More Braylon Fun

[bonedawg]

Got this in my weekly fantasy football email. If there is one good thing that happened this season, it is getting rid of Mr. movie star stone hands.

 

"DOWN Braylon Edwards, WR, Jets

So much for Braylon's reviving his career with the Jets. He has just seven catches over his past three games, and just 50 yards over his past two games. He was even called out by coach Rex Ryan on Tuesday because of the receiver's lack of ball security, according to the New York Daily News. You can't feel good about starting him."

 

[ClevelandFanForLife]

be careful what you wish for...

[Thaak]

I guess there goes our higher draft pick.

[Flugel]

I guess there goes our higher draft pick.

 

Remember when Phil Savage informed us he was the "safest" pick in the draft for the #3 overall pick? Who else liked to draft WRs in the top half of round 1 - Matt Millen? Real safe!

 

- Tom F.

[bonedawg]

Remember when Phil Savage informed us he was the "safest" pick in the draft for the #3 overall pick? Who else liked to draft WRs in the top half of round 1 - Matt Millen? Real safe!

 

- Tom F.

 

Now Millen is calling NFL games and providing football analysis. How does that work?

[DieselPusher]

Now Millen is calling NFL games and providing football analysis. How does that work?

 

Isn't that what Savage is doing for Alabama??

[Guest Metcalf_FTW]

I was so happy when I just saw Braylon drop that deep pass a few minutes ago. Wide open, over the shoulder, dropped. What a doofus from Michigan.

[Flugel]

Now Millen is calling NFL games and providing football analysis. How does that work?

 

That's an interesting point you bring up. The weird thing is I actually LIKE Millen as a commentator because he knows the game. I think he was a defensive captain on a Superbowl team or 2 in Oakland so understanding the game was never his issue. His issue seemed to be the eye for x-factor talent needed to turn around a bad franchise.

 

Phil's is pretty much the same thing. Phil was once a coach here in Cleveland so he knew things like technique, fundamentals, skills and strategy. What he didn't know was how to bet on the winning horses our franchise was in desperate need of. I look at the total sum of all his draft picks and see the only 1 that turned out special was Joe Thomas in his 4 years of being here with the primary purpose of improving our drafts. Not only that, but he gave up day 1 of the 2008 draft and left us only 5 draftees. Then he had us set for only 4 draft picks in 2009, which started us off on the wrong foot for 09 more than many people care to fathom.

 

Savage didn't HIRE himself so that's prolly why we continue to hear our front office is in shambles. I don't think I've ever been less confident in our team than I am today. IMO, the Head Coach is just 1 symptom of being surrounded by too many pawns, bad investments, countless injuries and crummy supervsion above him. We don't need a Head Coach - we need Houdini or Jesus of Nazareth to restore the lost pulse. Hate feeling this way but I'm only counting 5 wins in the last 27 or 28 outings, which is inexcusable in season 11 of NFL body by Lerner. A GOOD man of business knows the products and materials that make his business succeed - we have a guy with an inheritance and too many hobbies outside of Cleveland and across the Atlantic Ocean. The only thing we got back was a crappy owner and a couple players worthy of wearing our colors.

- Tom F. (I think the only thing that would revive my faith in this franchise is Bill Parcells getting hired as GM. Talk about Santa Claus coming to Town!)

[Thaak]

That's an interesting point you bring up. The weird thing is I actually LIKE Millen as a commentator because he knows the game. I think he was a defensive captain on a Superbowl team or 2 in Oakland so understanding the game was never his issue. His issue seemed to be the eye for x-factor talent needed to turn around a bad franchise.

 

Phil's is pretty much the same thing. Phil was once a coach here in Cleveland so he knew things like technique, fundamentals, skills and strategy. What he didn't know was how to bet on the winning horses our franchise was in desperate need of. I look at the total sum of all his draft picks and see the only 1 that turned out special was Joe Thomas in his 4 years of being here with the primary purpose of improving our drafts. Not only that, but he gave up day 1 of the 2008 draft and left us only 5 draftees. Then he had us set for only 4 draft picks in 2009, which started us off on the wrong foot for 09 more than many people care to fathom.

 

Savage didn't HIRE himself so that's prolly why we continue to hear our front office is in shambles. I don't think I've ever been less confident in our team than I am today. IMO, the Head Coach is just 1 symptom of being surrounded by too many pawns, bad investments, countless injuries and crummy supervsion above him. We don't need a Head Coach - we need Houdini or Jesus of Nazareth to restore the lost pulse. Hate feeling this way but I'm only counting 5 wins in the last 27 or 28 outings, which is inexcusable in season 11 of NFL body by Lerner. A GOOD man of business knows the products and materials that make his business succeed - we have a guy with an inheritance and too many hobbies outside of Cleveland and across the Atlantic Ocean. The only thing we got back was a crappy owner and a couple players worthy of wearing our colors.

