Dawg Pound Lounge ,

There is evaluation, then there is evaluation. With this Browns team, one needs to look past the obvious, going beyond the inconsistency of the team and look at those players which make up this Browns team. In part-two of our "Breaking Down The Browns", Fred Greetham beats the RB's to the hole.

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The Browns just finished another double-digit loss season and questions abound throughout the roster. Are the Browns heading in the right direction? Do the Browns have a core to build around?

The OBR is breaking down the Browns current roster position-by-position. The second in the series is the breakdown of the running backs.

Running Backs (Peyton Hillis, Montario Hardesty, Chris Ogbonnaya, Owen Marecic, Armond Smith, Eddie Williams and Brandon Jackson)

The running back position was viewed as a position of strength of the Browns as the Browns headed into the 2011 season. Fresh off being named to the cover of Madden 2012, Peyton Hillis was expected to provide the lion’s share of the offense. He was coming off a career year where he rushed for 1,177 yards with 11 touchdowns. He also was the team’s second-leading receiver with 61 receptions and two touchdowns.

Then the Madden curse seemed to strike. Hillis sat out the third game of the season with strep throat and things went downhill from there. He pulled a hamstring against the Raiders and missed close to half of the season. He finished strong in two of the final three games, but his season ended far shy of his 2010 season with 587 yards and three touchdowns. He also was far less involved in the passing game with 22 receptions for 130 yards.

Many of those following the Browns think it’s a foregone conclusion that Hillis will leave via free agency this off-season. The Browns and Hillis’ agent broke off talks mid-season, but Hillis said in his final interviews of the season that he wanted to finish his career with the Browns. Pat Shurmur said he and Hillis had ‘a very good conversation’ in their season exit meeting.

The Browns brain trust Mike Holmgren, Tom Heckert and Pat Shurmur refused to address the Hillis situation and sound as though they are willing to let him test free agency. If that happens, it is unlikely Hillis will return as a suitor might come close to what he is seeking in compensation. However, even if he doesn’t get the offer that he’s hoping for, many times a player will take a similar offer with a new team just to save face.

With the uncertainty of Hardesty, it is likely the Browns would like for Hillis to return, but they will not break the bank to sign him. If Hillis truly wants to remain with the Browns, the ball likely will be in his court.

Hardesty is hardly a player that can be depended on to carry the burden after missing most of his two NFL seasons with injury. After missing the 2010 season with an ACL injury, Hardesty was slow in getting his knee into shape heading into the 2011 season. After he finally started to play, he strained his calf, which ended up holding him back for much of the remainder of the season. He finished with 266 yards on 88 carries for a 3.0 average per carry. Hardesty’s longest run of the season was just 19 yards. He caught 14 passes for 122 yards. Hardesty has yet to score an NFL touchdown and has not shown what Tom Heckert saw in the former Tennessee standout enough to trade up in the 2010 draft to select Hardesty in the second round. Heckert even admitted he hasn’t yet seen the player he drafted. He did say in the season wrap up that he is looking forward to seeing a healthy Hardesty play next year. I think all Browns fans are, as well, but with his injury history in college, it’s hard to go into the season counting on Hardesty to be the feature back.

Ogbonnaya is an intriguing story (See Don Delco’s story ‘The Curious Case of Chris Ogbonnaya’). He was signed off the Texans’ practice squad after Hillis and Hardesty went down and literally stepped right into the lineup with only a couple of days practice. He had the Browns biggest rushing game of the season when he rushed for 115 yards against the Jaguars. He had 90 yards against the Rams. Ogbonnaya had the Browns longest runs of the season from scrimmage with a 40-yard burst against Jacksonville and a 28-yard run against the Steelers. After Hillis returned, Ogbonnaya was the third down back, but rarely carried the ball the rest of the season, just four times in the final five games. He finished as the second-leading rusher with 340 yards on 76 carries and a touchdown. His 4.5 average was the highest among the Browns running backs. He also caught 23 passes for 165 yards.

Brandon Jackson was signed as an undrafted free agent from the Packers after starting 13 games for the Super Bowl champions. However, he suffered a turf toe injury in the preseason and spent the season on injured reserve. He was signed to be the third down or change of pace running back. Jackson is expected to return fully healthy for the 2012 season.

