Okay fellow Browns fans, since the playoffs are going on without us, let's get an early start on looking at what awaits this team: their needs. In the first part of this series, I'll breakdown the different positions and the players currently in them as well as analyze the areas where the Browns need help. This, of course, starts with a head coach, Mr. Banner. Some of our issues can be solved in free agency, assuming we pick up the right guys.
Here is a breakdown of our current players, going a few deep. Let's start on offense.
QB: Brian Hoyer, Jason Campbell, and Brandon Weeden
What to do: First of all, these aren't all the QB's the Browns picked up...just the main ones. That's sad. First move that needs to happen is to drop Weeden. Are they any Browns fans out there who still advocate for this guy? We've had two full seasons (kind of) with him at the helm and let's just cut our losses from taking him in the first-round and move on. Campbell should be kept as he has experience and can be plugged in at any time and do a fairly good job. Hoyer is the main guy and should be starting next year. I can't say enough good about him, but suffice it to say he's been trained by Tom Brady, is a Cleveland-area native, and brings a lot of good things to this team. He may not prove to be elite, but I think with the weapons the Browns have, he can be pretty close. Think Joe Flacco without the big arm. And Flacco has a super bowl ring.
RB: Willis McGahee (free agent), Edwin Baker, Fozzy Whittaker, Dion Lewis
What to do: For a team who made the right move in trading their premier and (at the time thought of as) their best offensive weapon, they haven't addressed the hole it left. Well, they've tried I think. Adding McGahee and Lewis were nice pick-ups. McGahee was a great player but may be on his way out of the league. He's a free agent this year. Lewis is a really dynamic back who the Browns thought would really help out. He just may next year when he's not ravaged by injuries. Baker is a nice backup. I don't know what it means that we have a guy on the team named Fozzy. All these guys are replaceable if something in the draft lands in our laps.
WR: Josh Gordon, Davone Bess, Greg Little, Travis Benjamin, Josh Cooper, Brian Tyms
What to do: Aside from QB, this group needs the biggest upgrade. Josh Gordon is a top five receiver as of right now. He'll be top three over the next few years at some point. He is a mirror image of Megatron only a little bit faster. After that, Bess and Little are the next best options. Bess is a veteran guy, great 3rd down slot receiver. Little has always been a number one or two option, which hasn't worked out well. As the number three or four option, I think he'd be great. Bess isn't a great number two, so finding a receiver to be that number two guy would be great for the Browns. Benjamin is nice because hes fast. So to have a speedy receiver when you need one is nice, not to mention special teams.
TE: Jordan Cameron, Gary Barnidge, MarQuies Gray, Keavon Milton, Andre Smith
What to do: Cameron is a pro-bowl TE now, so obviously he'll be the starter going forward. He fits the mold of the new TE in the NFL: big, athletic, able to catch and block. Think of Jimmy Graham, Vernon Davis, and Rob Gronkowski. Barnidge may be a half step ahead of the others, but this position will probably rotate a bunch of different guys in and out. It's important for the Browns to have some depth here since we don't have a true FB.
FB: Chris Ogbonnaya
What to do: Technically listed at FB, Ogbonnaya is a great receiving back. We don't need the traditional pound-it fullback, so having the undersized Ogbonnaya here is fine. He was the second-leading rusher and most productive on his carries at 4.9 ypc. He also added in 343 yards receiving. Plus at this position, we can always throw a TE in if we need a big blocker.
OL: Joe Thomas, Alex Mack (free agent), Mitchell Schwartz, Jason Pinkston, Reid Fragel, Shawn Lauvao (free agent), Oneil Cousins (free agent), Garrett Gilkey, John Greco, Martin Wallace
What to do: Thomas is one of the best, if not the best, tackles in the NFL. He was #1 on a recent list ESPN put out, #10 overall offensive player. Alex Mack is also a pro bowl player and a little younger at center. Schwartz made the all-division team which makes this line pretty solid. The other line spots need to be addressed, but if they are, it's a pretty solid line. Lauvao and Pinkston are solid starters and Fragel will be, too. Greco is okay. Look for the Browns to add at least one player to this group though.
Offense was supposed to be the worse side of the ball for the Browns this year. Instead they sent four players to the pro bowl. With some tweeks on offense, the Browns will be just fine. One of those tweeks is a big one, though.
