Questions seeking answers . . . and still getting them

Picking up on the defense, in particular the secondary. We know there will be two new safeties. So . . .

Any alarm at cornerback?

Uh huh. The biggest question there is whether Joe Haden can play all 16 games. The last time he did that was as a rookie back in 2010, but he started only seven that season. He has never played a full season as a starter – he came close on three occasions with 15 starts. It seems he is an injury waiting to happen.

In his six NFL seasons, he has been sidelined by injuries to his hip, shoulder, foot, ribs, finger and now his head. Last season, it was ankle, finger and concussion issues that forced him to miss 11 games. The Browns need him to stay healthy because he is the closest they have to what amounts to a shutdown cornerback.

The rest of the cornerback lot gives pause for great concern. Veteran Tramon Williams came over from Green Bay last season as a corner with fading talent and proved it time and again. The only reason he wasn’t benched? No one else was better.

The best disappointing second-year man Justin Gilbert could do was replicate his wasted rookie season. Former head coach Mike Pettine’s prize corner, the club’s top pick in the 2014 draft, has been a colossal bust, a spectacular zero.

Now along comes defensive coordinator Ray Horton, a former defensive back, whose main job here is to crawl inside Gilbert’s head and show him what it takes to play solid football on this level. Because he does not know Gilbert yet, expect the youngster to get a fresh start. No preconceived notions.

Haden, who will open training camp on the PUP list, and Tramon Williams are your starters at the corners right now with K’Waun Williams a good bet to nail down the nickel slot. Second-year man Charles Gaines had typical rookie problems, but showed promise as the season wore on last year.

Last season, Cleveland’s corners played an awful lot of man coverage, partly because of experienced safeties and a philosophy that relied heavily on rushing the quarterback. It will be interesting to see how Horton handles this year’s group given the relative inexperience at safety.

Odds on Gilbert becoming a starter, let alone making the club?

If Horton cannot unlock the mystery of why he has severely underperformed, the kid is gone.

What’s the story with special teams?

At least there is some stability somewhere. The only coordinator returning from last season is special teams guru Chris Tabor. Also returning are punter Andy Lee and placekicker Travis Coons.

Lee, who arrived last season as one of the best punters in the National Football League, was not his usual Pro Bowl self. Look for a rebound there.

One would think Coons’ rookie season, when he converted 28 of 32 field-goal attempts and 22 of 24 extra-pointers from 33 yards, is enough to warrant a return. He’ll be challenged by free agent Patrick Murray in training camp and probably win.

Where the club is hurting is the return game now that Travis Benjamin has taken his talents to San Diego. The wide receiver was a constant threat to go all the way every time he touched the football. That will be missed.

Who replaces Benjamin? Raheem Mostert? Gilbert? Marlon Moore? Taylor Gabriel? None pose the kind of threat Benjamin did.

Summing up, where are the greatest strengths and weaknesses on offense?

Unfortunately, there are more of the latter than the former.

It clearly depends on whether the Browns can keep quarterback Robert Griffin III vertical the entire season. With an offensive line that can be best described as questionable, the odds favor Griffin falling far short of that goal, especially with his predilection to run the ball when in trouble.

Coach Hue Jackson might find it difficult to maintain a balanced attack if his team falls so far behind in games that he has no other choice than to throw the football. In that case, Griffin’s lack of accuracy from the pocket could be a problem.

The key is the offensive line. If it cannot pave the way for running backs Duke Johnson Jr. and Isaiah Crowell, the 2016 season will turn out to be a replica of the last two seasons. It’s an absolute must for the Browns to run the ball successfully. Period.

Where are the greatest strengths and weaknesses on defense?

A little different here. There are more strengths than weaknesses. And they all lie in the front seven, an area Horton through the years has exploited successfully. Loading up in that area through the draft makes his job a bit easier.

His aggressive approach to defense was gleaned from his mentor, former Pittsburgh Steelers guru Dick LeBeau. Count on Horton taking advantage of the notion that an attacking defense is a good offense and produces a fan-pleasing style. That aggressiveness will cover up the biggest weakness – the secondary.

If the defense can stop the run, and that is a monstrous if considering the AFC North boasts numerous terrific running backs, if the Browns somehow improve that aspect of the defense, then this could be an enjoyable season.

Time to predict who steps up and becomes the club’s rookies of the year on both sides of the ball.

Wide receiver Corey Coleman from the offense and outside linebacker/defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah from the defense will win those honors.

From all indications, Coleman has impressed the most in pre-season workouts and appears to be the most ready to take his game to the next level. He is a hands catcher with great speed who runs disciplined routes. His biggest hurdle might be learning the entire route tree, something he did not have to learn at Baylor. Dark horse for the honor could be fellow wideout Rashard Higgins, another hands catcher whose college production suggests big things in the NFL.

Ogbah possesses that rare combination of size and quickness. If Horton uses Ogbah’s 6-4, 275-pound frame more to rush off the edge than dropping back into coverage or anchoring against the run, Browns fans very well could see the best Cleveland pass rush in nearly a generation. If he plays as well as I believe he will and is utilized all over the field, he could be one of those players who forces the opposition to play “where’s Ogbah”. Dark horse here is, yep, inside linebacker Scooby Wright III.

So how many games do the Browns win his season?

They own the 12^th easiest schedule in the NFL this season. However, it is broken up in the most bizarre fashion, which makes it somewhat tougher and belies the statistical formula that rates strength of schedule.

Five of the first seven games are on the road, where the Browns have been awful for 15 of the last 16 seasons. Five of the next six games are at home before wrapping up the season with two of the final three games on the road. Yikes!

With the exception of a trip to Tennessee, they play in the same time zone as Cleveland every week. Nashville is their westernmost trip.

Despite Las Vegas odds, the Browns will not lose every game. Somewhere along the line, you’ve got to figure they will stumble into at least three victories, maybe even the giddy total of four.

This is not a good team. Yet. With most likely the top pick in the next college draft – maybe two of the top 10 choices with Philadelphia’s pick – the future looks bright. Just not the immediate future.

Training camp opens today in Berea. Buckle up and try to enjoy what most likely will be a very bumpy – and rarely enjoyable – ride through the 2016 season.

Hang in there, Browns fans. With Jackson in charge, better things lurk around the corner. Wait’ll next year carries more promise than ever.

More questions seeking answers . . . and getting them

Continuing with the offense before turning to the defense.

Who figures to be the biggest surprise on offense?

Once coach Hue Jackson sees Duke Johnson Jr. in training camp and exhibition games, expect him to make the second-year man out of Miami of Florida his starting running back. Put simply, Johnson is a playmaker.

