CWinsJim – Page 18 – CLEVELAND WINS !

CAVS GET FIRST PICK !! (now what?)

Like most Cavs fans I was very happy that we were fortunate enough to get the first overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft. Now comes the hard part. What does Chris Grant do with the many assets the Cavs are fortunate enough to have acquired over the past 3 years? And I think that is the key question after this fortunate draft lottery result. This off-season for the Cavs goes far beyond “What do the Cavs do with the first pick in the draft?” As I outlined in my support of the Indian’s off-season, they put together a “package” of moves that resulted in plugging holes, securing the weakest areas of the team other than starting pitching (power, right-handed hitting, outfield), and not sacrificing the future. It was done with a combination of strategic trades, free-agent signings, and good use of their young talent. This is exactly the approach that the Cavs must take. So what they do with the first pick in the draft is just one part of the bigger puzzle.

I think that all of us need to be realistic about what can and cannot be done by the Cavs or predicted by the media and fans. Since the Cavs have won the first pick, there are even more rumors and predictions about what they might do. I have learned one thing by watching the Cavs management and Chris Grant over the past three years. No fan or media member will have any idea about what Grant will do until it is about done. All of you who are watching the rumor mills daily to get a clue about the Cavs will be terribly disappointed when none of the rumors ever sniff reality. I used to follow them until I realized that I was wasting my time with Chris Grant at the helm. For those of us who want the Cavs to succeed, that is probably a good thing.

It is also going to be a bit tough to trade out of the first pick and get full value in this draft. Without a clear number one superstar pick, the market for that pick might not be what it would be in most years. Plus, it is rare for any NBA team to trade the number one pick. I think the odds are that we keep the pick and use it. Although I will be interested to hear the many fan initiated “trades” of the first pick, don’t expect the Cavs to pull off a series of 4 draft moves that includes trading the first pick. They are fun to talk about but rarely realistic. If the Cavs do trade the pick, it will be big news.

The main thing going for the Cavs is that I think they have more flexibility and options than virtually any team in the NBA. Because of that, Grant needs to remain focused and very strategic to upgrade the roster significantly and not sacrifice the future. The cap space, multiple draft pics in this draft and beyond, our young talent pool, AND the power of having the number one pick this year all factor into what Grant can do to build the Cavs into a perennial power house. If he uses the “assets” he has acquired wisely, it will be a great future for the Cavs. If squandered, we will end up as a perennial middle of the road team with little hope of a title.

The Cavs are giving hints to everyone about their short-term and long-term objectives. Repeated references to the long three years of suffering by Cavs fans and that they don’t want to be going back to the lottery again all points to this off-season being very active and different from recent ones. Some veteran acquisitions are likely but it is not clear by what means they will accomplish that task or how far they will go to get them. Obviously, it has to be trades or free agency but the market might determine what approach they take. In my opinion, every attempt to add via free agency as opposed to trading away valuable young players should be explored. Free agency may not be a realistic possibility to add impact talent in Cleveland, but we need to explore it aggressively. If it looks impossible, then the trade route might be the only way.

There are many thoughts about how to approach free agency this off-season. Some feel we should avoid it altogether because it will limit the Cavs flexibility moving forward. Others feel we should add some “middle of the road” free agents and save most of the cap space. A few think we should go after big free agents and try to add impact talent. Most fans, in my opinion, think we should save virtually all our cap space to make a monster push for free agents in 2014. Many pointing to the possibility of LeBron using his early opt out option and returning to the Cavs. That is the thinking that bothers me the most. If the Cavs employ ANY strategy that includes counting on LeBron returning in 2014, it will end in devastation and embarrassment. Don’t misunderstand, I am not against him returning if he really wants to do so and is willing to sign a contract without another “coronation” ceremony tour of the NBA. But I think the chances of that happening are slim and none.

Since I favor free agency as the best way to add veteran talent and not trading away the young talent we have worked so hard to acquire, I think the Cavs should strongly consider trying to add one impact free agent this off-season if at all possible. Even adding two and using most of our cap flexibility would be acceptable if it were the right two. Sadly, there are few SF free agents that will be available over the next two years that will really solve our problem there. So, again, creativity will be key. I am actually opposed to adding “complementary” free agents this off-season just to make the playoffs. To me, that is wasting cap space. We tried adding a bunch of complementary free agents when LeBron was here and we all know how that worked out. Pay big and go big seems right to me.

