You would have thought last night’s 37-34 loss to the New York Giants in the Meadowlands was game 1 of the 2008 season.  The outrage in this town is about as deafening as the horrid start to a 2007 season that turned out pretty neat.  This isn’t so much a review of that ugly game as a point to get our fellow Cleveland fans to mellow out.  Last night’s game sucked and there were some concerns that reared their ugly head in the game, but to act as if the 2008 season is doomed is ridiculous.

No…the Browns aren’t going to sit Derek Anderson now for Brady Quinn going into the season.  We know a certain percentage of the fan base hang on any little mistake Anderson makes and just lets him have it.  I laughed last night at the sports’ bar I was at while half drunk idiots were booing Anderson left and right.  Then any time Quinn would make any kind of mistake, the place was silent.  Look I like Quinn as a QB, but I also like Derek Anderson…let’s give Anderson a little breathing room for crying out loud.  Unfortunately, that’s like trying to offer advice to a brick wall.  If the Browns are smart, DA will be the guy who gets dealt eventually because the guy is never going to get a break in this town for any reason and if Quinn gets traded and does well while Anderson still shows inconsistencies later in his career, Browns’ fans will literally murder Phil Savage.  Nevertheless, this is Anderson’s team right now and the Browns are going to live and die with him in 2008.

No…the Offensive Line isn’t crap overnight.  The O-Line didn’t play all that well against the Giants’ vaunted D-Line.  They came out flat and got pushed around a bit.  I’m sure the coaching staff will remind them of that plenty of times moving forward.  Does this mean we’re in for a long season and the O-Line is suddenly a cause for concern?  NO.

Yes…the secondary is a major concern, but we knew that already.  We were reminded of that last game by a guy named Clowney.  The kids back there covering are doing the best they can.  Last night, they just so happened to run into Dominik Hixon who looked like Jerry Rice for one game in his career and was probably offered a large sum of money to make the Browns look stupid by his former college QB Charlie Frye.

Yes…the Browns were pushed around last night, but if it’s going to happen, it better be the stinking preseason.  It’s the coaching staff’s job to take this performance and light a fire under the team’s ass moving forward and use games like this as motivation.  Romeo has taken the blame for this kind of stuff before, so he better put his foot to the throat of the Browns and make sure this doesn’t happen again.

Yes…the increased injury list is our other major concern right now, but the best news out of this is that most of these injuries aren’t serious.  Derek Anderson was believed to have suffered a minor concussion.  He may likely sit out this week, but should easily play the final preseason game and be ready for Dallas in week 1.  We’ll wait and see how Brodney Pool (concussion), Josh Cribbs (ankle), and Leon Williams (neck) fare with their injuries, but none of them seemed too serious.

No…this performance doesn’t mean we’re going to come out of the gate of the 2008 season and lay down to the Cowboys and the Steelers.  Some of our fan base seems to think that is the case.  Look…the Browns are notorious for keeping their plans under wraps during the season on both sides of the ball reserving a good chunk of their blitz packages and their offensive plays for the regular season.  We play the Giants again during the regular season.  Sure the Giants probably kept a lot to themselves as well, but when teams are playing each other in the preseason and not putting their best looks on the field or their best plays, things could be a lot different when it matters.  We’ll go on record and say that the regular season meeting between these two teams will go a lot better for the Browns regardless of the final outcome.

One lousy performance in a preseason does not make a player and a team going into the regular season.  It’s a freaking preseason game that the Browns can rebound from.  It’s worth being concerned about, but to be proclaiming the season dead already and saying this team isn’t as good as we all thought they would be already is going to extremes.  If that was the case, Derek Anderson would be bagging groceries at your nearest Giant Eagle right now based off of last year’s preseason performance.  Also, the Browns’ offense in 2007 would have been at the bottom of the NFL in most statistical categories after that stinker of a preseason they had during their failed QB competition in which no one aside from Brady Quinn and the third stringers could put TDs on the board.

Let’s put it this way…if the Browns show up for games like this during the regular season, we can get very upset since getting into the playoffs in the AFC is going to be like breaking into a well guarded safe.  It’s going to be a tough road, so every one of the 16 games this team plays is going to be important.  But to lose our lunch over last night’s messy performance is wasting too much anger right now.  Let’s reserve that kind of stuff for the Indians’ 2008 season and keep a level headed outlook as the Browns’ season approaches.  It’s not over yet and the sky isn’t falling.  It will be OK.  That is unless the Browns do this against Dallas.

