we do have a mod here . does that count ? besides CCC looks like one of my better report cards from HS .
The Browns are the only AFC North team without a active Contributor outside of the forum and the ones who are in the postings here have a lot of passion for this Browns organization. You guys seem to love football on top of your love for the team. It would be great to see the Browns represented on the main site as passionately as it is in here.
Just got the oil changed yesterday and are having addition put on it to hold another couple hundred rabid fans... It will be spit shined and ready to roll come Sept 8th!! Woof Woof!!
Stopper, you wouldn't know reality if it woke you out of your stupor! DQ and Kruger will be the heart of the front seven...so it is an actual PLUS that they are familiar with this defense. It was Kruger's turn in Baltimore, and he bolted to the Browns...The Steelers and Ravens let their talent simmer before they become every down players. Kruger was at that point, but left for the money, which Baltimore couldn't afford. He is a star waiting to happen. For once, the Browns got someone that was bred on another team in their prime. From all reports Sheard is all over the field and is even besting Joe Thomas...THAT alone gives me chills!! DQ is a premier MLB in the 4-3, no doubt, but it isn't like he isn't equipped to play in the 3-4...it is actually easier when given talent on the outside, which he never had in his first go around in that system. This defense will be as good as the front seven allows it to be and I fully expect them to be a top 15 defense in their first year, top ten in 2014. The secondary is scary, but QB pressure relieves so many obstacles for the secondary that I think they will be just fine. How many pro bowl DBs have the Steelers had the past handful of seasons? Yet, they have been a top 3 defense every year...
CCC doesn't stand for Consistently Coolest Cat bluez 8) The DPL is our CCC... Anyone that wants to know the happenings of the Browns merely have to pop onto this thread and get any answer they would like. Writing an article about the Browns, for other franchise fans to read is fruitless. Otherwise, I would probably be interested in doing it. By my own admission though my bias is so over the top, I could never be a 'contributor'. I can honestly say though, I enjoy reading the other contributors excerpts. Many of them, I consider friends and like to see their perspective on their teams and the NFL in general.
I enjoy writing and I am passionate about football and my Bengals. I have been through the Bad years and seen a few good so it makes it fun for me to talk about this team. It is also fun making fun of the "shake and Blake" of the mid 90's as well!
That's awesome!! Being from Northern Ohio, I see way too many wishy washy Bengals "fans"... My wife was born in Cincy and she is a die hard Bengals and Reds fan, so we have our inner rivalries and it is nice to see one on these boards as well. I wish all 32 teams would represent on these boards, makes for a nice avenue for debate once he season hits stride. I look forward to reading your pieces as well!
Thanks IrishDawg32, I have seen way to many over the years as well. I was Born and raised Cincy. I can't stand the Reds since Marge Schotz, and the Chris Sabo Debacle! I decided that I need more punishment and became a Cubs Fan!! HAHA, I liked the Indians for a while and then I saw the movie Major League!
If Kruger was good he wuld have been an every down player...they lost Suggs and he still culdnt b the guy? I will trust Ozzie on this one.........Sheard will look lost come game time....watch the offense run right at him and he wont have a clue when they go pA and hes caught in the middle....of course their gonna give u the good moments of him
I believe your selling this defense short considering the biggest x-factor involved, Ray Horton. Will they be up to speed week one? Maybe not, but there are some things you can rely on and the biggest one outside of one of the better defensive coordinators in the game is the on the field leadership of D'Qwell Jackson. The Browns are on the up showstopper, I have my early prediction at 8-8 just behind the 9-7 Ravens and Steelers.
If Kruger was good? He was taking his natural progression steps forward 2011 no games started, 15 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 2 passes defensed 2012 6 games started, 42 tackles, 9 sacks, 6 passes defensed, 1 INT(ANOTHER 4.5 SACKS POSTSEASON) 2013 16 games started...??? laws of averages say...around 70 tackles, 15 sacks, 10 passes defensed which would put him in the top 5 OLBs
Tim, coaching only gets u so far.....its the player execution that counts....I think people r going crazy over Turner and Horton like their these prize gems......if I recall they were both on the open market for a reason....he can call the best blitz but if the DB is beat what does his call matter.