Armond Smith made the roster coming out of training camp as an undrafted free agent. He might have been the fastest player on the roster, but when injuries happened to Hillis and Hardesty, the Browns turned to Ogbonnaya, rather than Smith. He carried the ball three times for two yards in his action in the early season. Smith’s biggest claim was when he broke an 80-yard run for a touchdown in the preseason, but he also fumbled the ball away twice in the same game. Smith spent the majority of the season on the Browns’ practice squad.

Owen Marecic was drafted in the fourth round to be the starting fullback. Marecic suffered two concussions during the season and ended up with four carries for eight yards. He also caught five passes for 31 yards. The Browns chose to let Lawrence Vickers leave via free agency and drafted Marecic. Vickers led the way for Arian Foster in Houston and the Browns missed his lead blocking greatly. Marecic should improve his blocking, but he has a way to go. It is concerning that he has already had two concussions in his rookie season.

Eddie Williams was on the practice squad as the backup fullback and was activated after Marecic went down with a concussion and Alex Smith went to injured reserve.

Bottom Line: The Browns should re-sign Hillis to give them stability at the position. If Hillis leaves via free agency, the team must sign a number one free agent to replace him such as Matt Forte or Michael Bush. Otherwise, running back would be a high priority for the Browns in the draft as Hardesty and Jackson cannot be counted on to be the feature back. They could use one of their top three picks on a back if they don’t re-sign Hillis or another back. Ogbonnaya showed enough promise in his limited action to be in the mix.

(Next: A look at the wide receiving corps)

Jake i have looked everywhere for the Cromwell hiring and cant find it . do you have a link ?

Jake i have looked everywhere for the Cromwell hiring and cant find it . do you have a link ?

Here you go bluez.


He was just hired as an offensive senior assistant though. Not even a position coach...this hire is irrelevant.

I have heard rumors of Mike Sherman and Brad Childress being possible candidates for the OC job.  Who do you guys think should be brought in?

I have heard rumors of Mike Sherman and Brad Childress being possible candidates for the OC job.  Who do you guys think should be brought in?

Heck, bring em both in.  Both have head coaching experience and have called plays before and are well versed in "the system".  Personally I would prefer Mike Sherman as he seems a little more "stable" as compared to "Chilly"...

But these guys are the kind of guys we need, one with enough gravitas for Fritz Pat to turn over the play calling.   Even Sean Payton in NO has turned over the play calling, but it took a broken leg for him to do that.  Let's hope it doesn't take a personal event for ShUrmUr to let go of the play calling.  

I wouldn't mind Childress, but I would really like to see them interview Tom Clements from the Packers...I don't think they will htough, because I don't think he has an agent named Bob Lamonte...



Childress DOES though, so I think that is still a possibility. Not sure about Sherman's...

I Guess we are the Cleveland Lamonte now .

Thanks for the update on the Cromwell hiring . that will get us over the hump

I Guess we are the Cleveland Lamonte now .

The Full Lamonte?  


(dodges tomatos thrown by the crowd)

In his previous life as a teacher at Santa Teresa High in San Jose, Bob LaMonte took a special interest in diplomatic history. Fascinated by how leaders obtain and retain power, he would always include readings of Machiavelli on his syllabus. In the late 1970s he and a colleague, Mike Holmgren, would meet for lunch, and when LaMonte wasn't holding forth on the principles of empire building, the two men, who were also assistant football coaches, discussed blocking schemes. One afternoon Holmgren arrived looking anguished. "I have the chance to be a coordinator atSan Francisco State," he said. "Should I take it?" LaMonte replied, "Go for it." Then he posed a question of his own to Holmgren. A former student was preparing for the NFL draft and had asked LaMonte to represent him. Should he try to be an agent? "Bob," Holmgren said, "I think you'd be great."