Rumors have typically been just that with Cavs’ trade rumors over the last couple years.  We’ve heard about trades on the table for Michael Redd, Vince Carter, Mike Miller, and a host of other NBA players who could conceivably help LeBron James and the Cavs get over the hump.  Mo Williams recently was one of those players.  As the Bucks found potential in young Guard Ramon Sessions this past season and they added more salary to their roster this off-season with Richard Jefferson, the player on the block in Milwaukee shifted from Michael Redd to Mo Williams.

Finally, the Cavs got a guy rumored to be coming here.  More importantly, the Cavs are getting a guy who is entering his prime and can give the team just what it needs…some scoring.  Go figure it is another Wisconsin pro team that does dealing with a Cleveland team.

As mentioned some weeks ago, the Cavs have been preparing for 2010 with expiring contracts leading them into LeBron’s big option year.  Now, the team has surrounded him with a guy who’s going to be there for the next 5 seasons making some hefty cash at a little over $40 million left on the contract.

The whole point is that Cleveland hopes Williams’ salary will be well worth it.  We all know what has ailed the Cavs over the past few seasons: The lack of consistent scoring on offense.  While some can be attributed to stagnant offensive sets, the other part of that can also be contributed to the fact that there hasn’t been a consistent player in town that could score inside and outside.  Sure Boobie Gibson and other 3-point threats have driven daggers in opposing team’s hearts after they tried to stack up on LeBron, but when the 3’s aren’t going down, it becomes an offense stuck in trying to force LeBron to penetrate against 2 to 3 (or more) defenders.

With someone else to provide a threat to score the Cavs will hope that the offense, which coach Mike Brown insists isn’t the problem, will have some life.  And for Cavs’ fans, those of us who scream over the lack of movement to improve this team can relax a little bit.  For once, a rumored name is coming to town and we only had to give up Joe Smith and Damon Jones to get it done.

The Cleveland Browns are only a few days away from taking the field for their first official action of the pre-season this Thursday (Aug. 7th) against the J-E-T-S Jets-Jets-Jets.  Die Hard Cleveland is very excited about the upcoming season.  We’re so excited we tried to predict who is going to be on the 53-man roster come Week 1 of the NFL season. Sure the open spots are shrinking, but it will be fun to guess who’s going to earn those spots regardless:

QB
Derek Anderson – Real starter.
Brady Quinn – Fans’ starter.
Ken Dorsey – Clipboard duty.

HB
Jamal Lewis – Need another good one from him.
Jason Wright – Good backup.
Jerome Harrison – Nice 3rd option.

FB
Lawrence Vickers – Starting FB.
Charles Ali – Special teams’ skills and improvements at the position help him stick.

WR
Braylon Edwards – Locking up #1 for years to come.
Donte’ Stallworth – Get that hammy healthy spaceman.
Josh Cribbs – I think they’ll use him on Special Teams some.
Travis Wilson – Wilson will finally get some PT.
Kevin Kasper – A good camp will have him stick on the roster to start the year.

TE
Kellen Winslow – Yeah, he makes the roster.
Steve Heiden – No staph, no problem for Heiden recovering from back surgery
Martin Rucker – More toys for Rob Chudzinski’s Offense

OL
Joe Thomas – Pro Bowl year 2.
Kevin Schaffer – Pro Bowl year 1.
Eric Steinbach – Another potential Pro Bowler
Ryan Tucker - Can play Tackle/Guard
Hank Fraley – Anchoring Center
Rex Hadnot – Interior depth
Seth McKinney – Interior depth
Lennie Friedman – Can play Center
Isaac Sowells – Shows the ability to play inside and outside.

DL
Shaun Rogers – Pretty important player on defense.
Corey Williams – He’ll have it all figured out.
Robaire Smith – Solid.
Shaun Smith – Solid with a big mouth.
Louis Leonard – Backup at Nose.
Melila Purcell – Wins the Purcell/Pittman competition of late 2007 draft picks.

LB
Andra Davis – Looking to lead.
D’Qwell Jackson – Steady as they come.
Kamerion Wimbley – Poised for a big year.
Antwan Peek – Stay healthy bro.
Willie McGinest – How bout a special last season?
Leon Williams – Solid backup.
Beau Bell – He’ll make it since he was their top pick in 08.
Shantee Orr – Chaun Thompson’s replacement.
Alex Hall – Seems like it’s heading that way.

CB
Eric Wright – Eazy E is our shutdown Corner.
Brandon McDonald – McDonald and Wright = Minnefield and Dixon? Just asking.
Terry Cousin – Steady vet.
Jereme Perry – Experience with team in past helps him make the team.
AJ Davis – More ready to play and contribute than rookie free agents.

