Statistics and Needs

[Brown Warrior]

Originally Posted by YtownBacker

It only takes one team to like him not 32. Every teams board is different because of needs, fits to their system and character. Character could be very important to some and not so important to others. Teams get different opinions based on interviews of the player, his coaches and anybody else who will talk about the guy.

I don't think Mayock will dissuade any team that has fallen in love with the guy. What he's saying they already know.

Yeah, but PFT wasn't quoting Mayock. It's all out there. I don't think it drops him off boards entirely (like Bowers)... but it'll weigh him down a little.

[YtownBacker]

Like I said, it only takes one team to like a guy..........................................

[Tobalaz]

Originally Posted by YtownBacker

Like I said, it only takes one team to like a guy..........................................

The Raiders are living proof of that.

[hammertime]

Originally Posted by Tobalaz

The Raiders are living proof of that.

you got that right!!

why couldn't we have them drafting in front of us this year.

[Brown Warrior]

The upside of "reaching": Freeney and Alualu. One man's 20th ranked player might be another man's 5th rated player.

Same is true of corners. If you wanna send people from all over, you need corners. If you play a less volatile 4-3 (like us)... not as much.

[Brown Warrior]

More fun with stats: One of the most improved aspect of the Browns last year was pass defense. The team went from 29th to 8th in interceptions... and 24th to 17th in QBR against.

That's impressive. It really is. It's not a small sample, either. It's 16 games V. 16 games. And it was done without an improvement in the pass rush (25th in 2010) and with a very talented kid, Eric Wright, going from "future Pro Bowler" to toast.

So what did that mean to our bottom line? How many more games did we win?

ZERO. 5-11... to 5-11. Because we were the 31st scoring offense.

What's our biggest need this offseason? Grossi said it: Score more points. Duh, winning. It's not even an argument. The Browns drafted DBs 1/2, improved their pass defense, and were 12th in scoring defense. Hell, they were less than a point a game from #9!!

Job #1 is passing the ball better (we were 27th to 30th in everything) and scoring more points. Period.

[hammertime]

Originally Posted by Brown Warrior

More fun with stats: One of the most improved aspect of the Browns last year was pass defense. The team went from 29th to 8th in interceptions... and 24th to 17th in QBR against.

That's impressive. It really is. It's not a small sample, either. It's 16 games V. 16 games. And it was done without an improvement in the pass rush (25th in 2010) and with a very talented kid, Eric Wright, going from "future Pro Bowler" to toast.

So what did that mean to our bottom line? How many more games did we win?

ZERO. 5-11... to 5-11. Because we were the 31st scoring offense.

What's our biggest need this offseason? Grossi said it: Score more points. Duh, winning. It's not even an argument. The Browns drafted DBs 1/2, improved their pass defense, and were 12th in scoring defense. Hell, they were less than a point a game from #9!!

Job #1 is passing the ball better (we were 27th to 30th in everything) and scoring more points. Period.

Are you suggesting we make sure to be in position for Luck next year?
Do you really beleive either Green or Jones is a game changer in year 1?

WR's taken high in the 1st round need to perform right away in order to make them worth the pick.

We have so many holes to fill making this years draft uber important on getting starters. I really don't think we can afford to fill the 'diva' spot until our core positions are shored up.

[Brown Warrior]

#1 WR is our biggest need, Hammer. PFW's draft guide just said so. NFLN says so. You can say DL is close, and it is... but #1 WR is the biggest need. The Browns need to score more points and to score more points we need to pass the ball MUCH better.

It helps that McCoy is a year older. It helps that we're moving to a WCO, the best offense for him. But wen you look at personnel... what's missing? We're obviously relatively strong on the line, with two young Pro Bowlers. We obviously have a nice set of TEs (Watson led the AFC in catches, Moore is crazy talented). We have a TB who can run and catch, with 1,600 yards from scrimmage.

But we also have "the worst best WR in the NFL." It's difficult to even choose the nominee, honestly. We're that bad at WR. If there's ever been a more obvious "missing piece," I can't imagine it. A scary WR like Green or Jones would keep the safeties back, rotate coverage his way... he would make more of a difference than any other addition.

