What The Cleveland Browns Should Do in 2014
Cleveland … Cleveland … Cleveland. You have been nicknamed the “Mistake By The Lake” for a reason. It’s evident with the consistent shuffling of deck at the head coaching position coupled with year-in and year-out poor acquisitions in free agency and ignorance in the NFL Draft. Add the fact that your owner is involved in federal investigations and you have an act that wouldn’t be believable in Hollywood. The highlight of the season every-year is the NFL Draft and in owning two first round draft picks this season, excitement is building in Cleveland. It has been reported that Cleveland will select either QB – Johnny Manziel (Texas A&M) or QB – Blake Bortles (UCF) with the 4th Pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. Do they not understand that they cannot develop QBs, quit trying Cleveland. Since the Browns were re-introduced into the league in 1999, they harbor an astounding 19 QBs who have taken snaps under Center. Here’s the list:
| 2013 | Jason Campbell (8) / Brandon Weeden (5) / Brian Hoyer (3) |
| 2012 | Brandon Weeden (15) / Thad Lewis (1) |
| 2011 | Colt McCoy (13) / Seneca Wallace (3) |
| 2010 | Colt McCoy (8) / Jake Delhomme (4) / Seneca Wallace (4) |
| 2009 | Brady Quinn (9) / Derek Anderson (7) |
| 2008 | Derek Anderson (9) / Brady Quinn (3) / Ken Dorsey (3) / Bruce Gradkowski (1) |
| 2007 | Derek Anderson (15) / Charlie Frye (1) |
| 2006 | Charlie Frye (13) / Derek Anderson (3) |
| 2005 | Trent Dilfer (11) / Charlie Frye (5) |
| 2004 | Jeff Garcia (10) / Kelly Holcomb (2) / Luke McCown (4) |
| 2003 | Kelly Holcomb (8) / Tim Couch (8) |
| 2002 | Tim Couch (14) / Kelly Holcomb (2) |
| 2001 | Tim Couch (16) |
| 2000 | Doug Pederson (8) / Tim Couch (7) / Spergon Wynn (1) |
| 1999 | Tim Couch (14) / Ty Detmer (2) |
To pile on even further, Cleveland has had “7” Head Coaches since 1999. Is Butch Davis really the Browns top coach since 1999?!? Current owner Jimmy Haslem recently sent a letter to the impatient Cleveland fan-base, which was posted on the team website on January 15th – asking for patience. Haslem stated, “We have purposefully been very methodical in our approach … We believe it is very important to stay disciplined to this process and to interview all of the candidates on our list. We are strongly committed to finding the right person to coach the Cleveland Browns.” Hey Jimmy … that isn’t going to do anything. It’s not calming, it’s not inspiring … it’s fluff. A better approach would have been to just hire this guy and say, “Stay patient my friends.”
| Coach | Seasons | Wins | Losses | ||||||||||
| 1 | Chris Palmer | 1999–2000 | 5 | 27 | |||||||||
| 2 | Butch Davis | 2001–2004 | 24 | 34 | |||||||||
| 3 | Terry Robiskie | 2004 | 1 | 5 | |||||||||
| 4 | Romeo Crennel | 2005–2008 | 24 | 40 | |||||||||
| 5 | Eric Mangini | 2009–2010 | 10 | 22 | |||||||||
| 6 | Pat Shurmur | 2011–2012 | 9 | 23 | |||||||||
| 7 | Rob Chudzinski | 2013 | 4 | 12 |
If LegionReport.com had any say-so or pull, this is our opinion on how the off-season should be approached.
Sign: QB – Michael Vick.
Cleveland cannot develop QB’s, do not waste an early pick on one. Sign Vick. They then have Hoyer and Campbell as well, may the best man win the job. Cut Weeden.
Draft: Round 1, Pick 4 – Sammy Watkins – WR (Clemson)
This pick is brilliant in so-many ways. If you remember, years back Cleveland passed on Julio Jones – traded back with Atlanta, then drafted Phil Taylor. This is painful to anyone whether you like Cleveland or not … it’s pitiful. We feel pity and stupidity for Cleveland at the same time. Watkins offers explosiveness that would be troublesome for any NFL Defense. Couple his talents with Josh Gordon and Jordan Cameron and you have an extremely potent offense. It makes your team dominant on one-side of the ball. If you remember, the Cleveland Defense is a great unit – it goes unnoticed because their offense hangs them out to dry. Lastly, let’s remember … Josh Gordon is one hiccup away from being popped by the NFL. With a non-existent running game, the Browns virtually become invisible offensively without Gordon, should he go down for discipline or injury. We believe that teaming up Gordon, Watkins and Cameron – the Cleveland Browns would be near teams like Chicago, Atlanta and Denver in the receiving game. It creates a phenomenal and young core of offense.
Draft: Round 1, Pick 26 – Carlos Hyde – RB (Ohio State)
This pick was acquired via the Indi/Trent Richardson trade. It doesn’t take much explanation here other than they have no running game. Sure, the NFL is moving toward drafting RBs later and later in the Draft. Why follow suit when you can nab a solid RB with an extra pick? We wouldn’t fool-around here. Take Hyde and fill another offensive void. With the three additions of Vick, Watkins and Hyde – that’s all-the-sudden an explosive offense.
Sign: CB – Any Cornerback
Available in 2014 Free Agency are: Brent Grimes, Chris Harris, Aqib Talib, Tim Jennings, Alterraun Verner, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Charles Tillman. These are all top options and should easily replace an exposed Buster Skrine. Joe Haden locks down one side of the field, however Cleveland is vulnerable week-after-week on the opposite side. An addition here would be an immediate jump-start to a known hole in the Cleveland Defense. Also, Haden becomes a free agent in 2015 – meaning 2014 is his last year under contract in Cleveland. Hopefully, Cleveland looks ahead here and prepares for the worst, killing two birds with one stone … just in case.
Draft: Round 2 Pick – Offensive Line
With the additions made above, we truly feel that Cleveland will see an automatic jump in the standings. After those moves have been made, we feel that they should then boost their line talent through the draft. Looking further, we know that the “Cleveland Brass” is salivating for a QB and every new head coach wants to bring in their own guy and do their own thing, so we expect and hope for them to use a Round 3 or 4 pick on a QB as a developmental project … ALA Kenny Guiton from Ohio State – realistically, they could wait far later on a guy like that.
Well guys … that’s the LegionReport.com take on things. If Cleveland falls into their own traps and sticks to their consistent bad decisions, the only thing else we can recommend for the team to keep interest is to hold a “Golden Ticket” giveaway like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and allow a fan to run the front office for a season! Hey … It’s Cleveland, you never know!
On the negative side of things, if Cleveland goes about this the way that everyone is projecting, they’re only one Josh Gordon misstep from chaos in Cleveland again. This happens: Cleveland drafts Johnny Manziel, Gordon gets popped with trouble and is gone – they’re back at square one … Drafted a QB, their WR Corp is non-existent and Haden will more than likely walk after the 2014 season because it’s more of the same. They’re the Cleveland Browns of 1999-2013 again. Manziel won’t make it because he has no WR’s. Another coach will be fired. Fans and the organization will get impatient with Manziel. Cleveland will continue to spit out terrible seasons and want to draft another QB. If this didn’t make enough sense, the Cleveland Browns are simply too unstable of an organization to draft an unstable Johnny Football at QB to lead their team to success. It’s a recipe for disaster. LegionReport.com will write another article years from now and Cleveland will follow the vicious cycle that it has since 1999. Anarchy in Cleveland!