Browns Stick With Plan

Do the Cleveland Browns actually have a plan of attack?

Well, it sure looks like it.

So many new faces have arrived in Berea since the end of last season, but it seems like new defensive coordinator Ray Horton is the one getting all the new toys.

Horton’s stockpile continued Thursday night when the Browns selected LSU defensive end Barkevious Mingo with the sixth overall pick.

Strange name, indeed. But can this guy play football?

First and foremost he’s fast and athletic. When was the last time the Browns defense had a lot of fast and athletic players, especially at linebacker. For years, the Browns’ 3-4 defense wallowed with slow, un-athletic players.

The switch to 4-3 the last few years wasn’t much better. Who can forget the image of Tennessee Titans tight end Jared Cook simply out running the Browns linebackers for an 80-yard touchdown pass in 2011?

Mingo is an athletic freak and NFL Network’s Mike Mayock was quick to compare him to last year’s first-round pick Bruce Irvin of the Seattle Seahawks.

“Exact same height, weight and speed,” Mayock said. “He’s an explosive presence off the edge.”

Irvin had eight sacks for Seattle last season. Hopefully the similarities continue.

Mingo joins a growing corps of Browns front seven players who are considered pass rushers. Free agent Paul Kruger was the most notable acquisition while Jabaal Sheard is moving from a 4-3 defensive end to 3-4 outside linebacker.

“You can’t have enough pass rushers,” Browns new head coach Rob Chudzinski said.

Which brings us back to the Browns top offseason plan - get guys who can get the quarterback. This new regime knows what it’s up against within the AFC North.

Three quarterbacks, two of which have four Super Bowl appearances and three rings and a third who is showing the signs of being a good young player.

The last two front offices have a combined zero playoff victories and only a handful of AFC North victories. CEO Joe Banner and general manager Mike Lombardi know if they are to turn things around in Cleveland, it begins with victories against the Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers.

Two regimes ago, Phil Savage took over as general manager. In 2011, Tom Heckert replaced Savage. Combined, the Browns went 9-39 against the AFC North during those two regimes, or from 2005-12.

First, the Browns hired a defensive coordinator that is from the Dick LeBeau school of defense - run a 3-4 and get after the quarterback. From there, the Browns have seemed to continuously stockpile pass rushers, which brings us to Mingo.

Why take Mingo? Alabama cornerback Dee Millner was still available. So, too, was West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith. Unlike a cornerback or quarterback, Mingo adds more depth, talent and speed to the Browns’ front seven.

Horton, whose mentor is LeBeau, is getting the players to run the system the way he wants to. The way LeBeau runs it in Pittsburgh. That said, the idea of having two stud cornerbacks isn’t necessary. The plan, at least it seems this offseason, is for the Browns aggressive front seven is to get fast and get after quarterback.

On the way to sacking Joe Flacco, Ben Roethlisberger or Andy Dalton, tackle any and all ball carries to shut down the opponents’ running games.

There is downside with Mingo. He’s a bit undersized, his pass rushing skills need to be improved and you wonder why he only managed 4.5 sacks last season at LSU.

You can’t teach speed. You can’t teach athleticism. The more players the Browns can add with those traits, the better.

The Browns added one Thursday night.

http://www.chatsports.com/cleveland-browns/a/Browns-Stick-With-Plan-2-7772906

Do you Browns fans remember a Cleveland quarterback with the number 17 on his back? He was a winner and Campbell could be the next winner.

The Cleveland Browns started having their mini camps. It was good to see a Cleveland quarterback with a number 17 on his back on the practice field yesterday. Fans have to go way back to recall a guy by the name of Sipe who wore the number 17. The Browns won some football games back then, the team thought they could win each time they took to the field.

The team has a new guy in town, he looked hungry during yesterdays workouts. His name is Jason Campbell and he looked right at home taking snaps and throwing the ball down field. This season the Browns are going to let Campbell and Weeden battle it out to see who gets to be the starting quarterback. Campbell has a lot more NFL experience than Weeden. He should have the advantage coming into camp.

Weeden is just cocky enough to think he can beat Campbell out for the starting job. What Weeden might not understand yet, is the Browns aren’t promising any players anything at this point in time. The Browns head coach said he was using these mini camps as a tool to determine who knows what.

If that is the case, it will become clear real fast that Weeden lacks in the football common sense department. It is no fault of his own. Weeden doesn’t have the years of football experience of a guy like Campbell. Browns fans should know by now that Weeden’s main sport was baseball. He tried to make it in the Major Leagues but never really was able to break through.

A guy like Campbell has a lot more time playing football. He has the high school and college experience and he has been in the NFL for 8 years. Weeden has a lot of home work to do before the real training camp takes place.

Browns head coach Rob Chudzinski did not want to anoint a starter just yet. He said this is a long process and there are plenty of things to do between now and the season opener. Chud, would not comment on what Weeden did last season. He went on to say after yesterday’s mini camp that it is clear that Weeden has the arm to get the ball down field. Chud didn’t seem that confident in all the other qualities a quarterback in the NFL such as Weeden does or doesn’t have.

It will be an interesting time in Cleveland this summer. Right now Weeden took the majority of the snaps with the ones, but Chud said he intends to give Campbell time with the ones as well.

http://network.yardbarker.com/nfl/article_external/do_you_browns_fans_remember_a_cleveland_quarterback_with_the_number_17_on_his_back_he_was_a_winner_and_campbell_could_be_the_next_winner/13420300

Colt McCoy might not be a good quarterback, but he never got a real chance with the Cleveland Browns: Bill Livingston

By Bill Livingston, The Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The most popular man in a losing  football town is always the backup quarterback. Still, Colt McCoy was more popular than most.