A quarter century later Holmgren is coach and executive vice president of football operations for the Seattle Seahawks, after having won Super Bowl XXXI as coach of the Green Bay Packers. As for LaMonte, he has carved out a princely niche: agent to young coaches on the make. His clients include Holmgren, Jon Gruden of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Andy Reid of the Philadelphia Eagles, John Fox of the Carolina Panthers, Mike Sherman of thePackers and Jim Mora Jr. of the Atlanta Falcons as well as 12 coordinators and four general managers. "I consider Bob to be a very important power player but also a very productive one," says Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie. "In virtually every situation he's working with the team on behalf of his client, not against it. That gives a whole different meaning to the term power broker."

In six of the past seven years at least one of LaMonte's charges has been promoted to his first head job in the pros. After a client is granted an interview, LaMonte puts him through a vigorous preparation process, arming him with a thick three-ringed binder that covers topics from media relations to financial planning to ownership. "The key letters aren't X and 0, they're CEO," says LaMonte, 59. "[Ownership] knows you know football, so why waste time with that? You have two to five hours to show them you can run an organization." Time and again, LaMonte's clients—Reid, Sherman and Fox, to name three—have started the job search as little-known candidates and then won over management during interviews. "I tried to develop a picture of the entire team and the entire operation," recalls Reid, who has more wins than any other coach since the start of the 2000 season.

Once his clients are hired, LaMonte works to expand their spheres of influence. In 2001 LaMonte negotiated a deal in which Reid took over as the Eagles' executive VP of football operations, joining Holmgren and Sherman as LaMonte coaching clients who also have control over personnel decisions. LaMonte insists that in a perfect world, coaches and general managers can coexist—"What Mike [ Holmgren] and Ron Wolf had in Green Bay was ideal," he says—but he won't apologize for helping his coaches amass power. "If you're driving the race car at 220 mph, you want to know who's changing the oil," he says. "In the NFL, having no control is death."

If LaMonte's tactics don't fit the agent profession's blustery stereotype, neither does his lifestyle. His unassuming offices are in Reno, and the company's only other full-time employee is his wife, Lynn. Reflexively self-effacing, he rarely gives interviews and scoffs at the suggestion that he is a major player in the NFL. "We're putting a pretty dress on a pretty girl," he says. "But if she gets to be prom queen—if our guys become successful NFL head coaches—we've done our jobs."

Still, much easier to understand thanks to the work of Bob LaMonte, our 2011 Cleveland Browns MVP.

—————

*ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported last week that LaMonte client Brad Childress is among the candidates to become the new Browns offensive coordinator, butothers believe that Childress is unlikely to land here because he’s going to be paid another $9 million over the next two years by the Vikings, who fired him during the 2010 season just after giving him a lucrative three-year extension at the end of ’09 when there were no other conceivable bidders for his services.

**Thanks to @SeaninColumbus for helping to put this post together.

The Full Lamonte client list...

Dominik, Mark – General Manager, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
*Polian, Chris – Former General Manager and Vice President, Indianapolis Colts
Roseman, Howie – General Manager, Philadelphia Eagles
Smith, Rick – General Manager, Houston Texans
Spielman, Rick – General Manager, Minnesota Vikings
Dawson, Lake – Vice President of Football Operations, Tennessee Titans
Keim, Steve – Director of Player Personnel, Arizona Cardinals
*Mueller, Randy – Senior Executive, San Diego Chargers
Telesco, Tom – Director of Player Personnel, Indianapolis Colts
*Childress, Brad – Former Head Coach, Minnesota Vikings
DeRuyter, Tim – Head Coach, Fresno State Bulldogs
Fox, John – Head Coach, Denver Broncos
*Frazier, Leslie – Head Coach, Minnesota Vikings
Reid, Andy – Head Coach, Philadelphia Eagles
*Sherman, Mike – Former Head Coach, Texas A&M Aggies
*Spagnuolo, Steve – Former Head Coach, St. Louis Rams
*Weis, Charlie – Head Coach, Kansas Jayhawks
Christensen, Clyde – Offensive Coordinator, Indianapolis Colts
Cunningham, Gunther – DC/Assistant Head Coach, Detroit Lions
Gray, Jerry – Defensive Coordinator, Tennessee Titans
*Gruden, Jay – Offensive Coordinator, Cincinnati Bengals
*Martz, Mike – Former Offensive Coordinator, Chicago Bears
McCoy, Mike – Offensive Coordinator, Denver Broncos
McDermott, Sean – Defensive Coordinator, Carolina Panthers
Mornhinweg, Marty – Offensive Coordinator, Philadelphia Eagles
*Nolan, Mike – Defensive Coordinator, Miami Dolphins
Saunders, Al – Offensive Coordinator, Oakland Raiders
*Schottenheimer, Brian – Offensive Coordinator, New York Jets
Houck, Hudson – Offensive Line Coach, Dallas Cowboys
McAdoo, Ben – Tight Ends Coach, Green Bay Packers
McNulty, John – Wide Receivers Coach, Arizona Cardinals
Morris, Pat – Former Offensive Line Coach, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Roberts, Daron – Wide Receivers Coach, West Virginia Mountaineers
*Singletary, Mike – Assistant Head Coach, LB Coach, Minnesota Vikings

