Newsflash, we're not going to the Super Bowl next year. So my strategy is based on the continuation of a push to serious stability and then Super Bowl contention.

This will only be Heckert's third draft.

First draft landed us:

Haden (Impact starter)
Ward (Impact starter)
Hardesty (Jury is still out)
McCoy (Starter, tough kid, good pedigree, Jury still out)
Lauvao (Starter, or excellent depth at G)
No 4th Round pick
Assante (lost on Roster shuffle to TB)
Mitchell (6th round fail)
Geathers (6th round fail)

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I'd do a backflip if the kid fell to us in the 2nd round. Anyone seen his highlight videos? SC suffered from poor QB play this year which could allow him to slip to us. Here's his highlight video. Careful, it's over 8 minutes long.

I'm convinced, based on my personal bias and my knowledge of Heckert & Holmgren, we are not taking RGIII at 4. We'll go for Richardson just because he fits into the West Coast style and he's a beast. I think we trade down to Richardson and pickup a kings ransom for doing it. Then add a WR with the late first rounder or preferably with our 2nd round pick.

That adds two young starters at skill positions to McCoy's options. And we get a real grade. If it doesn't work out we're still in good position to pick up a QB in 2013.

I've got a lot of respect for this mock website. I'd say it's probably the best out there. Can check it out here.

They've got us taking Trent Richardson at 4. Honestly, I don't love the selection as I hate taking a RB so high but I wouldn't be "angry" if we did. Richardson is a stud. Probably the best RB prospect to come out since Peterson. You cane watch Richardson Highlights if you'd like.Beast Mode.

The more interesting of the two picks is Zach Brown (OLB) at 25. Certainly turns us into an absolute Elite defensive unit. Not just top 10. Brown can play run and pass. Just my opinion. But I'd love to see David DeCastro (OG) on the board when we come up. Not flashy picks but pencil them in for at least half a decade.

The rest are pointless until the draft order is solidified. I'd prefer a WR at 38.

We are travelling to Houston next week. We are going to get destroyed. I will be happy if we keep Houston beneath 30 points. Our offense cannot compete with them. So another game watching our defense develop.

So 3-5.

Next game is St. Louis @ Cleveland. I expect Shurmur to do whatever it takes to win coming off two rough road losses.

4-5.

Then we get lucky with Jacksonville @ Cleveland.

5-5 with a road trip to the Bengals coming up.

First off, I have nothing to do with the guy creating these videos. As a Browns fan I just love them.  Thought I'd post them on Dawgs as I'm sure you guys will appreciate them too. Really cool stuff running the gamut of last year and this year. You guys can link and promote it if you wish. I wish I had the time to put together these kind of videos.

http://www.youtube.com/user/vikesfootball33#p/c/1/R75JFuu5BfY

The things that stand out the most to me:

McDonald appears to have lost all confidence in himself and it shows on the field. On numerous occasions he could be seen yelling in the direction of Sean Jones instead of eyeing his man down as the play started. I kept a count during my second rewatch. The number of times I saw McDonald not looking directly at the man he was covering when the ball was snapped: 10. The number of times I saw him clearly get beat: 7. The number of times he was badly beaten for a touchdown: 3. The third included the "no tackle" play earlier in the 4th. McDonald just stood there and watched him run by. He assumed a tackle was going to be made and quit the play. He also dropped 2 easy interceptions. I'll touch on this later, but I saw no adjustments to get him help. He played primarily one on one coverage.

Sean Jones is either rusty or not 100% back from his injury. He is slow to pickup his help reads and he is terrible in his lines for deep coverage. He spent the majority of the game helping to the left side of the field defensively despite McDonald's many troubles. There were multiple occasions where he may as well have been blitzing because I certainly didn't see him actually covering anything.

Our pass rush and blitz packages are predictable. If you rewatch the tape you'll see our line and blitzers simply being pushed to the sides, mostly to the right (backside). We don't run stunts for the most part. We bull rush in one direction. It's fairly easy to gameplan for if you have a QB who gets rid of the ball quickly. The 3-4 defense with the kind of players we currently have just doesn't make sense.

Sean Rogers is an animal. If only we had 2 more of him on the D-Line. What a beast.

