Tank Carder fact of the day, he was a BMX champion at age 10

I have a hard time believing they won’t take a QB after they didn’t take the Jets deal which was a pretty good haul to move back to 6.  At 6 they could’ve had Chubb, Nelson, or Barkley.  All the OBJ stuff is not giving the impression that the franchise feels like going “all in” to compete this year.  Maybe they are absolutely in love with Barkley or Chubb, but I agree with others that they are not projecting themselves to be in a position like this to get a highly rated QB again.  It’d be really surprising if they didn’t take one this year. 

@tour2ma said:

One of the more basic ways for teams to get inside info is to recruit disgruntled "soon to be fired" scouts and personnel staffers away from another team while they are still employed and possibly privy to strategic information. ALL teams try to do this. The best and smartest teams top execs leave scouts & even key personnel staffers in the dark on real rankings and strategy for fear of info leaking out. The elite top execs only inform the owner & a select few before the draft. Smart top execs run disinformation campaigns and put up false rankings in plain view of scouts and staffers so the disinfo will leak to teams giving them an advantage to operate under the veil of confusion.

Even after stating this, we are supposed to believe that a scout from another team knows everything about who likes who in the Browns organization.  Unlikely

Orlovsky kind of led me down this track but i look at it like this.

The goal is to complete a pass, a bunch of things have to go right for this to happen.

1. The QB needs to recognize the play and the defense and what he's looking for to happen (when he's wrong you miss some completions)

2. The play has to go OK and you have to have good personnel (drops, missed assignments, bad talent, etc you miss some completions)

3. The QB has to make the right read (if you don't you miss some completions or give up some yards)

4. You have to hit the target (if you're not accurate you miss some completions)

There just aren't that many opportunities in the game where you get the chance to make a completion, and when you worry about accuracy, missed reads, and decision making that rocket arm doesn't make up for the deficiencies.  There are some bad QB's that can do all of the above and it's still not enough, but there aren't any good ones that can't.  

@nero said:

The first tiebreaker is SoS if the teams aren't in the same division or haven't played each other. If Colts win against the Texans, they end up 3rd in AFC South and Houston 4th, so it would make no sense if the tiebreaker, if they end up with 4 wins each, is the SoS, no matter how many other teams end up with 4 wins.

I hope you're right about that,  that would make the #3 pick very likely AKA the best non-QB spot as the Giants will likely go QB.  Also a great trade spot (might not be received well) for a team that wants to trade up for Mayfield or Allen or Barkley or Chubb or whoever.  #4 is similar in that way though.

Most of the rules online state that SoS is the first tie-breaker but none mention the division standings so it could be the way you explain it.   I think the Head-to-Head rules changed from the way it used to be though and that SoS is the first criteria regardless of division or head-to-head record.

https://operations.nfl.com/the-players/the-nfl-draft/the-rules-of-the-draft/

"In situations where teams finished the previous season with identical records, the determination of draft position is decided by strength of schedule — the aggregate winning percentage of a team’s opponents. The team that played the schedule with the lowest winning percentage will be awarded the higher pick.

If the teams have the same strength of schedule, their records against common opponents in their division or conference are applied, if applicable. If the divisional or conference tiebreakers are not applicable, ties will be broken by a coin flip."

@nero said:

If you assume that Houston loses both games, automatically Colts overtake them, so the order would be Cleveland - NY - Houston then Colts... As the Colts would overtake them (win the head to head). 

Sweet way to put things up, anyway.

I think the first tiebreaker is strength of schedule, so the only way the colts pass us is if they have a better record.  They have the same schedule except the Colts played the Broncos and Bills and the Texans played the Patriots and Chiefs so unless Indy also beats Baltimore they will pick ahead of us.

The draft power rankings page is awesome too.  We basically have the drafts of the next two most draft capital teams combined haha

That tankathon website is great!  Here's how I like to summarize it.  Lets assume Pittsburgh beats Houston, then if...

Colts beat Texans - Start at the #4 pick - move up one pick when either of these things happen...

• Colts win in Baltimore
• Giants beat Arizona AND Washington

Texans beat Colts - Start at #9 pick - move up one pick when any of these things happen...

• San Francisco beats Jacksonville OR LA Rams
• Chicago beats Cleveland OR Minnesota
• Tampa Bay beats Carolina OR Arizona
• Cincinnati beats Detroit OR Baltimore
• Denver beats Washington OR Kansas City

So to me it looks like the most likely picks are #4 or like #7 or #8.  Colts/Texans obviously a huge game.

@the-gipper said:

Here are some Survey Question that came from Facebook, that I have modified into Sport Questions.   Give your answer:

1. What sportscaster (living or dead) would you like to narrate the story of your life?

Doc Emrick 

2. Name a sports word/phrase/cliche that you cannot stand.

Ground and Pound

3. Idaho was the only state in the nation where a majority of people in that state said that they would NOT be afraid of a Wild Gorilla.  Pretend you are from Idaho....what sports team that everyone else seems to be afraid of would you not be afraid of?

