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Quote:
BEREA, Ohio -- Quick observations on Browns organized team activity (OTA) practice ...
* It happened to be red zone day on Coach Eric Mangini's schedule, and the offense dominated, scoring at will with the Nos. 1 and 2 units on plays inside the 20. We haven't seen that in a while.
* Jake Delhomme was sharp with his throws, hooking up at least twice in the end zone with tight end Ben Watson. If there's anything wrong with Delhomme's throwing arm or elbow, it sure wasn't evident.
* Backup Seneca Wallace displayed the ability to move from pressure, buy time and find throwing lanes. He was very accurate in these situations, putting the ball where the receivers need it.
* In sum, there was a stark contrast in quarterback play from what we've been accustomed to seeing. Decisions were made crisply. Receivers didn't have to lay out for the ball. Very few balls hit the ground. Chatting with reporters off to the side, President Mike Holmgren said that's the way it's supposed to be at this time of year. Quarterbacks shouldn't be spraying the ball all over the place in OTAs.
* The new linebackers didn't line up as expected. In team drills, Scott Fujita was mostly outside and Chris Gocong mostly inside. But there were times when they switched spots from play to play. Fujita said to expect to see a lot of that because the deception is effective and all the linebackers (for the most part) have the flexibility to play inside or outside.
* One who doesn't is D'Qwell Jackson. The inside linebacker joined the four other restricted free agents in not attending. Also missing, as expected, was kicker Phil Dawson. In Dawson's place, recent free agent pickup Shaun Swisham had difficulty getting kickoffs inside the 10-yard line.
* In 90 minutes, I didn't see a single dropped pass by a receiver.
* Brian Robiskie and Josh Cribbs both came down with splendid receptions in the end zone in red zone drills.
* There was a collision between tight end Robert Royal and cornerback Coye Francies that looked worse than it actually was. For a moment, it looked like both players were injured. Both got up gingerly but neither appeared seriously hurt. The collision caused an incompletion, prompting defensive coordinator Rob Ryan to bark, "Bout time we play some defense."
* Players on hand who did not participate because of ongoing rehab from 2009 injuries included Shaun Rogers, Eric Barton, Dave Zastudil and C.J. Mosley. Tight end Evan Moore did not participate, coach Eric Mangini said, because of illness.
* Rookie draft picks T.J. Ward and Larry Asante manned the safety positions in tandem in a lot of team drills.
* Rookie guard Shawn Lauvao is this year's Alex Mack. Lauvao had to run laps two times for jumping the snap count. Yes, they're still doing laps in Mangini's second season.
http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2010/05/cleveland_browns_offense_domin.html
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BEREA—If the early reading of the quarterback situation is any indication of their play this year, first impressions are positive.
Jake Delhomme's throws were very crisp and accurate in 7-on-7 drills. The same could be said of Seneca Wallace and Colt McCoy.
Delhomme connected with no less than four different receivers for touchdowns as the offense clearly had the upper hand on the defense in red zone drills. Delhomme hit Brian Robiskie twice for scores, including a pin-point throw in the corner of the end zone, while also hitting tight ends Ben Watson and Alex Smith for scores. He made a good throw and Chansi Stuckey made a nice diving catch in front of Eric Wright for another touchdown.
“I think (Delhomme’s) going to be fine,” Mike Holmgren said as he was watching the play. “I think he’s going to be better than people think.”
Wallace also showed his athleticism and scrambled and then found Smith for a score. He showed a strong arm and accuracy as he hit Josh Cribbs on a post pattern.
Colt McCoy got in on the action and threw a nice touchdown pass to rookie Johnathan Haggerty.
Holmgren tempered the enthusiasm by saying that “without pads on, the ball should rarely touch the ground”.
Holmgren on Hardesty: The Browns traded up to get RB Montario Hardesty and he is getting a lot of reps with RB Jerome Harrison absent.
“This kid is going to help us, if he stays healthy,” Holmgren said as he watched Hardesty grab a pass down the sidelines.
Secondary Look: In the first group of defensive backs, Eric Wright was at left corner with Sheldon Brown at right corner. Rookies Larry Asante and T.J. Ward were the duo at safety. Brown wears No. 23, while Ward is 43 and Asante is 42.