Rookie receivers have been contributing at a high level year after year lately. I made a list and it's a very, very long one. They've had impact.

Our defense got a lot better last year. It kept us in games. We didn't give up a lot of points... less than a point from top 10. Rubin became a star. Fujita and Gocong were terrific additions. Elam reemerged. Benard kept flashing pass rush ability. And the two top draft picks, Haden and Ward, were really good. On top of that, Shaefering looked like a guy who belonged in the NFL and in a DL rotation.

Sure, we'll do more work on the defense. I think the 37th pick will be a DE and we'll also take a linebacker pretty high. Jackson returns. Wright hopefully rebounds. We could take another step.

But when a team is 31st in scoring? Near the bottom in every passing stat? It's tough to NOT see that as the one thing we need to do way better.

[hammertime]

if we get a wr @ 6 that performs like a 6pick then its a homerun. big if though.

[Flugel]

Originally Posted by Sez.EJ

Mayock single handedly may be costing him a ton of money. But then again.. teams trust their own scouts and will work him out in person. I don't think the teams are watching Mayock on TV right now ha ha ha

Warren Sapp got the same predraft naughty boy needs no love in round 1. He had a terrific career that was briefly interrupted with some THC in his urine. Years ago, I would have looked at that another way. HOWEVER, when I'm seeing knuckleheads like Braylon's Edwards and Donte's Stallworths getting liquored up, public and arrested - makes me wonder why marijuana is viewed as the more evil no no. Charlie's Sheens and Lindsay's Lohans would argue otherwise.

FUNNY but true story. I once did an intake where I had to ask this guy if he used any drugs and he said no. Then I asked him if he was a smoker and he said occasionally. Trying not to show exactly how funny I was finding this I said that's pretty good discipline considering how addictive nicotine is supposed to be. He replied, "I ain't talking about cigarettes, I'm talking blunts and bongs." What's that tell us about somebody that grew up in an indigent pocket of America? Living by upper class America's rules?

Back to the topic. Last year I wasn't a Dez fan at all for reasons we're continuing to read about. He was raised to be easily distracted by some pretty crappy role models. Just like in college, his talent has the abbility to be rendered useless at the snap of a finger, completion of a decision or turn of an ankle. He's basically a tease that never completes a full season. We already had Donte Stallworth for that. Nick Fairley, on the other hand, showed up to the combines in shape to run a good 40 and look good in the drills he needed to.

I've heard Miles Austin was a JERK to alot of scouts a couple months ago according to Mayock. Now, he's getting moved up the charts because someone coached him up to be warm, fuzzy and personable during and after his pro day. LOVE the talent he offers but I don't get the inconsistencies of why 1 asshole gets moved up while another asshole gets moved down. Pittsburgh has a roster full of assholes; but its okay because they have a fanbase full of assholes paying all fines for playing like assholes. Maybe its time we add some mean basterds to our defense. Who here thinks Lawrence Taylor was nice young man? Courtney Brown was a GREAT kid that displayed nice sportsmanship; but it didn't do much for us in the wins and losses column.

BECAUSE this year's rookies won't get their dream salaries up front, there's going to be an incentive flame burning fanny cheeks especially on this kid. I didn't read 1 bad character story on Fairley until after he was the difference in the National Championship. Of course that's gonna equip the kid with swagger and confidence. That said, to ACCOMPLISH the things he did inside vrs where he was the season before came from very high effort. I think we have to differentiate character that prys a player away from football games like Dez vrs a mean basterd you want chasing the rapist behind Center in Pittsburgh. Who would you rather have lining up across from Ben Rapen - an alter boy like Courtney's Browns or a mean basterd?

[Sez.EJ]

I hearya on the Warren Sapp.. Love that guy. I'm not saying he's not a player..I'm saying bad press can really cost a guy. Lately though..more often than not where there is smoke there is fire.. Ceicel the diesel, william Green, and lawrence phillips are a few rb's that seem to jump to mind.

