Jeff Biletnikoff

April 2007 - Posts

• Draft Time Is Near

  Don't ask me why but I'm SUPER EXCITED for the draft this year.  Almost as excited as I would be for an actual Browns game or a poker tournament (my other favorite activity).  Funny how I seem to get my head beat in with both endeavors.  At least the Browns are free........for now.  Maybe my excitement is due to the uncertain nature of the draft.  Maybe I ate copious quantities of lead as a child. At any rate, as I look more and more at the team, I really want them to take Joe Thomas and go heavy on their lines the rest of the way.  A "consolation-prize" of Adrian Peterson or trading down for more picks wouldn't be shabby either. The Browns need ATHLETES this year.  More than ever on the OL and DL.  I just don't believe Brady Quinn or JaMarcus Russell are franchise QB types.  There are WAY TOO MANY questions surrounding them.  I remember a few years back when Michael Vick was an "athletic freak of nature."  How about the pedigree of Heath Shuler or Rick Mirer in the 90's?  I know we can point to Carson Palmer and Peyton Manning for the other side of the argument but my point is the #3 pick is way too important this year with the talent pool available to take a flyer on a QB that may or may not be your franchise guy. I sure hope Savage & Co. haven't seen something different than me and they're hoping a Quinn or Russell falls to them.  The team will be set back another 5 years if one of these guys is taken. The only way to dig out of this mess known as the Browns is to get a cornerstone guy, especially on the OL and DL. No matter what I'll always root for them but since I grew up with the team in the 80's, I can tell you it's a HELLUVA lot more fun to root for 12-4 as opposed to 4-12.           Posted Apr 25 2007, 09:15 PM by BrownsSB with no comments

• Don't Mean To Sound Like A Baby..........

  I've been a Browns fan since 1979 and I guess I was spoiled a bit because when I really started getting into them, the Kardiac Kids were just coming into their own.  Then a few bad years but we got rewarded with the Bernie Kosar era.  To a certain extent, even the Belichick era wasn't horrible (outside of the team leaving, of course). Since 1999 though..........wow. I find myself in dejavuville (is that a word....I guess it is now...lol) as we come up on another draft.  I'M SO EXCITED as I always am around this time of year. But is it mis-placed?  Since the re-birth do we have a QB?  No.  Do we have a RB?  No.  Do we have a WR?  No.  LT?  No.  DE?  No.  CB?  No.  DT?  No. We've got TE, LB, S and some special teams guys.  That's about it.  There's potential in some of the positions like WR, CB, DT and DE but really.......we still aren't a team that's a couple guys away. A couple dozen maybe...but not a couple. IT'S FRUSTRATING AS HELL to know that you can get a helluva athlete at #3 and #36 plus spend your butt off in free agency two years in a row and know that NO MATTER WHAT you can't fill all the holes. I know, I know.  What can you do about it?  I should either shut up and support my team or find a different one (NOT AN OPTION........EVER!!!!) So, I'll be quiet for now, get excited about April 28th and hope against hope that come the 2007 season there aren't as many holes as I know there are.         Posted Apr 20 2007, 05:21 PM by BrownsSB with 1 comment(s)

• Passan Gets It

  I don't happen to agree with Rich Passan's pick this year.  He wants Adrian Peterson.  I prefer Joe Thomas (not that I'd shed tears over a Peterson pick--it's just that I feel it's finally time to take a T high and build the trenches).  Slight draft philosophies aside, his article on the front page today is RIGHT ON THE MONEY.  He's absolutely right when he opines that this is indeed "silly season." I especially enjoyed it when he said "At around 12:30 p.m. a week from Saturday, the only opinion that will count is Savage's. " Don't get me wrong, I'd rather read NFL mock drafts than say, NBA playoff coverage but it does get a little overwhemingly ridiculous.  No one really does know what's going to happen.  Who could have predicted a few years back that Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers was going to free fall through the first round?  Who predicted that Buffalo was going to go with John McCargo in the 1st round last year? Even sitting at 3, it's tough for anyone to accurately guess what the Browns will do.  Who do the Raiders and Lions take ahead of them?  How many trade offers cross Savage's desk?  What guy do they have rated on the top of their board?  We do know that Savage will have the opportunity to pick a helluva football player at #3.  Just like Braylon Edwards. Er...................      Posted Apr 18 2007, 06:23 PM by BrownsSB with 2 comment(s)