@bringbackbrownie2 said:ESPN is saying Wanstadt is most likely going to the bills... how much that the bills have a better record than the browns next year????

@sisky-fringo said:both Hardesty and Hillis have great hands for football players did you see hillis run the ball this year... dude has a bad case of the dropsies.

@nw220 said:I dont know got mixed emotions on it i can see are team becoming a real nice defense but im pretty sure he runs a 4-3 as Rob Ryan runs the 3-4 so are they gonna bump heads and would we let Rob go... I would say the chances of Ryan staying, no matter who is coach are pretty slim, so you need to get accustomed to that fact. Plus....is is vastly overrated. He is an example of the type of coach Gips was describing....one who the fans like.

Andrew Perloff (smart SI guy) says Browns get A.J. Green: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writ...raft/index.html

@kosar_for_president said:] Shurmur is represented by agent Bob LaMonte, whose clients include Holmgren, Heckert and Browns executive vice president Bryan Wiedmeier. . Lol someone needs to look into this

An easy way to rank our current players is to compare each position player to those teams who are in the *playoffs and ask yourself if this guy would start for them. *exclude all NFC West teams

Back at ya Nickers---gettin' older but still kickin'...... Can't wait to see how our offseason unfolds... The laws of average says we'll eventually get it right... Peace T.Dawg

Cal, you take away Dallas Clark or just about anyone else and the Colts just keep on winning. You take away Manning and they're the Browns, or close. Don't fool yourself into thinking otherwise. Same for Brees, Brady, and the rest. Nobody influences the bottom line half as much as the quarterback, for better or worse. Shep *************************** But the Saints, Colts and Patriots are out of the playoffs. Those are THE three top tier qbs.. And they have decent defenses, too. I know they can keep winning if you take away a piece, because they still have most of the pieces in place. And the Browns really beat the Pats (Brady) earlier in the year, and the Saints (Brees). You take Wallace and Ward away from Bun rothlicksboogers, and the squeelers would have lost to the ratbirds. Well, maybe, if the ratbirds hadn't given away those two big turnovers... Seriously, look at the first four games that over-rated bun was suspended for: 1 ATL W 15-9 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2 Sep 19 @ TEN W 19-11 - - - - - - - - 3 Sep 26 @ TAM W 38-13 - - - - - - - - 4 Oct 3 BAL L 14-17 The squeelers won with their BACKUP qb early on, at the beginning of the season. No bun, still won. GGG It's a team game. With the pieces in place, another piece, even another qb, can step in and win.

http://www.ohio.com/sports/browns/114985984.html The Browns have hired four assistants for Pat Shurmur's coaching staff: Mark Whipple (quarterbacks coach), Mike Wilson (wide receivers coach), Bill Davis (linebackers coach) and Dwaine Board (defensive line coach). Whipple and Wilson will try to help quarterback Colt McCoy and his targets develop while adjusting to the West Coast offense. Meanwhile, Davis and Board will assist defensive coordinator Dick Jauron, presumably throughout the team's expected switch from a 3-4 defense to a 4-3. The Browns reportedly had considered Whipple as an offensive coordinator candidate. But with Shurmur calling the offense's plays and Whipple filling another role, the team might not hire anyone to replace Brian Daboll after all. The Browns wouldn't be the first NFL team to go without an offensive coordinator. This season, the New England Patriots and the Arizona Cardinals, who used ''run game'' and ''passing game'' coordinators, did not name one. Whipple, a 53-year-old Tarrytown, N.Y., native, spent the past two seasons as an assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the University of Miami football team. He was fired after the Hurricanes ousted coach Randy Shannon at the end of the season. Whipple, who was a quarterback at Brown University, was also the quarterbacks coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers (2004-06) and an offensive assistant for the Philadelphia Eagles (2008). In his brief stint with the Eagles, Whipple worked with Browns General Manager Tom Heckert. Wilson, a 52-year-old Los Angeles native, spent the past two seasons as the wide receivers coach of the UFL's Las Vegas Locomotives. Wilson also spent three seasons (2004-06) with the Cardinals, for whom he coached tight ends and wide receivers. He played wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers (1981-90) during part of Browns President Mike Holmgren's tenure as the team's quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. Davis, a 45-year-old Youngstown native whose father worked with Heckert's father in the Browns' front office during the 1980s, was fired by the Cardinals last month after serving as their defensive coordinator for the past two seasons. The Cardinals' defense ranked 29th this season and 20th in 2009. Before joining the Cardinals as a linebackers coach in 2007, Davis was the defensive coordinator for the 49ers (2005-06). He has been an assistant coach in the NFL for 19 years, including one previous season as the Browns' linebackers coach (1999). Davis, who was a quarterback at the University of Cincinnati, started his coaching career by succeeding Shurmur, 45, as a graduate assistant coach at Michigan State University (1990-91). Board, a 54-year-old native of Rocky Mount, Va., spent the 2009 season as the defensive line coach of the Oakland Raiders. He also spent six seasons as the defensive line coach of the Seattle Seahawks (2003-08), when Holmgren was the team's head coach. Board, who played defensive end for the 49ers (1979-88), started his NFL coaching career in 1990. The Browns' recent hires indicate Carl Smith (quarterbacks coach), Matt Eberflus (linebackers coach) and Bryan Cox (defensive line coach) will not return to the team. George McDonald (wide receivers coach) has already taken another job with the Miami Hurricanes. The Browns will retain running backs coach Gary Brown, tight ends coach Steve Hagen, offensive line coach George Warhop and defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson, a source told Cleveland.com. A Browns spokesman could neither confirm nor deny the report Monday night.