If we take the impact free agent approach, there really are not very many other than the “gang” that could exercise their opt-out option in 2014. That is a circus I really don’t want to join. So a couple of names that might fit the bill and are not aging is Al Jefferson and Andre Iguodala. Maybe, if it is clear to both of them that we are trying to add them both, they might consider it. We would have to clear some cap space to do this, but we could do that. We still would have some cap space coming free in 2014 and would not use our mid-level exception. So complementary pieces could be added if needed later. Iguodala would solve our SF problem and improve our defensive presence. Jefferson would be a great starter along side Andy and our rotation of Thompson/Zeller/Jefferson/Varejao would be solid and potentially championship caliber. We would still have Miles and Gee to back up Iggy this year but, eventually, we will need to let them go and add a young backup SF to develop. I am fully aware that this would likely not be possible as Iguodala probably will not exercise his early termination option. If he does not, we could still clear enough cap space for making a run at Deng in 2014. And, yes, there is always that other guy.

If the Cavs could take that approach, they would still have all of their picks this year and not trade Waiters or Thompson. They could afford to take McLemore with the first pick and the rotation of McLemore, Waiters, Irving and Ellington would be solid and possibly spectacular. Waiters would need to play the backup point guard minutes, but I think he could do that effectively. Of course, that is an 11 deep rotation so one or two of those names would not be playing regularly.

The Cavs could use the other picks to move up and pick up a developmental Center who has great potential. There are a ton of them in this draft. Or maybe we find that small forward to develop. Or a back-up point guard. If we take this approach, we actually can draft to develop a few players instead of depending on them.

This is only one way to accomplish our goal of making the playoffs in 2013-14 and not mortgage the future. There are dozens of other, probably better, options to consider going forward. Strategic trades with teams needing to clear cap space and having players that fit our needs are also possible. I personally favor strategies that do not include trading any of our four top draft picks in the last two drafts. If we could get Jefferson for only money with a PER of 20.99 last year instead of trading a ton to get Aldridge with a PER of 20.45, it just makes sense to me. Both are very good players. Jefferson is just a bit below Aldridge in my view. The critical variable in all of that is if no impact free agent will sign with us. That is a variable that I can not accurately weigh before the Cavs actually try.

So let’s buckle up and enjoy the ride. I have a distinct feeling that Grant will start to push hard to fill the Cavs holes and secure the Cavs future. I only hope that he makes the right moves and saves whatever he needs to for 2014. Not with the idea of signing back the one who left but with the idea of making the Cavs a championship caliber team for years to come.

Follow me at @cwins_jim on twitter and we will keep an eye on this together. I am looking forward to it and welcome your comments and questions.

Rob Chudzinski will get no free pass with fans

Up to this point, Rob Chudzinski has flown well below the radar screen with the Browns fans. That is about to change as we approach our next minicamp and the focus turns more clearly to the team. Needless to say the Browns fans and media have had so much to worry about off the field they have had little chance to look elsewhere. The curmudgeon (as I affectionately call him), Joe Banner, has taken the heat off Chud in this early phase of the new Browns regime. Our owner has also done a great job of assisting in keeping the focus off Chudzinski. Now I personally wish he had chosen another path to do that but what do I know?

In my Browns draft analysis (thank you to the hundreds who read that) I outlined why we, as fans, have solid reasons to distrust the front office as we enter this newest “reboot” of the “new” Browns history. Joe Banner, Mike Lombardi, Jimmy Haslam and everyone above Chudzinski now must prove their worth for the fans to get behind them. Haslam has the additional burden of just staying out of jail and/or remaining the owner of the team. This was not how I, and I suspect most of you, expected things to go as the initial burst of enthusiasm with our new owner sizzled through the atmosphere. We expected a solid owner beyond reproach with an unbridled enthusiasm for the Browns and flair for success. His status began to stutter as he started “his” Browns with the hiring of Joe Banner. Adding Mike Lombardi simply added to the skepticism as did his abrupt “departure” from the Browns because of his “love” for Pilot Flying J. All of this happened even before the bombshell hit with the FBI raid, which we all now know likely prompted Haslam’s shift of focus. So any “free pass” that existed for all of them drifted away as easily as a tumbleweed in a windy old Texas town. We now root for all of them to overcome their obstacles and succeed because it is our only option as fans.