Despite the urge to do so, I will not bash Kellen Winslow. Despite the fumble and the drop at the end he had a couple fantastic catches, two touchdowns, and over 110 yards on 10 catches. He's such a fantastic possession receiver/tight end and I really hope he plays out his career in Cleveland. Clearly he is better utilized with a short field quarterback like Quinn.

Quinn was solid in his first start. He's decisive. He gets rid of the ball quickly and most of his incompletions were either timing issues or just really tough throws. It is clear that Anderson's big arm couldn't overcome his own indecision and at times, fear and lack of confidence. The real question with Quinn is can he throw the ball deep. If he can't, then we may have some problems down the road.

Speaking of another player with a clear confidence issue, Edwards. The booing appears to have gotten to him. He was visibly upset in the first half when the fans boo'd him on a play that actually wasn't a drop. It was just an incredibly hard catch to make. He skied out with double coverage and just couldn't pull it down. The fans let him have it and you could see him rolling his eyes and shaking his head on the way back to the huddle. Not a good sign. He has to just keep playing his game.

Finally, the coaching staff. I am having trouble looking for something intangible that Romeo brings to the Browns as Head Coach. He's supposed to be a defensive guru but he doesn't adjust on defense. He's supposed to be a "player's coach" but he doesn't appear to have a lot of sway with them for now. He clearly sucks at handling his QBs. He is not a very good game manager including a major difficulty with clock management and ball control, particularly at the end of halves. With all that said, I do NOT think he should be fired. I am sick and tired of letting our coaches go after 3 or 4 years. It is my opinion that in order for an NFL coach to be successful they need five years to fully implement their system and plug in a full roster of players that fit their system. The problem with Cleveland is that we are so hungry for a winner (go watch the cavs, best Cavs team EVER this year) that we overreact to failure and don't give ourselves a chance to succeed over the longterm. With that said, if Bill C wants to stab the Steelers in the back and come coach the Browns, FIRE ROMEO! lol

http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/10/08/brady-quinn-endorses-mccain/

TRONGSVILLE, OH — Cleveland Browns QB Brady Quinn and Left Tackle Joe Thomas endorsed the GOP nominee during a McCain-Palin joint rally outside Cleveland Wednesday.

Palin introduced the surprise endorsers at the end her speech today to cheers from the more than 2,000 supporters in the crowd.

Quinn introduced McCain and spoke briefly about how his service to the nation and time as a POW inspired him because he kept “fighting for freedom.”

“Too often times we label people heroes and get caught up in the moment but tonight we have a real hero amongst us,” Quinn said. “This is a man who endured great adversity yet remained loyal to his nation, a man who would not forsake his country…we need heroes like this to inspire us and to remind us that we are the greatest nation.”

He added that, “to me, Senator McCain embodies the American spirit which is a lifetime of patriotism and service to this country, first in the military and then in the Senate.”

Fair enough, but while you're sitting on the bench collecting millions, don't lecture me on your politics. I don't want to hear your political opinion. Spend more time increasing your arm strength and STFU about politics.

I watched that Houston game last week with the Steelers. Houston got consistent pressure on passing downs but they could not stop the run at all.

I know the Browns defense didn't perform well last week, but the reality is that our offense kept them out on the field for 10 more minutes than the Dallas D was.

Despite that, Rogers looked good and Wimbley was consistently assigned to pass coverage. Especially after Whitten went crazy. They really didn't get lit up until late in the game on the ground.

Romo still got his chin busted up, that was the kind of hit that can finish a season a lot of the time. The Barbarian left with bruised ribs in Game 1.

They just got worn down by a HUGE offensive line. After watching that game for a thrid time I wouldn't be surprised if Dallas managed to finish 14-2 in the NFC East. That's saying something.

When Romeo chose to kick that field goal I was actually happy. I knew the game was over. I knew there was no reason to risk injuries. Get this thing over quickly, why risk anything else when scoring tie breakers are going to come into play at the end of the year?

This week is different, there's blood in the water.

With the offseason starting, it's never too early to start talking about trade possibilities! Lets take a close look at some of the possibilities on the horizon. Who better to talk about first than the Dolphins? With Parcells coming in to kick ass and clean house, we know the Tuna is going to be hungry to make some moves. What's available? What do we need and what are some possibilities both the obvious and the interesting.

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