[Flugel]

Originally Posted by Sez.EJ

I hearya on the Warren Sapp.. Love that guy. I'm not saying he's not a player..I'm saying bad press can really cost a guy. Lately though..more often than not where there is smoke there is fire.. Ceicel the diesel, william Green, and lawrence phillips are a few rb's that seem to jump to mind.

Sez, I think it's important to check character so I piggybacked onto your reply. For the most part, we're totally on the same page. There's plenty of great examples to justify looking into character. I just want to make sure we don't get too short sighted off a kid being a kid. I'll bet alot of us made some bad decisions between ages 18-23. That said, if it was more an exception to a bigger rule - it shouldn't cost a great prospect his golden opportunity or his dream career. This is where teams gotta have the right people doing the research.

For instance, I don't think Dez Bryant is a BAD kid as much as I think he's had atrocious role models. For example, he was conceived from an act of statutory rape with his biological father being in his 40s while his mother was 14 before having Dez at age 15. She went to jail more than once dealing drugs and making money in the streets. ALL that being the case, this wasn't a kid that was being read to at bedtime or taught to follow society's rules. Consequenttly, DECISION making is what kept distracting him from honoring the FREE rtide scholarship that life was blessing him with.

He's got the perseverence of a William Green to defy ALL the odds and make it to the first round of the NFL draft. Let's his family demons don't blind side his football career the way William Green's did. Guess how many OWNERS trusted Dez won't get distratced from football? ONLY the guy that was thinking Pac Man and Tank Johnson were nice kids that were just a little misunderstood. My worry about Dez last year at this time had ZERO to do with his talent; and everything to do with the inability to get that wonderful football talent on the field on game day or like his previous coaching staff cautioned about the frustrations of getting him in uniform befor openning kickoff. Apparently, he's still hanging out with creeps.

On the other hand, a few years ago at this time I said I wanted us to draft Percy Harvin after I read Urban Meyer praising his football commitment with nobody outworked him in the weight room and offseason conditioning programs at UF. Then came a decision to smoke some marijuana like BJ Raji or Warren Sapp before that had been prone to doing so we went paralysis by analysis. Some would stay away from him while we considered the Brian Cushings of the world the win at all cost role models to aspire to. Guess what guy got busted for dirty urine in the NFL? Cush; but all was forgiven because he made Rookie of the Year on Defense. When Harvin came out - he was the NFC Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Point is - teams HAVE to do their research to see what is worthy of risk or how big the risk really is. ANOTHER way to go is to do what Tampa Bay did with Mike Williams at the expense of a 4th round draft pick. He was talented enough to be the first WR off the board last year but he got kicked off SU's team once and quit another season when the team's win-loss record was disappointing. Tampa Bay also snagged LaGarrette Blount after TN dropped him in the last round of cuts with Chris Johnson and Javon Ringer already secured on the depth chart. This was an undrafted talent just like Houston found with Arian Foster.

Sometimes a troubled soul will work on a roster with the right team leaders in tact, like say Corey Dillon and Randy Moss looking like they graduated from obedience school in NE as everything their previous teams hadn't seen from them character-wise. On the FLIP side of that is your Albert Haynesworth type. PRE dream contract, he was chasing that $ incentive while chasing QBs and collapsing inside pockets in his auditions for the dream payday. While I read about a sudden parallel to Nick Fairley, Fairley's first 3 years will be MORE like the Haynesworth audition than hanging up the cleats with contentment and best football in the rear view mirror. I think Shaun Rogers was a quiet version of Fat Albert in the sense of "If I don't like the scheme or staff, I'm getting my money anyway so why try?" On the cellphone, he had another shadey character named Shaun Smith reminding him not to give this franchise an ounce of sweat. Don't worry Mr Smith - he didn't.

Savage wasn't just bringing in veterans out of scheme - he was also bringing in bad characters(Stallworth,Smith,Bryant,Kenny Wright), oft-injureds (Stallworth,Peek,Lewis)and guys out of gas (Fisk, Washington) or all of the above... This is an area that needs massive improvement just like the draft.