DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Browns sign Ratliff

Well, the Browns now have more than one healthy quarterback.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reports the Browns signed old Eric Mangini buddy Brett Ratliff off the Patriots practice squad. Ratliff is expected to back up Colt McCoy, who looks to be in line for his first NFL start on Sunday against the Steelers. (Gulp.) Seneca Wallace and Jake Delhomme are both battling high ankle sprains.

Ratliff is an example of how fast life in the NFL can change. Four days ago, he joined the Patriots and was given Randy Moss' locker. Now he's back with Cleveland, the same organization that traded for him as part of the Jets' move for Mark Sanchez in the 2009 draft.

The Jets found their quarterback in that deal. The Browns clearly are still searching.

Link

welcome back Ratty..

U suck.. but we need you just in case we need a QB to finish the game. Yea.. finish the game.. cuz we know you won't win it.

At least he knows the system. It's not a complete start from scratch project.

And Mangini likes him, so who knows where this will lead...

And Mangini likes him, so who knows where this will lead...

Nowhere.

Does anyone find it interesting that he actually was being loooked at by the Patriots? He has to have something going for him or he wouldnt have landed there.

Post deleted by artSUXS

I expect McCoy to start, but I'll still believe it when I see it.

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welcome back Ratty..

U suck..

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No wonder people love playing for Cleveland...

I wonder if Mike and Tom would have passed on Sanchez....

Well its still easier to argue out than if cribbs completes a trick play for a td pass ... then it will be a McCoy/Cribbs qb

I do find that interesting. Somebody must have thought something good of him to put him there. There are plenty of other stiffs out there and they chose ours. That has to be worth something.

The Wildcat is going to be in full effect this week.

Soon the record may just read Cribbs 2 Steelers 0.

I love your approach to the impending qb controversy!

My own take is that I think McCoy is more than good. He's definitely been developing his craft under the radar for the last five or six weeks. Given what I saw of him in college (a LOT) coupled with his performance in (I think it was) his last preseason game when he had a very high rate of completions, I think he can do well. I think it would help him if they would put in a west coast package for him to use in timing patterns.

Ironically, the types of passes McCoy seems to prefer should provide more chances for the wideouts as well as bringing the tight ends back into the game. I further think that Vickers may have the ball in his hands significantly more than usual.

I have no doubts about his ability to throw the 10 - 20 yard timing pass for a good completion percentage. I do have to admit, though, that I'm like a lot of people who are waiting to see how he will do with the long ball.

One other thing, I hope Hillis is ok to play so he can take some heat off McCoy by providing a running game, as well as giving him another blocker and/or another quality receiver.

according to nfl,com. colt is most likely the starter, from magini's mouth..
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d81...le=HP_headlines

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Do we even have a long ball play???

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Punt?

Haden says some nice things about Colt .....

From the article ....

Browns rookie cornerback Joe Haden believes McCoy is ready.

"I know Colt," Haden said. "In practice, he plays a lot, and he does well against our defense. I know he'll study hard and get focused. He just loves to play the game, so he's looking forward to it. Honestly, he's not afraid at all. He wants to be out there on the field."

Hopefully he can do well against the Steeler defense while Roethlisberger struggles against ours.

That would make me feel much better.

Kosar thinks it's a mistake to ride Colt McCoy now.

Steve Doerschuk
CantonRep.com staff writer
Posted Oct 12, 2010 @ 12:05 AM

CANTON TWP. — Time flies. Bernie Kosar blew through Stark County on Monday a few days after the 25th anniversary of his first game as a Cleveland Brown.

On Oct. 6, 1985, Kosar trotted onto the grass at Municipal Stadium as a 21-year-old injury replacement.

Times were bad. The stadium held 80,000, but only 62,139 were there for the Browns-Patriots game.

Three of the previous four years brought losing records. No one was captivated by Gary Danielson, the quarterback Kosar replaced.

Kosar smiles about the anniversary as the latest rookie quarterback, Colt McCoy, prepares — amid an injury mess — for what could be his first game as a Brown.

“I wasn’t supposed to play in my first year, either,” Kosar told the Hall of Fame Luncheon Club. “In a perfect world, you sit out the first year, learn, evolve and get ready for the second year when hopefully you understand the game.

“But the game is so violent ...”

Kosar relieved an injured Danielson in the second quarter of his first game. He went 9-of-15 for 104 yards. He threw a pick that dropped his passer rating to 53.2, but the Browns won.

“Then we had to go to Houston to face Jerry Glanville’s blitzing Oilers,” Kosar said.

Kosar somehow milked 208 yards out of just eight completions. But the Browns won again. The gangly kid from Boardman was a hot ticket just like that. The next home game, against the Raiders, drew 77,928.

The Browns somehow made the 1985 playoffs, partly because running backs Kevin Mack and Earnest Byner each rushed for more than 1,000 yards.

Kosar watched Sunday’s Atlanta-Cleveland game in a booth with Mack. Quarterbacks Seneca Wallace and Jake Delhomme both left the game with ankle issues that might knock them out of Sunday’s game at Pittsburgh.

The only options might be to play McCoy or fourth-year pro Brett Ratliff, who was signed off New England’s practice squad Monday.

Kosar was slower than Grandma Moses but had height on his side, at 6-foot-5. He likes tall quarterbacks. He raves about next year’s draft crop, likening it to “manna from the heavens.”

“You can count on two hands the amount of nice, young, big, strong quarterbacks coming out next year,” he said.

Kosar does not refer to the 24-year-old, 6-foot-1 McCoy as “manna.”

“I think Colt is a solid to a good quarterback,” he said. “But right now, we’re victims or beneficiaries of the guys around us. Right now, I’m not sure we have the pieces to help complement any quarterback, let alone a rookie quarterback.”