- Tom F. (I think the only thing that would revive my faith in this franchise is Bill Parcells getting hired as GM. Talk about Santa Claus coming to Town!)

 

Didn't Savage draft D Jackson?

[ClevelandFanForLife]

 

here it is in case you didn't see it.

[bonedawg]

@clevelandfan

 

That video is effing awesome! His failure to catch the ball is amazing. I love how Sanchez was all ready to celebrate with his "we're number one" finger in the air and then he awkwardly pullled it down.

[Flugel]

Didn't Savage draft D Jackson?

 

Thaak,

I'm not as warm and fuzzy about Wali Rainer Jr as everyone else. When I see his impact getting our defense off the field within 3 downs I'll begin to understand why some think he's a superstar. I can't imagine Shaun Rogers on the Nose has made life rough for him. That being the case, I'll clarify exactly where I don't think he's that great - 1st step instinct. 1st step instinct is the difference between making a tackle at or behind the line of scrimmage and making it too far off the line of scrimmage. It's also why you always seemed to see a guy like Tedy Bruschi intercepting passes in hook zones in important games inspite of not being blessed with the greatest footspeed. His intincts often got him to the right spot BEFORE faster opponents could get there. It was frequent. Ray Lewis is even better at it. Mike Johnson and Pepper Johnson were good at it. Alot of these ILBers I speak of could stick people so hard they forced fumbles, induced wake-ups to smelling salts and established an area of intimidation in the middle of the field. Sometimes, I see the opposing game plans aiming for Jackson after a long week of film study; and they've rarely had to pay for it.

 

Do I like his effort? Sure, but I'm not sold he's ever going to be the X-factor we need. IMO, he's like the Jay Cutler of LBers. Has alot of good qualities, LOVES football, even puts up stats; but I just don't ever see the guy making the difference between winning and losing. Maybe I've been spoiled by guys like Mike Johnson, Pepper Johnson, Eddie Johnson and even Dick Ambrose on the inside.

 

When we look at some of the wonderful LBers and RBs this team has had during the 70s and 80s and even early part of the 90s - I'm not digging the current body by Lerner. I can't think of a year where I came upon a Sunday where I couldn't find 1 single player on either side of the ball that I felt could generate the game winning impact and excitement the team could feed off. On offense, I didn't know which pawn was capable of scoring. Shaun Rogers was the guy on defense and he's done. Joe Thomas is that best player on our offense but on his best days shutting out quality DEs/OLBs - we didn't have enough playmakers on offense to make that worthwhile. In essence, he's kept 2 struggling QBs healthy which almost rewarded the defense more than our offense. Where else can that be said?

 

Sorry for venting, but we haven't exactly been spoiled since the day the NFL allowed our team to move to Baltimore about 15 years ago. 4 of the 5 years before that weren't much to brag about either so let's try to realize the 80s were a LONG time ago and start riding the owner's ass about putting a better freakin product on the field for a refreshing change.

- Tom F.

[MrFreeze]

That is such an awesome moment. Wide Ass Open and "Donk", right off his face! It's too bad it didn't affect the outcome of the game. That drop he had against Baltimore last year cost us the game. I was furious. Now it's just hilarious.

 

How the hell does any team in the league expect to win with this guy?

 

When it comes time for him to ask a team for more money as a free agent, they need to trot out that replay and then throw a much lower dollar figure at him. If he walks away from the table, he's doing you a favor.

[Chip Banks]

Didn't Savage draft D Jackson?

 

Jackson is very average. He doesn't start for Pitt or Baltimore , , , probably not Cincy. Whoever they stick in that slot ends up with a high tackle total . . . whether it's a second round draft pick like Jackson. a dinosaur playing out of position like Bowens, a mid -round rookie like Maivia or a second year UFA like Trusnik. The kid's not an impact player. If we're going to run the 3-4 we need to draft a stud next year and hope we can get a 3-5 rounder ot FA in the next couple years that will replace Jackson. In an ideal world he's a special teamer who provides quality back up.

[Flugel]

Jackson is very average. He doesn't start for Pitt or Baltimore , , , probably not Cincy. Whoever they stick in that slot ends up with a high tackle total . . . whether it's a second round draft pick like Jackson. a dinosaur playing out of position like Bowens, a mid -round rookie like Maivia or a second year UFA like Trusnik. The kid's not an impact player. If we're going to run the 3-4 we need to draft a stud next year and hope we can get a 3-5 rounder ot FA in the next couple years that will replace Jackson. In an ideal world he's a special teamer who provides quality back up.