Rehab Guys: Working out in individual drills were DL Shaun Rogers (leg), LB Eric Barton (neck), DL C.J. Mosley (leg) and DL Keith Grennan.
http://cle.scout.com/2/971112.html
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quick thoughts.
this is the time that defense should not be able to accomplish much so it's better to focus on the offense, particularly passing.
i love that our qbs are sharp and making decisions quickly.
i also think it really says something that it was a stark contrast to what he's used to seeing from our qbs.
further, that holmgren says that this is the time that balls should never hit the ground mean a bit when we recall the early OTA reports that quinn was so ridiculously inaccurate.
despite delhomme's age, i am very encouraged to hear we have a qb who has a strong and accurate arm.
both articles mention that robiskie had a pretty good day and that is really great to hear. i admit i was among those who were very disappointed in robiskie but they all develop in different times. if he can come on this season, it'd really help us, obviously.
<edit>
one final note. i'm a strong believer that the development of both sides of the ball depend on the other. if our passing game is awful, it hurts our secondary's ability to practice against good competition and vice versa. now that our offense is throwing tds, it'll drive our secondary to push harder to imrpove in coverage.
i'm very encouraged by the first day. this doesn't mean i think we're a playoff team but i think we should be leaps and bounds better than what we were last year, if nothing else, just because this first day has gone so much better than the first day last year. whether that translates to additional wins right now, isn't even important to me. i just want to see improvement.
Last edited by dong; 05/19/10 02:42 PM.
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First time in recent memory that the OTA news coming up wasn't met with "well offense is clearly behind the defense but its the OTAs and players are rusty with a new QB, new system in place" IE giving excuses as to why they stunk up the place out there.
"The medium for the bad news was ESPN, which figured. The network represents much of what is loud, obnoxious and empty in sports today."
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exactly. 
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Legend
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A very positive report.... hopefully it continues and establishes itself as the norm and isn't just an anomaly.
We''l just have to wait and see how things are once the pads go on.
No news on Haden?? It's very unlike the Cleveland media to skip reporting/harping on a 1st round pick.
Browns is the Browns
... there goes Joe Thomas, the best there ever was in this game.
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Legend
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the most interesting aspects could be where people started, but we are missing so many key pieces (RFAs and injuries) that there isn't much to read into them yet.
anyways, thanks for posting and hopefully the good vibes continue (i'd love to be wrong on Delhomme. he was good before he broke down seemingly mentally the last year and a half).
#gmstrong
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well i don't think these articles are saying we're getting 2007 delhomme or 2008 delhomme. i think more importantly, this is the first time ina while that we have a qb who is at least capable of putting the ball where it needs to be when there is no pressure. that's really all we can take from this but that is still a substantial upgrade from last year so it's worth getting excited about, imo. delhomme can still flop but right now, he's better than a lot of what we've seen in the past.
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Legend
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#gmstrong
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Quote:
well i don't think these articles are saying we're getting 2007 delhomme or 2008 delhomme.
Most importantly, it says that we AREN'T getting 2007, 2008 or 2009 Quinn/Anderson.
and no -- I do not want 2007 Anderson unless I can take only the Anderson from games 1-8 and leave the crapfest of the other half behind.
Browns is the Browns
... there goes Joe Thomas, the best there ever was in this game.
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Legend
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It's also the first time we had an experience QB in a long time, and the first time ever behind a decent line.
The last 3 years were Frye, DA and Quinn, none of whom I'd really call "experienced".
We don't have to agree with each other, to respect each others opinion.
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I still think the first few games in 07 were a flulke and he got lucky by having some of the best games out of Edwards/Winslow of their careers. Everytime he threw the ball I thought it was going to be a int. I had the cincy game on tape and I watched it a few times. Even in that game was he bailed out. He threw at least 2 ints that weren't caught by the bengals defenders and JoeJ/Edwards really laid out for some throws as well. I wouldn't even want the first 8 game of 07 Anderson as he was wildly inconsistent even between throws. Never knew where it was going/how many guys in coverage he as throwing into.
"The medium for the bad news was ESPN, which figured. The network represents much of what is loud, obnoxious and empty in sports today."
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j/c FYI, there's video here. I keep getting thrown off because they show Hardesty and I think "Hey! Jamal Lewis!"
I am unfamiliar with this feeling of optimism
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Legend
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Damn it's good to see the orange lids again isn't it....wow 
#GMSTRONG
“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.”
Daniel Patrick Moynahan
"Alternative facts hurt us all. Think before you blindly believe."
Damanshot
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WOW a Steptoe sighting. I thought he was gone, suprised he has demanded a new deal/trade yet 
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Steptoe changed to #10. Wonder how that conversation went.
"Give #12 to Colt or you're cut."
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#gmstrong
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Quote:
well i don't think these articles are saying we're getting 2007 delhomme or 2008 delhomme.
I dont think we are getting the 2009 delhomme either 
My guess is he will be closer to the 2008 delhomme than the 2009 delhomme 
Joe Thomas #73
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Colt should be #45
Ba-Zing! I say why not, he's going to be standing on the sidelines anyway. Might as well have some fun. 
