BEREA, Ohio -- The Cleveland Browns on May 8 will host the Cleveland Browns Draft Night Party, presented by Bud Light, at the Cleveland Convention Center. The team?s official 2014 NFL Draft watch party is free to fans who register at ClevelandBrowns.com, but space is limited. From 7-11 p.m., thousands of fans can mix and mingle with Browns players and alumni while watching this year?s draft in an arena-like atmosphere, complete with stadium-style seating and an HD custom video cube comprised of four 16-by-9-foot screens. With the four-sided display, the suspended screens will encourage fans to interact with and respond to one another while viewing the event?s broadcast from any position. Attendees also will be the first fans to receive a special message from the team?s first-round draft selections, in the event one or more of the Browns? picks are present at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Various food and drink specials, as well as discounted downtown parking at select locations, will be available to registered fans throughout the evening. The Browns have the fourth and 26th overall selections in the 2014 NFL Draft?s first round, which opens at 8 p.m. on May 8. Cleveland owns 10 selections in this year?s draft, including three of the first 35 overall. Rounds 2-3 of the draft will begin at 7 p.m. on May 9, while Rounds 4-7 start at noon on May 10. Click Here to RSVP to the 2014 Draft Party.
Damn Irish, I thought I had one single Geezer item I was not aware of. Yes I do remember the flash cube. What was it Charlie Brown used to say, Oh yeah "Rats"........ Incidentally regarding the number 80. A memory test, wasn't there a pretty good D end in the 70s, Bill Glass or something like that. The brain cells can't quite get a handle on it, but I think I rememeber something like that through the fog of time.
Mike Holmgren made a lot of mistakes as president of the Cleveland Browns. One of his mistakes, Holmgren now says, is not hiring himself as head coach. Holmgren told Peter King of TheMMQB.com that in hindsight, he should have pushed back against the team?s ownership, which wanted him to be the top executive but not the coach. ?I really just should have coached the team, but he [owner Randy Lerner] didn?t want me to.? It?s easy to see why Holmgren feels that way, because he?s been a better coach than an executive throughout his career. Holmgren did his best work as the head coach of the Packers at a time when Ron Wolf was Green Bay?s general manager, and after a brief and unsuccessful stint as both head coach and G.M. of the Seahawks, Holmgren had more success after giving up the G.M. job. In Cleveland, Holmgren oversaw a front office that made many mistakes, including retaining head coach Eric Mangini when it was clearly time to move on, hiring Pat Shurmur after firing Mangini a year too late, and using first-round draft picks on Trent Richardson and Brandon Weeden. However, Holmgren has previously said that he was the one who decided not to coach again, so it?s surprising that he?s now saying it was Lerner who kept him from coaching the Browns. We?ll never know how things would have turned out if Holmgren had coached the Browns, but it?s safe to say this: He would have struggled if his roster was put together by General Manager Mike Holmgren.
The Browns previously spent plenty of time with quarterback Derek Carr during an on-campus workout. They?ll now be spending even more time with Carr in Cleveland. As explained by David White of the Fresno Bee, Carr heads to Cleveland this week for his official visit with the Browns. If they like him enough to draft him, the question becomes whether the Browns would take Carr at No. 4 or No. 26 in the first round. But there?s another alternative. They could trade down from No. 4 and draft Carr in the teens, like the Ravens did when acquiring Joe Flacco six years ago. This would give the Browns an extra pick or two as the latest new coaching staff tries to put together a team that fits the new schemes and systems. Trading down invites a risk of being leapfrogged. If the Browns decide that Carr could be the franchise?s first franchise quarterback since Bernie Kosar, why screw around? They should just take him at No. 4.