S
Sean Jones – Pro Bowl year.  Make a note.
Brodney Pool – Solid 2nd season as starter on the way.
Michael Adams – Not a bad backup.
Nick Sorenson – Special Teams’ gets him spot.

K
Phil Dawson – Elder statesman.

P
Dave Zastudil – Stay healthy.

LS
Ryan Pontbriand – Snapmaster P.

PUP
Joe Jurevicius – Get well soon.

Practice Squad
Ahtyba Rubin – Good Nose Tackle prospect.
Paul Hubbard – Another low draft pick kept around.
Travis Thomas – Shows flexibility as a potential Special Teams’ talent.
Mil’von James – Too good to let go.
Kolomona Kapanui – Good H-Back type.
Cliff Louis – Need a Tackle prospect with a lack of depth there.
Gerard Lawson – Need more insurance at Corner and he can play Special Teams.

Notable Cuts
Gary Baxter – I just find it tough to see him make it. If he does that will be great, but I just don’t see it happening.  Hope I’m wrong.
Darnell Dinkins – Tough to keep four Tight Ends and two Fullbacks.
Kris Griffin – Tough to re-sign and then release a top Special Teams’ player, but the Browns want Hall making the team.

Mighty Casey will no longer strike out in Mudville.  He’s going to LA.  Or at least the news’ folks think he’s going to LA.  A number of local and national reports, including Brett Favre’s ESPN network are reporting that Casey Blake, the oft-ridiculed player for the Cleveland Indians, is on his way to help the Los Angeles Dodgers solidify some of their hitting woes for two prospects once the Indians and Dodgers wrap up all their talks and their case of beer today (*UPDATE* Shapiro downed beer #12 and made it official).

In Cleveland, we expect some people who have always blasted Blake on a regular basis to be happy as the Casey Blake Era ends here in C-Town.  Others have seen between the lines and appreciated Blake for what we sold the Dodgers on: his versatility in the field, his ability (this year) to hit in the clutch, his great makeup as a teammate, and his groovy beard.

Casey has had an interesting career with Cleveland.  When the Indians tore down their offensive machine early this decade to start rebuilding around pitching and their minor league organization (we got the pitching part right), the Indians threw together a roster of young stars in the making and some cheap veterans that Mark Shapiro and the front office just loooove to spend the little money that they do have on.

Some of the veterans didn’t stick like Matt Lawton, Ricky Guttierez, and other names that will haunt Clevelanders…but Casey Blake, a guy who looked like he was on his way out of baseball after being released by the Minnesota Twins, somehow stuck.  Not only that, but as bad as the guy looked in his career at times, there were times where you didn’t want to admit it but realized that Blake was slowly earning the playing time the Indians seemed to grant him with alarming regularity.

The guy was a scrapper.  He came to the ballpark every day, played whatever positions the Indians would pull out of a hat, busted his hump, played good defense, and occassionally would get his stick going to the point where he was as valuable as the Indians’ organization would constantly lament.  All along though, people didn’t understand why the guy played every day.  At times, his consistency at the plate dictated that thinking.  There were times he was an automatic out…almost as automatic as the immortal Ramon Vazquez (who we all know went to Texas, ate whatever they’re feeding their players down there, and started hitting like Robbie Alomar).

But Blake had enough opportunities (no matter how bad he did) to fix things in his at-bats and get better.  This year was one of Blake’s best:

His .398 average with runners in scoring position this season is mind boggling.  He’s been money in tight situations on a team where a lot of the guys at the plate seem to cramp up in those spots.  Now, Casey will take his magical season out to Joe Torre and the Dodgers.

The Dodgers are getting a great teammate who can play 1B, 3B, and the corner OF spots with ease.  If the mood strikes them and they’re feeling adventurous, they can fart around with him in the middle infield as well.

In return, the Indians apparently did a good job selling Blake’s great traits and hiding his very pedestrian traits as a player.  They received this year’s Max Ramirez: Carlos Santana (let’s all commence with the Santana references shall we?  We added one of our favorite Santana album’s covers for good measure.), the Dodgers’ top Catching prospect.  They also received their 8th ranked player in their organization: Pitcher Jon Meloan.

Santana (22) has had a good year down in high A ball with the nicely named Inland Empire 66ers hitting .324 (.996 OPS) with 14 dingers, and a whopping 96 RBIs(!!!).  Those RBIs lead the minors.  We mentioned Max Ramirez above, the player the Indians received for Bob Wickman a few years back because they’re both top Catching prospects and we’re both at the same stage when we acquired them.  Santana grades out pretty well as a hitter who has good power potential.  The Dodgers have messed with him defensively by moving him to 3B and then moving him back to Catcher.  Catcher is his natural position.

