Current Browns Depth Chart

[The Gipper]

The Current Browns Depth Chart looks like this:

 

QB: Weeden/Campbell/Hoyer

RB: TR/ Jackson/Maysonet/Jamaine Cook

FB: Ogbanaya, Smelley

LWR: Gordon/Benjamin/Nelson/Gurly/Roosevelt

RWR: Little/Bess/Cooper/Mike Edwards

TE: Cameron/Barnidge/Kellen Davis/Gronkowski

LT: JT/Butler/Martin Wallace

LG: Greco, Pinkston/Gilkey

C: Mack, Jarrod Shaw, Braxston Cave

RG: Cousins/Lauvao/Aaron Adams/Hauptmann

RT: The Schwartz...???

 

LDE Rubin/Hughes/Sanford/Paul Hazel

NT: Taylor/Kitchen

RDE: D. Bryant/Winn/Hall Davis/A. Bryant

LOLB: Kruger/Groves/Justin Staples

LILB: Robertson/Carder/JMJ/Justin Cole

RILB: DQJ/ LJ Fort/Eric Martin

ROLB: Sheard/Mingo

LCB: Haden/McFadden/Abdul Kanneh

SS: Ward/Bademosi/Josh Aubrey

FS: Gipson/Slaughter/Kent Richardson

RCB: Skrine/Owens/Akeem Auguste

 

P: Lanning/Schmidt

K: Graham/Bogotay

LS: Yount/ Winn

PR: Benjamin/Bess/Cooper/Edwards

KR: Bademosi/Benjamin/Skrine/Roosevelt

 

The ones I have bolded are whom I believe are sure things to make the roster. I count 40 players there. That means with a 53 man roster there are 13 jobs available. I count 35 "non-bold". Two of those jobs will be the kicker and punter to be hashed out among 4 people. Thus that means 11 other jobs with 31 players vying for them. So, say buhbye to 20 of the above non bold guys.

(of the 20, as many as 8 can be brought back for the PS)

 

So, which 11 will stick?

 

As crappy as tonight's game ordinarily would likely be, it is important to the 35 guys I have demarked.

[The Gipper]

My 13 to stick are:

Smelley

Nelson

Cooper

Gilkey

Barnidge

Davis

Jarrod Shaw

Butler

Carder

Fort

JMJ

Lanning

Graham

 

PS guys:

Maysonet

Cook

A.Bryant

Cole

Kanneh

Aubrey

Auguste

Cave

 

 

Bubble boys:

Edwards

Gurly

Roosevelt

Gronkowski

Martin Wallace

Aaron Adams

Hauptmann

Sanford (more trade bait?)

Hazel

Hall Davis

Staples

Eric Martin

K. Richardson

Schmidt

Bogotay

 

Some of these might develop an "unexpected injury" and be stashed on one of those lists.

[gftChris]

QB: Weeden/Campbell/Hoyer

RB: TR/ Jackson/Maysonet

FB: Ogbanaya

LWR: Gordon/Benjamin/Nelson

RWR: Little/Bess/Cooper

TE: Cameron/Barnidge/Davis

LT: JT/Butler

LG: Greco, Pinkston/Gilkey

C: Mack - Greco as backup C, hence three LG

RG: Cousins/Lauvao

RT: The Schwartz - Cousins/Butler as backup

LDE Rubin/Hughes/Paul Hazel

NT: Taylor/Kitchen

RDE: D. Bryant/Winn

LOLB: Kruger/Groves

LILB: Robertson/Carder/JMJ

RILB: DQJ/ LJ Fort

ROLB: Sheard/Mingo

LCB: Haden/McFadden

SS: Ward/Bademosi/Josh Aubrey

FS: Gipson/Slaughter

RCB: Skrine/Owens

P/H: Lanning (though I know nothing about the new guy - it could go either way)

K: Graham

LS: Yount

PR: Benjamin

KR: Bademosi/Benjamin/Skrine/Roosevelt

 

Practise Squad:

 

Cook

Roosevelt

Gurley

Cave

Auguste

A. Bryant

Hazel

Bogotay?