Rob Chudzinski and the team is the only logical way for the Browns to start to wash away the dirt and cleanse the organization. We all know that it is the wins and losses on the field that ultimately determines their success or failure. So Chudzinski sets in the unenviable position of being the only logical redemption for the rocky and perilous start of the Joe Banner era and the easiest one for him to blame if things don’t go well. He has a proven Head Coach standing right below him running the Browns offense and a defensive coordinator that might be a bit more committed to his rise up the coaching ranks then the Brown’s success. Now don’t misunderstand my intentions in pointing out the obvious, this all could work out fabulously! But to think the Toledo St. John’s graduate will get a free pass because he was a lifelong Browns fan and Ohioan is unrealistic and flies in the face of the obvious organizational stress created by Haslam and Banner. My point here is that even the fans can not ignore how critical Chudzinski’s performance is to their hopes and dreams about the Browns not just in 2013 but beyond.

In my opinion, Rob Chudzinski is a good person and football man. He has all the street cred in Cleveland to be a thunderous success. Ohioan, Brown’s fan, successful player at Miami University, and a proven assistant coach on the professional level. He is clearly all business and has every incentive possible to be a success with the Browns. That is a great script going into this job. However, those high expectations often have the opposite effect in a town that is starved for a winner and craves redemption for itself. Now in my mind Cleveland needs no redemption, but I think the stress of the “Cleveland Curse” affects all fans and how they view their teams even if they choose to deny it. So as we analyze in advance this backdrop for Chud, it becomes clear why a free pass is not only unlikely but virtually impossible. This is especially true because the Browns still dominate the hearts and minds of Cleveland sports fans despite their recent long run of futility.

Now let’s take a brief look at the 2013 Browns and see how this all will, and should, fall in Chud’s lap. First and foremost among Brown’s fans is the QUARTERBACK position. As I have sat as a season ticket holder ever since the reboot of the Browns, I am amazed still at how much fury and anger and rare cheers are raised by the quarterback position. I have NEVER sat in the stands where the starting quarterback has been even supported by the majority of the fans. Now I have often heard the backup quarterback touted as the answer but rarely the starter. It is almost as if we as fans set up a self-fulfilling prophesy about the Browns quarterback position. Although I personally believe this has been caused by more than the actual player picked for the position, it is a fact that we have never had a quarterback that was successful enough to quell the hoards of naysayers. So therein lies Chud’s nearly insurmountable problem. Find a quarterback that can lead your team to victory. So what does he have to work with? An aging second year player that is talented but unproven learning a new system that is apparently not an easy one to master. An aging veteran player who has a fair number of NFL starts under his belt but never a track record of proven success. A third year player who has been third string QB his entire career and barely whiffed the field as a starter late last year. WOW. Now that is something to be really excited about! If we all agree that the quarterback position is the most important player in today’s NFL, this looks to me like a setup for failure.

But, despite the fact that the odds are stacked against him, Chudzinski can prevail and come out of this as a savior instead of a failure. The key for him is making the right choice of the limited options and designing the offense that can play best to the strengths of the “winner”. This is not exactly the same for each player available. I will not go into the analysis of each quarterback’s strengths and weaknesses but we all know Weeden isn’t very mobile, doesn’t like to drop back, does not throw accurately on the run, but has a big arm. So with all this in mind, it is no wonder that Chud has wisely withheld the naming of his starting quarterback. The reasons are simple. He does not know who his starter should or will be. I am certain he has an idea in his head but is intelligent enough to know he needs to see them on the field, in pads, and hitting. This means that he might not name his starter even going into the preseason. We all know that this will rile the media and ignite the fans. This, in turn, intensifies the focus on the single most important decision in Chud’s young head coaching career. Since this has been the refrain of Browns fans and media ever since the ousting of Kosar by the now “genius” coach Bill Belichick, I see no reason for it to change under Chudzinski.

So instead of analyzing the team’s “keys to success” for winning a ball game, let’s look at the keys to success for Chudzinski to succeed in this most important decision:

1) Pick the right guy !! With the limited options and variables, not an easy task. Look at the best choice for the ENTIRE season instead of the safest choice for the first few games. It takes great skill to predict success going forward. Good luck.

2) Avoid the stupidity of our previous head coach and design the offense from game one specifically for the strengths of your choice.

3) Leverage the brilliance you have on your staff for offensive innovation, Norv Turner, to the utmost! Never let your ego get in the way of making the right decision even if it did not come from you.