Whether it’s in the running game or passing game, the 5-9, 210-pounder has the kind of talent, if handled correctly, that can make a huge difference in the kind of balanced offense Jackson seeks.

With proper coaching, Johnson can become a force in the offense. Last season, he was used – make that misused – far too often as a between-the-tackles runner. He is much more of a slasher, off-tackle, cutback type with quick feet and excellent vision.

Last season, Johnson had 165 touches for 913 yards (534 through the air on 61 catches) and fumbled the ball only once (recovered by the Browns), so ball security is not a concern. Isaiah Crowell can be used to get the tough yards.

Now the defense . . .

Now that Ray Horton has returned as coordinator of this side of the ball, exactly how much autonomy will he get from Jackson, whose expertise is clearly on offense?

It should be complete given how hard Jackson lobbied to get Horton back to Cleveland. But one has to take into consideration that in the one season Horton spent in Cleveland as Rob Chudzinski’s defensive boss in 2013, the Browns allowed 406 points.

Known for his sophisticated blitz packages, Horton at least gave the Browns a decent pass rush that season with 40 sacks. Expect more of the same this season, but he’ll be without defensive ends Desmond Bryant, who ripped a pectoral muscle recently, and Armonty Bryant, who must sit out the first four games for violating the NFL’s drug policy.

So who can the fans expect to see harass opposing quarterbacks this season?

Rookies Carl Nassib, Emmanuel Ogbah and Joe Schobert should factor heavily in Horton’s numerous sub packages in the front seven to bolster the contributions of second-year man Nate Orchard and veteran Paul Kruger. Look for at least 40 sacks this season.

Look also for Horton to involve members of the secondary from time to time in an effort to confuse rival quarterbacks. Well-timed cornerback and safety blitzes, as well as zone blitzes, are Horton staples.

And what about the run defense? It has been embarrassingly awful the past two seasons under Jim O’Neil.

It can’t get any worse. Horton will fix it now that he has a legitimate nose tackle in Danny Shelton.

But Shelton was a huge disappointment last season. What’s the difference?

First off, Shelton has pared about 30 pounds to get down to his playing weight of 335 pounds. Horton’s biggest challenge is to make certain Shelton, extremely quick for a man his size, maintains his new figure.

If he can, Shelton can become what many believed he would be in his rookie season last year: a three-down player. Last season, he was manhandled way too often by opposing linemen 1-on-1. Third down saw him parked on the bench. That can’t happen this season.

If it does, the Browns don’t have enough depth at the position to make it easier on linebackers to make plays at or behind the line of scrimmage. Jamie Meder is a nice fill-in at the nose, but he cannot pressure the quarterback like an in-shape Shelton can.

Where do Xavier Cooper and John Hughes fit in?

Depends on how well Nassib and Ogbah perform in training camp. Ogbah, who is listed as a linebacker, has defensive lineman size at 6-4, 275 and could very easily fit in on those rare occasions Horton calls for a 4-3 alignment. And if Nassib puts about 15 more pounds on his 6-7, 275-pound frame, he, too, could find many reps outside.

Cooper and Hughes probably will start the season, but could find themselves in smaller roles if Nassib and Ogbah live up to their advance billing as strong pass rushers.

Looks as though outside linebackers this year will not have as much coverage responsibility as last season. Who benefits?

Definitely Kruger, whose sack production fell last to a paltry 2½ last season because O’Neil preferred him covering running backs and tight ends rather than doing what he does best – beat up on quarterbacks. That will change this season.

Orchard, who saw more playing time in the second half of last season, could surprise with his speed off the flank.

What about Barkevious Mingo?

This clearly will be his make-or-break season with the Browns. The former first-round draft choice has been a spectacular bust in his first three seasons with just seven sacks – none last season – and only 108 total tackles.

On the Cleveland depth chart, Mingo is listed as a starter on the weak side. Speaking of weak, the biggest story at the beginning of every season since he joined the Browns was how weak he was at the point of attack or rushing the quarterback. At 6-4 and a supposed 240 pounds, he was clearly too small to play end in a 3-4 scheme.

He never figured out how to rush the quarterback effectively from linebacker and had a difficult time putting on extra weight. But he reportedly beefed up during the offseason with a nearly 6,000-calorie-a-day regimen and supposedly now weighs in the neighborhood of 250 pounds. All he needs from Horton now is a chance.

What about the inside linebackers?

Gone are Karlos Dansby and Craig Robertson. The Browns will miss Dansby’s size and heady approach to the game. They hope Demario Davis, a starter with the New York Jets the last three seasons, can step in and not miss a beat. The free-agent signee has racked up 313 tackles in that span, 199 solo.

Christian Kirksey, who bounced inside and outside last season, will settle next to Davis. But keep an eye on Scooby Wright III, who might surprise a lot of people. I saw enough of Scooby at the University of Arizona to know he is a special player.

His marvelous instincts for the game enable him to be in the right place at the right time to make plays. An early-season injury last season robbed him of a full season and dropped him to the seventh round of the draft, where the Browns picked him up. The coaches will love him.

A lot of how the inside backers perform this season also will be determined, in large part, by how well the defensive line plays in front of them. Another area of concern for Horton.

The secondary will look a lot different this season. How much of an impact will that have how Horton schemes the season?

A significant one, especially on the inside where the Browns will have two new safeties. Gone at veterans Donte Whitner and Tashaun Gipson. Whitner excelled at the run game; Gipson was best in the passing game. Both will be missed.

Replacing them will be second-year man Ibraheim Campbell at strong safety and a battle between veterans Jordan Poyer and Rahim Moore will decide who opens at free safety. The lack of starting experience is somewhat alarming.

Any alarm at cornerback?

Check back tomorrow to find out the answer to that and many other questions.

Questions seeking answers . . . and getting them

(Part one of three)

The Browns’ 2016 season officially kicks off Thursday with the opening of training camp in Berea. The opening is accompanied by a long list of questions as a new regime takes command – again – in an effort to restore the kind of prestige this franchise began with when it was born 70 years ago.

In this three-part series, those questions will be raised and answered as we break down what fans can expect.

Perhaps the biggest mystery entering the season for the Browns is new head coach Hue Jackson. So let us begin with him.

What kind of a team can the fans look forward to after so many seasons of inept coaching?

First of all, the Browns in Jackson finally have a head coach who knows what he is doing and whose reputation as a solid National Football League coach is certain to garner respect from the players.

Yes, most of his coaching has been as an assistant on this level. But the gravitas he has accumulated over the years will serve him well. The only possible impediment would be front-office interference.