Meloan has been moved around a bit as well and is having some issues this year as a starting Pitcher.  Meloan was a starter in college, but the Dodgers felt he would be better suited for the back end of the bullpen and have had success with him as he’s moved through their system in that role.  That is until this year where he was switched back to a starter with AAA Las Vegas.  The result: 5-10 with a 4.97 ERA.  His K/BB ratio is still good at 99 Ks and 60 Walks.  What makes Meloan one of the Dodgers’ top 10 prospects is that Meloan has good stuff with a consistent low 90s fastball and a nasty sinker pitch.  He also throws a changeup and your typical curve for good measure.  It will be interesting to see what Cleveland does with him.  His stats were better in bullpen work as he was the AA reliever of the year last year.

It will be weird saying goodbye to Casey.  For so long, fans thought he was joined at the hip with Shapiro and Eric Wedge.  Now, the trio will be no more.  But as we say goodbye while Casey is having one of his best seasons, we’ll tend remember the good things he brought to the team.  I think this year proved that he wasn’t the bum that many fans thought he was in the past and we wish him the best in Los Angeles while we read up some more on what appear to be two nice prospects in return.

It’s been a lot of fun breaking down every player on the Browns’ roster for you as camp gets under way and the season approaches.  While many of us Die Hards are pretty acquainted with guys on the roster that have been here, it at least gives us all a chance to learn about some of the guys who are fighting for their chance to get onto the team over the next month so we don’t sit there and say “WHO?” when the Browns start playing 3rd stringers in the pre-season.  Quarterback is our last stop in our positional tour, so our next Browns’ coverage will be discussing what’s going on with camp and what’s to be expected during the season.  We hope you enjoyed the preview.

Overview

With a 10-6 record, there aren’t expected to be too many big roster changes at many of the positions when the 53 man roster is set for this season.  At Quarterback, it’s almost assured, barring injury, that the team will return the same three men who locked down the depth at the position last season.  After all, there are only 3 QBs on the roster going into camp.  Therefore, a position of strength will only get stronger with the same three men returning.

Derek Anderson - The surprise of the 2007 season was Derek.  During the 2007 pre-season it didn’t even look like he could command a drive without some kind of catastrophic mistakes being made.  Then, Anderson looked like he did at Oregon State when he played during the regular season after Charlie Frye was sent packing.  It really was like night and day…a modern day Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde if you will, when you compared pre-season Derek with regular season Derek.  Anderson made the Pro Bowl despite some fans getting uptight over his late season dropoff in performance.  Nevertheless, Anderson brings big play ability and a cannon arm to the team as a starter and has earned to start the year as the guy.  With another season as starter, I think we’ll all get an idea whether his inconsistencies will be more of a long-term characteristic or something that he can shake with more playing experience.

Brady Quinn - Quinn doesn’t have the arm that Derek has, nor do Browns’ fans really have any idea how Brady would handle a whole season under Center.  We can speculate all we want about him.  We do know that Quinn has a mind for the game and he works harder than most players.  We also know he handled the spotlight at Notre Dame very well despite the criticisms that surrounded him in big games.  We also know he handled one drive pretty well at the end of the 2007 season against San Francisco: a drive that Quinn shook a season’s worth of rust on to help the team put up 3 points.  At this point, it doesn’t make any sense to vault Quinn up ahead of Anderson though.  Right now, Quinn can sit and learn some more and if Anderson gets hurt, he’ll be our man and then if he plays well, we can talk about a controversy.  Until then, he’s beyond valuable at backup.  Even with that in mind, fans are going to be calling his name at some point.  The Browns invested heavily in him by sacrificing a draft pick and paying him 1st round money so there will always be that stigma and his big name hanging over Derek.  It’s up to both men to drown that out and focus on playing football.

Ken Dorsey - While there will be a lot of controversy in the air between Quinn and Anderson, whether it is warranted or not, Dorsey will sit back, relax, and be an extended QB coach getting paid nicely and avoiding injury.  At this point in Dorsey’s career, we can all agree that he isn’t starter material, but that doesn’t mean that Dorsey should hang them up right away and become a coach.  Dorsey is a smart player who can manage a game when called upon.  Let’s hope it doesn’t get to that since that would mean both Quinn and Anderson were injured, but Dorsey is not a bad option at #3.