I actually think in some ways the Browns personnel wise are positioned to be a 49ers type turn around if the proper coach is brought in.

They also were drastic under-achievers pre-Harbaugh, but he knew how to do something with what was there.

Get this Browns team a dominant Vernon Davis type safety net TE to go with the offensive pieces that are there (add at least a guard or 2 in FA) and I think the right coach could have them looking like a real NFL unit on that side of the ball.

On defense you (God Forbid) use free agency to find another DB (the 49ers brought in Carlos Rodgers that way) and add another pass rusher and suddenly I think even that side of the ball looks more respectable. We have to draft another playmaking LB as well.

The cupboard is not totally bare, but if the new regime uses Free Agency effectively and has a good draft the Browns are not that far away from being at least an 8-8 squad going forward in a year or 2.

With all the veterans having been purged things should happen much quicker from here as far as a rebuild goes.

I was watching cfb daily and polian loves manti te'o. If he's the gm I could see him using our first on him. I would be opposed. He's definitely a play making line backer.

so wilson, murray or barkley?

dazedconfused;1280290 wrote:so wilson, murray or barkley?

NOT Barkley. I'm skeptical that he'll even be the first QB off the board.

dazedconfused;1280290 wrote:so wilson, murray or barkley?

Honestly I like bray

Crimson streak;1280294 wrote:Honestly I like bray

good call. forgot about him

dazedconfused;1280296 wrote:good call. forgot about him

And he goes to Tennessee hmm

By Steve Doerschuk
CantonRep.com staff writer

BEREA —

Now that everyone has seen what life is like without them, no one has nicknamed Phil Taylor and Joe Haden “The Expendables.”

Browns coach Pat Shurmur says Taylor is “getting close” following his recovery from pectoral surgery.

Even if last year’s first-round draft pick was ready to win the Olympic decathlon today, he wouldn’t be allowed to play football against the Ravens on Thursday night.

When Taylor opened the season on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list, it meant he had to sit out at least the first six games.

The big defensive tackle will not be eligible to play until Oct. 21 at Indianapolis.

How soon he actually returns probably is tied to whether playoff chances have been blown to smithereens.

Already, that is close to being the case, with the team at 0-3. Only three NFL teams have reached the postseason after an 0-3 start. The last was Buffalo in 1998.

Taylor says he is making good progress in his rehabilitation, but he doesn’t wager a guess on whether he would be ready by Game 7.

The defense survived the loss of Taylor and played well enough to win the season opener. Had the Browns recovered a Michael Vick fumble or made an interception that was right in linebacker L.J. Fort’s hands, they probably would have beaten the Eagles.

Playing without both Taylor and 2010 Round 1 pick Haden has gotten ugly. Quarterbacks Andy Dalton and Ryan Fitzpatrick have gouged the defense at key times in the Browns’ last two defeats.

Dalton, whose career passer rating is 84.2, put up a 128.2 rating in the Browns game. Fitzpatrick’s rating for the Bills Sunday was 107.8. He has a 75.9 career mark.

Haden will play again sooner than Taylor, but so what. If the Browns are 0-5 when he suits up against the Bengals on Oct. 14, the season will be long gone.

The Browns must face Baltimore Thursday and the Giants on Oct. 7 without Taylor and Haden.

The replacements

A look at who is playing defensive tackle while Taylor recovers from pectoral surgery:

• 2008 Round 6 pick Ahtyba Rubin. Since 2010, he leads the NFL’s men at his position with 174 tackles, but his production is down without Taylor at his side — nine tackles through three games.

• Rookie Round 6 pick Billy Winn. He batted away two passes, one almost becoming a pick-six (cornerback Dimitri Patterson couldn’t hang on). He hasn’t made a tackle in the last two games after making two in the opener.

Rookie Round 3 pick John Hughes. Winn beat him out for a starting job. He made six tackles at Cincinnati but had none in either of the home games.

• Undrafted rookie Ishmaa’ily Kitchen. Cut by the Ravens in the preseason, the former Kent State player has rotated into all three games, totaling three tackles.