Shep will give Alex Smith a long leash because he has a big arm, yet Colt McCoy is a bust because he sucked vs. BAL and PIT. Ugh. Shep doesn't know squat about QB's.

@mudratdetector said:building through FA doesn't work well for the skins because they overpay for overhyped players. Also when's the last time the Colts, Pats* or Stealers went and signed a lot of big name FA?

@wrrebel said:Everytime I watch him play he seems to be a very solid player. Plus his brother clay was just ok at usc and has flurished.. We probably agree on a lot more... I just got a little carried away with the coach thing. I like him because I can see how much better he can get than he is right now. He might never be as good as his older brother, but he is still going to be a very solid linebackeer in thee nfl, either as a mlb or an olb.

@shepwrite said:Hear me out... Steve Smith has been a dick for a large portion of his life. He's cold-cocked his own teammates. He bitches and pouts. He can also be a funny, engaging guy who had a very good relationship with a certain mentor-to-be named Jake Delhomme. The two actually were friends. Smith is going to get cut. He already put his house up for sale. The team sucks and is in for a long rebuilding process with a rookie QB, probably Andrew Luck. Smith is due 7 mill he'll never see based on injuries and production. Oh, and to recommend him even less? He'll be 32 in May. He's absolutely a short-term prospect. And I think that makes him ideal for the Browns, who are likely to draft a WR in the 8 to 13 range next April. Rookie receivers often take time to become stars... and the Browns seem to have an opportunity to be serious contenders in 2011, if indeed there is a 2011. Well, I mean there will be a 2011, but maybe not for football fans. Now the good stuff: Smith is still fast. He's in great shape. He's a fiery competitor. And, again, he loves him some Jake Delhomme, who will be there to broker the relationship between McCoy, Smith, and Julio Jones (for example). Massoquoi becomes the slot, something many think he's born to do (talked about a lot his rookie year). The Browns defense has been pretty damn good this year. A couple of new pieces in the front 7, they have a shot to be legit top 10. We'll be able to run the ball. If we can also throw it? The sky's the limit. Smith would only be relevant for two years, which gives Julio time to grow into the #1. Just sayin'. I'm betting (hoping) Delhomme won't be back next year.

Blackmon still looks good though. 150 yard receiving average on the year gives me a football hard on. EDIT: Also I like how WalterFootball's mock pans out. I would look at taking a DE or RT at the second round but I like this Jimmy Smith guy at CB. Sheldon Brown is hurt alot of the time and Wright can't cover a pile of immobile shit. I also like where we are at to pick a line backer in the 3rd round. Chris Marve is good and would be going higher if he didn't have a knee injury this year that limited his playing time and ten picks after ours they have the Ravens taking Cassy Mathews who I can see actually being picked by us instead of us taking Marve.

@clevelandbigdawg said:Who are you talking about there. There are 3 players listed, and I clearly said Akeem Ayers is a mid-late 1st round player which falls anywhere from pick 13-32. Unless your talking about Crick or Greg Jones, in either case I haven't seen either listed any higher than a real late first round pick. If your talking about AJ Green, then no shit he is going top 20. Who cares what you said. Just kidding.

@shepwrite said:Well, finally some good news... http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/...erback_c_9.html Great to hear McCoy to get the keys to the car again. It's a whole different team when he's in there. The Bills game certainly would have been a chance for him to even his record. Here's to sending the Who-whats to their team record of straight losses. Colt you Rock!

BigDawg, those are Braylon's senior year stats. Not fair to compare 'em to the other guys' three year stat lines.

Homotron said:I truly think the 4-3 in the NFL is a dinosaur. You'll see teams gradually move away from it because most of the top defense are running the 3-4 and there are more players that translate to 3-4 outside LB's in the draft than guys that make true defensive ends in the NFL. Pass rushing defensive ends that is. Hell, I have seen times when some teams, the Browns included had 1 defensive lineman on the field and like 6 LBs!

@miktoxic said: wow, you are all over the place. when we win mangini is ok. when we win a couple in a row you're like "he's starting to win me over" and when we lose you're at the front of the line ready to hang the guy. rome wasn't built in a day. what do consistent winning franchises have in common. stability. There seems to be a lot of that on this board...

Aaarrrgggh! We lost 29-28 in a 2 point conversion with :44 left... then missed a 41 yarder to win. We have a superb kicker with 50 yard range... but he banged the right upright! He'd missed a 41 yarder earlier. Jack (my son) had an interception in the first half and a ton of tackles. Played very well in a game not too many defenders could say that.