4) Coach your choice “up” once you make it and stick by him until it is clear you were wrong. Your best chance to succeed is building the confidence of whomever you choose instead of breaking it down hoping for the “toughness” of your choice to overcome your negativity.

5) Deflect and parry the stones and swords that will come from the media with even the slightest failure. They are relentless, you need to be as well.

6) If your choice CLEARLY does not work hard enough to learn what you and Norv are trying to teach or exert the leadership necessary to lead your team, change your choice before changing point number 4 above. In other words, always follow point number 4 but change quarterback’s quickly when you are proven wrong.

7) If you ever need to change your choice by way of injury or your free will, redesign the offense to reflect that change immediately. Might be good to design one for each choice and save it in your archives, you never know who you will have next.

Now if Chud makes that choice right and follows the “keys to success” above, there is still no guarantee that his offense will resemble anything more than a 3 and out wonder. So now he needs to turn to the rest of the offensive cards he has been dealt. Now returning to our front office, it is clear they decided to let the offense “rot” in it’s own pot by barely stirring the soup on the stove.

It is well known that Chudzinski and Norm’s offenses have often featured the tight end. Well, we got two back-up players in free agency and have one remaining that probably can catch but will not scare anyone as a blocker. That is a very weak group from which to choose and play. Maybe they will surprise us, but I am not holding my breath on that one. So again Chud needs to rely on his and Norm’s innovation and ability to redesign to strengths. The addition of Bess is a big one considering his success in third down conversions. Often that territory is reserved for the tight end in Chud’s offenses. In this offense, there will need to be more emphasis on slot and wide receiver conversions of third downs. He can succeed with this, but it will not be easy unless Cameron can really blossom this year.

The wide receiver corps, in my view, is the deepest and best we have had since before 1999. The off season additions of Nelson and Bess compliment the more explosive and raw talent of Little, Gordon and Benjamin. We have other pieces and parts with quality at that position as well in Norwood and Cooper but I think the numbers game will make it tough for both of these players to make the team or be a significant factor in the offense. This position should work out fairly well for Chud.

The offensive line, clearly the strength of the offense, still has significant deficiencies that were not effectively addressed in the draft. We are not a very good “run blocking” team up the middle. Our guards seem more suited to pass protection and mobility blocking schemes. They also don’t really have the feet for a true “pulling” offense even though they seem better in space than power blocking. This is a significant problem for Chudzinski because they can not use Richardson to their advantage in borderline pass/run third downs. Again, this is often the area for a quality tight end to come through, but that does not seem available right now. So the deficiency at guard will be one that I thinks tugs the offense down throughout the year. I just hope it is not a poisonous problem. Greco did look decent and hopefully Pinkston can come back strong, but I have little hope for Lauvao who I think is simply waiting for a better player to come along.

I have absolutely no concern about Richardson who has the ability to be a dominant back in the NFL. I just hope that Chudzinski recognizes that Richardson, despite his size and toughness, runs better in space like a scat back instead of plowing up the middle like a fullback. The effective use of Richardson, not on display in 2012 because of injuries and offensive scheme paralysis, will be the key to any success Chud might have with this offense. He had better make the decisions correct in this area as he must with the quarterback.

So, when we add up all the ingredients left out of the soup for Chudzinski and Turner, it becomes clear that this will be a monumental task for this brain trust to develop an effective and efficient offense. Without that, Horton’s aggressive and gambling defense will turn a possible strength of the team into a huge liability. Horton’s defense will score and turn the ball over more than previous versions for the Browns, but it will result in big scoring plays for the opposition when the players can not execute precisely. That makes it critical for the offense to be reliable, ball controlling, and effective.

In the end, the responsibility of making all of this work is the head coach. The Browns fans and media have no incentive to give the “Haslam/Banner” era 5 more years to succeed. They don’t need to necessarily make the playoffs but they need to show huge improvement in scoring and wins to succeed in 2013. Anything less will be another dismal failure and some nails in Chudzinski’s coffin. Banner will decide if the nails are enough to close it and the Browns fans won’t have enough energy to pry open the lid.

Browns Draft Analysis

It is so hard to trust this regime when it comes to drafting and player analysis, but Browns’s fans are stuck with what we have in the front office and coaching for now. As you will soon see, I happen to understand the Brown’s direction and methods in this 2013 draft. I think, if the approach is used wisely, this will turn out to be a good “draft” and direction for the future. If misused, we have made a lateral move and maybe a step back. Not what Brown’s fans want to hear right now.

