I've watched Ward out here at Oregon for his career here. All you Browns fans are going to like him. He is a hitter and out played Taylor Mays at least twice that I saw. He has speed to go with the hits. He is also a good locker room guy. He will fit with the Ryan defense.

@sisky-fringo said:

since i'm not familiar with Ward OR Asante can someone help me out with which is projected to be the FS and SS?

Ward has played both FS and SS during his career at Oregon. He also played a little CB do to injuries at that position. He was 2nd team All- PAC 10 last year. Do to his size I prefer him at FS in the NFL. However, the Ducks used him a lot at SS playing in the box. He is a hitter.

This is a great pick. I've watched T.J. Ward through his career at my alma-mater, the U. of Oregon, and he was part of a D-backfield that was the strength of the defense. He will help the Browns. I never want to see Adrian Peterson running through the Browns D-backfield again like he did last year. No more matador tackles.

@dawgstucknpa said:

Wow....TJ WARD ???? Couldnt we have gotten him later? Hmmmmmmm.......

T. J Ward is a player. He fills a need. This is good.

@the-gipper said:

While that is not true, Jimmy the Greek was right: the slave owners "bred" their slaves to improve physical prowess. Anyone that doesn't acknowledge that doesn't know history. As bad as it may be, it is still a fact.

If you want to go there, lets not forget a lot o slave owners raped their slaves, including Thomas Jefferson. Apparently, rape was very profitable. Selling ones own children from rape is so Christian. Not!

@d-bone said:

Cowgirls fans are all pretty happy he's been cut. We can do better.

It looks like he was cut because he was due several million dollars and he had not maintained his 2007 Pro Bowl level performance. That said, he would still be an up grade of what we have now. I think at the right price he could be an improvement over the likes of Mike Furry. The Dallas fans didn't think he was worth what he was being paid but they seem concerned about how he will be replaced. He did have a good game against the Eagles in the play offs.

I read that the Cowboys cut free safety Ken Hamlin. It was noted that Mike Holmgren drafted him in the 2nd rd in 2002 for Seattle? Should the Browns consider going after him. If so, at what cost? He is still in his 20's and when health seems to have been a solid player. That would free a draft pick for other needs.

Oregon has two DB's in the draft that would make good late round picks. 2010 Scout.com NFL Draft Rankings has safety Terrell Ward ranked as a four star, ranked 8th safety in the draft. He was injured early last season but came on strong late in the season. Oregon's defensive strength was their defensive backfield. Walter Thurmond III was an outstanding cover corner in 2008. He was always put on the best receiver on the opposing team and shut him down. That is not easy to do with the quality of receivers in the PAC-10. He was injured in preseason and did not play in 2009. He has a three star ranking. He was still respected enough to be named a team captain anyway. If he performs well in the Combine, he could be a great steal in the later rounds. I've watched them both play and they would be up grades to what the Browns have right now. They both know how to tackle and have speed. I can see them as 4th, 5th, or 6th round picks.

@the-gipper said:

1. With football over for the season, which sporting event did you watch: Winter Olympics, NBA All Star Game, Daytona 500, College Basketball, Pebble Beach Pro-Am, or something else.

Winter Olympics

2. With the damn snow and ice mounting up this week, and at my age I am thinking of going somewhere warmer for retirement. Suggest a good retirement community. (Even if you aren't personally old enough to do this, I suspect you have parents/granparents or other relatives that have considered this)

Euene, Oreon. With climate change we no get Norrthern California's weather. No snow in the Willamette Valley.

3. Have you seen Avatar in 3-D, if so, report.

Not seden it yet.

4. Should the Cavs make the trade for Amare Stoudemire?

Yes, if it keeps LeBron in Cleveland.

5. What did you get your main squeeze for Valentine's Day? If you don't have one, tell us, and the rest of us can give you hints on how to get one.

A card, the rest is personal.

If Berry is gone, I like Kam Chancellor of Virgina Tech or Taylor Mays of USC. They are both big and athletic. They both are strong in run support and have speed to cover deep.

Kam Chandler had a good game at safety. He looks like a good prospect at strong safety since he he has size and speed. He would be a good 4th round pick. I would not spernd more than a 5th round pick on Kafka. He looks like a project to me.

@alo said:

Yeah, the Senior Bowl will be very important. Pike and Canfield are intriguing to me, but each needs to answer questions about his game: for Pike, it's mental toughness and the "system QB" q's; for Canfield, it's mobility and footwork - particularly his ability to shuffle & reset his feet while facing pressure. Both of those guys could be 3rd round options.