Several factors were at work, including a glittering college career at a big-time program, the University of Texas. McCoy did more at the previous level than anyone who took snaps for the Browns since Ken Dorsey -- whose powderpuff arm revealed him to be a product of the talent around him at Miami -- and Vinny Testaverde -- who lost, like McCoy, in the collegiate championship game, but because of five interceptions and a poor performance, not an injury early in the game that made so many of us ask, "What if ...?"

Life is not fair. McCoy was proof of that, both in the early shoulder injury that forced him from the Alabama-Texas BCS championship game after the 2009 season, and in the way he was treated by a Browns regime that first didn't want him and then did little to help him.

Shunned by coach Eric Mangini and offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, McCoy finally was called on to substitute for Seneca Wallace, the backup to over-the-hill, injured starter Jake Delhomme in 2010. McCoy showed promise, despite the fact that his promotion sent Wallace into a petulant pout. Wallace often stood as far as possible from McCoy on the sidelines when the Browns' defense was on the field. This happened a lot, it being the Browns' defense.

Considerable time could be spent, therefore, examining the frostiest relationship between teammates this side of quarterback Brady Quinn and defensive lineman Shaun Smith. That was a contentious relationship in which the former was punched in the face by the latter.

Mike Holmgren, the vague, ineffectual football supremo who fired Mangini, spent a third-round draft choice on McCoy. But Holmgren also liked Wallace after their years together in Seattle, so he never stepped in to demand professionalism. By the way, Trent Dilfer never tutored Charlie Frye after Dilfer, another bright idea that winked out like a cheap light bulb, was benched. The Browns have tolerated such divas for years.

McCoy's 2011 season as a starter ended with a concussion inflicted by Pittsburgh's James Harrison, a situation which the Browns handled so poorly, because of a multitude of injury problems, that the NFL soon changed its medical protocols for dealing with head injuries.

More than the concussion, McCoy was sacrificed to the "philosopher's stone" theory of offense Holmgren and his hand-picked coach Pat Shurmur seemed to embrace. In the Dark Ages, alchemists searched for a substance which could turn lead into gold. They called it the philosopher's stone, but, unfortunately, it didn't exist.

For their part, the Browns sent McCoy out to play with an offense in which turnstiles could have replaced the offensive line, in order to better slow down the pass rush, always excepting left tackle Joe Thomas; in which drafted receivers could not get open; and in which the focus of the attack, Peyton Hillis, turned out to be a muscle-bound malingerer.

When the Browns drafted Brandon Weeden, who was 28 years old at the time and had played minor league baseball before playing collegiately at Oklahoma State, the McCoy era, such as it was, was over before it began. Big-armed quarterbacks tease coaches and get more chances than soft-tossers like McCoy. Weeden was handed the job before last season. The competitive McCoy had no chance, because there was no real competition.

The fact that Weeden had a mediocre year in every way did little to enhance McCoy's stature, nor did Holmgren's departure during the season for a land of umbrella drinks and a life of comfort and ease -- although, minus the beach drinks, he had pretty much reached the comfort and ease level here.

During my interview before last season with Pro Football Hall of Famer Roger Staubach, who served in the Navy before joining the Dallas Cowboys as an aging rookie in the 1960s, Staubach abruptly asked me how McCoy was doing with the Browns. "I've thrown with Colt McCoy. He has a strong arm. He's pretty fast. I think he's going to be a good NFL quarterback," Staubach said.

I never forgot that comment. Who's to say Staubach doesn't know this quarterback better than the Browns did? I'll be surprised if McCoy becomes more than a backup with the 49ers, but he has a better chance with a new start and a smart organization than he ever had here.

To reach Bill Livingston:

blivingston@plaind.com, 216-999-4672

Cleveland Browns: Put Up or Shut Up for QB Brandon Weeden

by Ryan Ruiz

In an interesting but necessary move this week, the Cleveland Browns signed veteran quarterback Jason Campbell to a two year contract. Campbell was strictly brought in to “push” Brandon Weeden to the next level. For Weeden and his strong arm, it’s put up or shut up. End of story.

If all goes the way most Browns supporters hope, Weeden is the starting quarterback for the Browns in 2013. Campbell, who has 71 NFL starts under his belt, will be Weeden’s competition when training camp starts. By default, Colt McCoy is most likely not wearing an orange helmet anymore once the regular season begins. Still, I could see the Browns taking a quarterback later in the draft. That would be the final nail in the former third round pick’s coffin.

Now, it’s all about Weeden. The 29 year old controls his own destiny and has nobody to blame but himself if Campbell beats him out in camp. Weeden has displayed a strong arm and the ability to make all of the NFL throws, but it’s what is going on in his head that will determine his success in 2013. That and having better pocket presence, command of the huddle, and leadership. Will Weeden be up to the task at hand?

Can Weeden grasp Norv Turner ‘s vertical passing strategy? Campbell has the slight advantage in that aspect. Will Weeden appear more comfortable in the huddle and pocket once the pads go on? Will Weeden be able to find a favorite new comfortable target with the departure of Ben Watson? Let’s hope so. Only Weeden can answer these questions.

For once, it would be nice to know that the Browns have stability at quarterback for years to come. I truly want it to be Weeden, and if he gets to play to his strengths, I am confident it will be. But unfortunately the QB curse continues in Cleveland, and there may just be a new signal caller on the field at First Energy Stadium in six months. Let’s hope not; go win the job Brandon!

Read more at http://www.rantsports.com/nfl/2013/03/31/cleveland-browns-put-up-or-shut-up-for-qb-brandon-weeden/?qyBEy3agvJpEJRc7.99