Position: Cornerback. Roster: Royce Adams, Joe Haden, T.J. Heath, Brandon Hughes, Leon McFadden, Julian Posey, Buster Skrine, Isaiah Trufant. First, a quiz: Pick the one cornerback on the roster listed as tall as six feet. (Answer at the end.) As negotiations continue for a long-term contract for Haden, the two players of most note are Skrine and McFadden. Skrine?s development was notable last year as he finally started trusting his speed and natural ability to recover when initially beat. Skrine?s charge last year was to play on the outside for one or two plays as the No. 2 cornerback, and then drop inside to cover the slot receiver in 3- and 4-receiver formations. It was a formidable challenge that few NFL cornerbacks master. Coach Mike Pettine was sympathetic and has said he prefers his cornerbacks concentrate on outside or inside ? not both. Trufant could be a contender to play inside if Skrine stays outside. As for McFadden, the 2013 third-round pick struggled to get on the field for half a season, and then struggled once he was pressed into service. In an ideal world, McFadden would challenge for a starting spot in his second season and that would ease the burden of this draft. But it may be unrealistic. (Quiz answer: Heath, an undrafted free agent last with Buffalo, is listed at an even six feet tall.) Needs: Pettine reportedly prefers his corners to play primarily press, man-to-man coverage. A cornerback with decent size to challenge Skrine and ultimately allow Skrine to specialize as the nickel (third) back and complement Haden as the No. 2 starter on the outside. Top 5 prospects 1. Justin Gilbert, Oklahoma State Athletically gifted, he stole the top spot with supreme testing in the draft season. Not a bad career either: Seven INTs in 2013, including two for TDs, plus six career kickoff return TDs. 2. Darqueze Dennard, Michigan State Earned the Jim Thorpe Award as the best college defensive back. Not as fast or as big as Gilbert, but he bettered him in the vertical and broad jumps. 3. Kyle Fuller, Virginia Tech Plays taller and stronger than his 5-11 ?, 190-pound measurements. Not shy about tackling. 4. Bradley Roby, Ohio State Final season was a disappointment, marred from the start by a one-game suspension, but may be the first Buckeye drafted this year. 5. Jason Verrett, Texas Christian The smallest of the first-round cornerbacks (5-9 ?, 189), he can cover the fastest receivers. Under radar Stanley Jean-Baptiste, Nebraska His size (6-2 5/8, 218) is hard to keep under radar, but his production drops him lower in the rankings. Last word With Baltimore, the Jets and Buffalo, Pettine has been around good cornerback pairs. Finding a rookie good enough to move Skrine to full-time nickel (third) back would make the secondary stronger. Position: Safety. Roster: Josh Aubrey, Johnson Bademosi, Tashaun Gipson, Jordan Poyer, Jamoris Slaughter, Donte Whitner. The addition of Whitner gives the defense more range, versatility and experience at the strong safety position manned the past four seasons by T.J. Ward. Gipson showed big improvement in his second NFL season and first as a starting free safety, leading the team with five interceptions (one for a TD). Gipson, who is a physical player, isn?t the prototype ball-hawk center fielder, however. Poyer, an October claim formerly with the Eagles, showed some ability and averaged 14.3 yards on punt returns after Travis Benjamin was injured. Slaughter?s rookie season was spent on the practice squad. Needs: Pettine eyeballed ex-Bill free safety Jairus Byrd in free agency, but the price was too steep. You get the impression he wants a more aggressive ballhawk in the deep secondary. Top 5 prospects 1. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Alabama Blends good hands and ball awareness with an aggressive tackling ability. Real name is Ha?sean. 2. Calvin Pryor, Louisville A hard-hitting safety with very good coverage skills. 3. Jimmie Ward, Northern Illinois Turned in seven interceptions his last season and then impressed at the Senior Bowl. 4. Terrence Brooks, Florida State A two-year starter at free safety after switching from backup cornerback. 5. Deone Bucannon, Washington State An imposing physical specimen who specializes in loud collisions. Under radar Tre Boston, North Carolina Passes the eye test and had 13 career interceptions. Last word Whitner is entering his ninth NFL year and will be 29 when the 2014 season starts. Although Aubrey, an undrafted free agent in 2013, was liked by the former regime, it?s not too early to look for a young hitter to groom.
'Tis better to be thought a fool . . . Mike Holmgren, it seems, has a tough time leaving well enough alone. The ex-Browns president was on the cusp of being a distant bad memory to Cleveland professional football when he chose to revisit the past recently. At first blush, it was a seemingly-harmless one-sentence quote that appeared in Peter King?s Quotes of the Week section in last Monday?s MMQB on SI.com. King dismissed it with a simple one-sentence entry. Upon further review, it was anything but harmless. ?I really just should have coached the team, but (owner Randy Lerner) didn?t want me to,? Holmgren said in reference to his rocky stay with the Browns a few years ago. Now Holmgren is either the weakest-backbone executive the Browns have ever hired or one sensational revisionist prevaricator. He was an outstanding National Football League coach as his 161-111 record attests. He took his teams to the playoffs in 12 of his 17 seasons and is 1-1 as a Super Bowl coach. When he was hired in 2009 to run the Browns, his first major decision was what to do with coach Eric Mangini. Retaining Mangini was his first and, as it turned out, most egregious mistake. All he had to do at the time was what came naturally to him ? coach. But no, he said. ?At this stage of my life, that?s not what my first priority is,? Holmgren said after finally firing Mangini shortly after the end of the 2010 season. ?I?m relishing the role Randy Lerner had confidence to give me.? Later, he said, ?At that particular time, I wasn?t ready to do it again. I thought I?d be shortchanging the organization.? He said absolutely nothing at the time about Lerner?s preference for someone other than him to coach the team. Reading between the lines back then, what Holmgren really meant was he liked the whole idea of not putting in the long hours required to coach an NFL team. In no way and at no time did Lerner enter the discussion stage. Holmgren wanted to live the easy life. The rigorous grind of coaching, as well as managing the front office, was not for him anymore. Now, he ducks behind the cover of Lerner and blames him for not returning to coaching. We are being led to believe he is second-guessing himself. What gall. We?ll never know it, of course, but somehow I could never see Lerner preventing Holmgren from to returning to coaching if it meant improving the team. As bad an owner as Lerner was, I find it extremely hard to believe he would stand in the way of anyone capable of improving the franchise. That makes no sense whatsoever. Now I?ll buy the notion that Holmgren?s wife, not Lerner, was against him returning to the sidelines. That one makes a lot more sense than Lerner saying uh no, you stay right where you are. Holmgren was first and foremost a terrific coach. All you have to do is see what he did in Green Bay and Seattle to reach that conclusion. He had the opportunity to step up in Cleveland and turn that franchise in a direction it hasn?t been since, well, since Cleveland left the NFL in the mid-1990s. But no. He got lazy. It?s much easier to sit back, remain in the background and collect all those millions. It appears right now as though Holmgren is suffering from a bad case of diarrhea of the mouth. He is proving that if you open up your mouth enough times, you eventually wind up contradicting yourself somewhere along the way. I know. I?ve done it. Here?s some free advice for Holmgren as he enjoys his retirement out in Washington state: When people ask you questions about your time in Cleveland with the Browns, ignore them. Move on. Some things are better left unsaid. The more you talk about it, the deeper you shove both of your feet inside your mouth and wind up looking like a fool. That little quote in King?s column is proof positive. Posted by Rich Passan
Bill Glass Joe Turkey Jones both wore # 80 . both were outstanding defensive ends . When Jones came back to the Browns he wore # 64 . the same # he had when he used Steeler QB Terry Bradshaw like a yard dart *YAHOO* I have Bill Glass book autographed . he became a preacher after football .if a Browns player wrote a book I bought it . if it was about the Browns I have it .