Not saying that will happen, but the journey toward respectability under Jackson requires extreme patience, an attribute the Browns’ hierarchy has shown far too little of in the Jimmy Haslam III era. Suffice it so say, the Browns finally got it right in the head-coaching department. Don’t screw it up.

The Browns will not get off to a good start this season. Bank on it. In fact, it is quite probable they once again will bring up the rear of the AFC North. Oddsmakers in Las Vegas have embarrassingly made them underdogs in every game this season. That, however, does not mean they will be winless.

What Jackson brings to this franchise now is a fresh look, a fresh attitude and a fresh outlook on the game. The current roster will not translate into many victories at first, but the groundwork the coach constructs in the first season will have a positive effect on the future.

He will not let his players get down on themselves. He knows how to win and, unless I miss by guess, will eventually instill that attribute in them. He will get off to the slow start, in large part, because of a relative paucity of talent on the roster

The front office went for quantity over quality in the last college lottery in hopes of getting lucky. Sashi Brown & Co. threw 14 darts at the draft board and if as many as half of them pan out, that’s a good start. And they’ve got the right man in Jackson to get them started.

Don’t pay too much attention to how the season starts – five of the first seven games are on the road – as to how it finishes. Ever since the resurrection in 1999, the Browns have logged just one season with a winning road record (2002, when they were 6-2 away from home).

Outside of that season, they are 31-97 (a winning percentage of .242) when they travel. They are 7-33 in the last five years, racking up a 1-7 mark in four of those seasons. But I digress.

Use the game-to-game improvement this season as a barometer of the direction in which this team is headed. Judge the Browns by how they finish the season rather than how they begin it.

Now then, on to other questions with shorter answers.

Who will be the opening-day starter at quarterback?

Barring any unforeseen problems, it will be Robert Griffin III. No matter how he plays in training camp or exhibition games, he will be the man with Josh McCown and rookie Cody Kessler backing him up.

Why? Because it has to be that way. The Browns brought him in in hopes he can recapture the brilliance of his rookie season with the Washington Redskins. Unless he gets hurt, which to be truthful is a distinct possibility given his history of injuries, he will be under center or in pistol or shotgun formation against Philadelphia.

So what kind of an offense can the fans expect?

One that is far more balanced than last season’s, when nearly two-thirds of the plays were passes. Jackson’s offenses are much more successful when the ground game complements the passing game or vice-versa. The likely run-pass ratio will be more 51-49 this season.

But won’t that be difficult with an offensive line that will feature new starters at center and right tackle? And won’t Alex Mack and Mitchell Schwartz be missed?

Yes and yes. Yes, it will be difficult and yes, Mack and Schwartz, lost in free agency, will be missed. It will be hard to run the ball with only 60% of the starters returning. But the Browns had problems moving the ball last season infantry style when relatively healthy.

An awful lot of the line’s success this season depends on whether first-round pick Cameron Erving’s switch to the pivot is successful. He played soft last season when injuries hit both guards. Center is supposed to be his best position. It better be.

The Browns drafted Shon Coleman and Spencer Drango, a couple of large interior linemen, in hopes one will be able to fill the hole left by Schwartz, arguably the Browns’ best lineman last season. The return to health of left guard Joel Bitonio, who missed a significant portion of last season, will help.

Turning to the wide receivers, now that Josh Gordon has been conditionally reinstated from his one-year banishment, where does he fit into Jackson’s scheme?

Two thoughts: Even though he will be allowed to participate in training camp and exhibition games, he still must sit out the first four games of the season because of more current violations.

And how long has it been since he has played a real game of football? And I don’t mean exhibition games, where the speed and quickness of the game is not nearly as fast and quick as it is in the regular season. There is no guarantee he will step right back in and play as though he had never been away for more than a year.

How does Gordon’s return impact the very young, very inexperienced receiving corps and what kind of struggles can we expect from them?

Gordon’s return definitely takes some of the pressure off the four rookies taken in the last draft and reunites him with Griffin, his teammate at Baylor. That is a plus. Provided, of course, the veteran receiver – he is still just 25 years old – stays clean.

Jackson and his offensive staff still will pin their hopes on rookies Corey Coleman, Jordan Payton, Ricardo Louis and Rashard Higgins. Figure at least two of them will become vital contributors. From all reports, Coleman has starter potential with speed and good hands, while Higgins and Payton were productive in college.

Expect them to struggle at first in their transition to the NFL, but that is to be expected for a position that has proven most difficult to master quickly for rookies in the adjustment process.

What about Andrew Hawkins, Taylor Gabriel, Darius Jennings, Marlon Moore and Terrelle Pryor? Where do those veterans stand?

At least two of them, maybe more now that Gordon is back, will not make the final roster. The most vulnerable are Jennings, Moore and Hawkins, who has had numerous concussions. Pryor’s size gives him an edge.

Tight end Gary Barnidge turned in a Pro Bowl type season last year with 79 receptions for 1,043 yards and nine touchdowns. What are the chances he duplicates those numbers this season?

Slim to none, although he will play a big role in Jackson’s attack. The new coach loves to throw to the tight end – look at the great season Tyler Eifert had last season in Cincinnati with Jackson as his coordinator – and will do well.

But the wide receivers will play a bigger role in the Cleveland offense this season than last year, thus limiting the number of targets Barnidge logs this season (he had 123 last season). Expect him to be a favorite target, though, in the red zone.

Part two tomorrow.

More Cavs karma with Tribe?

What  . . . you thought the Indians would remain unbeaten the rest of the season? OK, through the All-Star break next week?

The way they have played the game of baseball lately, it’s no wonder you might have thought that way until the Toronto Blue Jays sent them into a two-game skid last weekend.

Is there any question that one of the terrific stories in Major League Baseball this season is what the Indians have accomplished thus far this season? It is arguably the best story. Yes, even better than the one the Chicago Cubs are crafting. 

Why? The Cubs were expected to ravage the National League Central Division with solid pitching and firepower from a young team and have not disappointed.

Entering this season, the Indians had only two things going for them: pitching and above-average defense. Those two attributes, some would agree, is good enough to compete. Good enough to maybe hang around for a while.

There is an old saying in football: Offense wins games; defense wins championships. Same in baseball. Offense wins games; pitching and defense wins championships.

So when the Tribe combined those two attributes and reeled off a club-record 14-game winning streak, the baseball world took notice.

The streak began coincidentally two days before the Cavaliers won the National Basketball Association championship, stunning the pro basketball world and making history along the way, by knocking off the Golden State Warriors after falling behind, 3-1, in games.

It seems as though the winning fever has wafted next door from Quicken Loans Arena to Progressive Field and enabled the Indians to make a little history of their own.