I wouldn't mind Childress, but I would really like to see them interview Tom Clements from the Packers...I don't think they will htough, because I don't think he has an agent named Bob Lamonte...

Is it me or does anyone else find the Browns timing impeccably bad?  Did anyone else hear the story about the New Orleans offensive coordinator being on the market for a head coaching duty?   And someone else mentioned Marty Morningweg of the Eagles coaching staff doing the rounds.  Would somebody please find that voodoo doll wherever it is and burn it.  I swear somebody somewhere must have put a hex on this franchise.  Pat Shurmur, really??  I would have easily taken Eric Mangini for one more year if it would have even been hinted these guys would have been available.  And that is saying a lot considering I liked almost nothing about Mangini's coaching.

About the Browns...

1. When coaches and top executives look at the 2011 season, they hate the 4-12 record. But they believe they are poised for significant improvement in 2012. It obviously begins with having three picks in first two rounds: the fourth, 22nd and 37th. There also is free agency, where they plan to be more active than in 2011 -- but not wild spenders.

2. According to their thinking, a key component is young players. They have rookies and those in their second year who received major experience in 2012. Here are the key rookies and their percentage of total snaps taken: Phil Taylor (68 percent), Jabaal Sheard (89 percent), Greg Little (91 percent), Jason Pinkston (100 percent) and Owen Marecic (27 percent). Of those picked in the top rounds, only fourth-rounder Jordan Cameron (58 out of 1,087 possible snaps) received little experience.

3. The Browns do intend to address the offensive line, starting at right tackle. But they also believe Pinkston and fellow guard Shawn Lauvao (95 percent) showed definite improvement. Assuming Eric Steinbach returns healthy at left guard, they will have some depth on the line, assuming they find a real right tackle.

4. For all agony over Little's 12 drops, he played 91 percent of the snaps and led the team with 61 receptions. There were no other receivers to take any attention away from the rookie. The Browns want to add a speed receiver. If they do, Little should be position for a strong second season.

5. Rookies Sheard and Taylor joined Ahtyba Rubin to give the Browns three legitimate starters on the defensive line. The Browns don't say it, but Jayme Mitchell fumbled his chance. They are looking for a defensive end to replace him.

6. Entering the season, the Browns didn't know if Kaluka Maiava was anything more than a valuable special team player. They now believe he can start at outside linebacker. He started six games in 2011, his third NFL season. He played only two games in 2010 because of knee surgery.

7. They were pleased with rookies Buster Skrine (137th pick) and Eric Hagg (248th pick), who both played quite a bit in the final two games. They are not sure if either will be starters, but both can help on special teams and as secondary depth. Hagg played 40 percent of the snaps at safety in the final six games.

8. They have T.J. Ward, Joe Haden and Colt McCoy coming back from the 2009 draft -- all with plenty of experience. Even if the Browns do acquire a quarterback, they have McCoy with 20 NFL starts in reserve.

9. Running back is a question with Montario Hardesty and Brandon Jackson coming off injuries. Chris Ogbonnaya is viewed as a solid reserve. Peyton Hillis is a free agent, but the Browns won't pay big to bring him back. This could be addressed with one of the top three draft picks.