Since I threw out the “hard to trust” statement right away, let me take a few lines to explain why it is hard to trust them. First, the head of the drafting and player personnel decisions is clearly Joe Banner. Now he might turn out to be the greatest “consolidator” of information in the history of the game. But the facts are that he has never been in a position as the head of on-field football operations as he clearly is here. No one trusts Lombardi, so that is an easy one. And Chud, as good as I think he will be as a coach, is also not known for his drafting. Plus, he is a first year head coach. Ray Farmer is widely considered as a good football mind, but he is way down the chain. So, I think I have every right to be skeptical of their ability to produce on a plan.

I will admit that it was the hardest draft to watch in my recent memory or entire memory. The Brown’s barely picked and it was hours between picks. My associates and I (CwinsBA and CwinsHarry) enjoyed each other’s company but little else. It was painful, slow, and frustrating.

In the end, after having a day to think about it, I think the Browns executed a plan and stuck to it. It seems that this regime had come to a few conclusions after studying the Browns and their own coaching philosophies. There are other ways to interpret this, but I will give the optimistic view.

1) The Browns are a very young team already, one of the youngest in the league, and to add young players just to add them was not a winning approach. I think it is safe to say that we have accumulated plenty of special teams players over the past several years.
2) The Browns new defensive philosophy would demand a more aggressive change of talent than would the change in offensive systems. We all knew this and it was one reason there was a subtle hope that the Browns would keep Dick Jauron instead of changing systems.
3) That it was a more structurally sound approach to see if Brandon Weeden could make this new offensive system work before playing all our cards to add a quarterback. Also, to “reach” for a quarterback this year would not advance the program even if Weeden does falter.
4) That the Browns needed to structure next year’s draft to be aggressive if the opportunity presented itself. (and it did)

I can’t really disagree with these conclusions and understand the rationale for them. However, if they do not execute, this “passive” draft will come back to haunt them.

So, finally, let’s take a look at the Brown’s 2013 draft. They came into the draft with 7 picks, ended up taking 5 players and three of them were in the last 2 rounds. Not much to inspire confidence there. But, as most Brown’s fans know, you can’t look at this draft that simply. You need to factor all trades and previous decisions. The Brown’s draft then looks like this:

Round 1: Barkevious Mingo, LB, LSU
Round 2: Josh Gordon, WR, Baylor
Round 3: Leon McFadden, CB, San Diego State
Round 4: 3rd round pick of Steelers in 2014
Round 5: Davone Best, WR, formerly Miami Dolphins
Round 5: 4th round pick of Indianapolis in 2014
Round 6: Jamoris Slaughter, S, Notre Dame
Round 7: Armonty Bryant, DE, East Central Oklahoma
Round 7: Garrett Gilkey, OG, Chadron State

Not anything to get overly excited about but certainly not a complete disaster on paper.

Mingo, whether you agree with the emphasis on pass rush or not, should be a solid player based on his predraft scouting reports. He was a consensus top 10 pick on most boards. The Browns have clearly emphasized the pass rush off the edge with additions of Kruger, Groves, and Mingo to go along with Jabaal Sheard. This also is consistent with the need to restructure the personnel on defense to support Horton and Chud’s vision of an aggressive, quarterback disruptive, defense. Many have thought that this should mean trading Sheard is a given. I disagree. Given the amount of injuries most teams suffer in an average campaign, having 4 solid edge rushers on one team is not a luxury. Given that not having that capability is nearly death to Horton’s defensive system, I can see the reasoning to keep all four. Plus, our inside linebackers are not proven except for D’Quell Jackson and even he is not as effective in a 3-4 defense. Robertson and JMJ will be stretched to contribute heavily.

Josh Gordon has proven that he can be an effective receiver. Now is his chance to show that he can be a star receiver as getting picked in the second round would imply. Clearly Banner knows the jury is out on Gordon as he said that “We are rooting for Josh to prove to us” that he was worthy of his second round pick status. That clearly comes from Lombardi as well who panned the Browns for using a second round pick on Gordon. I personally feel that Gordon will prove them all wrong and he is EASILY worth a second round pick. In fact, I think he would have been a first round pick in this year’s draft.