Could we be witnessing another Cavaliers karma situation as Cleveland continues its rebound from being the sports world’s punching bag? First the Cavs and now the Indians? What’s next, an AFC North title for the Browns?

What in the world is going on in Cleveland?

Everything seemed to click for the Tribe during the streak. The pitching, from the starting rotation to the bullpen was even better than expected. The offense, not exactly the scariest in the American League, delivered clutch hit after clutch hit.

When you go up and down this lineup, no one is considered a dangerous threat. There is occasional power with Mike Napoli, Carlos Santana, Jason Kipnis and Francisco Lindor. And yet, everyone has contributed in some way or another throughout the streak.

As Blue Jays announcer Dan Shulman said on a telecast the other day, “The Indians’ lineup is such a 1-to-9 group. It’s all about keeping the line moving.” There are no real soft spots.

It is such a versatile lineup for Tribe manager Terry Francona, the best skipper in the American League. And he knows precisely how to handle it, maneuver it to his advantage.

With players like Juan Uribe, Rajai Davis and Jose Ramirez – it’s anyone’s guess where they’ll be in the lineup or where they’ll be in the field – Francona moves players around nimbly in that lineup and still attains a satisfactory result.

No one in his right mind would have expected the Indians to separate themselves from the rest of the American League Central Division by July 4, a date traditionally linked with post-season appearances.

And the club is doing all this without perhaps their best player in outfielder Michael Brantley, whose season has been virtually aborted by a shoulder injury that refuses to heal.

This team has no most valuable player. It is impossible to point your finger at one man and declare he is the MVP. Too bad there isn’t an MVP award for a team because if there were, this Indians team would more than qualify to win it. It is truly a team in the strictest definition of the word.

But if you put a gun to my head and make me choose one, right now I’d have to say Ramirez is the Tribe’s MVP. Why? Because even though you can’t write an every-day position next to his name in the lineup, he makes valuable contributions no matter where he plays. All you know is he will be in that lineup. You just don’t know where.

His batting average has hovered at or around .300 all season. He hits with occasional power, steals bases and plays nearly flawless defense no matter where he starts.

His ability to play at least six different positions allows Francona to rest some of his regulars on occasion and gives him the flexibility to move other pieces and parts in and out of the daily lineup with no reduction in effectiveness.

The switch-hitting Ramirez, still just 23 years old, can play any of the outfield positions and every infield position except first base and plays them all well.

You never know from game to game who is going to step up. There is really no soft spot in the lineup, no matter whom Francona writes on his lineup card. It is truly unique in that regard.

One day, it could be Napoli or Santana with a power display. Or rookie center fielder Tyler Naquin, whose ability with the glove has been matched by his surprising offense.

Davis has been terrific as the leadoff hitter, showing surprising pop and even more surprising speed – 22 stolen bases at the age of 35. Converted third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall has swung a hot bat lately.

Lindor has taken his place as one of baseball’s best young shortstops. Comparisons to Omar Vizquel defensively are beginning to surface, but his solid bat elevates him over the ex-Cleveland shortstop.

About the only position that has not been a major contributor offensively is catcher, but the work of Yan Gomes and Chris Gimenez with this pitching staff more than makes up for that problem.

The starting pitching has been nothing short of sensational with Corey Kluber, Danny Salazar, Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer and Josh Tomlin consistently working into the seventh inning and beyond. And it’s a starting staff contractually bound to the club for a few more years.

The versatility luxury on offense allows Francona to operate with a 13-man pitching staff, including an eight-man bullpen. The only weakness there is a paucity of left-handers among the group. Newly recalled left T. J. House is the only portsider on the staff.

After watching this team in spring training, I believed it would be difficult to rise above mediocrity, even with the pitching, and envisioned a record not much above .500, especially with Brantley sidelined. Talk about overachieving.

With a record of 50-32, the American League’s best road record, a 6½-game lead in the AL Central entering the second half of the season and arguably the best pitching staff in the league, no wonder thoughts of a second Cleveland championship this year are understandably dancing around in the fans’ minds.

True confessions, Cleveland style

Confession time . . .

When the Cavaliers took on the Golden State Warriors for the NBA championship Sunday night in Oakland, skepticism ruled my every thought.

No way were the Cavs going to knock off the defending champions, especially on their home court. After coming back from a 3-1 deficit in the series to tie it at 3-3, it would be just another big buildup leading to an even bigger letdown for Cleveland sports fans.

After all, no team had ever come back from being down 3-1 to win an NBA title. Might as well get used to coming close only to fall short. Been that way for damn near 52 years.

Many Cleveland sports fans can rattle off the litany of failures with little or no trouble. Who can forget The Drive, The Shot, The Fumble, Jose Mesa choking in the 1997 World Series?

Forget the Browns’ championship in the 1964 National Football League championship game. That was seemingly eons ago and not remembered by a large portion of fans who follow Cleveland sports, many of whom had not yet been born.

For whatever reason, Cleveland seemingly was not meant to win a major sports championship ever again. Coming close does not count. And that is why I knew the Warriors were going to blow up Cleveland’s latest attempt at sports glory.

I steeled myself against the disappointment that was certain to come. Prepared myself mentally to deal with yet another frustrating moment in Cleveland sports history.

So what would it be this time? Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson going wild for the Warriors, raining three-pointers from just about everywhere? Draymond Green playing the game of his life? 

These were the Golden State Warriors, the history-busting 73-9 Golden State Warriors, the invincible Golden State Warriors. 

So what else portended a loss? LeBron James finally wearing down? Kyrie Irving suddenly losing the magic touch that enabled the Cavaliers to square the series? A sudden collapse of a defense instrumental in the comeback? What would it be this time?

My mind-set entering the game assured that no matter what happened, it could be dealt with. I was emotionally prepared for the Cavs to lose. Much easier to handle a loss that way. That’s what 52 years of frustration can do.

So when the teams went at it Sunday night like a couple of heavyweight boxers trying to knock the hell out of each other, I felt good. At least the Cavs weren’t being blown off the court. Even when they fell behind early by as many as eight points, they somehow found another gear to battle back.

At one point, it seemed as though Green was the Warriors’ only offense, hitting on just about every shot while Curry and Thompson were being effectively neutered by the Cleveland defense.

The Cavs’ offense, meanwhile, hit on only one of its first 14 three-pointers, a sure sign that would ultimately prove the club’s downfall.

But a calmness, a refusal to panic, a stoic resolve to not let this one get away seemed to silently pervade the Cavaliers’ psyche. And yet, one just knew that somehow, some way this one was going to slip away, anyway.

Isn’t that the Cleveland way? The Drive, The Shot, The Fumble, Jose Mesa . . . what now?

