Ace Davis' Weblog

June 2006 - Posts

• LAYING IT ON THICK

  In a piece I wrote for the March '06 Orange and Brown Report magazine, I suggested using seal brown, orange, and white paint as a cost-effective way to identify with the team. Sure enough, Home Depot and Glidden have come up with the "Team Colors" line of paint. Here's the interactive site lets you visualize various rooms in the colors of your choosing. Pretty fun, and it might even help convince a spouse wary of what a brown and orange room might look like. Posted Jun 24 2006, 01:16 PM by Anonymous with no comments Filed under: Fan Focus

• RUNDERWHELMING

  More table scraps, dawgs. Here are the pitiful rushing totals for the new era of Browns football (1999-present). Rank Browns Player Pos. Rush Yards 1 William Green RB 2109 2 Jamel White RB 1324 3 Reuben Droughns RB 1232 4 James Jackson RB 1071 5 Lee Suggs RB 1048 6 Tim Couch QB 556 7 Travis Prentice RB 512 8 Terry Kirby RB 452 9 Karim Abdul-Jabbar RB 350 10 Dennis Northcutt WR/PR 298 11 Errict Rhett RB 258 12 Ben Gay RB 172 13 Jeff Garcia QB 169 14 Doug Pederson QB 68 15 Charlie Frye QB 60 16 Trent Dilfer QB 46 17 Marc Edwards FB 44 18 Ty Detmer QB 38 19 Andre Davis WR/KR 32 20 Quincy Morgan WR 30 21 Jason Wright RB 27 22(tie) Adimchinobe Echemandu RB 25 Luke McCown QB 25 24(tie) Phil Dawson K 18 Terrelle Smith FB 18 26(tie) George Jones RB 15 Spergeon Wynn QB 15 28 Kelly Holcomb QB 14 29 Brant Boyer LB 7 30 Leslie Shepherd WR 5 31 Frisman Jackson WR 4 32 Antonio Bryant WR 3 33(tie) Rashaan Salaam RB 2 Sedrick Shaw RB 2 35(tie) Derrick Frost P 1 Scott Frost S 1 - William Floyd RB -1 - Kevin Johnson WR -6 - Ronnie Powell WR -14 Observations: My table skills are improving somewhat, but you can only do so much with this material. My border may not be showing up in the blog software, and the data itself is downright tragic. How distressing that Lee Suggs still lags behind James Jackson. I do so hope that changes in the first quarter of Week 1. Please Mo, use Northcutt on more end-arounds. The previous regime went to that particular well too often, then it was all but abandoned last year. 7.1 yards per career attempt. Among the many abominations: Karim Abdul-Jabbar remains in the top 10. Some combination of Northcutt, Harrison, and Vickers ought to rectify that soon. Speaking of Vickers, anyone else get the early impression that he'll see more snaps than Terrelle Smith this year? Great blocker, sure, but 32 games at fullback and still tied with the kicker? Green was the Browns' second-leading rusher last year with just 78 yards. (The previous low for the #2 guy was 258 yards by Errict Rhett in the abysmal 2000 season.) I still don't understand that. Seven seasons, 10,030 yards gained on the ground. That's just under 90 yards per game. I can walk a mile leisurely in about 15 minutes, yet the Browns have not managed to rush for a mile in an entire season (960 minutes) since 1985. With an upgraded line and a strong stable of runners, that just might change this year. I hope the Browns start the season with six backs (probably Droughns, Green, Suggs, Harrison, Vickers, and Smith), even if that means going with just five WRs. Posted Jun 21 2006, 11:00 PM by Anonymous with no comments Filed under: Browns History, The Team Today

• QB-GO-ROUND

  Maybe I'm a little slow, but I just realized how unusual it is to have a different Opening Day starting quarterback five years in a row. That's now a certainty for the Browns: 2002: Tim Couch 2003: Kelly Holcomb 2004: Jeff Garcia 2005: Trent Dilfer 2006: Charlie Frye (projected) I'm sure some reader is more adept at memorializing instability, but I could only find two other cases of this in recent history. Both happen to be in our division:   Baltimore Ratbirds 1999: Scott Mitchell 2000: Tony Banks 2001: Elvis Grbac 2002: Chris Redman 2003: Kyle Boller Cincitucky Bungles 1998: Neil O'Donnell 1999: Jeff Blake 2000: Akili Smith 2001: Jon Kitna 2002: Gus Frerotte Plenty of college programs have achieved more continuity. But I'm thinking that Charlie will settle in pretty fast and -- barring injury -- hold down the reins all the way through, well, 2007 at least. That should be long enough to finally hush the whisper campaign for Testaverde. I hope. Posted Jun 21 2006, 10:18 AM by Anonymous with no comments Filed under: The Team Today

• SACKITUDE

  Ever had food poisoning? Each wave of nausea is painfully distasteful, yet it somehow brings you closer to having purged yourself of the worst that ails you. Well, that's why I'm bringing you a series of tables, the Browns' combined statistical leaders in various categories since their rebirth in 1999. I haven't seen them compiled as such anywhere else, and that's probably a good thing. Still, I was curious. Maybe, seven years into this new era, we can begin enjoying a sustained bout of good health. If so, these totals and leaders will look drastically different in a year or two. In any case, I hope I get this out of my system soon. Sacks by Browns since 1999 Rank Browns Player Pos. total 1(tie) Jamir Miller LB 22.5   Kenard Lang DL/LB   3 Courtney Brown DE 17 4 Gerard Warren DT 16.5 5 Tyrone Rogers DE 13.5 6 Mark Word DE 12 7 Keith McKenzie DE 11 8(tie) Alvin McKinley DL 8   Ebenezer Ekuban DE     Orpheus Roye DL   11(tie) Andra Davis LB 7.5   Chaun Thompson LB   13(tie) Daylon McCutcheon CB 7   John Thierry DE   15(tie) Chris Crocker DB 4   Greg Spires DE     Michael Myers DT   18 Stalin Colinet DT 3.5 19(tie) Brant Boyer LB 3   Darius Holland DT     Wali Rainer LB   22(tie) Arnold Miller DL 2.5   Derrick Alexander DE     Lenoy Jones LB   25(tie) Hurvin McCormack DL 2   Marcus Spriggs DT     Mark Smith DL     Nick Eason DE     Rahim Abdullah LB   30 Dwayne Rudd LB 1.5 31(tie) Brodney Pool S 1   Earl Little S     Ethan Kelley DL     Jerry Ball DT     Lewis Sanders CB     Marquis Smith S/LB     Marty Moore LB     Michael Jameson S     Mike Thompson DT     Percy Ellsworth S     Robert Griffith S     Ryan McNeil CB   43 Warrick Holdman LB 0.5   TEAM   224 Remarks: In 112 games, there have been only 19 sacks from the secondary. All of 'Cutch's came in his first three seasons. Names conspicuous by their absence: Earl Holmes, Kevin Bentley, Ben Taylor, and Matt Stewart. None of the top seven sackers remain with the Browns. I could use some more table practice. Posted Jun 04 2006, 12:34 PM by Ace Davis with no comments Filed under: Browns History, The Team Today