In NY, Brett Ratliff had a monster camp last year and was all the rage before Favre arrived. In those preseason games (I was at all of them) he looked first and foremost like a guy who really got the guys around him to respond. They really moved the ball. Granted, this was against backups. When they announced the trade on draft day, I was not surprised to see Ratliff's name on there. They exposed Erik Ainge on the practice squad to keep Ratliff on the 53-man roster (and they liked Ainge enough to not want to lose him). Tremendous upside with a good arm and some mobility. I will say that I was very disappointed to see him this preseason because it doesn't even look like the same guy. Pat Kirwan has been on record on NFL Radio as saying we'd "see all three QB's starting at some point in Cleveland this year". I really hope that if he gets into a game,....the old Ratty shows up and not this one.

Dammit

@gips said:I have mixed feeling on orakpo he could be really good or a really big bust he is more a risk then slowtree or maclin imo.. The one thing im sure of is the only buckeye's that will be decent players at the pro level this year are jenkins and robiskie.. Jenkins has the vision and tries to smother/wrap his guy up though he appears to tackle soft he is often on his guy like a glove and he goes for the sure takedown... The rest of this years bucks are dicey especially wells while he has a helluva motor his pain threshold when only slightly injured will limit him from exceeding with the big boyz... Little Animal is going to be a 10 year starter, mark my words. He's not going to be "impact" but he's going to be a guy that's smart with great instincts that is always working to get better. He'll do great in a "scheme" system like New England which relies on intelligence and rapid decision making and dear help us god if he falls there. Jenkins is going to be an above average safety. Robiskie is going to be a solid #3, maybe #2 if he's lucky.

I like McKay and he didn't say he wasn't interested in the Cleveland job. He just told Lerner that when he has exhausted his other choices then they could talk. The man doesn't want to be used like a pawn to force Pioli to say yes or no. I like that. I also like Charley Casserly. He schooled under Bobby Beathard, in Washington, who may have been one of the best GMs ever. Together they built the Hogs and won super bowls. He was NFL executive of the year in 1999, he made the draft day deal with Ditka and still brought in Champ Bailey. Then he was fired by Dan Snyder, because Snyder wanted more control of the team. Now that is one asshole owner. He was the GM when Houston was awarded it's franchise and made one bad misjudgement, he drafted Carr first. But, he was let go for drafting Mario Williams instead of Vince Young or Reggie Bush. In hindsight, he made a great choice. The man has experience and doesn't have a giant ego. I've listened to him on the NFL network and he is a very astute talent evaluator and knows the game. The best part, he doesn't want absolute power, he believes in equal say for GM and HC. I would like to see Lerner at least go talk to the man. If for nothing more, he could gain a little insight into how team FO operations are outside of NE.

From all that i saw yesterday and several times this season, Rey would only be good here if we could bring in Cushing and Mathews Jr too! Without those two, Rey is just...well...slightly above average. I am all for Curry.

@d-qwimbley said:I'm torn between Maualuga-Green/Ringer or Beanie-Cushing/Matthews. I just feel like After Green Ringer, there isn't much. This draft is very deep in LBs so if we go Beanie, and Cushing/ Matthews are gone, we still have other options. I'm not sold on Ringer and Moreno and probably McCoy will go before both.

Shon Greene is a steel if he is still there in round 2. I'd definately take him. Many are saying this could be a great/deep draft for talent. Once we see what underclassmen are coming out, then things may get a little clearer. Once the underclassmen fall in order then maybe Orapko will be available at #8. Trading Anderson and maybe even Winslow we could have a nice haul of picks.

@alendor said:the reason wells has been playing hurt is because of the nature of his injury. its one that is very minor, but if you don't rest it doesn't heal. he chose to play with the injury, instead of sitting out. that does not make him injury prone wells is like brandon jacobs. him and quinn would dominate on offense Then why waste the draft pick? Jacobs is a FA.

\ said:Oh, I forgot...we would also need to bring in Art Shell or Mo Carthon just to get that out of the way. That is funny and wrong all at the same time.