Doerschuck: Kolb, First Round WR, 2nd Round Tackle

[Shep]

Browns 2011: Who could be coming and going? - Canton, OH - CantonRep.com

[OconRecon]

Shep my brother, R mouse click, copy/paste.

BEREA —

Insofar as “wait ‘til next year” has become a September tradition in Berea, it’s time — already — to look ahead to 2011.

It’s already unlikely in the extreme that 2010 can amount to anything more than a moral victory. After all, only five teams that have gotten off to 0-3 starts have gone on to the postseason, and their record in playoff games is 1-5.

Thus, while the 2010 team can busy itself planning some sort of miracle, our thoughts here turn to what the team might look like in 2011 — based on the shaky assumption there will be a 2011 season.

Quarterback

Jake Delhomme will turn 36 in January. Seneca Wallace, 30, is 5-11 as an NFL starter. Colt McCoy was drafted in Round 3 with the hope, not the conviction, he will hit it big.

With each strong game with the Eagles, Michael Vick pushes Kevin Kolb closer to the trading block. The guess is Browns General Manager Tom Heckert suspects Kolb can be a playoff-style quarterback in 2011. There is no more likely trading partner than Cleveland.Running back

The Browns certainly don’t specialize in surprise finds, but (aside from his game-numbing fumble at Tampa Bay), what’s not to like about Peyton Hillis?

Jerome Harrison might need a change of scenery. A Hillis-Montario Hardesty platoon would give him one. Hillis gives the Browns the luxury of not overloading Hardesty in his comeback from knee surgery.



Wide receiver

Why commit to another year of suffering by spending a high first-round pick on a quarterback who won’t be ready to win until 2012?

If Kolb arrives in a trade, expect words along these lines to come from Commissioner Roger Goodell: “With the seventh pick in the draft, the Cleveland Browns select wide receiver ...”

Does anyone have a clue how Joshua Cribbs, Mohamed Massaquoi and Brian Robiskie will shake out at this position?



Tight end

Ben Watson isn’t a kid anymore, but he won’t turn 30 until December. Evan Moore, 25, is using the NFL as a springboard to a career as a lawyer, so it’s hard to gauge how passionate he is about football.

This is a workable tandem that is hardly guaranteed but could be rather good.



Offensive line

Left tackle Joe Thomas, left guard Eric Steinbach and center Alex Mack should be a nice trio. Tom Heckert’s reputation for key finds will be tested with Shaun Lauvao, a rookie third-round pick who really needs to pan out at right guard. Right tackle? “With the 39th pick in the 2011 draft, the Cleveland Browns select ...”



Defensive line

Eric Mangini might not be here to stay, but a three-man front probably is. Third-year pro Ahtyba Rubin might be the only current Browns’ lineman one would bet on lasting three more years in the league. The listed starters are Robaire Smith (turns 33 in November), Shaun Rogers (31 years old, riddled by injuries since late last year) and 31-year-old Kenyon Coleman (who spent five years as a nonstarter before landing with Mangini’s Jets in 2007).

All of the old guys might be back — or none of them.



Linebackers

The current abundance of linebackers is as telling as the thin defensive line as to the team having little choice but to stick with a 3-4 next year.

Again, though, age is a big issue, especially after 2009 Round 2 pick David Veikune didn’t work out. Prominent rotation members include 33-year-old David Bowens, Eric Barton (turns 33 Wednesday) and Scott Fujita (turns 32 in April). Matt Roth and D’Qwell Jackson both are potential free agents, and Jackson will have missed 22 straight games with pectoral injuries.

Chris Gocong and Marcus Benard are decent young starter types, and Jason Trusnik is fine as a rotation guy.

This group’s peak year together should have been 2010.



Cornerbacks

Eric Wright’s game at Baltimore was an epic disaster, but both Wright, his teammates and his coaches seem to think it was an aberration. If this season wasn’t going anywhere in the first place, the game might actually have helped the team in terms of affording to sign Wright to a contract extension. The price tag is down for now.

Wright, Sheldon Brown and Joe Haden could be very good together if they work out the bugs and come back as a trio in 2011.



Safeties

Rookie Round 2 pick T.J. Ward is making new General Manager Tom Heckert look pretty smart. He keeps making strong plays at key times, and if he gets the rookie mistakes out of his system, could give the 2011 Browns the kind of difference-maker division rivals Pittsburgh and Baltimore have had at the position.

Abe Elam is an adequate starter who, at this point, probably will still be around.

[bret244]

Yeah I would expect either Julio Jones or AJ green going to the browns in the first round. I would like to find a good pass rusher too.

[Alo]

MoMass has been a big disappointment so far this season. Maybe we can get him to play better by bringing in his protege, AJ Green.