10. There are questions at tight end where Ben Watson had three concussions. Evan Moore is really a slot receiver at tight end. Cameron had a few nice moments in the final two games, but played very little. Alex Smith is a backup.

11. This not about making 4-12 sound good, or claiming the team has filled most of its holes. But I thought fans should know how the Browns view 2011 as they plan their next moves. from Terry Pluto...

The Browns are the Cleveland Browns and the Ravens are just another team in the NFL -- to a point that is. To be clear, that team known as the Ravens are their own entity and not the old Browns -- not any longer.

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I am all for holding sports grudges.

I will never again drink Vitamin Water or Sprite because LeBron James is an endorser. I’m sure Mesa, Ariz. is a lovely place to visit, but I will never go there because Jose can’t get two more outs. Finally, John Elway, this is your weekly reminder: You ruined my childhood.

Grudges don’t get much bigger than the one Browns’ fans hold toward Art Modell. He’s the man who fired Paul Brown. He forced Jim Brown to retire in his prim. His actions are the reasons why the Baltimore Ravens exist.

This Sunday, the Ravens play at New England in the AFC Championship game. For the Cleveland Browns fans who remember November 1995 that Ravens logo serves as a reminder of how it came into existence.

The end result is a grudge against Modell that the ultimate sports grudge. While I’m not advocating you to drop that grudge, it is time to stop referring to the Ravens as the “Old Browns.”

A page needs to be turned. The Cleveland Browns are the Cleveland Browns, just as the Baltimore Ravens are the Baltimore Ravens.

***

Garrett Downing is from Columbus, Ohio and recently worked as a new media producer at Cleveland’s WEWS-TV Channel 5. Last October, he left WEWS to take a job writing for the Baltimore Ravens’ web site.

Downing was two days shy of 8 years old when Modell announced the move. He was a little too young to completely understand what it meant for the Browns to leave Cleveland, but his parents are Browns fans and after college he covered the Browns and now the Ravens. He seemed like a good place to start.

“I realized when I started here that the attitude of the Ravens being the ‘Old Browns’ is very much a one-sided mentality,” Downing said. “The fans in this area don’t think about it in those terms.“

It is hard to deny the desire for the correlation. At Super Bowl XXXV, there was the image of Art Modell holding the Vince Lombardi trophy. The pain of the move to Baltimore was only five years old and still very real to Browns fans. It is still hard for most Browns fans to digest. The popular sentiment on the days after Super Bowl XXXV was, “That should have been the Browns.”

And so began the idea of the “Old Browns.”

There is no certainty if Modell never moved the Browns, they would have had the same success as the Ravens.

First, let’s go back to 1994. The Browns finished 11-5 in the fourth season under Bill Belichick and lost in the divisional round to the Steelers. The next season, the Browns began 3-1 before the rumors of the move and the subsequent announcement derailed the team to a 5-11 finish.

The following April, the Ravens used their first two picks — fourth and 26th — to select left tackle Jonathan Ogden and linebacker Ray Lewis, respectively.

Consider the Browns were off to a fast start in 1995 and coming off an 11-win season. If there was no announcement, the Browns’ winning ways likely would have continued.

Therefore is no guarantee they would have had such high picks and be in position to draft Ogden or Lewis.

Second, Belichick was fired at the end of the 1995 season. The Ravens decided to go in a different direction and hire Ted Marchibroda, who went 16-31-1 in three seasons. Marchibroda’s firing led to the Ravens hiring Brian Billick, who led the team to the Super Bowl. If the Browns did not move, Belichick was showing steady progress.

Why would the Browns have fired him after 1995?

Finally, as the years go on, the correlation between the two franchises will die down. For example, how many times have you heard an elder football fan refer to the Indianapolis Colts as the Baltimore Colts or the Cardinals as being from St. Louis, not Arizona? But the same type of fan who was born in the late 70s or early 80s never makes that mistake.

Regardless of city, the Colts and Cardinals share the same uniforms and history.

That is not the case in Cleveland.

***

You must not forget how big of a deal it was for the NFL to grant Cleveland the rights to the team’s history and colors. There are plenty of teams in pro sports that have moved before and after the Browns. Never once did the city losing the team retain the team’s history and/or colors.