That calm, which James numerous times mentioned following the game, paid off with a 93-89 victory in a game that undoubtedly will go down in the annals of Cleveland sports history (hyperbole alert) as the greatest game ever played.

Yes, even greater than the 1964 NFL championship. Even though the Browns shocked the pro football world by shutting out the Baltimore Colts (I was at that game), it was only one game. No playoff games back then. This one was the culmination of a 21-game playoff journey.

And yet when it was over, when there was no doubt the Cavs had triumphed, I found it difficult to openly celebrate even though the curse had been lifted. I felt that same calm James had mentioned. Happy? Indeed. But in a reserved way. Maybe it was the surreal nature of the feeling. It was a feeling I wasn’t used to.

They didn’t lose the big one. Finally. Truly surreal.

Cleveland winning a major sports championship? Really? How does one waiting for 52 years for this night celebrate? James sure knew how in the most human of ways.

When the Cleveland superstar hit the floor on his knees and elbows shortly after at the final horn, buried his face in his hands for what seemed like minutes and allowed a flood of tears to emerge, you knew he connected with every frustrated Cleveland sports fan who had longed for this day.

James’ mission when he returned to his native northeast Ohio two years ago this month was to bring a championship to Cleveland. Finally accomplishing that feat clearly overwhelmed him.

Those were genuine tears of joy, of fulfillment, of accomplishment. He knew exactly what this meant to fans back home. You could see it in his face, hear it in his words. “Cleveland, this is for you!” he joyously and tearfully declared.

It also affected coach Tyronn Lue, who took over this team last Jan. 22 following the surprising firing of David Blatt. As his team celebrated, Lue remained on the bench, hunched over, his face in his hands, his shoulders quivering from weeping. More tears of joy.

And just how did the Cavs win? By refusing to lose (an apt cliché). By displaying a resolve the Warriors had problems handling.

It was Kevin Love, playing stout defense in the finale, grabbing 14 rebounds and making a big difference even though he scored only nine points (he was also +15 while on the floor); it was Irving making clutch shot after clutch shot, including the three-point dagger in the final minute that nailed the outcome.

It was James with another triple double, a statistic that did not include spectacular chase-down blocks of shots by Curry and Andre Iguodala; it was J. R. Smith finally igniting a three-point fusillade in the second half; it was Tristan Thompson hitting on three of four foul shots; it was Richard Jefferson coming off the bench and contributing quality minutes.

It was Lue strategically putting James at what amounted to point forward in game five and letting Irving, a natural point guard, become a shooter, his strongest asset. He basically inverted the offense when both were on the floor. The strategy paid off handsomely. The Warriors could not handle it.

It wasn’t like last year at this time when Golden State took advantage of a physically wounded Cleveland team that played without Irving and Love and still pushed the Warriors to six games, due mainly to the heroic efforts of James, before succumbing.

It was as though James had willed his team to a not-this-year attitude toward the Warriors in this series. And even though the Cavaliers lost three of the first four games, James made certain his team kept the faith, not the ye-of-little-faith stance taken by me and undoubtedly many others.

When I was fortunate enough to work in Cleveland radio for 22 years, one of my favorite topics (usually once a year and generally when there was nothing else to discuss with any degree of intelligence) was what Cleveland team would finally break the curse and win a championship?

The Indians were terrible until the 1990s, when they frustratingly failed twice to win a World Series; the Browns knocked on the door several times with Bernie Kosar & Co. in the 1980s but couldn’t knock it down thanks to John Elway; and the Cavs came close on a few occasions in the Lenny Wilkens’ coaching era, but ran into Michael Jordan.

The topic engendered many telephone calls, often times wall-to-wall for three straight hours. It was a fun topic that enabled fans to vent their frustration of being a Cleveland sports fan for at least one day.

So now the correct answer to that question can finally be uttered, proudly, after 52 years: The Cleveland Cavaliers.

Cleveland is really Believeland now. No longer a dream. No longer a loser. No longer the Mistake on the Lake. What a great feeling.

OK, Indians and Browns, your turn.

Catching up with the Browns (Part 2)

Again, in no particular order . . .

Browns coach Hue Jackson has made it perfectly clear his team will feature a much more balanced attack this season.

The disproportionate figures from last season more than illustrated why the Browns finished 3-13. For any number of reasons, they became very predictable when they owned the football.

Falling behind early, turning a blind eye to the running game and a lack of overall offensive talent were the main culprits.

The Browns last season put the ball up 61.5% of the time (38 passes a game) and recorded 20 touchdowns through the air. Running the ball 38.5% of the time (24 attempts) produced a measly five TD.

Those who argue there’s nothing wrong with passing a vast majority of the time cite that the National Football League has become a passing league. And they would be correct.

So why not continue in that mode this season? Because Jackson comes from a different school, one that relies as much on the ground game as it does throwing the ball. He more than proved that last season as offensive coordinator in Cincinnati.

The Bengals last season threw the ball 52% of the time, producing 31 touchdowns. The other 48% of the time, they ran the ball with great success, scoring another 18 TD. That’s the ratio the new Cleveland coach is shooting for.

But didn’t Jackson have more talent with which to work with Cincy? You bet he did with the likes of running backs Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard, wide receivers A. J. Green, Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu and tight end Tyler Eifert, not to mention a pretty good offensive line.

Jackson’s greatest challenge as he takes over the Cleveland offense is maximizing the talent on board. There are no Hills, Bernards, Greens, Sanus, Joneses or Eiferts on the roster. And the offensive line, minus free-agent departees Alex Mack and Mitchell Schwartz, leaves a whole lot to be desired.

The coach is pinning his hopes on returning running backs Duke Johnson Jr. and Isaiah Crowell, a new quarterback in Robert Griffin III and a wide receivers corps that includes four rookies drafted in Chicago.

Gone are veterans Brian Hartline, Travis Benjamin and Dwayne Bowe. There will be a distinctly new look as newcomers Corey Coleman, Rashard Higgins, Jordan Payton and Ricardo Louis battle in what very well could be the best competition in training camp.

Coleman, the club’s top draft pick, has flashed early with his quickness and speed, but is relatively inexperienced as a route runner, having played in a run-first offense at Baylor. If he quickly picks up the nuances of the route tree, he could very easily become the No. 1 wideout.

After suffering through two seasons of General Manager Ray Farmer’s snubbed-nose approach to wide receivers, it will be refreshing to watch the kids (in addition of veterans Andrew Hawkins, Taylor Gabriel and Terrelle Pryor) contribute to the attack.