There is no level of sucking we haven't seen; in fact, I'm pretty sure we hold the patents on a few levels of sucking NOBODY had seen until the past few years.
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* The new linebackers didn't line up as expected. In team drills, Scott Fujita was mostly outside and Chris Gocong mostly inside. But there were times when they switched spots from play to play. Fujita said to expect to see a lot of that because the deception is effective and all the linebackers (for the most part) have the flexibility to play inside or outside.
I find this very interesting, and I enjoy this type of scheming because of the pass rush, but I do think it might make us more susceptible to getting beaten by the run. Of course Rex Ryan did that stuff with Baltimore and they stayed dominant.....
But I do expect during the season, if both start, Fujita ILB, Cocong OLB. May be they're just making a slow transition. But during camp, I think that they will play the positions suitable to them. LB should be an interesting position this season as there is a lot of competition. Benard/Bowens/Trusnik are all going to be fighting for time. May be even Veikune and Maiava, last year's rookies.
UCONN HUSKIES 2014 Champions of Basketball
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i agree. we're not looking for kam wimbley/tarrell suggs/etc types of linebackers. pass rush skills are always a plus but we're looking at a scheme where players are very versatile and the scheme will generate sacks and i'm good with that
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Legend
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Exactly... we're not looking for pass rushers that we hope can play linebacker for two downs. We're getting linebackers and putting them into position to pass rush.
Browns is the Browns
... there goes Joe Thomas, the best there ever was in this game.
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"Every responsibility implies opportunity, and every opportunity implies responsibility." Otis Allen Glazebrook, 1880
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before walker's article i had forgotten veikune was even on the team.
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Before the OTAs started, Holmgren said that the passing O should dominate in this type of seting. No pass rush ..... no bump and run coverage ..... no blitzes or schemes ..... just straight up, generic defense thrown against the offense. Holmgren was right .. they should dominate.
Glad to see that happen. that doesn't mean that the offense will dominate come the start of the season .... but they are definitely doing what they should be doing at this point of the off-season.
I also think that some of the guys who aren't here are really hurting themselves. Harrison could find himself behind the eight ball and coming off the bench in very limted duty if hardesty grabs hold of the job. Roth and Jackson could find that they are nor nearly as ndispensible as they believe. Vickers might find that someone else can do his job ..... and with probably 1/2 of the teams in the NFL not using a traditional blocking FB, he might be reduced to an afterthought by most teams.
I am glad to hear that all of our QBs made quick decisions and were decisive with their throws. that's definitely been lackign around here for quite a while.
Receivers catching the ball is also a plus ... but it's gotta continue against "real" coverage too.
All in all though, a pretty good sounding day 1 with the full team and for the new front office as far as their decisions.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
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I agree. We're going to suck and we'll be lucky to win 2 games.
yebat' Putin
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1st String
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In 90 minutes, I didn't see a single dropped pass by a receiver.
Thats what i like to hear, Go Browns!!!
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j/c
Well, like Holmgren said, this is how an OTA is supposed to be run. Thank God we are done with Derek Anderson v Brady Quinn.
you had a good run Hank.
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All Pro
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Quote:
Quote:
well i don't think these articles are saying we're getting 2007 delhomme or 2008 delhomme.
I dont think we are getting the 2009 delhomme either
My guess is he will be closer to the 2008 delhomme than the 2009 delhomme
My guess is we get the 2010 Delhomme, but I'm just working from assumptions here.
![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](http://i.imgur.com/GmuEd.gif) "One man's Bum is another man's Hobo" - Waterdawg
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Well that's a little different than what we're used to reading. Goody goody!
![[Linked Image from pic18.picturetrail.com]](http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL905/3216203/6567769/349897772.jpg) "The Browns' defense is kicking mucho dupa."
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All Pro
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Quote:
Holmgren on Hardesty: The Browns traded up to get RB Montario Hardesty and he is getting a lot of reps with RB Jerome Harrison absent.
“This kid is going to help us, if he stays healthy,” Holmgren said as he watched Hardesty grab a pass down the sidelines.
ha ha Harrison. get your butt in OTAs.
We're trying to throw the ball downfield and he checked the ball down to Trent Richardson and the Indians on the choice.
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Nice. Few dropped passes, accurate, decisive throwing, and scoring TD's. Carry on, gentlemen. Maybe we do have some QB's & WR's. Hm. 
![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/hfMNC7T.jpg) "I am undeterred and I am undaunted." --Kevin Stefanski "Big hairy American winning machines." --Baker Mayfield #gmstrong
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Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum first day of OTAs reported
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