It only happened in Cleveland.

The team that has had losing season after losing season since 1999 are the Browns, for better or worse.

“To some extent, I understand (the “Old Browns” mentality),” Downing said.

“The franchise left Cleveland and became the Ravens, and has gone on to have tremendous success. They’ve won a Super Bowl and are contenders for the playoffs just about every season. Too many Browns fans, there’s a sentiment of, ‘that should be us.’

“But then there’s also the reality, which is that none of the current players on the Ravens were even on the roster when they moved from Cleveland back in 1996. Art Modell doesn’t own the team anymore. There is some carryover (mostly in the scouting department) between the “Old Browns” and the Ravens, and their histories will always be intertwined, but the Ravens have very much become their own franchise independent of the Cleveland Browns.”

That last part is key. The Ravens are a franchise independent of the Browns. Joe Flacco didn’t break any of Bernie Kosar’s rookie records. Ray Lewis isn’t compared to Clay Matthews. Jamal Lewis didn’t break any of Jim Brown’s team records.

I’ll toast to that any day with an ice-cold glass of anything but Vitamin Water or Sprite.

A page needs to be turned. The Cleveland Browns are the Cleveland Browns, just as the Baltimore Ravens are the Baltimore Ravens.

Simply put .


Goooo Pats


ROT IN HELL ART

I would have easily taken Eric Mangini for one more year if it would have even been hinted these guys would have been available.  And that is saying a lot considering I liked almost nothing about Mangini's coaching.

I Must be the only guy on here who appreciated Mangini the coach .

Mangini the GM

the article about the Rats is generating quite the conversation on the OBR .

I Must be the only guy on here who appreciated Mangini the coach .

Nope, always been with ya on that one bluez...He just needed Heckert and better O and D coordinators...He always had the team ready to play, without mental errors!

Rest in peace Joe-Pa.

Phil

What about Ryan Tannehill?  Talk is Mike Sherman going to Miami as OC if he doesn't get the HC job in Tampa...

Another West Coast offense..  Thinning out the coaching ranks...

All the top guru's taken, guess Fritz Pat will have to keep calling the plays...

 

After Dolphins Browns owner president Stephen Ross Mike Holmgren introduced Joe Philbin Fritz Pat Shurmur on Saturday as the team’s new head coach, they both agreed that the next step in Miami Cleveland is going to be identifying the right man to be the starting quarterback for years to come.

That job won’t be easy — it’s a job they still haven’t accomplished in Miami Cleveland since Dan Marino Bernie Kosar retired — but Philbin Shurmur said it’s a necessity if Miami Cleveland is going to have the kind of offense that he coordinated in Green Bay St. Louis.

“We want to be able to take advantage of structural weaknesses, matchup weaknesses in a defense,” Philbin Shurmur said. “We are going to have players play fast and decisive and quick. I would love to say we’re going to score 560 points next year. I’m not sure yet. It’s a team game. We’ve got to get the quarterback help.”

The Dolphins Browns want to upgrade from last year’s quarterbacks, first Chad Henne Colt McCoy and then Matt Moore Senaca Wallace, and the most obvious way to do that would be to sign Matt Flynn, the Packers backup who looked good in limited action running Philbin’s the west coast offense in Green Bay.

Ross Randy Lerner indicated that price won’t be an obstacle to getting the right quarterback in Miami Cleveland.

“I’m looking for a franchise quarterback,” Ross Lerner said. “That’s the highest thing on our agenda.”

Those comments have to be music to the ears of Flynn’s agent.

New uniforms in 2012?  What shade of green will they be?

The Browns struggles during the 2011 season cannot be pinpointed to any specific position or player. The tight-end position was one which was deemed a strength of the team -- that was until the regular season started and injuries and questionable utilization left much to be desired.

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The Browns just finished another double-digit loss season and questions abound throughout the roster. Are the Browns heading in the right direction? Do the Browns have a core to build around?

The OBR is breaking down the Browns current roster position-by-position. In the fourth in the series, we will take a look at the tight ends.