With the seemingly ageless and uber enthusiastic Al Saunders – he’s 69 going on 55, acting and looking about 15 years younger – as their position coach, the freshman quartet can’t help but improve that aspect of the offense.

But as much as Jackson will be hands-on with the offense, he must also rely as a head coach on the other side of the football to be a contributing factor to the team’s success. That could turn out to be his second-biggest challenge.

*        *        *

In order for the Browns to have any degree of good fortune on offense, the defense must help. It certainly didn’t last season.

As pointed out numerous times throughout the 2015 season and into the offseason, the Browns could not stop the run, extending drives with their ineptitude and keeping the offense tethered frustratingly to the bench.

Opportunity knocked throughout the season, but the Browns failed to answer. They were minus-9 in turnover ratio, intercepting only 11 passes. They dropped opposing quarterbacks only 29 times. Conversely, the offensive line coughed up 53 sacks and that line, as previously noted, is weaker as a result of two departures..

It was obvious during the college draft that creating havoc for opposing quarterbacks was critically important with the selections of Emmanuel Ogbah, Carl Nassib and Joe Schobert to go along with second-year man Nate Orchard.

Ray Horton begins his second stint as defensive boss and you can almost bet the sack total will rise. His aggressive approach to defense, which produced 40 sacks as Rob Chudzinski’s coordinator in 2013, is certain to win favor among the pass-rushing specialists.

The creative Horton is a disciple of Dick LeBeau, which means fans can expect just about anything. That includes a sizable degree of blitzes, including the zone variety, with pressure coming from just about anywhere on the field.

But it must be pointed out the Browns surrendered 128 yards a game on the ground under Horton, the same as the past season. So while stopping the run and harassing opposing quarterbacks will be jobs one and two for the defense, the latter seems to be more realistically possible.

Unlocking the secret to a good run defense should be Horton’s top goal. It is imperative because if the woes continue in that department, the opposition won’t feel the need to throw as much, thus cutting down on the opportunity to compile sacks.

*        *        *

Fans hoping rookie quarterback Cody Kessler shocks everyone and wins the starting job are in for a jolt. Unless The Third and/or Josh McCown suddenly develop serious brain cramps and sore arms, Kessler will begin his National Football League career in learn mode.

Unless he can come into training camp late next month and be the second coming of Russell Wilson, Kessler should get used to running the scout team and becoming a sponge on learning his craft on a much higher level.

Wilson, you probably recall, shocked everyone in the Seattle Seahawks training camp four years ago to not only become a starter as a rookie, but was the linchpin in reversing a trend for what had become a very average franchise.

When Seahawks coach Pete Carroll chose Wilson to start over highly paid free agent Matt Flynn, eyebrows were raised. After all, the smallish Wilson was only a third-round pick and had a lot of growing to do.

Four years later, the Seahawks are 46-18 with Wilson at the helm with four playoff appearances, advancing to two Super Bowls, and a hoisting a Vince Lombardi Trophy. Seattle fans will argue it should have been a pair of Lombardis.

So no, Kessler isn’t Wilson. Yet.

He will have to first get the opportunity and that’s not going to happen with Jackson’s quest to turn The Third into a viable NFL quarterback and McCown versatile enough to handle just about anything the new coach throws at him.

So unless The Third and/or McCown, no strangers to injuries, are unable to complete the season, the only glimpse fans will get of Kessler will be in exhibition games.

*        *        *

Notebook: Gary Barnidge, who turned in a didn’t-see-that-coming season last season, said he would be ready for training camp after undergoing sports hernia surgery recently. You can bet the big tight end, who caught 79 passes for 1,034 yards and nine touchdowns in 2015, will have a big role in the offense again this season. He will be Jackson’s Eifert. . . . Center Cameron Erving said he wants to “be a nasty player” this season. He was anything but last season when he played mostly guard. “It’s time to play ball and get a mean streak,” he said. All well and good. Now he needs to go out and prove it. Free agent Mike Matthews, who does have a mean streak and plays nasty, might have something to say about that. . . . The Matthews-Erving battle and the fight for whoever replaces Schwartz at right tackle should provide some interesting camp fodder. Right now, Alvin Bailey and Austin Pasztor are the favorites with rookies Shon Coleman and Spencer Drango lurking.

Catching up with the Browns (Part 1)

In no particular order as OTAs and minicamps wrap up in Berea . . .

Coach Hue Jackson can huff and puff all he wants, but if Robert Griffin III isn’t the starting quarterback when the Browns open the 2016 season in Philadelphia the second Sunday in September, consider me shocked, stunned and otherwise totally baffled.

Unless The Third is unable to withstand the physical rigors of training camp and exhibition games, he will be the man under center and/or in shotgun formation as the Browns launch the new campaign against the Eagles.

He is unquestionably the best quarterback on the team, which is not exactly a ringing endorsement for what lies ahead. He is – and it’s not even close – the worst starting quarterback in the AFC North.

But still, he is Jackson’s best bet to prove to the Las Vegas betting cartel that the Browns this season won’t be as awful as they believe. As bad as they have been since the resurrection in 1999, Vegas thinks the Browns will be worse this season, casting them embarrassingly as underdogs in every game.

Jackson and his offensive staff are in the midst of molding The Third into a West Coast style quarterback, a style he is slow in grasping. Perhaps that is why Jackson has proclaimed an open competition for the starting job. He is not about to reward an unknown quantity.

The Third, however, is clearly the best athlete among the five quarterbacks and smart enough to successfully glom onto the new offense and fend off the likes of Josh McCown, Austin Davis, Connor Shaw and rookie Cody Kessler.

The only question is who backs him up. McCown, the best of the rest, is the likely clipboard holder with Kessler a dark horse to usurp him. Davis and Shaw most likely will be looking to join another National Football League team.

*        *       *

Jackson has been a pleasant revelation to the Cleveland media with his upbeat attitude and positive approach. He is the kind of head coach this franchise has needed for a long, long time.

It is now incumbent on the front office to take a hands-off approach with Jackson no matter how the club does his season. It probably won’t be pretty after 16 games, but victories and losses won’t be the most important aspect.

What Jimmy Haslam III and his henchmen should watch for is how the club improves as the season unfolds. Watch to see if the same mistakes are not being made. Dote on the progress being made. Take note of how the Browns play in the second half of the season as opposed to the first half.

Patience is a virtue the Haslam regime has not practiced. The owner finally has a good coach. He should keep his hands to himself and instruct Sashi Brown to do the same. It might take another year or two, but this club is finally headed in the right direction.

*        *       *

There is no question Justin Gilbert has been a supreme bust since being the Browns’ top draft pick a couple of years ago. Whatever talent coach Mike Pettine saw to push General Manager Ray Farmer to select the cornerback that high has obviously not manifested itself.

