Sunday morning read

[ballpeen]

 

 

http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/blog/index....about_shaq.html

 

 

About the Browns ...

 

1. Yes, Florida cornerback Joe Haden is very attractive to the Browns, who want to add at least three defensive backs between the draft and free agency. The coaches believe they have only two legitimate starters in the secondary -- Eric Wright and Abe Elam. They consider Elam the No. 2 safety, meaning they want a real playmaker at the position. They have no idea what will happen with Brodney Pool, who was making significant progress before suffering a season-ending concussion in Game 11. It was at least his fourth concussion since turning pro in 2005.

 

2. Clearly, Tennessee safety Eric Berry appears to be a rising star, but he is expected to be gone long before the Browns pick at No. 7. Haden could be available. The Browns had 10 interceptions last season -- four by Pool, whose future is in question. The average NFL team had 16. Only three teams -- St. Louis, Detroit and Oakland -- had fewer interceptions.

 

3. To demonstrate the utter softness of the secondary, the Browns ranked eighth in sacks, which means they were putting pressure on opposing passers. Yet, it didn't produce more interceptions. I confess to not understanding all the formulas used in the profootballfocus.com rating system, but they rated the Browns at No. 6 in pressuring quarterbacks. Yet they were No. 24 in pass coverage, which is exactly how the team sees the problem.

 

4. The Browns believe Wright can develop into a top-10 cornerback. They thought he did a solid job in coverage, but his casual approach to tackling was disturbing. They did see some improvement near the end of the season. They also were encouraged when Wright began to show some improvement in his willingness to go to the blackboard and diagram coverages in meetings with his position players and coaches -- because they want him to show some leadership.

 

5. The Browns believe being handed starting positions as rookies may have hurt Brandon McDonald and Wright, giving them both a sense of entitlement -- especially since the team didn't add players who could push the two cornerbacks. That's why in the middle of the season the Browns just benched McDonald and started backup safety Michael Adams at cornerback. They respected Adams' preparation and toughness, even though he lacks the physical attributes to be an above-average cornerback. At least he understands coverages and tries to hit receivers hard, whereas McDonald's tackling often was embarrassing.

 

6. So in the plans for next season are Wright, Elam and Adams. But they want Adams as a reserve, and would like to add at least two starters and a couple of backups. McDonald and Coye Francies (a sixth-rounder in 2009) will be in camp, but they are promised nothing for 2010. The Browns were disappointed in Francies, who just didn't improve -- unlike so many other young players and undrafted free agents who used those extra practice periods to earn playing time on Sunday.

 

7. Francies was one of three picks the Browns had in the sixth round, along with James Davis and Don Carey. Davis was injured early in the season. Carey was cut. Francies has some physical gifts, but he's a guy who attended two different junior colleges, along with Oregon and San Jose State. When a player moves around that much, it sometimes is a warning sign that something is wrong.

 

8. The Browns also want to add a legitimate right tackle. The coaches believe you build an offensive line with a top-flight center (Alex Mack) and two impact tackles. They have one in Joe Thomas on the left side. They want an upgrade over John St. Clair on the right side. This can happen via free agency or the draft. They then think you can work in some veterans at the guard spots. Right now, the Browns have Eric Steinbach, Pork Chop Womack, Hank Fraley and St. Clair as guard possibilities, assuming they can find that right tackle.

 

[Riffer X]

Okay I have to admit I had no idea we ranked that high in sacks. This really goes to show the secondary definitely needs improved drastically and they know this. I thought Pool should have been shopped last year because of the concussion issue and the fact I just don't think he has the instincts to ever be an impact safety. I don't read too much into the picks he had, those don't always tell the whole story and it was only 4.

 

To me, this almost guarantees the pick of Haden. I firmly believe Wright has the capabilities to be a top flight corner himself, so having two impact corners could be a HUGE thing for this defense. I also like that Pluto thinks players can be had via free agency, although that is still up in the air. Many people are insinuating there will be no FA movement at all and I find that ludicrous. I also think players will want to come here with the new FO and direction the team is going. They can over spend also, and players around the league know teams on the rise as good as anybody. Even Heckert has said this team has more talent than people on the outside looking in think.