An absolute dilemma

• Shurmur’s philosophical take on how his players should take being 0-3:

“Should they be upset? Absolutely. Should they be discouraged? Absolutely not.”

• The Saints are the only team in worse shape than the Browns. They are the league’s only 0-3 teams, but whereas the Browns are two-games behind AFC North co-leaders Cincinnati and Baltimore (2-1), the Saints are three games in arrears of NFC South leader Atlanta (0-3).

• Records of teams left on the Browns’ schedule:

2-1: Baltimore, New York Giants, Cincinnati, San Diego, Dallas.

1-2: Indianapolis, Washington, Pittsburgh, Oakland, Kansas City, Denver.

Six of the next seven games, including two against the Ravens, are against the 2-1 teams.

Weeden OK with Weeden

Quarterback Brandon Weeden thought his only real stinker Sunday was a deep pass in the general direction of Benjamin Watson that turned into an easy Buffalo pick.

The Browns were in dire straits at that point, trailing 24-14.

“Take away the last throw and I think it was a solid day,” Weeden said.

He threw one other pick a bit earlier, going over the middle to rookie Josh Gordon, whose lethargic effort allowed Weeden’s bullet to go through to a safety.

“I threw the ball where it needed to go all day,” Weeden said. “I felt extremely comfortable in the pocket. I felt my reads were really good.

“I felt like I threw the ball accurately. I felt like I had a good day.”

Shurmur was asked if Weeden (27-of-43, 237 yards on the day) had enough open targets to function.

“He had some guys open,” Shurmur said. “He had some inaccurate throws.”

Extra points

• Shurmur hinted that wideout Greg Little might be on a short leash.

“We can’t play a guy that’s going to drop footballs,” he said.

Many Browns fans have been annoyed by Little’s emphatic demonstrations after a catch.

“The false interpretation of this,” Shurmur said, “is he’s not being worked with. Trust me, he’s being worked with.”

• Tight end Jordan Cameron had a breakout day with five catches for 45 yards.

“He had an opportunity on a go ball in the red zone that would have made it a great day,” Shurmur said.

Weeden overthrew Jordan on what might have been a touchdown.

ª Mo Massaquoi left the Buffalo game with a hamstring injury that could knock him out of the Thursday nighter.

“He’s gonna be day-to-day, and there’s not many days,” Shurmur said.

4 catches for 45 yds is a only a "breakout" performance for a Browns player. SMH, its expected at every other ball club.

Commander of Awesome;1280373 wrote:4 catches for 45 yds is a only a "breakout" performance for a Browns player. SMH, its expected at every other ball club.

"No drops" is also a great performance by the offense.

The only change I can say for sure that I want to be made are Holmgren, Heckert, and Shurmur being shown the door at season's end. We're going to suck either way so I wouldn't do it mid-season, but there is no justification for any of them to stick around unless a miracle occurs and we win 7 or 8 games between now and season's end.

After that, it all depends on how Weeden plays/progresses, where we're picking in the draft, whether any of our WRs have shown anything (mainly talking about Gordon and Little here).

I like both of the Tylers and Geno Smith is intriguing, but I don't really see a Luck/RGIII can't miss prospect in this draft. I don't think Weeden is an elite franchise guy, but if he plays well enough I wouldn't draft another one just for the sake of trying again. If he sucks then there's no reason to stick with him (29 years old so limited developmental upside, new CBA makes the contract easy to dump, new ownership... basically the perfect storm to dump a guy after 1 year) - but if he plays well there are good DE and CB prospects plus Allen and Woods at WR.

Another season where I think it would be hard for the Browns to screw it up given their needs, but I said that about this past draft too and I think they basically butchered the first 3 rounds.

I think we win 2 games at best and have the top pick in the draft. I haven't seen anything that guarantees a simple win.

Only in Cleveland..

Sounds like the Browns may be looking for a new punter...

Tony Grossi ‏ @
TonyGrossi
Interesting that 3 teams made punter transactions today. # Browns, locked in
game-prep mode for Thurs., had to stand pat for now.

