CLEVELAND BROWNS 2009 PREVIEW
CLEVELAND BROWNS 2009 PREVIEW
By Andy Benoit, www.NFLTouchdown.com
Cleveland Browns fans are fed up. Their team is like that guy who always has a hot new business idea but can never keep an actual job. Change for the sake of change is the theme in Cleveland these days. Really, it’s been the theme since the franchise’s resurrection in 1999. With head coaches serving more like one-term senators (Chris Palmer ’99-’00, Butch Davis ’01-’04, Romeo Crennel ’05-’08), the Browns have averaged roughly a 5-11 annual record in their second act.
Perhaps this last change––the firing of Crennel––was necessary. Yes, the former Patriot defensive coordinator got this promising young team to 10-6 in ’07. But last year’s 4-12 disaster revealed an unsettling softness permeating throughout the club. The Browns were being guided by a grandfather figure when, what they needed, was an ironfisted patriarch. Insert Eric Mangini. Owner Randy Lerner interviewed the 38-year-old just one day after he was suddenly fired by the Jets.
The prompt hiring of Mangini was met in Ohio with stone silence. That’s because the new ironfisted patriarch has a reputation for being more like a mysterious uncle: cold and distant. The media abhors Mangini’s obfuscation of all information. The Jets locker room these days, now under the direction of affable head coach Rex Ryan, has the milieu of a liberated nation. And now life has become very business-like for the Browns. A popular story this past offseason was how the new head coach asked all the rookies to “volunteer” to bus 10 hours to his football camp in Connecticut in between what many suspect have been illicitly-long OTA’s. Mangini, by the way, flew to Connecticut (though he bussed back).
Mangini’s “screw you, I’m in charge” attitude––mastered by tutor Bill Belichick––is an attitude that works for head coaches with winning pedigrees. But not for coaches with a 23-26 career record. (Belichick, who coached this franchise from ’91-’95, learned this when he himself was fired by the Browns after a 36-42 record here.)
More discerning to Cleveland fans than Mangini’s attitude is the fact that he may not actually bring much change anyway. After all, he is a former Patriots defensive coordinator, replacing Crennel, another former Patriots defensive coordinator. And Mangini’s partner in power, new GM George Kokinis is also a repeat of his respected predecessor, Phil Savage (Kokinis worked with him in Baltimore). Nameplates have changed, but the modus operandi, perhaps, has not.
Then again, Mangini and Kokinis have wasted no time reshaping the club in their own distinct image. It’s expected that 13 new veterans will be on the roster in Week 1, as well as at least six of the eight members of this year’s draft class. But why aren’t people impressed?
For one, fans are deeply skeptical after last year’s disappointment. Believing in the Browns feels a lot like believing in the American auto industry right now. For two, none of Cleveland’s moves have actually been that impressive. The Browns had two overriding weaknesses to address this past offseason: a declining rushing attack (ranked 26th a year ago and headed by 30-year-old Jamal Lewis, whose production plummeted in ’08) and their non-existent pass-rush (17 sacks last season, tied for the second fewest in the NFL). Even in all their changes, the Browns literally did nothing in these two areas over the offseason.
Instead, Mangini stockpiled former Jets: defensive ends Kenyon Coleman and C.J. Mosley, outside linebacker David Bowens (a tepid pass-rusher, at best), inside linebacker Eric Barton, safety Abram Elam and cornerback Hank Poteat. With the exception of Coleman and Mosley, all are middle-tier fillers replacing slightly better middle-tier fillers (Bowens replaces retired Willie McGinest, Barton replaces Andra Davis, Elam replaces Sean Jones, Poteat replaces Davin Holly/Terry Cousin.) Those of you still reading this paragraph are asking the same question most Browns fans have been asking: who cares?
But it would be smug for anyone to impulsively scorn Mangini and his staff. After all, you don’t think they realize their team needs a pass-rusher? You don’t think they didn’t carefully evaluate every prospect in this year’s draft? They did, and their decision was to lay the foundation for the passing game instead. After several trades down, the Browns drafted center Alex Mack in the first round. They then snatched a pair of receivers in Round Two: Brian Robiskie of Ohio State and Mohamed Massaquoi of Georgia. This might not be a bad move considering prospective franchise quarterback Brady Quinn and cornerstone left tackle Joe Thomas are both entering their third season.
Of course, until positive results show up, the long-term potential of Cleveland’s passing attack still classifies as just another hot new business idea. And that’s something Browns fans aren’t listening to anymore.
