Room for improvement

[Barking Hard]

BEREA: The Browns are definitely better this season, and they finally have a win to show for it. They blew fourth-quarter leads in each of the first three games and couldn't resist giving the Cincinnati Bengals (2-2) a shot at a comeback win on Sunday. The offense, though, buckled down to run the clock and grind out a 23-20 victory in the Battle of Ohio.

[Shep]

Agreed. Our front 7 had a really, really good game, especially Ward, Fujita, and Coleman, who is still a very good player. Robaire Smith leads all of our DL in tackles with 20, something he seems to do every year. Might be the most underrated player on the team. He's a really good 3-4 DE in this league.

Coleman and Robaire are getting up there in years... but let's not mistake them for bad players. They're both very good. We'll add a DE with more quicks but I would want both of these guys back next year. I'd like to get Jackson back and add a pass rusher at OLB, but Gocong, Roth, Fujita, and Benard should all come back, if you ask me.

The corners seem to be taking turns getting burned, but part of it is our blitzes not getting there. The other part is... well... they're getting burned. Our pass defense, Wright in particular, has been disappointing.

I'd like to see Moore on the field more, in the slot standing up as he was on the TD. He, Watson, and Stuckey seem to be finding the spaces.

[Inspecta]

Originally Posted by Shep

The corners seem to be taking turns getting burned, but part of it is our blitzes not getting there. The other part is... well... they're getting burned. Our pass defense, Wright in particular, has been disappointing.

I completely agree here. Some of the time Ryan is throwing the kitchen sink at the QB which leaves our corners vulnerable, and other times I've noticed the corners just have poor position, and fail to recognize the routes their receivers are running.

I'd like to see Moore on the field more, in the slot standing up as he was on the TD. He, Watson, and Stuckey seem to be finding the spaces.

I also agree here. Well actually it's a little late because I think Wallace could have really benefited from having a big target like Moore on the field....more

Now that Delhomme is back I'd like to see his focus solely on our young receivers and getting them much needed experience.

[King of Kings]

Originally Posted by Inspecta

I completely agree here. Some of the time Ryan is throwing the kitchen sink at the QB which leaves our corners vulnerable, and other times I've noticed the corners just have poor position, and fail to recognize the routes their receivers are running.

Or they just slip and fall on their ass. Though i've been seeing that a ton this season with players on every team, way more than normal so I wonder if the NFL has went to a different cleat style or something. Yes i'm serious, I find it odd that players are slipping on banana peels like crazy this year throughout the NFL.

[JewDago]

Originally Posted by Shep

Robaire Smith leads all of our DL in tackles with 20, something he seems to do every year. Might be the most underrated player on the team. He's a really good 3-4 DE in this league.

robaire is definitely the unsung hero of the browns' DL. he's just solid all the way around, not spectacular or flashy, but in the right place all the time. he's what a competent 3-4 DE needs to be. it'd be great to have him around to mentor whomever his replacement end up being, which is something heckert needs to get on pronto. he did great work drafting defensive players in philly, and it'll be very, very interesting to see whether he can transition that aptitude to finding guys who fit a different base scheme that follows similar principles - jim johnson's 4-3 was the best blitzing defense this side of lebeau.

Originally Posted by Shep

I'd like to see Moore on the field more, in the slot standing up as he was on the TD. He, Watson, and Stuckey seem to be finding the spaces.

the only problem with having all three of those guys on the field at once is that they all line up in the middle of the field, which restricts the formations we can use them in to bunch-type forms.

having a flex TE who can be used like dallas clark is helps the offense a ton. it means he's a mismatch guy, a guy who DBs are too small for and LBs are too slow for. it's a great weapon for the offense.

the exception to having all three on the field at once could be in the red zone, where i'd like to see moore lined up all the way outside in either the X or Y position. when you've got a former basketball player on your team, he's the guy you throw fades to.

[Shep]

Originally Posted by Inspecta

I completely agree here. Some of the time Ryan is throwing the kitchen sink at the QB which leaves our corners vulnerable, and other times I've noticed the corners just have poor position, and fail to recognize the routes their receivers are running.



I also agree here. Well actually it's a little late because I think Wallace could have really benefited from having a big target like Moore on the field....more

Now that Delhomme is back I'd like to see his focus solely on our young receivers and getting them much needed experience.

Delhomme likes Moore, too. I think he had 5 for 86 in the opener.

[Shep]

BTW, I thought it seemed like Tony Pashos played an excellent game and I just read Terry Pluto saying the same. When Lauvao returns, we'll have six starter quality linemen for five spots. Next year, Lauvao likely starts at RG, leaving Pashos and Womack to fight it out at right tackle.

This is a very good line and for once we have some continuity to look forward to. I'm sure we'll draft another right side blocker to develop, but I doubt it would be before round 4-ish.

Again: QB, WR, DE, and LB. I think we need four quality starters between now and next Summer. I think we just might trade Rogers soon to add a pick, which would be a good thing.

[Sez.EJ]

Shep. I agree trading Rogers before the deadline to get a pick would be a good thing. The only real problem I see is that he only played one game so far, did not do much in that game and got 2 penalties. But if a team looks at his past.. has a need.. we could still get a 3rd or better for him. I think a 3rd is about right because he's still not in real good game shape. I'd like to see Lauvao crack the starting linup this year... and it could happen. Womack has been solid but not spectacular..so if they are about even now..you go with Lauvao due to potential to be better. I think we need MORE than 1 WR next year.. I think we need more than one DE and more than 1 LB.. and better depth in the secondary.. I think we need more like 5-6 new starters before next year..

[Shep]

Funny thing about Womack is that starting with the last five games of last season, he's playing the best ball of his career (I think Holmgren said that). He's really playing well.

And he ain't ancient or falling apart. He'll be a real asset for a couple more years at least. I'd like to have a veteran like him on the right side in front of Luck or Locker. With Thomas, Mack, and Lauvao, we'd have a very young core to build around for years. Good teams plug in veterans all the time.

[Enigmatic Evil]

Makes me laugh that Robaire is getting a lot of props this year when last season when I tried to convince you guys he was a good player for us a lot of you said he's getting old and we need youth. Valid, but still, I'm going to be smarmy in this instance.

With Jake coming back/If Jake comes back I would like to see the ball spread around a little more. It's not about specifically getting the WR's involved. He has the arm to make the throws all over the field, but I think that we can really get more people involved rather than seeing two or three recievers get the majority of the catches during any given game.

We need to get rid of Abe Elam. Period. Ward's out there, he's making hits and making plays, what's Elam doing? I feel like we've only got one safety out there.

I'm biting my tongue in regards to Eric Wright. I think it was Inspecta that said he may be having some "mental" issues and I think that's completely valid. Can any of you think of him making these kinds of mistakes or having these kinds of big plays created at his expense last season? I can't. We were considering him, in some circles, as a "top 5" CB in the entire league. That assertion seems so ridiculous now but at that point and time last off season I was ready to believe.

I don't feel that we're as set at HB as we feel we are. Hillis has really emerged and I'm not surprised, I've always been a fan of the guy from his Bronco days. Behind him is where I get a bit worried. Harrison is having an off-year, or maybe just is overrated by the fans. Davis is a next-to-non factor but he technically has less than 10 regular season carries so I don't feel we have a large enough body of work to know what we really have with him. Behind Hillis, it's all question marks.