 

And bye-bye to:

 

Smelley

Roosevelt

Edwards

Gronk Jr

Wallace

Shaw

Adams

Hauptmann

Sanford - traded, I suspect, but not sure who for. A guard (cousins cut?) or RB (maysonet on PS) most likely candidates

Hall Davis - who?

Staples

Cole

Martin

Kanneh

K. Richardson

[The Gipper]

Roosevelt may not be eligible for the PS. The NFL believes having his face on Mt. Rushmore is sufficient for him.

 

No, really, there are rules about service time...and he may surpass them.

[Guest]

Don't forget, Gordon doesn't count against the roster the first two weeks, so an extra guy will make the team, my 53rd guy is Roosevelt.

I also think they will bring in another running back and take a hard look at guards and corners.

Zombo

[Shep]

Browns have signed two waiver wire LBs now (neither of whom I can name) with the 2nd an ILB type at 6'2" and 250. Cuts against the usual Horton style of having small, fast linebackers, but that opens a pair of possibilities: Backup linebackers are usually the core of special teams and I don't believe we're going to see Mingo there ever again. He's just way too valuable for what Horton wants to do, which is challenge the pocket.

 

Second, JMJ is toast. They might want a bigger ILB for short yardage situations and just don't see anything in Johnson.

 

I still predict a trade of either Hughes or Sanford... and now maybe an ILB... for a cornerback or RG. We'll absolutely add a guard at some point.

[The Gipper]

 

Don't forget, Gordon doesn't count against the roster the first two weeks, so an extra guy will make the team, my 53rd guy is Roosevelt.

I also think they will bring in another running back and take a hard look at guards and corners.

Zombo

 

I think we need to take a good hard look at Mr. President as our Kickoff Returner. As good as I think Bademosi is elsewhere, I don't like him at KR.

The problem of course is with the new rule nearly every damn kickoff is a touchback, so you can't tell how a guy can do there.

[thenew23]

Paul Hazel is a ILB, not DLineman. 6'5" 227lbs. He will not make the team

[Guest]

Five takeaways from Browns' 18-16 win in Chicago: Should they keep only two quarterbacks?

Aug 30, 2013 -- 1:46pm

By Tony Grossi | ESPNCleveland.com

Photo/AP

Extra Points …

Five takeaways from the Browns’ 18-16 victory over the Chicago Bears …

1. Did David Nelson show enough in one mop-up exhibition game to make the final roster? I say yes. The receiver situation is this: Josh Gordon (suspended) will miss the first two games. Then there are Greg Little, Davone Bess and Travis Benjamin. Josh Cooper looks like a future chains-mover like Bess. So that’s five, reduced to four the first two weeks. Admittedly, Nelson was rusty in his first live action since tearing an ACL last September. He was out of synch in his routes and kept slipping. So give him some football cleats and give him plenty of practice reps now that he is healthy. His size and sure hands (based on his Buffalo years) will be assets when he regains his form and his confidence in a system still very new to him. The Browns have invested this much time waiting for Nelson to get on the practice field. They should not pull the plug on him now. There’s really nobody else better at the receiver position.

2. I’ve never seen the kicking game so uncertain on the day before final roster cut. That situation is this: Place-kicker Shayne Graham is reliable on field goals from inside 40 yards, but his short kickoffs are a liability. New punter Colton Schmidt displayed a strong leg on kickoffs in Chicago – and had a good punt in his only opportunity – but Spencer Lanning appears to be the stronger punter after two straight good outings. And Lanning was impressive in making the winning field goal in Chicago after Graham experienced tightness in his back in warm-ups. The Browns should try to avoid a weekly carousel at these positions, but I’m not sure how to resolve them. Plus, the kick returner situation is a puzzle. Dion Lewis’ season-ending injury has left Travis Benjamin as the only real option at kick returner, but the club does not want to over-tax him because of a presumed larger role on offense (and punt returner).