McCoy was 45-8 as a Texas Longhorn and 34-2 for his Texas high school. The Ohio team that drafted him in Round 3 is 10-28 since 2008.

Kosar’s advice on the rookie?

“Do you want to put Colt McCoy, in his first game, at Pittsburgh ... No. 1 defense, Troy Polamalu ... and the way they’re playing, and the way we’re struggling and ... Peyton Hillis may not be able to play?

“I think this somewhat happened with Tim Couch ... if you play him too much too early and the team around them isn’t ready, to subject him to the beating that the quarterbacks took yesterday and the potential beatings they may take this coming Sunday, that comes at a cost of starting to get him hurt or get out of his rapport and start developing bad habits.

“Are you capable of protecting him? Are you capable of giving him a chance to be successful is a question the coaches are going to have to ask.”

That sounded like a no. Underscoring the “no” is Kosar’s view of the Browns’ receiving corps.

Someone in the crowd at Tozzi’s on 12th asked Kosar to comment on Mohamed Massaquoi, the No. 50 overall pick of last year’s draft.

“He had five catches yesterday,” Kosar said. “Brian Robiksie (the No. 36 overall pick last year) had one. Both of those guys were second-round picks last year.

“You typically like to see guys make their biggest growth spurt in productivity and ability from years one to two, and that hasn’t happened, and that is discouraging, and that’s partially why it’s such a struggle to get in the end zone and win games right now.”

Other than when he played for the Browns, from 1985-93, Kosar has never been closer to the team’s inner workings than he was in 2009. He was invited into an expanded role by owner Randy Lerner at about the time the George Kokinis mess was flaring up.

Kokinis was fired as general manager after the team lost at Chicago and fell to 1-7. Kosar became a regular in the building, studying film, consulting with coaches.

That ended after Mike Holmgren became president in January. At this point, Kosar still is loosely affiliated with the team. He says he enjoys being something of the team’s most recognizable ambassador, but ...

“What I really miss is the actual Xs and Os, locker room, and player evaluations,” he said. “That’s the part I really haven’t done, the part I’ve done zero at ... and I’d like to do more of.”

Kosar said he frequently hears Browns fans say they don’t like the 2010 Browns’ coaching system and philosophy.

“I don’t think the coaches like it, either,” he said. “I think they’re doing it out of necessity instead as opposed to out of want.

“You have to do what your players are capable of doing. I’d love to see them throw the ball 40 times. Hit post routes and deep takeoffs, deep comebacks. But the team isn’t set up for that right now. I think if we had playmaking, big-play type receivers, I think the coaches would evolve to it.”

Does Kosar think he might have been able to help save the Browns from some of their player acquisition mistakes? Probably.

He leaves it at this:

“I just think the years of failing in the draft have caught up to us.”

Copyright 2010 CantonRep.com. Some rights reserved

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Dead nuts on.

100% agree

They say that you learn more from adversity than prosperity ... so if McCoy winds up starting against the Steelers, he should learn a lot.

He also might surprise us. I'm not counting on it ..... but that's why it would be a surprise. (Duh)

I say start him and see how he does. Someone wanted to see if he can be the future ... well this type of game could give us some idea whether he can or not.

Direct snap so SIX people will try to run the middle. Probably like the DabollCat offense; has about four plays and a chapter in the playbook saying never run or throw into these areas.

I think you're right and we have to have realistic expectations.

We will be with a 3rd string rookie quarterback making his first start on the road against a top 3 defense while giving him no real weapons and only peek a boo receivers (as in ... now you see them this play ... now you dont) and what was viewed in the preseason as a dangerous corral of running backs has transformed into 1 on the IR, 1 on one leg, 1 who hasnt shown much at all, and 1 who is pretending to be jamal twinkle toes lewis...

My #1 criteria is seeing if he can respond and not crumble.

If he cant keep it together and we string off four or 5 losses in the next 4 to 6 weeks ... we will either know he isnt the answer and be in a position to grab a franchise QB ... or think he is the QB of the future but be in a position to grab him the best weapon available ...

But if he DOES surprise us ... holy wow we would have just seen a spark (and maybe a "w") from a 3rd string rookie on the road against a top d ....

Im strangely excited for this game ...

I still think we should start Cribbs and run the flash. The average yardage when we run that is insane. Also... Josh Cribbs is a superhero.

The beauty of this position is I can't be proven wrong because they'll never do it

Let me wake some people up to something ..when Mangini made that trade with the Jets he was really after Abe Elame(can't just call him Elam) and he got Ratliff..well he also had Bartell on the roster who outplayed Ratliff in preseaon and was let go..that in itself told me that Genuis and his staff didn't know how to evaluate talent and or were playing favorites..
Now this clown is back..

Your really good at telling people what to think......

O.k ..tell me something ..tell me how to think..look at every single move thats been made and tell me how I should evaluate it..
Can you do that?
Even in this instance ,you're not getting a decent aquisition ,even if he was on the team.

After all these years U ought to know I get whats going on..I know why BR was brought back..he's familar with the offense ,although the coaches don't even know what freaking type of offense they want to use,plus the fact they don't have any talent where it's needed.
It was something that crossed my mind,another tidbit that adds to the total sum of the mess thats the Browns offense.
Even at full strength it's a mess.

Anyone watch Seinfeld enough to remember the time that George is sick of always make the wrong decisions ... so long story short he becomes the anti-george and decides to do the opposite of everything that he would otherwise choose? I want to say that he ends up becoming a top manager in the Yankees organization by doing that strategy ...


Point is .. someone forward a copy of that show to Mangini's office ...

Hi, I'm George, I'm 40, unemployed, and live with my parents.