Taylor to have surgery, could miss season

By Sean McClelland | Friday, May 11, 2012, 11:22 AM

Just when you might have been feeling the slightest twinge of optimism about the Browns, this happens.

“Phil (Taylor) tore his left pec, most likely he’s going to have surgery here in the middle of the week,” Browns coach Pat Shurmur said this morning.

Taylor, the Browns’ first-round pick (No. 21 overall) in 2011 from Baylor who enjoyed a fine rookie season, hurt himself lifting weights Thursday as part of the team’s offseason program.

“He is going to miss some significant amount of time, more months than weeks,” Shurmur said. “It’s too early to speculate how long that will be.

“It’s unfortunate. We feel bad for Phil, but he is in good spirits and he is going to come back from this thing stronger than ever.”

Shurmur left open the possibility that Taylor could miss the season.

“Everyone recovers at a different rate,” Shurmur said. “Our guess is that he will be a fast healer. But he will require surgery.”

Let’s hope he heals faster than middle linebacker D’Qwell Jackson, who missed all of 2010 and most of 2009 with two different torn pectoral muscles. The good news there is that Jackson has bounced back to become the heart and soul of the defense.

Taylor started all 16 games as a rookie and finished seventh on the team with 59 tackles. He also recorded four sacks and a forced fumble.

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Taylor injured in weight room

By Sean McClelland | Thursday, May 10, 2012, 05:14 PM

Confirmation from the Browns about the injury suffered today by second-year defensive tackle Phil Taylor:

“Defensive tackle Phil Taylor injured his left pectoral today lifting weights as part of the club’s offseason program. He will be further evaluated on Monday to determine a course of treatment.”

It’s never good when “a course of treatment” has to wait several days to be revealed, so it seems like it’s probably a significant injury.

Oh well. At least they drafted a defensive tackle in the third round instead of a receiver.

Nobody’s laughing at John Hughes now. He might start.

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Draft getting mixed reviews

By Sean McClelland | Saturday, April 28, 2012, 11:40 PM

Most analysts love the pick of Alabama running back Trent Richardson but regard Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden as a bit of a head-scratcher.

Ultimately, Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com gives the entire three-day draft exercise a C-, which can’t be comforting to anyone at team headquarters.

More troubling, the Browns got the lowest grade in the division from Prisco. He gives the Bengals an A+, the Steelers an A and the Ravens a B+.

Here’s what Prisco says about the Browns:

Best pick: Second-round pick Mitchell Schwartz is a tough, nasty player who will start at right tackle. Scouts I talked to loved this kid. I agree. Nice pick.

Questionable move: Taking Brandon Weeden in the first round. That was a reach. Is he that much better than Colt McCoy? And he’ll be 29 in October.

Third-day gem: Fourth-round receiver Travis Benjamin went to Miami as a huge recruit. He didn’t put up big numbers, but he has explosive ability.

Analysis: The Browns had a bad first round in my mind, which knocks their draft down. They had two first-round picks, and traded up to get Trent Richardson. I just don’t see how trading up for a back is a good thing — even a good back like Richardson. Taking Weeden is a real reach. They did bounce back some, but I don’t like the way they started.

Grade: C-

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Weeden pick already drawing sneers

By Sean McClelland | Friday, April 27, 2012, 12:12 AM

I’ve decided I like the pick of Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden at No. 22 overall tonight even as all the jokes start flying about his age.

It’s a bold stroke, if nothing else, and shows the front office is serious about winning sooner rather than later.

Initial national reaction has not been positive, however, with one CBS online pundit giving the pick an F.

That’s because, as we all know by now, Weeden isn’t your typical draftee.

He was a hard-throwing relief pitcher in the Yankees organization for several years and turns 29 in October.

“By the time the Browns are ready to win, he’ll be ready to retire,” goes the popular sentiment.

His age is obviously a concern, but if you’ve seen Weeden throw a football, even if only on television, you’ve got to love his powerful arm and quick release.

And that’s where he’ll be a refreshing change from Colt McCoy, who almost certainly figures to be dangled as trade bait rather than be brought to camp to participate in some competition for the starting job.

Some don’t think McCoy will last through the weekend and that the Browns at this point will take anything they can get for him.

Earlier, the Browns traded three mid- to low-round draft picks to Minnesota for the right to select Alabama running back Trent Richardson No. 3 overall.