Leon McFadden is a risky pick because of his size in the AFC North division. There are a ton of larger receivers who can leverage their size to get to balls that McFadden will not be able to reach. They obviously believe his downside is as a nickel corner and upside is as a starting outside corner. Time will tell on that one. There seemed to be better choices on the board. But, make no mistake, we really needed a corner and he was apparently on the top of the Brown’s board. His ability to play “on an island” seemed to influence the Brown’s decision. We will see.

I’ll list the acquisition of the third and fourth round picks next year for our picks in rounds 4 and 5 together. This goes along with the idea that we have a ton of young players and it is not worth it to pick a player just to pick him. Banner clearly said in his press conference that they entered the day feeling like they would use both picks. As the draft progressed, they felt this was the best value for those picks. I can’t totally disagree with that because next year’s draft may be much deeper and certainly will be better at the top end of the quarterback position. I feel that the Brown’s need to “load up” for next year’s draft if at all possible. This was a good start.

Davone Best should be a solid starter for this team. He is a veteran who has had solid success and is young enough to have a long career with the Browns. We have him for four years now that the extension was signed. Good pick-up here for sure.

The final three picks are simply “hopeful” “might be” “maybe we will get lucky” pics. They all have blemishes either by talent, character, injuries, or competition level in college. Apparently the Browns did their homework and felt that they could be value late in the draft. They were not picked for their “special team” ability or potential. The hope is that the blemishes will be minor once they get on the football field. If the Browns get extremely lucky, one of them might become a starter. If the Browns are not lucky, they will be bagging groceries soon. Only Slaughter might have the skill set to be a special teams player. The Browns, like some other teams, target guys like this late in the draft and hope a few come through. Most of us fans, myself included, would like them to draft off the board and pick some higher rated players that were overlooked earlier in the draft. They did not. At least Slaughter and Gilkey were in positions of serious need and Bryant is another one to add to the pass rusher group.

What did the Browns not effectively address in this draft? Tight End, Offensive Guard, Quarterback, Middle Linebacker, Cornerback, and Safety. Those are a ton of areas not to address effectively. The Tight End, Cornerback, and Safety weaknesses of the Browns are substantial and oozing wounds on our team. We did draft a corner, but he seems best suited to nickle corner as opposed to being an outside corner. Again, time will tell.

The ability to resist the temptation to “chase” a quarterback is refreshing and I am very pleased with that. No draft expert was overly impressed with this quarterback class and we would have needed to chase one down by overpaying. That may be the absolute best strategy next year, but not this year in my view. We need to give Weeden a chance in this vertical passing shotgun offense before we completely give up on him. Next year should be enough to determine that. A developmental quarterback would have been of little value in this draft.

So they stuck to their principles and made the picks and moves to support their conclusions. That is a good thing and is to be admired. However, if they do not execute with extreme precision from here, it will not turn out to be a good draft or a smart one. Given the way I started this post, you can tell I am skeptical of that and for solid reasons. Now Banner “prove to me” that you are worthy of running the football operations of an NFL franchise. Just like you will do with Gordon, I will be rooting for you to succeed even if I have my doubts.

Cleveland Wins Top 115 Players in 2013 NFL Draft

I am proud to present to our readers what has been a labor of love for one of our team for many years. CwinsHarry has compiled his “Top 100” list for many years. It has changed a bit and grown to top 115. We will place a disclaimer on this right away and assert that this is not compiled from hours and hours of film study. Although CwinsHarry is one of the most knowledgeable football fans I know, he does not have the time or inclination for that task. He reads about and prepares for the draft by combining the collective views of some of the most well known “draft experts”. This list is exactly that collection. He takes the ranks from 4 top publications and totals them up to come up with a “composite” rank for each player. For copyright reasons, I will not list the 4 publications but it is 4 very well known sources. So this is simply something to have fun with. The rank is to the left and the “Raw Score” is the number to the right.

Understand that this is not a mock draft. It is simply a ranking of players. A mock draft takes into account team needs and draft order. This list does not do that. But it can give you a good gauge about how your team’s draft compares to the predraft ranks of some top experts. Enjoy our “Composite 115” and good luck to the Browns tomorrow. We are all hoping for the best as rumors swirl in the air.

The Weird World of Cleveland Sports

From my many years of following Cleveland professional sports I could probably write a book about the strangeness of being a fan. Well this is a blog and not a publishing site so I have no intention of writing that book. But with the Browns owner Jimmy Haslam currently scrambling for cover, I found my mind wandering to some of the stranger things. Don’t worry. This is not going to be a replay of the “Drive” or “Fumble” or any other tale of woe for championships lost.