Also, keep an eye on Jarrett Brown; he's very raw but has McNabb-like physical tools. If we bring in McNabb, it'd be a good idea to draft Brown in the 4th & have him learn under Donovan for 2-3 years. I like him a lot, but he needs to have a good week to keep his stock from sliding.

I agree with you about Canfield. I live in Oregon and seen a lot of him. He has a strong arm and leadership skills. He really only had two weapons the last two years, the Rogers brothers. The brothers accounted for about 90% of their offense. He did a lot with little help from anybody else. His footwork needs improvement like you say. The Browns O-line would be a real benefit for him. He never had anybody as good as Mack or Thomas blocking for him. I think he could be worth a 4th rd. pick.

I think we could trade down with St. Louis to get Suh. They might take our 1st round pick and Corey Williams for their first pick. Suh is worth it for us at that price. Every time I see Haloti Nagta make a play I think we should have taken him. Suh is even better. Williams just doesn't work in our 3/4 defense but would work in the 4/3 defense. We could add one of those 5th round picks if necessary and it would still be a good deal for the Browns.

I could see Suh at one DE, Rubin at NT, and Rogers at the other DE with R. Smith in rotation. That would be a d-line to contend with.

@clevelandfanforlife said:

there are going to a lot of people saying that we could have been 6th or 5th or 4th if we would have lost one more game. however the tie breaker for seeding is opponent's winning percentage. these are the top 7 team's percentages:

1. St. Louis Rams 1-14 .520

2. Detroit Lions 2-13 .523

3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 3-13 .555

4. Washington Redskins 4-12 .492

5. Kansas City Chiefs 4-12 .516

6. Seattle Seahawks 5-11 .477

7. Cleveland Browns .512

if the browns woudl have only won 4 games, they woudl have only moved up one spot and picked sixth. if they would have have won only three games then they would only be number 4 or possibly 3 because of the win percentage. i don't know what the brown's opponent's winning percentage would be in they had lost two more games. so in order to move up to 3rd they would have had to lose 2 more games. suh won't be there at 3 and probably won't be there at 2. the only thing we are missing out on is paying a rookie more money. i like our position. hopefully eric berry will there there at 7 but maybe not. the good news is that other than kick returner and center (we could still use another tackle), any other position we draft will help our team drastically.

I like your post except for one thing. I would take Taylor Mays over Eric Berry. Mays is taller, 6'3", and weights 238 lbs. He is just as fast, if not faster. He would be a much better run support while being big enough to jump with those tall receivers that are all the rage. As a senior, he is a more polished player than Berry, a junior.

@thaak said:

I'd go Okung for RT, or McCoy for DE.

I like Okung too. On defense Taylor Mays, safety, USC would be worth a #5 or # 6 pick if we go defense. I think safety is our biggest defensive need. Of couse, if Suh is available, take him.

I think it was Nick Sorenson that messed up. He was wandering around between the snapper and the punter acting like a fan looking for his seat. What is he doing deflecting the ball?

I think Lagarrette Blount, RB Oregon, should be available on the 2nd day. He was projected as a 1st round pick before the punch @ Boisie St. Check him out @ the Rose Bowl. He ran for more than 1000 yards last year as part of a two back system. He could be the big back the Browns need. He runs as tough as Gerhart but he is a lot faster.

I did not see the game. Did Corey Williams play at nose tackle to get his sacks?

I like Taylor Mayes, safety at USC, more than Eric Berry. Living on the West Coast, I've seen Mayes a lot. This was a tough year for him because the USC defense sent about nine players to the NFL this year including all their starting LB's from last year. The USC D-line was a joke this year.

Mayes is a stud and has speed. He just did not have much help this year.

PS: My Oregon Ducks are going to win the Rose Bowl this year. OSU has never seen the kind of speed the Ducks have. Keep an eye on Lagerette Blount and Ed Dickson. They will both be playing on Sundays next year.

I like Ed Dickson, TE, Oregon. He is their leading receiver and they play a West Coast spread offense. He has great hands and good speed for being 6'3+" and 244 LBS. His 40 yard dash is 4.65 sec. He does a lot of blocking in that offense too. Dickson should be available in the early 3rd round. He is the only senior on offense at Oregon this year.

Oregon has sent a lot of TE's to the NFL in the last 20 years. Dante Rosario, with the Panthers, is one of the more recent ones.