But now there is talk that Gilbert is a new man and the new coaching staff, particularly defensive coordinator Ray Horton, is handling him as though he has a clean slate.

Never mind the two awful seasons he spent under Pettine and defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil. Forget everything he was taught in those campaigns. Wipe that slate clean. This is going to be completely different.

If anyone can uncap the talent well Pettine saw in Gilbert, it is Horton, a former defensive back himself, and secondary coach Louie Cioffi, in his second stint with the Browns.

Playing defense is all about aggression and self-motivation, traits Gilbert has spectacularly failed to display. That will be the greatest challenge for Horton and Cioffi in an effort to provide veteran corner Joe Haden with a quality partner. It bears close scrutiny.

*        *       *

Last season, rookie nose tackle Danny Shelton disappointed because he didn’t do what he was drafted to do: stop the run. He was like a human boulder at 6-2, 335 pounds; someone difficult to run through. But the Browns, yet again, finished near the bottom of the NFL in stopping the opposition on the ground.

Shelton gained weight as the season progressed. He plugged very few holes and failed to protect the inside linebackers, who were forced to make tackles often times well beyond the line of scrimmage.

He was slow and ineffective. He became a two-down lineman after showing he had trouble rushing the quarterback He was not the player the Browns thought they drafted.

This season, again with a new coaching staff and different approach, Shelton is in redemption mode. He pared about 30 pounds (from a high of 365) and is ostensibly a new man. Horton, a 3-4 scheme guy, has the ideal nose tackle in Shelton from a size standpoint and is eager to use him.

The big question remains whether Shelton can elevate his game and perform the way the Browns expected him to last season. If he comes anywhere near the way he played at the University of Washington, where he terrorized (OK, manhandled) quarterbacks and running backs, stopping the run will not be a problem this season.

*        *       *

And finally: The training camp roster breaks sown this way: A staggering 19 defensive backs, 10 defensive linemen (when Carl Nassib signs), 13 linebackers (when Joe Schobert signs), 15 offensive linemen, 11 wide receivers, seven running backs, six tight ends, five quarterbacks, two placekickers, one punter and one long snapper.  Twenty-two are rookies. Another 11 have only one year’s experience. The oldest players are Joe Thomas (31) Tramon Williams (33), Andy Lee (33) and McCown (36).  That list does not include wide receiver Josh Gordon, whose year-long suspension from the NFL because of PED use lingers awaiting a ruling by Commissioner Roger Goodell.

(To be continued)

Peering into the draft crystal ball

Well, that didn’t take long.

The dust from the National Football League’s annual college draft has hardly settled and the first 2017 mock drafts have arrived.

Several Web sites have already checked in with a crystal-ball look at what will go down next April in whatever city the NFL decides to move to after two years in Chicago.

And for Browns fans, there’s good news and bad news. First the bad news. The early, highly premature mock analysts are using Las Vegas oddsmakers as a measuring tool to determine the draft order next year.

Why is that bad news? Because those so-called experts have made the Browns prohibitive favorites to win no games – subject to change, of course – and ultimately wind up with the No. 1 draft pick next season for the first time since the 2000 lottery.

That bears repeating. The Browns are early favorites in no games this season. Another season of misery. But that, believe it or not, is also the good news.

If the upcoming season unfolds the way Vegas sees it, it means the Browns will have first crack at the draft in a year when many potential future superstars will be on all the boards.

Let’s face it. The Browns are going to stink this season. They are going to be embarrassingly bad. So bad, in fact, they top every early mock that has been released. And there is a near consensus as to whom the club will take. (Unless, of course, they trade down. Just kidding. Can’t you take a joke?)

Rob Rang of CBS Sports, Steve Palazzolo Pro Football Focus, the guys at Walter Football, Matt Miller at the Bleacher Report and SB Nation’s Dan Kadar all believe the Browns will take Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson, odds-on favorite to win the next Heisman Trophy.

Chris Burke over at Sports Illustrated disagrees, but believes the Browns will, indeed, chose a quarterback. His choice is Miami of Florida’s Brad Kaaya, who plays in a pro-style offense for the Hurricanes and is more NFL ready than Watson.

Besides, Burke noted, Kaaya is a couple of inches taller than the 6-2, 210-pound Watson, whose production numbers dwarf those of the Miami quarterback.

What makes the next draft that much more intriguing is the Browns probably will have two cracks in the top 10, holding Philadelphia’s pick as a result of the deal that enabled the Eagles to take Carson Wentz this year. (Unless, of course, the Browns trade . . . oh never mind.)

A variety of reasons prompted the aforementioned analysts to select Watson as the top choice.

Wrote Rang: If Cleveland is drafting No. 1 overall, the experiments with Robert Griffin III and rookie Cody Kessler were a failure. Watson lacks ideal size, but has the arm, athleticism and moxie to potentially turn into a franchise quarterback.

Palazzolo: (Watson) has the strong arm to drive the ball into tight windows, though it’s his touch on two-level throws that impresses most. There’s still room to grow from a quarterbacking standpoint as he can learn to get through his reads better and his accuracy wanes at times.”

Kadar: Watson’s career arc has him hurtling toward the Heisman Trophy. . . . Beyond his deep-ball delivery, he is an impressive product.

Miller: Cody Kessler is not your quarterback of the future. . . . The future will come when Deshaun Watson enters the draft. . . . He is not so different from RGIII other than he is more accurate and hasn’t been hit with major injury-related setbacks to this point of his career.

Walter Football: College football’s version of Russell Wilson. . . . The sky’s the limit for him.

Countered Burke: Playing percentages here. There is no question Deshaun Watson will be a Heisman favorite. . . . There’s also little question that on paper, Kaaya – who is 6-4 and plays in a pro-style scheme – better fits the NFL prototype.

While all but Burke agree on Watson as the top pick, there is a division of opinions with that second choice, which could be as high as seventh and as low as 12^th.

Rang and Kadar agree the Browns will take Louisiana State running back Leonard Fournette. And why not? Fournette probably will be Watson’s top challenger for the Heisman. The 6-1, 230-pounder ran for an amazing 1,953 yards and 22 touchdowns last season, backing up a 10-touchdown, 1,034-yard performance as a freshman.

Palazzolo likes Michigan State defensive end Malik McDowell as the second pick, Walter Football favors Florida State running back Dalvin Cook (Fournette will be gone by then in its mock), Burke likes offensive tackle Roderick Johnson, who blocks for Cook at FSU, and Miller thinks Ohio State inside linebacker Raekwon McMillan would look spiffy in a Browns uniform.

