Dawgbeat 07/31/2007 : Season's preview edition, the gameplan
Season's preview edition, the gameplan
by Eric Brown
07/31/2007
The season is a little more than a month away and training camp is in full swing. Brady Quinn is unsigned after six practices so we will basically consider him a non-factor in 2007. Other than Quinn and LeCharles Bentley, Phil Savage and Romeo Crennel have a full compliment of talented players to head into the 2007 season at their fingertips. The challenge for Crennel is to quickly get a feel for his starting team and get them playing with as much cohesiveness as possible before September 9th against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
This leads me to what should be Crennel's gameplan for 2007. Give the starters, including Charlie Frye as much work as needed in the pre-season games so that when Week One arrives some resemblance of a prepared football team takes the football field at CBS, and not the team in Black and Gold. At this point I would set my offensive line early on in training camp and let them become familiar with eachother. I prefer to see Joe Thomas, Eric Steinbach, Hank Fraley (if Bentley is healthy and productive in the pre-season than insert him here), Ryan Tucker and Kevin Shaffer from left to right. I also like the combination of Isaac Sowells and Kelly Butler on the right side, but another year of learning may benefit they and the Browns best. Give Jamal Lewis some reps in preseason but no more than three or four carries behind this line each game. This will keep him fresh and healthy. Get the offensive line in sync, and the running game fresh for the season as this will be our bread and butter. I believe Lewis is in for a very big season behind a much improved offensive line. The offensive line and running game may be what brings this team back to respectability. Jerome Harrison and Jason Wright can provide sparks of excitement with their shiftiness and speed and may be a perfect compliment to the power running of Lewis, and potential Lewis-clone, Lawrence Vickers.
My plan for the quarterbacks is this: In the first pre-season game the leader in the quarterback competition will play three quarters and have the chance to display his ability with the potential starting unit. Mix in your backups and reserves sporadically over those three quarters after a rythm is established. I don't care if it's against the other teams second or third units, this team needs confidence and cohesiveness. In game two the other quarterback gets his opportunity to display his ability with the starting unit for three quarters. Again mixing in the reserves after some rythm is displayed. In game three you should have a decent idea about who your starting quarterback is. In game three that quarterback gets two, maybe three quarters with your third and/or fourth quarterbacks finishing off the game. In the fourth pre-season game, the starters play two to three series and then get rested for the 2007 season. This is an important season for the Browns, as there is enough talent on this team to start to win football games. The development of the back end of this roster isn't as important as developing cohesiveness with the starting units. You can probably argue that forty of the teams roster spots are secure, with about ten to fifteen still up for grabs.
Defensively, I think the Browns are a bit ahead of the offense and may not need as much time on the field in pre-season as the offense. Starters like Willie McGinest, Ted Washington, Andra Davis, and Orpheus Roye do not need as much work as some of the younger, key future starters do. I would like to see a base defense of Shaun Smith, Robaire Smith, and Ethan Kelley on the defensive line, with Antwan Peek, Kamerion Wimbley, Dqwell Jackson, and Leon Williams get alot of playing time to let them get comfortable together. The secondary needs a little more time together. The loss of Brian Russell means that their will be a new leader in the secondary and that individual must step up in a hurry. Leigh Bodden, Sean Jones, Brodney Pool, Eric Wright, Gary Baxter (if healthy), Daven Holly, and Kenny Wright could all be potential leaders. This unit really needs some time to gel together and learn eachothers characteristics. I would let them play together as much as the offense, at least three quarters the first two games.
In review, if I were Crennel I would establish my offensive line early on in training camp, and build cohesiveness so that come game one, my running game is clearly noticeable as the trademark of the team. The quickest way to win football games in the NFL is to have a good, cohesive offensive line that allows you to run the football consistently. The second way to win football games in the NFL is to have a solid, capable defense that doesn't allow big plays. Developing my secondary in the preseason and letting the key players become familiar with one another is the key to not giving up big plays in pass defense. So here's to a healthy, fun pre-preseason and lots of winning in 2007.