That, too, was a bold move, but probably worth it considering they were starting the day with 13 picks.

Sure, it’s a passing league, but there’s still plenty of room on a championship team for a top-notch back.

I’m a bit troubled by Jim Brown’s description of Richardson as “ordinary,” but I’m willing to attribute that to bitterness over being kicked out of the Browns’ heirarchy by Mike Holmgren.

For the day, I’d give the Browns a solid B.

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Browns move up a spot, poised to take Richardson

By Sean McClelland | Thursday, April 26, 2012, 07:30 PM

The Cleveland Browns made the first trade of draft day, dealing three picks to the Minnesota Vikings for the right to switch spots in the first round and presumably draft Alabama running back Trent Richardson.

According to ESPN, a Browns spokesman confirmed the deal.

The Browns now have the No. 3 overall selection and, barring another move, the Vikings pick fourth.

Cleveland, apparently concerned that the Tampay Bay Buccaneers were getting ready to move into the No. 3 spot and take Richardson, gave Minnesota a fourth-round pick, a fifth and a seventh.

“It’s not too much,” guest analyst Bill Polian, the former Indianapolis Colts GM, said moments ago on ESPN.

Richardson is generally regarded as the clear No. 1 running back available and the Browns need something to invigorate an offense that ranked 29th in total yards and 30th in scoring last season.

Richardson set Alabama single-season records for rushing yards (1,679) and touchdowns (21) last season.

ESPN analyst Keyshawn Johnson liked the deal from a Browns standpoint.

“The Cleveland Browns are going to fight for the (AFC North),” Johnson, a former No. 1 overall pick of the New York Jets, said in the pre-draft coverage. “Mike Holmgren knows what he’s doing.”

The Browns now have 10 picks after entering the day with 13.

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Will Richardson or Blackmon crack this list?

By Sean McClelland | Thursday, April 26, 2012, 03:08 AM

If the Browns pick running back Trent Richardson or receiver Justin Blackmon and proceed to have the kind of draft they had in 2011, they might start convincing a few skeptics better times lie ahead.

Phil Taylor, the 2011 first-round pick, and second-rounder Jabaal Sheard have the look of defensive building blocks at tackle and end, respectively. And receiver Greg Little, while he dropped too many passes and was probably rusty from sitting out his final college season at North Carolina in the wake of the scandal that rocked that program, has the look of a solid No. 2 receiver, at least.

Yes, this is a positive blog entry, and while I’ve left the aforementioned players off this list because it’s too early to tell where they would rank, here are the Browns’ top 10 picks from 1999, their first year back in the league, through 2010.

1. Joe Thomas, OT, Wisconsin. Third overall pick in 2007 is considered the best tackle in the NFL. He stands as former GM Phil Savage’s crowning achievement (even though I would have taken running back Adrian Peterson, who went seventh to the Vikings).

2. Joe Haden, CB, Florida. Seventh overall in 2010. Already one of the best in the business and should keep getting better. Appears to love Cleveland, too, which is a plus.

3. D’Qwell Jackson, LB, Maryland, 2006. Second round, No. 34 overall. Another one Savage got right. Still a force in the middle even after missing a season and a half due to injury.

4. Ahtyba Rubin, DT, Iowa State, 2008. A sixth-round gem unearthed by Savage. Pound for pound, round for round, perhaps should top this list.

5. Kellen Winslow Jr., TE, Miami. No. 6 overall in 2004. Injuries rendered him a shadow of the talent he had been in college, but he was still pretty special for a couple of years once he healed. Browns don’t go 10-6 in 2007 without him.

6. T.J. Ward, S, Oregon. Second-rounder in 2010 has been injured early in his career but showed signs as a rookie of becoming a true enforcer in the defensive backfield.

7. Andra Davis, LB, Florida. Butch Davis gets credit for this value pick taken in the fifth round. Never a Pro Bowler, but a solid all-around player.

8. Alex Mack, C, California. Eric Mangini’s first pick in 2009 stabilized the center position and remains the offensive line’s anchor.

9. Kamerion Wimbley, LB, Florida State. No. 13 overall in 2006. Dealt away after a few years, but he had 11 sacks as a rookie and he’s still in the league with Tennessee.

10. Daylon McCutcheon, CB, USC. Third-round pick in 1999 started 96 games before being forced into retirement in 2006 by a series of concussions.