3. Do the Browns really need three quarterbacks over the age of 27? If they had a strong-armed developmental type, he would be automatic No. 3. But do they need Jason Campbell, 31, and Brian Hoyer, 27, both wasting away as Nos. 2 and 3 (whatever order you put them)? Neither of them are going to displace Brandon Weeden this year. If that does happen, the season will unravel fast and all attention will turn to the 2014 draft. So why not step “out of the box” and just keep two quarterbacks? If that were the case, my money would go on Hoyer as No. 2 because he is younger than Campbell, has more experience in a winning program than Campbell, and is a better field leader – as evidence in Chicago. If the Browns do need a third quarterback at some point this season, there is a list of a dozen or so who will gladly take their phone call.

4. There is an imbalance on the roster. There is a surplus at defensive line and linebacker and a severe need at cornerback, safety and running back. Also, I’m not comfortable without a blow-it-up, lead-blocking fullback on the team. Some of these weaknesses were the result of injuries, but the fact is there has been no injection of youth from the 2013 draft. After No. 1 pick Barkevious Mingo, who may be back for Game 2, the head-scratching decisions made in the draft have manifested into hair-pulling problems as the season begins. It will take some crafty personnel acquisitions to bail out some of the floodwater that has risen in the boat.

5. It appears to me that these are the key players on the roster bubble: Running back Brandon Jackson (1.5-yard average), H-back Brad Smelley, tight end Dan Gronkowski, linebacker James-Michael Johnson, linebacker L.J. Fort, linebacker Tank Carder, linebacker Justin Staples, end Brian Sanford, nose tackle Ishmaa’ily Kitchen, end Armonty Bryant, and offensive lineman Jarrod Shaw.

 

http://espncleveland.com/common/more.php?m=49&post_id=21601

 

[The Gipper]

Some thoughts on the Grossi article:

 

A. This FO apparently wanted no part of Phil Dawson, so this uncertainty is what we get. I don't know if they were just wanting to be cheap, or to just say FU to a long time steady performer.

 

B. Nelson? I have no more confidence in him than I do in certainly Josh Cooper...or any of the other WRs on the bubble on this team.

I don't know much about his past, so I don't know him.

 

C. Not carry 3 QBs? I have one word: 2008.

 

D. RB? Yes, it is thin because we lost our #2 and #3 to injuries. Not sure what to do about that. Look for the waiver wire. Agree, Jackson hasn't looked good. Are we gonna leave it up to the likes of Maysonet and Cook.

 

E. On that blow up FG....I say if you really need that 1 yard, throw the kitchen sink at them. Literally....put Ismaely Kitchen in their and let him blast a hole.

 

F. On the draft and on the thinness at CB/S....this was the fucking Lombardi plan. Don't let Heckert's staff make picks...wait until next year when he and "his" team can do it. It was more important for him to be able to do it his way than to win and acquire talent now. So, we go with McFadden and Slaughter and tough it out.

 

G. "It will take some crafty personnel acquisitions to bail out some of the floodwater that has risen in the boat."

The implication by Toni here is that he doesn't think Lombardi is crafty enough to pull it off. He has reason to believe that.

[Mark O]

Some thoughts on the Grossi article:

 

A. This FO apparently wanted no part of Phil Dawson, so this uncertainty is what we get. I don't know if they were just wanting to be cheap, or to just say FU to a long time steady performer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think it was just as much the other way around. Phil made no indication that he wanted to return to Cleveland. I don't think we'll ever know the truth and I credit the front office for keeping quiet on this. I think the FO is taking the blame from a lot of people for pushing Phil out the door but at the same time, the only way to keep him was franchise tag him again from what I remember that meant paying a kicker (a great one but still a kicker) like 10 million a year or more. In a salary cap league, that's not the best way to spend your money.