BR1986FB;1280411 wrote:Sounds like the Browns may be looking for a new punter...

Tony Grossi ‏ @
TonyGrossi
Interesting that 3 teams made punter transactions today. # Browns, locked in
game-prep mode for Thurs., had to stand pat for now.

Shit...we def need a good punter, since that is pretty much all the offense does.

Mulva;1280385 wrote:Another season where I think it would be hard for the Browns to screw it up given their needs, but I said that about this past draft too and I think they basically butchered the first 3 rounds.

does hughes even play? i dont think ive heard his name once

Browns fans checking out mock drafts already. OIC baby!

wes_mantooth;1280429 wrote:****...we def need a good punter, since that is pretty much all the offense does.

I don't get it, our punter is actually very good.

jmog;1280595 wrote:I don't get it, our punter is actually very good.

I think he's hurt.

dazedconfused;1280432 wrote:does hughes even play? i dont think ive heard his name once

Hughes is actually VERY solid. He and Winn have been doing a good, not great, job. When Taylor comes back they should have a nice rotation at DT.

BR1986FB;1034190 wrote:Agreed. Blackmon is slower than Little and about the same as MoMass. Get a speedster in here. Someone a defense fears. They have enough possession types.

Isn't that what Gordon is supposed to be? Big and fast.

I would have really liked to see them bring a veteran to help these young guys...like a Derrick Mason from a couple of years ago.

wes_mantooth;1280611 wrote:Isn't that what Gordon is supposed to be? Big and fast.

I would have really liked to see them bring a veteran to help these young guys...like a Derrick Mason from a couple of years ago.

I wonder if the hammer falls on Shurmur, Heckert, etc when Haslam comes on board if they don't do just that. They HAVE a speedster in Benjamin. Weeden needs to just stop underthrowing him when he's open.

BR1986FB;1280605 wrote:Hughes is actually VERY solid. He and Winn have been doing a good, not great, job. When Taylor comes back they should have a nice rotation at DT.

He played well against cinci, but I honestly don't think I heard his name or noticed him once last sunday.

I agree though, we'll be solid at dt when Phil gets back.

Mulva;1280642 wrote:He played well against cinci, but I honestly don't think I heard his name or noticed him once last sunday.

I agree though, we'll be solid at dt when Phil gets back.

Not to say he had a good game, because I don't really know, but sometimes when you don't hear a d linemen's name it doesn't neccessarily mean he didn't have a good game.

Mulva;1280385 wrote:The only change I can say for sure that I want to be made are Holmgren, Heckert, and Shurmur being shown the door at season's end. We're going to suck either way so I wouldn't do it mid-season, but there is no justification for any of them to stick around unless a miracle occurs and we win 7 or 8 games between now and season's end.

After that, it all depends on how Weeden plays/progresses, where we're picking in the draft, whether any of our WRs have shown anything (mainly talking about Gordon and Little here).

I like both of the Tylers and Geno Smith is intriguing, but I don't really see a Luck/RGIII can't miss prospect in this draft. I don't think Weeden is an elite franchise guy, but if he plays well enough I wouldn't draft another one just for the sake of trying again. If he sucks then there's no reason to stick with him (29 years old so limited developmental upside, new CBA makes the contract easy to dump, new ownership... basically the perfect storm to dump a guy after 1 year) - but if he plays well there are good DE and CB prospects plus Allen and Woods at WR.

Another season where I think it would be hard for the Browns to screw it up given their needs, but I said that about this past draft too and I think they basically butchered the first 3 rounds.

Agree that all 3 need to go, but see NO reason why Shurmer should not be sent packing ASAP when haslam comes on board. At this point he is THE biggest problem the browns have, and cutting bait sooner rather than later MIGHT at least help in the development of some of the young guys for next year. Put Chilly or jauron in charge and let them at least do what a coach should do---coach the players and make them better. Granted, they will be gone next year as well, but I'll take my chances they can possibly have a positive effect on player development. I have NO hope Shurmur can do that.