know things aren't looking up and up all of a sudden. We crashed back to reality after the Eagles pre-season game, we're already down a couple key players with a lot of other key players really banged up. All is not lost though, there are positives and negatives to draw upon sure but the season still hasn't started yet and I think many of us, myself included are looking forward to the team hopefully starting off on the right foot. AKA: A win over the Bungles in week one.
On Offense:
Colt's looked good. Seneca has been Seneca and I think Jarred Brown all but lost any of the momentum he built up during camp. Our HB's started out good, Hillis i think is just worried about keeping healthy through the pre-season and we haven't ran him too hard. Brandon Jackson looked great IMO but it's a shame he's got turf toe now and will probably miss at least the first few weeks of the season. I'm not sure if Smith's going to emerge as a possible starter this year or not but if Hardesty can stay healthy we should be okay there.
WR is just as uncertain as it was last year. I think we had these same kind of feelings coming into last season. MoMass and Robo were looked to contribute and Cribbs was having wildcat delusions of grandeur. We shouldn't have to worry about that this year with the team focusing on Cribbs as a WR it seems. Players like Greg Little and Norwood have made their presence known as well. I think we have a stronger WR corps than we did last year.
Tight Ends... nuff said. Hard not to feel confident about Watson and Moore, with the potential of Jordan Cameron as well. I'd like to see some of that potential but I think he's going to have a learning curve at this level. He's got the size to be a major offensive weapon for us and he's got the hops to be an end zone nightmare for opposing D's.
Our Offensive Line was a point of pride but with Steinbach's injury bringing forth a modicum of uncertainty we have reason to worry about that. Hopefully Greco can step in and be productive so that Steinbach's absence isn't as noticable. Pinkston had a bad game but he's a late-round rookie. He just needs to be serviceable as a rookie I can't see him stepping in and starting at this point.
On Defense:
Defensive Line is the biggest reason to be excited about our defense this year. It starts with our mammoth DT Phil Taylor. Stepping up in the philly game was big for Phil who was starting to get resentment from the fan base for not really showcasing like that. Maybe a strong game will quell some of the doubters. I think there's going to be a period of the season where Phil is just getting adapted to the NFL level of play but with the pre-season starts that should help him hit full steam ahead and I would love to see him create some havoc in game 1 vs Cinci. Behind the DT's I like what i've been reading about Sheard, Mitchell and Marcus Bernard.
Linebackers bring question marks after the starters, we have DQJ, Gocong, Fujita, Titus Brown... then who exactly? This worries me and should any of them go down I think it would leave a gaping hole in our D to be frank. The lack of depth in our LB corps is as evident as anywhere on the team.
The secondary looks good but we need TJ Ward back there. His absence is conspicuous in our D and our secondary misses him. You can just see what he brings to the table and so many of us were puzzled when Heckert drafted him last season. The entire secondary seems to be better when he's back there. Usama Young should help matters, I hope he's an improvement over Abe Elam but we haven't had an opportunity to really see him strut his stuff to any degree. I am excited that we seem to have so many young prospects that could play for us in the secondary, I wish we had a similar situation on the DL or LB but at least there's a arguable "wealth" somewhere on the D. Eric Hagg was injured correct? He was another name people were hyping. I wonder what he could do when he's healthy. Depth?
Overall:
As we approach the season, the last pre-season game will likely be fodder for the youngsters so hopefully we can see something from Armond Smith (if he's healthy) Jordan Cameron, Carlton Mitchell, maybe even Jarred Brown, some of the D-prospects like Skrine, Dockery, etc. I'd like to see more of Marcus Bernard coming off the end, sounds like they may rotate him and Jayme Mitchell. Maybe that's for the best? I don't know.
Week 1 is a must-win as far as I'm concerned. If we can't beat Cinci... I will feel very doomed for this season. I need a win to boost my initial spirits knowing we can beat our division rival at home when we should win. Signs that maybe the current 'regime' is doing it right and that some of the players on our team can produce a win.
Injuries may end up defining this season and if the last week or two is anything to go by, I get the feeling the worst is yet to come. Steinbach is a huge injury and I hope his back problem is not major. Losing Brandon Jackson for how ever long it takes for him to recover from turf toe is not a HUGE deal so long as Hardesty can stay healthy and play at a high level. We drafted him last year with such high hopes. Injuries wrecked this team down the stretch last season and if we get rocked by the injury bug I think the same will happen this year.
I think this is a good period to be a Browns fan as any. Yeah, there are those who are still feeling the Mangini hangover, for good and for bad. As a team though, they're moving forward. New systems on offense and on defense will hopefully bring results rather than the 'change-for-change-sake' that Cleveland Browns fans are used to.
I think we've got a more talented team than a lot of people give us credit for. Then again, I say that every year. It doesn't feel like an exaggeration to believe this team could win 8 games this year. As long as we can see some growth without masking it behind another disappointing 5-11 campaign than we should be okay. These young kids will have a years experience to draw upon and this is just the beginning of the youth movement so next year we'll have this core with some game play experience with pieces of the puzzle added on through the draft and FA I'm sure...
