Vs. Bills...
Defense is awesome... Unless you count our backup defensive backs, who are the opposite of awesome.
If the third preseason is the one that matters, we ought to be pretty happy. Did the Browns look really good? Not quite, but they looked tough defensively and they looked threatening on offense. That's very good for where this team is at.
My excitement for the defense is unabashed. The run defense has been good all preseason, and this year with Ted Washington and more depth at linebacker I think we have reason to believe this will carry over into the regular season. At linebacker the performances have been a little inconsistent, but the talent there is undeniable. On saturday we finally got to see Willie McGinest and he looked like a starter. The front seven is better than at any point since the '95. They aren't a great unit yet but they look to be a good one, and there's room to grow.
Did you see Wimbley? They guy looked great. I knew he was fast and athletic, but I'm most impressed by his power. He looks like he can take guys on head-on if necessary, and he comes in hard on the tackle. Extremely promising.
On offense it was great to see Braylon Edwards mixing it up. The big news isn't that he played, but that he was in thick of the action. He took on blocks, he took some big hits, and he made a catch in traffic over the middle. And he threw off his knee brace and played some more. Sweet.
The rest of the offense was ho-hum. Frye seems limited by his arm strength, but he moved around well in the pocket. And Frye looked ready for the season on the first drive before sputtering on subsequent ones. If this were a real game I'd expect Frye to regain his sharpness as the game wore on. We've gone three practice games and the loss of Bentley hasn't been killer -- I guess that's good. Winslow played and, though he didn't do a lot, on third downs it was cool to see how the Buffalo defense accounted for him. It looks like his biggest impact will be in drawing attention from safeties. Harrison had another good game and his place is assured.
Cuts so far: - Rideau - not suprising. He's long limbed and was kind of intriguing in a Roy Williams-skinnier brother sort of way. But he was just too darned skinny -- as was clear if you ever stood close to him at camp. As a result the dude was not going to be able to get open unless he was a phenomenal route runner, which he wasn't. A year ago people were rooting for him to make the team. This year no one noticed he was in camp.
- Lang Campbell - not suprising.
- Atlas Herrion - good name for an offensive lineman.
- Jeremy Lesueur - not cut, but put on IR. Acquired only days ago and already hurt?
Random NFL thoughts: - I'm on the Chris Simms bandwagon -- he's my fantasy backup in most leagues.
- Dom Davis could get cut? Like a lot of people, I figured Davis' injury must not be that bad after the Texans passed on Reggie Bush. Looks like that was wrong. And it was foolish of me to scoop of Davis at the end of the 4th round of my fantasy draft.
- The Titan sign Kerry Collins. Apparently Volek looks horrible. He must, for the team to turn to Collins, who looked really bad in Oakland. But considering the dissarray in Oakland maybe Collins wasn't the problem. And while conventional wisdom is that the Titans will suck, there's a part of me starting to think Jeff Fischer might turn in a decent season despite the odds stacked against him. He just needs to cut Pacman and lay into Lendale White.
- And the Raiders... haha... sign Jeff George. Forget that George is a malcontent and never won anything. Just focus on the fact that George hasn't played football in FIVE YEARS!!! The guy couldn't throw a swing pass to save his life before, and there's no reason to think he can now. If he plays, I'd immediately downgrade Lamong Jordan in fantasy. And Randy Moss, well, we'll see. George can heave it deep, but he still sucks so bad...
- The Chargers are emulating the Browns by cutting AJ Feeley, leaving no veteran QB to backup their young starter. Maybe ESPN can update their Ultimate Depth Chart now.
- There's talk that the Browns are interested in trading for Billy Volek. Um, well, okay. I thought Volek was okay. I think he'd be a great backup to Charlie but only if this was one of those "exchange two guys about to be cut" type of deals. And since the Titans have little use for Lee Suggs, the only way a deal gets done is if the Browns part with a draft pick. And Volek will still have to learn the offense. I'd pass at that price.
- Carson Palmer on MNF -- wow. I'm floored the guy is ready to play. Then again, he seemed to be limping. But it didn't prevent him from making quick decisions and delivering good balls. Then again, if I can make a deal with karma, I think it's perfectly fair if Palmer is ready to go then Braylon Edwards ought to be too.
- I'm entertained by the "hype" around Hank Baskett. Only on a team like the Eagles would an undrafted free agent get that much pub.