Cleveland Browns
Head Coach: Mike Pettine (0-0 all-time in Cleveland)
Last Year's Results: 4-12, missed playoffs
Projected Starters:
(My Player Rankings Guide:
E - Elite Starter: Franchise changing player at his position
HQ - High Quality Starter: One of the best in the game at his position
GS - Good Starter: If this guy's on your team, he's likely starting and you should be perfectly fine with it
AS - Average Starter: This guy is OK, but if possible, I'd be looking for an upgrade
BAS - Below Average Starer: This guy should not be starting, but he will because he's the best option
??? - Not enough information regarding this guy and the jury is still out on him
R - Rookie: Pretty self-explanatory
PS - Poor Starter: This guy shouldn't be starting for your football team. NO EXCUSES!)
OFFENSE:
QB: Brian Hoyer (???)
RB: Ben Tate (AS)
WR: Josh Gordon (HQ)
WR: Nate Burleson (BAS)
TE: Gary Barnidge (BAS)
TE: Jordan Cameron (GS)
C: Alex Mack (HQ)
RG: Joel Bitonio (R)
LG: John Greco (AS)
RT: Mitchell Schwartz (AS)
LT: Joe Thomas (E)
DEFENSE:
DE: Ahtyba Rubin (AS)
DE: Desmond Bryant (AS)
DT: Phillip Taylor (AS)
LOLB: Paul Kruger (AS)
ROLB: Jabaal Sheard (GS)
ILB: Craig Robertson (PS)
ILB: Karlos Dansby (HQ)
CB: Joe Haden (HQ)
CB: Justin Gilbert (R)
SS: Donte Whitner (HQ)
FS: Tashaun Gipson (BAS)
SPECIAL TEAMS:
K: Billy Cundiff
P: Spencer Lanning
Schedule:
vs. @ Pittsburgh
vs. New Orleans
vs. Baltimore
BYE WEEK
vs. @ Tennessee
vs. Pittsburgh
vs. @ Jacksonville
vs. Oakland
vs. Tampa Bay
vs. @ Cincinnati
vs. Houston
vs. @ Atlanta
vs. @ Buffalo
vs. Indianapolis
vs. Cincinnati
vs. @ Carolina
vs. @ Baltimore
Predicted Results: 4-12 (1-5 in division)
Team Analysis: Cleveland is going to be fun to watch this year, but for all the wrong reasons. The Browns are arguably the worst ran team in the NFL. When's the last time the Browns were relevant in the NFL? Hell, when's the last time the Browns were any good in the NFL? The answer? Alooooong time. The bad news for Browns fans is, the arrow for this franchise is still pointing down in an alarming way. The Browns have been a horribly managed team for sometime now and things didn't improve in the off-season. Cleveland got rid of yet another head coach and brought in a new guy, who wasn't their first choice and to be honest with you....he may not have even be their tenth choice, but they would pretty much hire ANYONE who would take the job. That doesn't bode well for either the Browns franchise or Mike Pettine as a head coach. If Pettine is still the head coach of this team by the time 2016 rolls around, you can go ahead and color me shocked.
One big reason why Pettine won't be the head coach of this team for very long is the offense. Cleveland is arguably the worst offensive team on paper in the NFL. There are still plenty of questions at the quarterback position and drafting Johnny Football in the off-season does nothing to solve those problems. Manziel will be the latest in a long line of great college quarterbacks whose game doesn't transition well into the NFL. Manziel will offer nothing for the Browns outside of creating a big distraction and even though Browns fans love the addition now, they'll be praying that the team gets rid of him by next season. It's not like the Browns have Manziel in a position to succeed. Outside of Josh Gordon (who will likely be suspended all season), Joe Thomas, Alex Mack, and Jordan Cameron, the Browns are surrounded by a bunch of mediocre/practice squad guys on offense. This team will need a lot of help scoring points and if you have a Cleveland Brown on your fantasy football team....I'm sorry.
Defensively, there is some stuff to like about this team. While they are only average on the defensive line, they have a lot of pieces to like at linebacker and especially in the secondary. Outside of Seattle, I don't know if there is a team that has a better secondary than Cleveland does. Not only do they have Joe Haden back there, but they added Donte Whitner in the off-season and drafted Justin GIlbert with the eighth overall pick in the NFL Draft. Gilbert was an excellent selection and Whitner is a huge upgrade over anyone they had playing the position last year. Even though this unit has yet to play an NFL regular season game together, there is a lot to like here. So, as I mentioned earlier, the Browns are going to be an interesting team to watch this year. People are going to tune in to see what Johnny Manziel can do when he's eventually thrown into the mix and this team will be fun to watch on the defensive side of the ball. If you're a Browns fan who is expecting to be good this year though, you may want to curb your expectations a little. Get a quarterback and then we'll talk.
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