Click here to continue reading, or visit http://www.nfltouchdown.com/cleveland-browns-2009-preview/
By Andy Benoit, www.NFLTouchdown.com
Cleveland Browns fans are fed up. Their team is like that guy who always has a hot new business idea but can never keep an actual job. Change for the sake of change is the theme in Cleveland these days. Really, it’s been the theme since the franchise’s resurrection in 1999. With head coaches serving more like one-term senators (Chris Palmer ’99-’00, Butch Davis ’01-’04, Romeo Crennel ’05-’08), the Browns have averaged roughly a 5-11 annual record in their second act.
Perhaps this last change––the firing of Crennel––was necessary. Yes, the former Patriot defensive coordinator got this promising young team to 10-6 in ’07. But last year’s 4-12 disaster revealed an unsettling softness permeating throughout the club. The Browns were being guided by a grandfather figure when, what they needed, was an ironfisted patriarch. Insert Eric Mangini. Owner Randy Lerner interviewed the 38-year-old just one day after he was suddenly fired by the Jets.
The prompt hiring of Mangini was met in Ohio with stone silence. That’s because the new ironfisted patriarch has a reputation for being more like a mysterious uncle: cold and distant. The media abhors Mangini’s obfuscation of all information. The Jets locker room these days, now under the direction of affable head coach Rex Ryan, has the milieu of a liberated nation. And now life has become very business-like for the Browns. A popular story this past offseason was how the new head coach asked all the rookies to “volunteer” to bus 10 hours to his football camp in Connecticut in between what many suspect have been illicitly-long OTA’s. Mangini, by the way, flew to Connecticut (though he bussed back).
Mangini’s “screw you, I’m in charge” attitude––mastered by tutor Bill Belichick––is an attitude that works for head coaches with winning pedigrees. But not for coaches with a 23-26 career record. (Belichick, who coached this franchise from ’91-’95, learned this when he himself was fired by the Browns after a 36-42 record here.)
More discerning to Cleveland fans than Mangini’s attitude is the fact that he may not actually bring much change anyway. After all, he is a former Patriots defensive coordinator, replacing Crennel, another former Patriots defensive coordinator. And Mangini’s partner in power, new GM George Kokinis is also a repeat of his respected predecessor, Phil Savage (Kokinis worked with him in Baltimore). Nameplates have changed, but the modus operandi, perhaps, has not.
Then again, Mangini and Kokinis have wasted no time reshaping the club in their own distinct image. It’s expected that 13 new veterans will be on the roster in Week 1, as well as at least six of the eight members of this year’s draft class. But why aren’t people impressed?
For one, fans are deeply skeptical after last year’s disappointment. Believing in the Browns feels a lot like believing in the American auto industry right now. For two, none of Cleveland’s moves have actually been that impressive. The Browns had two overriding weaknesses to address this past offseason: a declining rushing attack (ranked 26th a year ago and headed by 30-year-old Jamal Lewis, whose production plummeted in ’08) and their non-existent pass-rush (17 sacks last season, tied for the second fewest in the NFL). Even in all their changes, the Browns literally did nothing in these two areas over the offseason.
Instead, Mangini stockpiled former Jets: defensive ends Kenyon Coleman and C.J. Mosley, outside linebacker David Bowens (a tepid pass-rusher, at best), inside linebacker Eric Barton, safety Abram Elam and cornerback Hank Poteat. With the exception of Coleman and Mosley, all are middle-tier fillers replacing slightly better middle-tier fillers (Bowens replaces retired Willie McGinest, Barton replaces Andra Davis, Elam replaces Sean Jones, Poteat replaces Davin Holly/Terry Cousin.) Those of you still reading this paragraph are asking the same question most Browns fans have been asking: who cares?
But it would be smug for anyone to impulsively scorn Mangini and his staff. After all, you don’t think they realize their team needs a pass-rusher? You don’t think they didn’t carefully evaluate every prospect in this year’s draft? They did, and their decision was to lay the foundation for the passing game instead. After several trades down, the Browns drafted center Alex Mack in the first round. They then snatched a pair of receivers in Round Two: Brian Robiskie of Ohio State and Mohamed Massaquoi of Georgia. This might not be a bad move considering prospective franchise quarterback Brady Quinn and cornerstone left tackle Joe Thomas are both entering their third season.
Of course, until positive results show up, the long-term potential of Cleveland’s passing attack still classifies as just another hot new business idea. And that’s something Browns fans aren’t listening to anymore.
Click here to continue reading, or visit http://www.nfltouchdown.com/cleveland-browns-2009-preview/
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