The Golden State Warriors

4. One way to get the focus off the issue of standing for the anthem by NFL players would be for a NFL player to come out and declare he is openly gay.  Is the NFL ready for an openly gay player?  (A real one....not one that hardly has a chance like Michael Sam)

I think/hope so but it would help if he was white, stood for the anthem, and was not political

5. Less than 50% of the American nation thought that all but one of the following "Activities"  was NOT a real sport.  Name that one activity that people thought was "real".....and tell us if you think these are or are not each of these is a  "real" sports:

I Think they chose Darts

For Me...

Sports - Billiards - Bocce Ball - Cheerleading - Competitive Eating - Croquet - Darts - Ice Dancing - Paint Ball - Riflery

Not Sports - Chess - Drone Racing - Fishing - Hunting - Poker - Video Gaming

@the-gipper said:

• 1. Stupidest                                   Raiders 
• B. Most Clueless                          Chargers
• 2. Biggest Whiners?                     Knicks  (Red Sox is a great call though Boston fans win and whine the most it seems)
• 3. Most Arrogant?                        Yankees
• 4. Fair Weathered?                       Heat
• 5. FrontRunnerAssKissers         Cowboys/Lakers
• 6. Knowledgeable?                      Spurs
• 7. Loyal?                                        Vikings
• 8. Suffering?                                 Indians
• 9. Fun?                                           Saints  (Might have been the Warriors before their fan base grew to include FRAKS)
• 10. Like to be a fan of...              76ers

@tour2ma said:

Hey... I love snark!

Elway joined the Broncos FO as Executive VP in 2011. The then GM stayed on thru that draft season before leaving at which time Elway assumed the GM role. Let's look at his track record...

First his drafts...

This is a great post because it just shows how people's scouting/drafting skills get framed so differently based on a bunch of other things.

I think if you look at the last 7 drafts of just about every other team in the league they'd all look about the same.  A few hits and a lot more "misses".  The other thing that stands out is Elway, known as a brilliant GM, won a superbowl in his FIFTH year.  You could argue the only reason he lasted 5 years is he got a couple years of late prime Peyton Manning before piecing together a defense good enough to carry them to a championship.  He had TIME to build a team.

To me those drafts look like one game changing Superstar on Defense (who most people would've picked), a few really good impact players, and some decent role players.  

We are 2 drafts into this regime and people already think these guys suck at drafting.  It's just crazy.  We have an insane amount of draft capital and cap space and have a superstar in Garrett and a bunch of other young players with potential (and of course they won't all pan out but that's the way it goes!).  Everyone swings and misses but we have a lot more swings to take going forward and that's a really good thing

I think he hit the nail on the head.

It's so easy to criticize a draft with the benefit of hindsight.  It seems like after the last two drafts everyone was celebrating how well the Browns did.  But since we are losing games people go back and say - "we could've drafted THAT guy.  Look how great he is."  But 11 other teams could've drafted Watson.  The Wentz trade STILL has a first and second round pick coming from it.

I think the Sixers are obviously a great parallel.  Hinkie did a better job of convincing people in Philly of his plan than this regime is here.  For like 4 years people outside of Philly just made fun of "the process".  And unfortunately the owner got so embarrassed he hired a "basketball guy" to see the plan through. Who knows if it'll work out.  But Philly fans love that team and Colangelo (who has produced a bunch of mediocre teams in his career) has one of the most hopeful situations in the league.

We have a great cap situation, a TON of draft picks, a ton of young players (who suck at winning as all young players do), and a front office that is confident enough to actually follow through with a REAL long-term plan.  It'd be a shame to hire some "football guy" to come in and blow it up.  

Anyone else tired of hearing this argument right after the Browns JUST DRAFTED THREE PLAYERS IN THE FIRST ROUND!?

We are in the position of having so much draft capital that we get to draft more players than anyone else year after year. I don't see how this is a bad thing! One player is not going to put this team over the top and no one is a sure thing. Sashi and Paul must've sat next to eachother in Harvard Econ class where they talked about compound interest. It's almost like they've turned the Wentz pick into a perpetual fund that gives them an extra 1st round pick every year. I think it's super impressive.

I completely agree that Obama looked tired and out of it. He almost gave the look of a president who has lost much of the hope he presented 4 years ago. It was almost shocking in comparison to the energetic hopeful campaign machine he was in '08.

Right or wrong about policy Romney presented better tonight and he should certainly get a bump in the polls that might actually make it a race.

Anyone else watch the preseason and think "Colt is gonna kill a reciever one of these days"? He almost killed Massoquoi and Cribbs in the same game!