You know who else have been on the open market in their careers? Bill Belichick and Tom Coughlin, the two participating head coaches in the latest Super Bowl. During Norv Turners career, his offenses have historically been amongst the top in the NFL...that is what he is here to do.. We all know what he did with the Cowboys offense 20+ years ago... Then he took a Redskins offense that ranked 25 (out of 28 at the time mind you) and turned them into a #13 offense the very first year. Chronologically his offenses have ranked 1991 7 (OC) 1992 2 (OC) 1993 2 (OC) 1994 13 (HC) 1995 18 (HC) 1996 8 (HC) 1997 15 (HC) 1998 17 (HC) 1999 2 (HC) 2000 24 (HC fired before the season ended) 2001 14 (OC) 2002 12 (OC) 2003 17 (OC) 2004 18 (HC) 2005 24 (HC) 2006 24 (OC) 2007 5 (HC) 2008 2 (HC) 2009 4 (HC) 2010 2 (HC) 2011 6 (HC) 2012 20 (HC) In 22 seasons, he has had an offensive ranking of 20 or below 4 times..He has had a top 10 offense 10 of those 22. Cleveland since the return? 1999 31 (of 31) 2000 31 (of 31) 2001 19 (league expands to 32 teams) 2002 29 2003 19 2004 27 2005 32 2006 30 2007 8(under Chud running Turner's offense) 2008 31 2009 29 2010 31 2011 30 2012 24 In 14 seasons, Bottom 5 in the league 9 times, only 3 times have they ranked higher than Turner's worst season of his career... Yes cautiously optimistic on the new offensive coordinator... *YAHOO* Ray Horton has had a shorter career, but let's take a look anyway... He owns 3 Super Bowl rings... Worked under Dick Lebeau in PBurgh for 7 years helping mold that vaunting defense As a defensive coordinator he has ranked (Total, Passing, Rushing, Scoring, sacks): 2011 17, 17, 21, 17, 7 2012 17, 5, 28, 17, 11 (that 17 rank in scoring is a bit deceiving, the Cardinals offense gave up 7 TDs on turnovers which led the league. Take away those 49 points and Horton's defense actually rises to #7, to put this into perspective the top ten defenses in 2012 had offenses that only gave up 8 offensive turnover TDs COMBINED..The Bengals had 4 of those.) Cleveland? 1999 29, 11, 31, 29, 31 2000 27, 12, 29, 27, 13 2001 15, 10, 29, 15, 10 2002 10, 15, 27, 10, 27 2003 12, 7, 23, 12, 17 2004 24, 5, 32, 24, 27 2005 11, 4, 30, 11, 32 2006 22, 15, 29, 22, 27 2007 21, 24, 27, 21, 27 2008 17, 14, 28, 17, 17 2009 21, 29, 28, 22, 9 2010 13, 18, 27, 13, 25 2011 5, 2, 30, 28, 23 2012 19, 25, 19, 19, 14 Only twice have the Browns had the sack totals of a Ray Horton defense... Cautiously optimistic? Yes, I am... However, the offense is what really gets me excited...Neither Turner or Chud have taken their time in building a viable offense in their careers. That lends to the belief that 2013 could very well bring us an offense that we have not seen since their return...If the offense rises significantly, well so will the wins in the NFL... Oh, did I mention Banner's history with the Eagles? Can't say I like the guy, but can't really argue with his success either... Get your grip on reality Stopper...This ain't the same ol' Cleveland Browns anymore...
Yet apparently you don't know why Horton was actually on the market. He was up for the HC job in ARI, he didn't get it. He interviewed for a couple other HC jobs and finally ended up returning as a DC. He was the most highly sought after DC on the market this season. Consider this, without Dick Lebeau do you believe the Steelers defense ranks consistently in the top 5?
The Browns bandwagon is filling up fast and ready to roll! We gonna have some fun this year. Can't wait to get it started... Just 4 days till pre-season game #1 with the Rams. I'm not sure which I'm more excited about, Norv's new O, or Horton's new D! After consecutive regime's led by Mangini then Shurmur, Lord knows, nobody deserves a boost in excitement level more than Browns fans. I'm sure they wont go deep into the playbook in the pre-season, but if they get past page 1, it'll be deeper than Shurmur went in the last 2 seasons, and that certainly can't be a bad thing.... WOOF WOOF!