Here's the kool-aid, have a sip and there's plenty to go around for everyone. I think we Browns fans have plenty to be excited about this year.
On Offense:
Colt's looked good. Seneca has been Seneca and I think Jarred Brown all but lost any of the momentum he built up during camp. Our HB's started out good, Hillis i think is just worried about keeping healthy through the pre-season and we haven't ran him too hard. Brandon Jackson looked great IMO but it's a shame he's got turf toe now and will probably miss at least the first few weeks of the season. I'm not sure if Smith's going to emerge as a possible starter this year or not but if Hardesty can stay healthy we should be okay there.
WR is just as uncertain as it was last year. I think we had these same kind of feelings coming into last season. MoMass and Robo were looked to contribute and Cribbs was having wildcat delusions of grandeur. We shouldn't have to worry about that this year with the team focusing on Cribbs as a WR it seems. Players like Greg Little and Norwood have made their presence known as well. I think we have a stronger WR corps than we did last year.
Tight Ends... nuff said. Hard not to feel confident about Watson and Moore, with the potential of Jordan Cameron as well. I'd like to see some of that potential but I think he's going to have a learning curve at this level. He's got the size to be a major offensive weapon for us and he's got the hops to be an end zone nightmare for opposing D's.
Our Offensive Line was a point of pride but with Steinbach's injury bringing forth a modicum of uncertainty we have reason to worry about that. Hopefully Greco can step in and be productive so that Steinbach's absence isn't as noticable. Pinkston had a bad game but he's a late-round rookie. He just needs to be serviceable as a rookie I can't see him stepping in and starting at this point.
On Defense:
Defensive Line is the biggest reason to be excited about our defense this year. It starts with our mammoth DT Phil Taylor. Stepping up in the philly game was big for Phil who was starting to get resentment from the fan base for not really showcasing like that. Maybe a strong game will quell some of the doubters. I think there's going to be a period of the season where Phil is just getting adapted to the NFL level of play but with the pre-season starts that should help him hit full steam ahead and I would love to see him create some havoc in game 1 vs Cinci. Behind the DT's I like what i've been reading about Sheard, Mitchell and Marcus Bernard.
Linebackers bring question marks after the starters, we have DQJ, Gocong, Fujita, Titus Brown... then who exactly? This worries me and should any of them go down I think it would leave a gaping hole in our D to be frank. The lack of depth in our LB corps is as evident as anywhere on the team.
The secondary looks good but we need TJ Ward back there. His absence is conspicuous in our D and our secondary misses him. You can just see what he brings to the table and so many of us were puzzled when Heckert drafted him last season. The entire secondary seems to be better when he's back there. Usama Young should help matters, I hope he's an improvement over Abe Elam but we haven't had an opportunity to really see him strut his stuff to any degree. I am excited that we seem to have so many young prospects that could play for us in the secondary, I wish we had a similar situation on the DL or LB but at least there's a arguable "wealth" somewhere on the D. Eric Hagg was injured correct? He was another name people were hyping. I wonder what he could do when he's healthy. Depth?
Overall:
As we approach the season, the last pre-season game will likely be fodder for the youngsters so hopefully we can see something from Armond Smith (if he's healthy) Jordan Cameron, Carlton Mitchell, maybe even Jarred Brown, some of the D-prospects like Skrine, Dockery, etc. I'd like to see more of Marcus Bernard coming off the end, sounds like they may rotate him and Jayme Mitchell. Maybe that's for the best? I don't know.
Week 1 is a must-win as far as I'm concerned. If we can't beat Cinci... I will feel very doomed for this season. I need a win to boost my initial spirits knowing we can beat our division rival at home when we should win. Signs that maybe the current 'regime' is doing it right and that some of the players on our team can produce a win.
Injuries may end up defining this season and if the last week or two is anything to go by, I get the feeling the worst is yet to come. Steinbach is a huge injury and I hope his back problem is not major. Losing Brandon Jackson for how ever long it takes for him to recover from turf toe is not a HUGE deal so long as Hardesty can stay healthy and play at a high level. We drafted him last year with such high hopes. Injuries wrecked this team down the stretch last season and if we get rocked by the injury bug I think the same will happen this year.
I think this is a good period to be a Browns fan as any. Yeah, there are those who are still feeling the Mangini hangover, for good and for bad. As a team though, they're moving forward. New systems on offense and on defense will hopefully bring results rather than the 'change-for-change-sake' that Cleveland Browns fans are used to.
I think we've got a more talented team than a lot of people give us credit for. Then again, I say that every year. It doesn't feel like an exaggeration to believe this team could win 8 games this year. As long as we can see some growth without masking it behind another disappointing 5-11 campaign than we should be okay. These young kids will have a years experience to draw upon and this is just the beginning of the youth movement so next year we'll have this core with some game play experience with pieces of the puzzle added on through the draft and FA I'm sure...
Here's the kool-aid, have a sip and there's plenty to go around for everyone. I think we Browns fans have plenty to be excited about this year.
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