Sixth in a series analyzing the Browns? draft needs. Position: Linebacker. Roster: Tank Carder, Karlos Dansby, Darius Eubanks, Quentin Groves, Paul Kruger, Brandon Magee, Eric Martin, Barkevious Mingo, Craig Robertson, Jabaal Sheard, Justin Staples. There?s strength in numbers here, for sure ? 11 strong. The switch last year to the 3-4 base defense of former coordinator and Dick LeBeau disciple Ray Horton resulted in a complete revamping of the outside linebacker spots. But for various reasons, the Pittsburgh Steelers-like pass rush never materialized. 1. High-priced free agent Kruger did not produce in an overworked role as he did with Baltimore off the bench. 2. Backup Groves missed most of the year with a severe high ankle sprain. 3. Top pick Mingo played as light and one-dimensional as feared. 4. The transition of Sheard from defensive end reduced his impact on the pass rush. New coach Mike Pettine and coordinator Jim O?Neil run a different style of 3-4 that hopes to utilize the same players in different ways. Their biggest offseason move was directed inside, where defensive captain and tackling stalwart D?Qwell Jackson was replaced by Dansby, who, at 32, begins his 10th NFL campaign with his third team. It was ironic that the inside ?backer who struggled more in Horton?s system was the one chosen to stay ? Robertson. He could face a challenge for his starting spot from Eubanks or a drafted rookie. Needs: Pettine is used to having a playmaker at inside linebacker, not just a tackler ? Ray Lewis in Baltimore, David Harris with the Jets, Kiko Alonso in Buffalo. Dansby is such a disrupter, but he will be 33 by season?s end and Pettine may want to search for his successor sooner than later. Top 5 prospects 1. Khalil Mack, Buffalo Reminds some of a classic Steelers? 3-4 rush linebacker because of his height (6-2 5/8) and burst to the quarterback. His 2 ?-sack game against Ohio State probably did more for his lofty draft status than his 47 others combined. 2. Anthony Barr, UCLA Played five different positions on offense his first two seasons before finding a home on defense. His 23.5 sacks in two years suggest the best may yet to come. 3. C.J. Mosley, Alabama Has the ability and showed the smarts, dedication and temperament to excel at just about any linebacker position. But the specter of many Crimson Tide pro busts may drop him into the middle of the first round. 4. Ryan Shazier, Ohio State Short and light (6-1 1/8, 237), he is a phenomenal athlete with rare speed and quickness for a linebacker. Doesn?t pack much of a wallop as a tackler, though. 5. Dee Ford, Auburn A classic ?tweener (not a pure defensive end, not a pure linebacker) who should break in as a situational edge rusher. Under radar Preston Brown, Louisville A tackling machine run-defender who might not be able to play on passing downs because of coverage deficiencies. Bottom line Mack?s pro day was the only one Pettine was documented to attend. He joked that he was there partially to check up on his Buffalo residence. Sincere interest in Mack is obvious, but how Pettine would fit him in at an over-loaded rush linebacker roster is a mystery. Would he drop him inside as a Kiki Alonso-type playmaker or start him ahead of Kruger? Or would Pettine address this position with the well-coached Mosley?
After studying five games of Indiana WR Cody Latimer, ESPN's Todd McShay declared him "the most underrated player in the draft." "He did not drop a pass in five games I studied," stated McShay, who is all-in on Latimer's pro prospects. Latimer stands just under 6-foot-3 and weighs 215, and McShay reported he was clocked as fast as 4.39 at IU's Pro Day. There are whispers Latimer could sneak into the back end of the draft's first round. Jets GM John Idzik and Chargers GM Tom Telesco attended Latimer's Pro Day.