Okay, now for the defense:
DL: Phil Taylor, Ahytba Rubin, Desmond Bryant, John Hughes, Billy Winn, Ishmaa'ily Kitchen, Armonty Bryant, Brian Sanford
What to do: This is a great group of guys. Taylor is one of the best nose tackles in the league. He can hold down the middle and is a big reason for the Browns run defense being what it is. Rubin is now playing DE and doing a really good job, although he's a good DT, too. D. Bryant was a free agency acquisition who ended up with a season-ending injury, so when he gets back, this group's depth gets even bigger. Hughes, Winn, Kitchen, and A. Bryant are decent rotation guys.
LB: Paul Kruger, D'Qwell Jackson, Barkevious Mingo, Quentin Groves, Jabaal Sheard, Craig Robertson, Tank Cardner, Darius Eubanks, Brandon Magee, Paul Hazel, Eric Martin
What to do: This is also a very solid LB core. Jackson is the leader of the group and leader in total tackles for the team. Kruger is a very good player who didn't get enough credit in Baltimore. Cleveland will be happy to take him from the Ravens. Mingo is an up-and-coming potential star who was second on the team in sacks and didn't even start most of the games. Sheard is the leader in sacks who everyone thought couldn't adjust from the 4-3 scheme to the 3-4. Turns out he can. Groves was well-suited for Horton's defense since he played for him in Arizona, but with the new regime, may not be as great. Once you hit Robertson, things start to slide downhill. Robertson may have the 4th-most tackles on the team, but when offenses run by QB's like Stafford and Brady play the Browns, they pick the side where Robertson is on to attack. He's the weakest link in the group that gets major playing time. And he's better than the rest of the LB squad. While this isn't an issue, adding a premier LB would solidify this group.
DB: Joe Haden, T.J Ward (free agent), Tashaun Gipson, Buster Skrine, Leon McFadden, Jordan Poyer, Julian Posey, Josh Aubrey, Johnson Bademosi
What to do: Going into the season, the Browns were heavily criticized for not grabbing a better CB to go along with Joe Haden. Haden is the lone pro bowl player on the defense, but Ward and Gipson are phenomenal players. Both players finished in the top three in tackles on a great overall defense. Skrine finished 5th and Haden 7th. Skrine has always been looked at as a poor defensive player, which is fairly accurate. Without the good pass rush that the Browns have, Skrine would be picked on constantly as he has been in years past. Chris Owens, a CB they let go mid-season, finished 6th. I thought Owens was doing a fine job complimenting Haden. McFadden was drafted this year but didn't establish himself as a proven starter. He played mostly nickel. McFadden didn't produce a ton but he also didn't play a ton, either. Being able to learn from one a top five CB in Haden will help him become a solid started in the next few years. As for the rest of the players, Chris Ogbonnaya, a RB, has more tackles than most. The safeties are solid and Haden is great, so getting another solid starting CB will do wonders for the secondary. Skrine and McFadden as backups next year will give the Browns a lot better depth.
Defense still needs a bit of help. During the last off-season, some changes were made which went really well for the first half of the season. We still need some depth at the position and to heal up on injuries, but this is a top-5 defense. Most of the help will be at LB and DB. With one pro bowl player at CB in Haden and solid safeties in Gipson and Ward, the Browns aren't that far away from taking a top-5 defense to the best in the league. Get ready for some new shirts: The Brown Curtain!
The biggest needs heading into this off-season are QB, RB, CB, OL, and LB. There are some positions that are good but can be made better which would make Cleveland really stand out like WR and DL. The Browns can solve some of these issues through free agency. The Browns may also add to their issues in free agency if they don't resign T.J Ward and Alex Mack. I'll include a list later on of the free agents who are available and may be willing to join the Browns next season. That being said, let's assume we need to fill all our holes in the draft. We have enough picks to do it. Here are the 10 draft picks the Browns currently have and who they should spend them on:
- 1st round 4th pick
- 1st round (Ind) 26th pick
- 2nd round 3rd pick
- 3rd round 7th pick
- 3rd round (Pit) 19th pick
- 4th round 4th pick
- 4th round (Ind) 26th pick
- 5th round 4th pick
- 6th round 4th pick
- 7th round 4th pick
That Richardson trade is looking pretty good right now. He only ran for 458 yards on 157 attempts, less than three yards an attempt. So with 10 picks overall, half of those in the first three rounds, the Browns can pick up some serious talent. Next time I'll discuss some of the players in the draft the Browns should strongly consider.
First item up for this off-season? Rectify the coaching situation. The longer the Browns go without a coach, the less attractive it is for free agents currently on the Browns as well as those who are contemplating joining them later on this year. I fear the progress that's been made in the last year could be for naught due to a bad decision in firing Chud.
No comments:
Post a Comment