Let’s go back to the earliest days of free agency in baseball. The Indians made one of the biggest splashes, if not the biggest splash, as they signed the young 26 year old Ace pitcher of the Baltimore Orioles, Wayne Garland. In 1976 he was 20-7 with a brilliant 2.67 ERA. The Indians signed him and he pitched all year in 1977 ending up with a 13-19 record and a respectable 3.60 ERA. But he didn’t look right and he wasn’t. The Indians signed him to the richest contract in the history of baseball and he was injured from that point forward. Pitching until 1981 for the Tribe, he never won more than 6 games and never had an ERA under 4.61. Most ERAs were way over 5 and in the year he was diagnosed with the injury it was 7.89. He NEVER had a winning record for the Indians. That contract stifled the finances of the team for years and probably stopped the team from signing any other worthy top free agents from then on for fear of history repeating itself. I remember how excited I was when the team announced the signing. I remember how mad I was for the next 5 years. Question: Would that have ever happened to the Yankees?

The Cavaliers had the tremendous luck of winning the lottery when LeBron James came out. Sounds great right? Well it was in a way. We had winning teams and went once to the NBA finals. But we still never won a championship. That is not what I find odd. I do find it odd that we hired a coach, Byron Scott, to finally give LeBron the direction he needed. Make no mistake about it, the team never really planned for what happened. From the very start they were convinced James would be back. Scott, like a good soldier, said all the right things. He told all of us he wanted to be here and he did not take the job because of the prospect of coaching James. After the decision, it was clear that the team would have to cave to the bottom in order to have a chance to rise back to the top. And it was clear that they would have to lose for multiple seasons. Well, they accomplished that masterfully and then Scott is fired because of the pathetic team play and poor defense. So he is gone and now the team has to hire another coach. So who is the current top candidate to replace Scott? The very coach they fired to hire Scott and who was fired by another team in between. Wow. Who could have written that story? Now this is not to argue the merits of Mike Brown as a “return” coach. I will do that later. But it is just so strange to contemplate and I doubt there is any similar precedent in the history of the NBA. Question: Do you think the Celtics would follow a similar path?

No one can question the historic importance of the Cleveland Browns in the NFL. They are one of the most iconic franchises and have one of the most widespread and largest fan bases in the league. And yet, they were wrenched from Cleveland with disregard by an owner who couldn’t handle his finances and a league that was happy to oblige in their quest to extort cities into building new stadiums. Cleveland became the example that any team can leave if the city does not comply with the NFL’s need to modernize their stadiums. So we get a new team and the league makes the franchise suffer through a poor franchise deal because some previous new teams had “too much success” early in their existence. They get a new owner who wanted, in some sense, to make amends for his part in the departure of the Browns. He had the means and the determination to bring the Browns back to prominence. Then he died. Then his son inherits the team and doesn’t really want the team and goes through multiple management “groups”, none of which work. He hires a respected football man who was known for his ability to find and develop quarterbacks. He never found a quarterback (not even close) and was fired because the owner decided to sell the team without him having a clue it was happening. The new owner had a squeaky clean history with a successful family business over 50 years old. He comes in. Says all the right things (except for candidly). He is enthusiastic, energetic, and promises to do things the right way. He hires a curmudgeon (check the dictionary) and rehires one of the most distasteful front office types from our past. He leaves the Browns. Goes back to the parent company because he “forgot how much he loved it”. We find out later that the real reason might have been the hint of the coming Armageddon from the FBI. We suspected all along that the reasons were kind of weird when he returned abruptly. And now, instead of focusing as we should on the upcoming draft, we are hearing a Jimmy Haslam press conference every other day. He discusses the trials and tribulations of Pilot Flying J, a company we all could have cared less about 10 months ago and never mentions the Browns. WOW WOW !! Who could have written that script? Oh, and I almost forgot, the team who he LEFT as a part owner was the Pittsburgh Steelers. Question: Would this story have even a ghost of a chance of happening in Pittsburgh?

So, maybe Cleveland isn’t jinxed. Maybe Cleveland isn’t unlucky. But it sure is STRANGE how things happen in Cleveland Sports. As all of you know, there are many more stories I could have covered tonight. At times like this I kind of feel like I am in the Twilight Zone and hope the show will eventually end. It never does. Maybe Cleveland Sports is a combination of Groundhog Day in the Twilight Zone? Can I change the channel?