Special mention

1. Ryan Pontbriand, fifth round, 2003. Pure long snapper justified Davis’s faith by lasting into the 2011 season in that role before his uncanny accuracy abandoned him and he was cut.

2. Brodney Pool, second round, 2005. Athletic safety has 13 interceptions in a career that continues with the Cowboys.

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Browns are poster team for inexact science of drafting

By Sean McClelland | Wednesday, April 25, 2012, 03:10 AM

The Cleveland Browns have had few moments of glory on draft day since returning to the NFL in 1999. They were praised in 2007 for trading back into the first round to take quarterback Brady Quinn, but even that turned out to be a disaster.

Here are a few draft-related reasons why winning more than five games in a season has been such a challenge over the years:

2000: Sure, it seemed like a good idea taking Penn State defensive end Courtney Brown No. 1 overall. Nobody could have guessed he would blow out his knee simply running down the field with no contact, so that’s just bad luck. But Brown was a quiet sort, which should have raised a red flag considering he was being hired to terrorize quarterbacks. As cornerback Corey Fuller would put it, “It’s good to be quiet, but we need killers.” Brown was never a killer and soon he wasn’t a Brown. He played for Denver briefly before retiring.

2001: Defensive tackle Gerard Warren, drafted No. 3 overall from Florida, showed up for his first press conference looking like he had been partying all night. So it should have come as no great surprise when “Big Money” later admitted to being a big-time drinker and womanizer. He was gone after a few years, never making the desired impact, although he bounced around the league and even played in the Super Bowl last year with the Patriots. Compounding the problem, the running back the Browns might have taken, LaDainian Tomlinson from TCU, went on to have a Hall of Fame career.

2001: Four rounds after grabbing Warren, then-head coach Butch Davis selected an intriguing linebacker prospect from Washington named Jeremiah Pharms whose favorite intimidation tactic on the field involved urinating in his uniform. A father of three, he was also under investigation for robbing a drug dealer at gunpoint. When the Browns found out, he was released. After serving time in prison, Pharms played for the New York Dragons in the Arena Football League, finishing his career with one quarterback sack.

2002: They needed a running back and William Green of Boston College was the best on the board, the Browns thought. So they took him halfway through the first round. Red flags? Only a couple of marijuana suspensions in college. Green had a good first season, then fell apart. Would the Steelers have drafted Green? Of course not. From now on the Browns should ask themselves this question before every pick: Would the Steelers draft this guy?

2003: It was the fifth round and, apparently, all the other team’s needs had been addressed. So why not grab this center from Rice University to be the team’s long snapper. Dumbfounded looks filled the media room (ever moreso than usual) as this pick was announced. Ironically, it ended up being one of Davis’s better ones, all things considered. Pontbriand was snapping for punts and placements right up until last season when suddenly the ability to do it consistently abandoned him and the Browns no longer could keep him around. In February, he signed with the San Francisco 49ers.

2004: Tight end Kellen Winslow wasn’t exactly a bust, but when you consider the Browns could have had Ben Roethlisberger and are still seeking a franchise quarterback to this day, it doesn’t look good. Davis had an inkling about Roethlisberger’s potential, so he made a special trip to work him out at Miami University as the draft neared. As Davis put it, “You don’t want to pass on a guy who goes on to win four Super Bowls.” If Big Ben wins two more, that’s exactly what they will have done. Winslow tore up his knee in a motorcycle crash (in a parking lot) and was eventually traded to Tampa Bay.

2007: Their first-round pick was rock-solid offensive tackle Joe Thomas. No problem there. But the Browns really needed a quarterback (don’t they always?) and General Manager Phil Savage sacrificed some draft picks to move back into the first round and rescue Notre Dame’s Quinn from the ESPN green room, where the long first-round wait had turned him into a frazzled mess. The only quarterback Savage liked better than Quinn that year was JaMarcus Russell, another future bust. Savage was fired after the 2008 season.

2008: Hearing the Bengals had spent a second-round draft pick on receiver Jerome Simpson, one Browns executive remarked, “Typical Bengals pick.” Meanwhile, after trading for Quinn and a couple of defensive linemen, the Browns had no picks of their own until the fourth round when they selected linebacker Beau Bell from Nevada-Las Vegas, convinced they had done their homework and were getting second-round value. Uh … not even close. Bell hurt his knee and never made it. Their second fourth-round pick, Missouri tight end Martin Rucker, also bombed.

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