Never Pick A Brown

I have one rule when it comes to our fantasy football draft..."Never pick a Cleveland Brown." This strategy has worked for me going on sixteen years. In that time I have won a number of league championships, scored the most points that year, or backed into the playoffs. I can think of maybe two or three years when enjoying my favorite hobby landed me on the outside looking in. As an avid Browns fan, I have suffered like many of you since the teams return in 1999. The Browns road to success has been like a woolly mammoth sloshing through the La Brea Tar Pits. Long ago I asked myself this question..."Why suffer twice when I only have to suffer once?" No longer would the names Charlie Frye, Kelly Holcomb, Lee Suggs, William Green, Chansi Stuckey, and the great Brian Robiskie roll off my tongue on fantasy draft night. My passion for winning overtook the urge to trade for a red hot Derrick Anderson or pick up fan favorite Peyton Hillis off the waiver wire. I could still root for them, wear their jerseys on game day, even beg for their autograph at the Cleveland RV Show, but by no means would I be plugging them into my starting lineup that week. What has helped me ease the temptation of selecting one of our beloved Brownies over the years is being in the league with, "Cleveland Brown Guy." If you're lucky you may have experienced CBG in one of your leagues. He's the guy that will select the first Browns player on the board. He will reach round after round to secure a team of brown and orange. He'll even name his team something like..."Browns Town" or "The Big Dawgs," only to find himself in the dog house by years end. When CBG has a huge week, that means the other nine teams players were all on a bye. It could be that Phil Dawson kicked six field goals and that the Browns defense scored on a Josh Cribbs kickoff return. Does all that mean CBG is a better Browns fan than I? Not really. It means that in the words of former New York Jets coach and ESPN football annalist Herm Edwards, "You Play To Win The Game." The game is fantasy football and I'm in it to win it. Even if I do pass on Mohamed Massaquoi.              

Browns Attack Free Agency

The Browns opened a large can of kick-ass this week by plucking Ravens linebacker Paul Kruger and Raiders nose tackle Desmond Bryant from their AFC opponents. Those of you who think Browns owner Jimmy Haslam overpaid for the 581 lbs. of free agent, think again. In the words of former 49er's head coach Mike Singletary, "I want winners!" That's exactly what they got in their new pass rusher extraordinaire Kruger. Ask Colts rookie quarterback Andrew Luck if he still has nightmares of Kruger beating him down in the AFC wild-card game to the tune of, 2 1/2 sacks, 5 hurries, and a forced fumble. His teammates need to go no further than to check out his ring finger to see that at 27 years old Kruger knows what it takes to be a champion. Browns Defensive guru Ray Horton now has his big fast guy who can disrupt AFC North backfields this year. Browns fans will immediately fall in love with their new star by sporting his jersey starting with training camp in Berea this summer. In Bryant, the Browns have another wide body who can assert pressure up the middle. According to Pro Football Focus, Bryant was the 6th best defensive tackle in the league last year and 4th best at rushing the quarterback. We're not talking Frostee Rucker here people! Sure Bryant was recently arrested for criminal mischief but that could be anything from toilet papering his neighbor's tree to placing a banana in the tailpipe of one his Harvard professor's automobiles. Let's hope Bryant saves some of his mischievousness on unsuspecting offensive linemen this season. My sources tell me that tackle Phil Taylor may be on his way out. He doesn't fit Horton's defensive scheme and may be used to acquire a much needed second round pick that the team could use to fill another hole. Just a hunch, but if the Browns still wish to snag Patriots backup quarterback Ryan Mallett, Taylor may be the kind of player Bill Belichick covets to help repair last year's swiss cheese defense. I give the team of Joe Banner and Michael Lombardi an A in their initial splash into the free agency pool. Like our new pass rush, Banner and Lombardi need to stay on the attack and force another turnover. A starting cornerback or hard hitting safety would be fine thank you!          http://www.profootballfocus.com/

Flacco's Deal & The Chief's Steal

Hey Brown's fan...Be honest...Did you really think Raven's quarterback Joe Flacco was going to fly the coop? Why would the dirty birds in Baltimore let their franchise thrower leave without saying goodbye? "The Wizard of OZ," Raven's CEO Ozzie Newsome worked his magic again, by making "Super Joe" Flacco the highest paid quarterback in football. But wait...Alex Smith, 49ers back-up quarterback was still out there and could be had without giving up a first round pick. The Browns were once again a day late and a dollar short as Andy Reed and the Kansas City Chiefs scooped him up for what looks to be a couple of second round draft picks. My gut tells me that Smith will execute Reed's offense to perfection and help lead the Chiefs back to the playoffs. Where does all that leave our beloved Brownies? Well here are our options...

1. Trade for an experienced quarterback...Remember Jake Delhomme and Jeff Garcia? Do you really want to see Arizona's Kevin Kolb, or Seattle's one game wonder Matt Flynn take the helm? My sources tell me Miami's Matt Moore is a likely candidate to not compete, but hold the clipboard for the Brown and Orange this season. 
2. Draft a QB in the upcoming NFL draft...Can you say The University of West Virginia's Geno Smith? Before you applaud this one, young Geno could play like a couple other Smith's I remember not so long ago, Troy or worse yet Akili Smith. Last year at this time we were willing to play like malarkey for Barkley. This year the So. Cal. QB will be lucky to be chosen in the second round.   
3. Stay with our second year 29 year old signal caller Brandon Weeden... We stayed with Colt McCoy a second season which proved to be a disaster. Sure a new head coach, new offense, and new OC, could be just what the doctor ordered for our geriatric field general, but on the other hand, shouldn't a new head coach with an offensive mind be able to select a quarterback that he personally is comfortable with? 

Flacco, or to a lesser extent Smith would have given the Browns instant respect and credibility within our division. The ground game would have opened up and our young receivers would have had an opportunity to catch the ball from a successful quarterback with playoff experience. I'm afraid that until the team gets the quarterback position correct, they will continue to watch the Steelers, Ravens, and Bengals fight it out for dominance in the the AFC's Central Division. When it comes to throwing in Cleveland...lets hope this year it's not just the towel!