 

 

LOVE reading your posts Banks! That's a good job by you! Judging by your screen name - you have pretty much the same golden era of our football team that I have.

 

When you see REAL LBers - you don't settle for mediocre ones. You just don't. When I watched Mike Johnson or even Pepper Johnson (As Mohican reminded to add the Pepper) - you understand how much more important it is to have ILBers that can take advantage of being blocker-free and get it done at or behind the line of scrimmage consistently. The Waili Rainers and D'Qwell Jacksons had admirable work ethics in not ever givign up on plays BUT they fell short in 1st step instinct memorable LBers have. I don't HATE Jackson but I thought I saw better instinct from an inexperienced Kaluka Maiava vrs the Ratbirds on MNF to be honest. Don't let tackle volumes fool us folks - sometimes that means your the bullseye of opposing game polans centered around week long film study.

 

When Pepper and Mike Johnson were our ILBers - we were getting off the field consistently within 3-6 downs. If Shaun Rogers is our startign Nose Tackle - how does life get any easier for an ILBer? Truth is - it can't. When we had ILBers that impressed me - we had offenses worried about where they were instead aiming game plans at them. Ankle grabbers don't scare anyone. I thought Sean Jones (pre-injury) hit more like a LBer than D'Qwell.

- Tom F.

[DestinFunk]

Guys while i respect both of your opinions i have to disagree to some extent on Dq...

 

I have seen him more this year than ever in the backfield on the RB...hitting harder and working to be a team leader...but the guy has never had anyone worth damn next too him...is he a break the bank top tier LB ..nope..but i think he may be out of position..like the rest of our D...better suited for a 4-3?

 

anyways...yes they need a stud..knockout LB...but they need a stud everywhere...so where too start?

 

if they go SUh...they should really consider the 4-3...he and rogers would seriously be a thing of beauty...with Williams at DE...not sure who starts the other side...

 

 

[Flugel]

Guys while i respect both of your opinions i have to disagree to some extent on Dq...

 

I have seen him more this year than ever in the backfield on the RB...hitting harder and working to be a team leader...but the guy has never had anyone worth damn next too him...is he a break the bank top tier LB ..nope..but i think he may be out of position..like the rest of our D...better suited for a 4-3?

 

anyways...yes they need a stud..knockout LB...but they need a stud everywhere...so where too start?

 

if they go SUh...they should really consider the 4-3...he and rogers would seriously be a thing of beauty...with Williams at DE...not sure who starts the other side...

 

 

Good stuff especially about the 4-3 Destin!

 

I think you're right about Jackson being out of position too so I'm glad you responded. Jackson doesn't look like he weighs an ounce over 230 (posibly even 225) if you get a good look at him; and he rarely hits like he weighs more IMO (why might explain the frequency around ankles). What's weird is Mike Johnson only weighed 225 but hit like he was 250 and he looked like he was alot more compact than Jackson. And now Jackson is missing about half the season to injury where i don't recall Johnson ever missing much time. Maybe we should get Jackson more toward his real/ideal weight and see what he could do as a Safety (like Seattle did w/ Michael Boulware) or merely stick him as an OLBer in a 4-3 and confine him to 1 side of the field. Again, we need to remember, Rogers keeps ILBers unblocked so the ergonomics were very favorable to making plays where they need to happen. I felt like the BEST ILBer play I witnessed in 09 was vrs the Ratbirds on MNF from 2 guys that were completely novice to starting as ILBers at the NFL level (Bowens & Kaluka M). Now Rogers is out - so it's tough to be fair to others auditioning now.

 

I don't want to ruin anyone's comfort with speaking up to defend Jackson. I do appreciate his endless pursuit to be the 1 guy to step up and finish the play for our D. I just can't really see much of a difference between him and Wali Rainer to get comfortable. I think I've set my standards on the LBers that spoiled me when i felt we had the right guys. I don't ANY of them ever had someone as good as Shaun Rogers makign their life easy though. That's sort of where I'm coming from about him.

 

Our D needs consistent playmakers to get us off the field. If we're still thinking of excuses - we have to understand we lack playmakers. In a 3-4, the success of getting off the field within 3-6 plays is predicated on your LBers while your 3 up front keep them blocker-free. IMO, I think LBer is an art that rewards 1st step instincts better than it rewards someone only equipped with great work ethic. Ideally you want both but that seems as rare as finding a Brian Urlacher and Ray Lewis in every draft. Leon Williams was a high energy guy but when it came to 1st step intinct and brains - Leon is a summer school candidate.

- Tom F.