It is obvious after watching Weeden and switching to Colt that his arm-strength isn't good enough to be elite. His ball takes so long to get to the reciever that even when he is accurate, the defenders have time to cold-cock our poor recievers right after the ball is caught. It's no wonder Little started to get alligator arms last year.

It is important especially with our recievers to get them the ball in space and let them do work. Little, Benjamin, and Cribbs are all very good YAC guys but Colt does not deliver a quick enough ball to take advantage of this.

Weeden obviously couldn't throw it in the ocean last Sunday, but he sure provides a lot more upside than Colt. I just don't think McCoy's ceiling is high enough to be a superbowl winner. Why continue on with a QB that can't take you all the way? That's at least what the FO was thinking last Spring.

This guy is a pretty great overall athlete. Being from Montana like he is I sure remember reading a lot about him and he was pretty far and away the best athlete in the state and in multiple sports. He was at one point committed to playing basketball at Gonzaga. The last athlete from Montana this good was probably Ryan Leaf.

That said, his release is nowhere close to being ready. He really doesn't look like a natural Quarterback. It's going to take a few years on the bench to get him ready. I hate drafting guys who have to completely rework a throwing motion, it almost never works because when the pressure is on they usually revert back to what they did for years in high school and college.

I don't know who is going to draft him in the first round. I can't see a good team passing over a potential contributor for a project like him that early.

Man it looks like we miss Ward. Our two safeties just run-around about 20 yards deep aimlessly. No impact against the run, barely an impact against the pass.

NFL Network has been reporting that a deal (depending on available players) is pretty much in place for the Browns to trade all the way down to 27 with the Falcons.

I don't know how much to believe but they are making it sound like the top five is looking like this:

1. Newton - for sure unless someone blows them away with a last minute trade.

2. Miller

3. Dareus

4. Green though Cincy would like to trade

5. Peterson though Zona would like to trade

I really don't like this idea.

Pick #37 is a really good pick. In essence we are giving up a first round pick to trade up from 37 to 12.

The prospect we get at number 12 isn't going to be significantly better than the players available when we pick next year.

Everyone has stared at the draft board for so long that it starts to feel like there are all these great players but it really isn't any better than any other year.

Unless Heckert truly believes he is getting TWO top five talents, then I don't see this happening.

I think the only player this might involve is Bowers. The Browns might think other teams will pass on him due to injury concerns when it sounds like he has checked out okay with our doctors.

No way Fairley falls that far.

Don't want this to happen, don't think it has much of a chance of happening.

@the-gipper said:

Here is some trivia for you, all about Winning and Losing streaks:

1. The Longest Championship streak in American team sports history was recently broken. Who held this record? (Hint: it was at the Division III college level)

I think Trinity College Squash. I'm pretty sure squash but not sure on the college.

2. The Cavaliers this year set the NBA record for the longest losing streak. Whose record did they beat?

Their own over two seasons.

3. The 71-72 Lakers hold the NBA record for the longest winning streak at 33. What team has the second longest streak and how many games?

Houston won like 22 a couple years ago.

4. Which current NFL team has the longest unbeaten streak in its history?

New England

5. Who was the last team to enter the NCAA Final Four with an undefeated record? (note: this team lost in the Final Four)

I would of said St. Johns with Jameer Nelson and Delonte West but they must not have made it that far.

6. What is the longest winning streak in MLB history, and who holds it?

No idea but I'll guess Yankees and 27 games

7. What country in what sport had what amounted to a 132 year winning streak?

No Idea

8. What team in the Big Four major pro sports holds the record for winning the most consecutive division titles?

Atlanta Braves

9. Who has the longest winning streak in college football (at any level)?

No Idea

10. Who has the longest losing streak in college football (at any level)?

Duke

11. A division III college basketball program holds the record for 310 consecutive losses. What school? (Hint: this school is regularly rated in the Top 10 or 20 nationally in academics)

Cal Berkeley maybe

12. Who holds the NFL record for most consecutive losses?

Tampa Bay

@the-gipper said:

Here is this week's survey:

1. The NBA playoffs began this past weekend. Who do you WANT to win? Who do you think WILL win?

OKC / Los Angeles

2. The NHL playoffs began this past week. Who do you WANT to win? Who do you think WILL win?

Buffalo / Vancouver

3. The Indians surprisingly have like the best record in the AL. Do you think they can keep it up and compete for a playoff spot?

At the beginning of the season I didn't think they had the starting pitching to compete but all of their young starters have been great. They hit pretty well, play good defense, have good starting pitching, and have a great bullpen. Sure thay can compete.

4. Who would you like to see the Browns (or your particular favorite team if not Browns as I know we have some Bengals and Steeler fans here) take in the first round of the draft?

My preference is Fairley, but I would be very happy with Dareus, Green, or Peterson as well.

5. Do you have plans for a summer vacation? If so, where?

Nope

Bonus: Any special plans for Easter?

Church, Family, and a feast.