CLEVELAND -- Five-year old Ryan Encinas, a cancer survivor, scored the biggest touchdown of the Cleveland Browns? annual Family Night practice at FirstEnergy Stadium. CLEVELAND -- Five-year old Ryan Encinas was introduced as the newest member of the Cleveland Browns to the crowd of 24,131 at the end of the annual Family Night practice at FirstEnergy Stadium Saturday. The Cuyahoga Falls native then brought the fans to their feet and tears to many eyes when he ran for a 50-yard touchdown with the entire Browns team surrounding him the entire way. Encinas is two years removed from being diagnosed with Pleuropulmonary Blastoma (PPB), an aggressive and very rare form of cancer that has nearly an 80-percent recurrence rate. ?How about that first-round draft pick, Ryan Encinas, scoring the winning touchdown tonight,? Browns coach Rob Chudzinski said following practice. ?Anything we can do to make somebody?s day better, I?m all for it.? Encinas was led to the goal line by Browns running back Trent Richardson, and was serenaded by the fans barking for him as he celebrated in the end zone with his new teammates after scoring the final touchdown of practice. ?To be at that stadium and having everyone yelling his name, yelling for him and cheering him on, I can?t imagine,? said Robert Encinas, Ryan?s father. ?There?s nothing that he?s afraid of. He?s so happy to meet anybody and everybody. (The Littlest Heroes) thought that would be the perfect fit, a boy that would be excited and thrilled, not scared, and very outgoing.? Earlier in the week, Ryan attended a training camp practice at the Browns' facility. In addition to getting autographs from his favorite players, Ryan challenged linebackers Quentin Groves and D?Qwell Jackson, and Richardson, to races down the field. ?My favorite part was when he asked one of the players to race him and he took off racing down the field,? Angela Bozic, Ryan?s mother, said. ?I don?t know if you can comprehend how amazing that is. This is a kid who underwent all that treatment, who suffered surgery that left him with half of a lung on his left side, who has undergone so much. It?s amazing.? Encinas was referred to the Browns for Saturday?s special moment by The Littlest Heroes. The Littlest Heroes works with local families who have had a child diagnosed with cancer deal with the emotional and financial struggles brought on by the treatments. ?He?s not quite out of the woods,? Bozic said. ?Every three months, he will need to go back to the hospital to receive full-body scans. They focus on his brain, his lungs and his abdomen. That?s one of the places this particular cancer likes to return. He?ll have to have that for the next five years. We have three years left.? Two years ago, Ryan was a healthy three-year old who enjoyed every minute of life. But his family knew something was wrong when the normally energetic boy was not acting like himself. ?For a couple of months, he had suffered from what we thought were allergies,? Bozic said. ?He had cold symptoms, and we tried a variety of different treatments. Nothing seemed to work, and then, on Oct. 31, of 2010, his breathing changed. He was real pale, lethargic, and something just wasn?t right. ?When we took him into the ER, that was the first thing they thought as well, and even after listening to his lungs, they did an x-ray. They took me out into the hall to show me and I remember them saying, ?We?re not sure what this is on his left side, but it?s very concerning. We?re bringing in a surgeon.? I didn?t realize what was going on, but then, they said the word, ?tumor,? and that really scared me.? The tumor was so large that it shifted Encinas? heart and bent his trachea, which collapsed his left lung. The doctors removed the football-sized tumor from Encinas? left lung, but he lost much of the organ in the process. ?They did not give him a very good prognosis to begin with,? Bozic said. ?Because of how aggressive and rare it is, they gave him a 40 percent chance. He underwent chemo right away. When we went into the hospital, they put him on a ventilator because he only had one working lung at the time.? Despite the pain, Encinas never lost the happy-go-lucky attitude and smiled his way through every doctor visit, surgery and chemotherapy treatment. ?He was amazing,? Bozic said. ?He stayed positive, very happy, very friendly with everyone. He had no fear of doctors or nurses, or the many visitors that we had.? Robert Encinas added, ?He kept us grounded. It really was his determination to be happy, and not even realize how bad off he was, not realizing the gravity of the situation he was in. He?s definitely happy-go-luck. Nothing really intimidates him. He says, ?Hi,? to everybody he meets, always has a smile, always ready to have fun, play, the general life of anywhere he?s at.?
The Cleveland Plain Dealer hints backup RBs Montario Hardesty and Brandon Jackson are vying for one roster spot. Dion Lewis seems to have sewn up a job, either as the No. 2 or 3 back, with a fast start to training camp. Hardesty, meanwhile, has battled an ongoing hamstring injury. Jackson is better in pass protection than the both of them.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports Jordan Cameron has been targeted "early and often" in training camp.Cameron is slated for a featured role in OC Norv Turner's tight-end friendly scheme and has been "making good progress." Beat writer Mary Kay Cabot notes Cameron must begin making more plays in traffic, however. He remains a candidate to lead the Browns in early-season targets with Josh Gordon suspended until Week 3. Cameron is the No. 11 tight end in Rotoworld's preseason rankings.
But better coaching leads to better execution!!! You're right, Turner was on the open market because he got fired as HC, isn't cut out for that job, but you can't argue he's a hell of a OC!!! Once again... Better play calling leads to better execution!!! Hey stopper, can I borrow you're crystal ball you use to see the future, that powerball is up there!!! Seriously tho, what makes you think Sheard is going to look completely lost? Have you been to camp to see how he's progressing? I doesn't seem like this regime is talking all lollipops and rainbows about practice from what I've been reading... I've been hearing "mixed reviews" about the offense... if Sheard looks lost in his new role, I think we've either heard about it, or he would've been traded by now!!!