Tight End: (Ben Watson, Evan Moore, Jordan Cameron, Alex Smith, Dan Gronkowski)

Similar to the running back position, the Browns thought the tight end position was an area of strength going into the season. Ben Watson was returning after a career year in 2010 with a team-leading 68 receptions for 763 yards and three touchdowns.

Evan Moore emerged as a downfield receiving threat with a yard per reception average of over 20 yards a catch in 2010. He had just 16 receptions for 322 yards and one touchdown, but showed enough promise to the front office to get a multi-year multi-million dollar contract extension.

Watson and Moore were to be the security blanket for Colt McCoy in the West Coast offense and Moore looked as though he was heading for a big season as he and McCoy hooked up early and often in the preseason in the red zone. Moore’s 6-5 frame created a mismatch on smaller defensive backs.

However, Watson battled concussions all season and ended up on injured reserve after suffering his third concussion of the season against the Steelers. He still finished third on the team with 37 catches for 410 yards (11.1 avg.) with two touchdowns, but the production was far shy of his previous year totals.

Moore had a career-best 34 receptions for 324 yards (9.5 avg.) with four touchdowns. After Moore received his contract extension, curiously his playing time seemed to decrease. There were games when he played less than 10 snaps. The reasons were not stated, but it seemed that Moore was mostly a receiver and the Browns needed blocking at the position.

Alex Smith was used more than a normal third tight end with the injuries to Watson and his ability to block. Smith caught 14 passes for 131 yards (9.4 avg.) and a touchdown. Smith also ended up on injured reserve and missed the final three games. Smith’s most infamous play of the season was when he fumbled a handoff when he was at fullback in place of Owen Marecic in a critical moment of an early season loss.

Jordan Cameron was drafted in the fourth-round because of his athleticism and basketball background. Tight ends have become in vogue that played basketball in college in Antonio Gates and more recently Jimmy Graham. Cameron didn’t see the field until late in the season and he finished with six catches for 33 yards. Cameron is raw, but the Browns saw something in him to draft him as highly as they did.

Dan Gronkowski was added for the end of the season after Watson and Smith were placed on injured reserve. Gronkowski fit the bill of the blocking tight end and saw action, but didn’t catch any passes.

Bottom Line: The tight ends combined for 91 receptions and seven touchdowns as a group. Watson’s concussion problems are not a good sign and hopefully, he will be cleared and is able to return to his 2010 form. Moore needs to become a better blocker in the off-season. He definitely creates mismatches and can be a play maker, especially in the red zone, but the Browns have to figure out how to use him. If he is unable to be an effective blocker, the defense knows the play is going to be a pass play when Moore’s on the field. If Moore can’t block effectively, the Browns could make Moore a full-time wide receiver similar to Dave Logan of the ‘Kardiac Kid’ era.

Smith is a free agent and the Browns definitely need a blocking tight end as Watson and Gronkowski are the only others on the roster that fit the bill. With Watson’s injury history, the Browns have to decide if they are going to re-sign Smith or address the position in free agency.

(Next Up: We’ll take a look at the offensive line)

Ratbirds got eliminated.  Yay. 

Go Browns!

In one respect, I was kinda hoping the ratbirds would win today and lose in the Super Bowl so they would have a Super Bowl hangover, and thereby help the Browns next year, but this might just work anyway...

They (The Rats) will most likely have a new OC next year, and maybe the Browns will have one...

Jay Gruden would be the longest tenured OC in the division.  

Change is coming...  Let's hope it's for the good for the Browns... 

Nope, always been with ya on that one bluez...He just needed Heckert and better O and D coordinators...He always had the team ready to play, without mental errors!

So you're saying he makes a good assistant?  I agree with you there. 

2 Minute warning and a 17 to 17 Tie.  I'm still hoping the
Giants win.  Don't want either Harbaugh in the Super Bowl.

Whatever team has the best shot of beating the Patriots now that the Ravens have been eliminated is all right in my book.  I kind of want a NYG-Patriots re-match, but then again I don't.  Been there, done that.  I want to see some guys like Alex Smith, Frank Gore, Vernon Davis, and Co. get their opportunity to win one after all their struggles.