[Shep]

I'm not sure what the future holds for Robiskie or Mo... but I could absolutely see them not on the roster in a couple years.

[Sez.EJ]

Doerschuck as always seems to be talking out both sides of his butt. He says draft a WR with our first pick..then says.. we don't know what we have with Momass and Robo.. It's too early for this crap.. we are 3 games into the season.. Wait until week 17.. then we will KNOW quite a bit better what we have with Momass and Robo.. and if we venture to spend a #1 on a WR or not.. Wallace canot get the ball to the WR's.. the only way I see them growing this year is to get JDH back on the field..He at least works the WR's into the game.

[Shep]

Cribbs is a WR and he had a good game with Wallace.

Watch Mo and Robo some time, not where the ball goes ('cuz it won't be to them): They can't get open.

Robiskie in game one, with JDH: 1 catch, 6 yards.

[Vegasdogg]

Kolb could turn out to be the next Rob Johnson. They better know what they're doing with this position.

[Shep]

Originally Posted by Vegasdogg

Kolb could turn out to be the next Rob Johnson. They better know what they're doing with this position.

I hear you. I'm a little nervous, too. I didn't really love him coming out of college.

I'm kinda putting my faith in Heckert on this one. We'll see if he pulls the trigger.

[Enigmatic Evil]

If we were going to make an investment and go to a QB, I would like to go after a QB who has at least established a track record that he CAN be successful. In the handful of games that Kevin Kolb has started, the majority of those games he's spent looking out of his element and really I've never had faith in him and I see no reason to believe he will suddenly evolve out of nowhere. He's had, what...one, maybe two GOOD games for the Eagles?

Really. I know Hecker's got a big GM sized crush on Kolb, and obviously has because he drafted him and their names keep connecting but I would love it much more if we went after somebody who will give us more of a tell as to what we're going to get. With Kolb, I don't have much confidence. If he does become a Brown and he becomes the QB we all wanted then I'll be happy to concede defeat. As of yet, I'm not exactly sure why all this Buzz is surrounding Kolbs name, other than the fact that Philly keeps finding better QB's than him to start rather than giving him the time to grow into the role of an NFL starter.

We need a QB, we need something, I'm not convinced Kolb is the QB to go after. Especially since the Eagles can't seem to make their minds up regarding him. Why should that inspire my confidence?

[Danamal]

It seems with the record we will post this season we will be in the drivers seat as far as who we want when we want it,something tells me we pick number one next year,it's not a bad thing in the scheme of things were very close to being legit just an awful lot of ugly Sundays till we get there...

[King of Kings]

Ohhh Stevie D how you let me down.....

Originally Posted by Enigmatic Evil

If we were going to make an investment and go to a QB, I would like to go after a QB who has at least established a track record that he CAN be successful. In the handful of games that Kevin Kolb has started, the majority of those games he's spent looking out of his element and really I've never had faith in him and I see no reason to believe he will suddenly evolve out of nowhere. He's had, what...one, maybe two GOOD games for the Eagles?

Really. I know Hecker's got a big GM sized crush on Kolb, and obviously has because he drafted him and their names keep connecting but I would love it much more if we went after somebody who will give us more of a tell as to what we're going to get. With Kolb, I don't have much confidence. If he does become a Brown and he becomes the QB we all wanted then I'll be happy to concede defeat. As of yet, I'm not exactly sure why all this Buzz is surrounding Kolbs name, other than the fact that Philly keeps finding better QB's than him to start rather than giving him the time to grow into the role of an NFL starter.

We need a QB, we need something, I'm not convinced Kolb is the QB to go after. Especially since the Eagles can't seem to make their minds up regarding him. Why should that inspire my confidence?

Well Kolb kind of IS out of his element in Philly. Their O.L. sucks and isn't really conducive to a pocket passer. I think having McNabbs ability to scramble has kind put O.L. on the backburner in Philly for awhile now. As a result and as we seen it got Kolb injured. On the flipside Mikey Vick thinks he's the only player on the team so his running around like a fucking moron kind of fits the situation better.

My confidence? My confidence comes from multiple teams bugging Reid about the guy along with the fact Heckert drafted him and Heckert seen his progress and ability in person the whole time. I'm willing to put my trust into those things if we trade for him.

Coming here he'll have alot better O.L. protection, not quite as good D(more in a minute) and not as good WR's. BUT we ca draft some rookies and with his experience they'll get up to speed quicker. On the defensive front grabbing Kolb kind of opens things up in the draft for us quite a bit and we can give him a solid D pretty quickly. We can give him what Philly can't without a major O.L. upgrade. I'm willing to let Heckert plan based on what's best.