 

Not sure where I stand on Elam but he is serviceable while other areas are upgraded. I still didn't like the mishandling of Carey and letting him get claimed, but Francies is apparently living up to his lack of character in last year's draft. He was basically the only guy we took that had questionable character, and this is why it is at such a premium. No doubt the kid showed talent early on. Glad to hear Wright is stepping up as a team leader and he really started to tackle late in the season....I think the light went off for him. Poteat should not have a roster spot right now. Matter of fact, he should have been cut after giving the Lions that game. One thing I know for sure and stated this when we picked him up, if that guy is playing your secondary has issues. He was a plug in for Mangie last year to get through the season, but hopefully he is gone like Ralph Brown.

 

I think as long as Haden is there it is a no brainer at this point, even though I still love me some Spiller.

[Gips]

Personally i dont believe that we have a true nfl caliber starter in our secondary including wright who is iffy at best and elam who lacks speed ,hard tackling and instinct doesnt play well at all in my book...we need at least one thumper ass safety and one shutdown CB not to mention a couple of LBs to even begin to think our defense is solid..

[ballpeen]

Personally i dont believe that we have a true nfl caliber starter in our secondary including wright who is iffy at best and elam who lacks speed ,hard tackling and instinct doesnt play well at all in my book...we need at least one thumper ass safety and one shutdown CB not to mention a couple of LBs to even begin to think our defense is solid..

 

 

i think Wright is fine....if he gets to match up on the other teams #2...Stick Haden on the #1, Wright is going to improve.

 

[HowieDawg]

Thanks for this Ballpeen, I have been thinking about the secondary since the end of the season and I hope that this truly does become a key focus area for us. That sack - pressure / secondary stats comparison speaks for itself, I appreciate you putting it out there. Coverage and tackling were the two most gut wrenching factors for so many of our losses last season, I felt sorry for the DL who must have wondered what the hell they had to do to force some TOs.

[timpiker]

a top hard hitting safety would sure solve a lot of backfield issues... find another cb starter instead of mcdonald and have mcdonald try to cover the slot receivers.

 

and that right tackle has to be fixed. its been atrocious for years except for tucker.

[Skinny]

Personally i dont believe that we have a true nfl caliber starter in our secondary including wright who is iffy at best and elam who lacks speed ,hard tackling and instinct doesnt play well at all in my book...we need at least one thumper ass safety and one shutdown CB not to mention a couple of LBs to even begin to think our defense is solid..

linebacker isn't a concern i don't think. We had a lot of young guys step up at the end of the year. get dq and barton healthy and we should be ok there

[darubes]

I kind of agree with most of the comments. I have said all along that IMO the safety

position is the most glaring weakness on the defense. We simply have no NFL type

impact players at this position.Pool is average at best on his best days. He has one

or two big games and plays per year and the other 14 games is invisible. And hat is

not even mentioning his injury problems.

 

Abe Elam is a total waste. Speaking of being invisible, you can watch a complete game

and never see him make a tackle let alone an impact play. When you have Polamalu and

Reed in your division and you have Elam as your starter.....

[NW Ohio Brownie]

Terry, as always, makes good points.

 

His statistics about the pass rush back up what everyone saw this season: consistent pressure upon the quarterback, yet our secondary getting torched game after game after game. Really, the only game it all came together was against Pittsburgh in December. They couldn't run or throw the ball, and we hit Jenny Craig on every throw.

 

We need help in the secondary. You just can't hide guys back there. They will get exposed in this league, and especially in our division when all the QBs are healthy.

 

Haden would give us an impact player at a key position on the field. He would compliment Wright very well. And what's more, Haden will throttle people. He's a lot like Antoine Winfield, a good cover guy that will also step up and have a running back looking out his earhole after he gets hit.