By now, you’re probably saying to yourself it’s ridiculous, ludicrous, preposterous and every other adjective ending in ous to be discussing what Miller called his “Way Too Early Predictions.”

Of course, it’s way too early to make prognostications such as these. But it sure is fun to talk about them. It’s the kind of fodder that feeds the NFL public relations machine continuously and keeps the league in conversations virtually on a year-around basis.

Never a dull moment with this monolithic enterprise.

Draft weekend notebook

One position was conspicuously absent in the 14-player haul the Browns took away from last weekend’s National Football League college draft.

Sashi Brown, Hue Jackson, Paul DePodesta and Andrew Berry filled holes via the lottery all over the roster except one: running back.

Only five names have an RB next to them on the current roster: Isaiah Crowell, Duke Johnson Jr. and three guys who probably won’t be on the roster when the Browns open the season in Philadelphia on Sept. 11.

So why no running back? The Browns didn’t exactly blow the opposition away infantry style last season. In fact, Crowell and Johnson ran for 1,085 of the club’s 1,529 yards in 2015, an average of just 95½ yards a game.

The Browns ran the ball only 38.5% of the time last season and scored a measly four touchdowns, all by Crowell. That’s not Hue Jackson type football. His football is much more 52-48 pass to run than 62-38.

So again, why no running back? Could it be Jackson sees Crowell and Johnson, two entirely different runners stylistically, a little differently than the previous Cleveland coaching regime?

Maybe he sees them more like Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard, the running tandem he had as offensive coordinator in Cincinnati last season. Hill, the 6-2, 235-pound banger between the tackles, rushed for 794 yards and scored 11 touchdowns. Crowell is 5-11, 225 pounds and a between-the tackles kind of guy..

The shifty 5-10, 210-pound Johnson gave the Browns a dimension they haven’t had for several seasons as a receiving threat out of the backfield. The rookie was the team’s third leading receiver last season with 61 catches for 534 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He picked up another 379 yards on the ground.

Bernard, a shifty 5-9, 205-pound scatback, was a little more versatile for the Bengals, racking up 730 yards on the ground and another 472 through the air on 42 catches.

Overall, the Bengals rushed for 1,805 yards (113 a game) last season and produced 13 touchdowns.

So one can see there are a couple of distinct similarities between the two teams. The big difference, however, lies in the guys who play in front of them. The Cincinnati offensive line is one of the best in the league. The Browns cannot echo that boast, especially now that Alex Mack and Mitchell Schwartz are gone.

It will be very interesting to see just how Jackson formulates his offense with a new quarterback in Robert Griffin III and some fresh new faces in the wide receivers room.

*       *       *

Here we go with the stupid rhetoric with regard to who the starting Cleveland quarterback will be in Philadelphia.

Stop it, Sashi Brown, with the nonsense that the competition for whom that man will be is wide open. Griffin is your quarterback. You know it. He knows it. The fans know it.

During the news conference following the final day of the draft, it was suggested by some in the media that Griffin didn’t have anything worry about competition from third-round pick Cody Kessler.

“I beg to differ with that,” Brown declared. “I think Cody is a guy I would not want to sleep on at all if I wanted to be starting quarterback of the Browns. He’s going to come in serious (and) ready to work.”

Really? You honestly believe that?

“Robert has four years of NFL experience, is tremendously athletic and serious about becoming a starting quarterback in this league. There is no reason he can’t, but this is going to be a competition.” No it’s not.

Stop it already. You have no idea what you are talking about when you talk like that. Stop trying to sell the fans on Kessler, who was one your several reaches and probably would have been on the board two rounds later.

There will be competition for the starting job only in the sense both quarterbacks will wear the same uniform in practice and on game day. You hurt your credibility when you try to foist that canard on the fans.

Who are you trying to convince? The Third? He’s too smart to fall for that. It sounds more like you’re trying to convince yourself.

*       *       *

The new denizens of the draft war room have pronounced themselves satisfied and excited with the results. That is to be expected.

But based on the overall talent level of this class, which is questionable at best, I have to seriously wonder whether the problem lies in evaluating all that talent.

When the club was thrilled to grab defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah at the top of the second round because he had a mid-first-round grade and they didn’t expect to see him there, the first seeds of draft doubt began to creep in.

And when that very bizarre fourth round unfolded, those seeds gave way to full doubt. The Browns sure do look at players in a strangely different way. But I don’t do this for a living, so what do I know?

From this standpoint, the lack of war room experience proved costly, at least in the short term. Brown & Co. were overmatched this time around. Hopefully they learned some valuable lessons.

*       *       *

The middle of the Browns’ offensive line will be different this season. Cameron Erving gets first crack at the pivot after a highly disappointing rookie season playing just about everywhere else but center and left tackle.

He won’t be handed the job. The Browns made certain of that by signing Mike Matthews of Texas A&M as a free agent. He is not your typical free agent, though. He has a terrific football pedigree and should not be discounted as just another free-agent signing.

He is the younger brother of Atlanta Falcons offensive tackle Jake Matthews and cousin of Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews III . His dad, Bruce, is in the Pro football Hall of Fame. Uncle Clay played in the NFL for 19 years, 16 with the Browns (1978-1993).

So there is some serious talent there. The question is why wasn’t he drafted? Perhaps it’s because the 295-pounder is a tick shy of 6-2 and most teams like their centers to be around 6-4. That didn’t seem to bother the Arizona Cardinals, who needed a center and picked up 6-2, 310-pound Evan Boehm in the fourth round.

But those who know Matthews, a three-year starter in college, say that while he is not impressive in his workouts, he is a different player on tape. In other words, when the games are played, he shows up. He's a gamer.

So while Brown doesn’t want you to go to sleep on his third-round choice for quarterback, it behooves you to do the same for Matthews. This is one competition that could prove very interesting.

*       *       *

It’s safe to say Ohio State had a much better weekend at the draft than the Browns. Of the 15 Buckeyes eligible to be drafted, 12 were selected, all in the first four rounds. That’s two shy of the record, set by the 2004 Buckeyes.

Only wide receiver Jalin Marshall, safety Tyvis Powell and offensive lineman Chase Farris went undrafted. Seattle signed Powell, a big safety from Bedford, as a free agent. The New York Jets signed Marshall and Detroit picked up Farris.

*       *       *
Notebook: The Browns moved down the draft so much in round one, winding up at No. 15 after starting with the second overall pick, that NFL Network host Rich Eisen, as he went to a commercial break midway through the round, said, “The Cleveland Browns are up next. We assume they are going to make a pick.” . . . The Los Angeles Rams waited until nine of their allotted 10 minutes to make the first overall pick elapsed before turning in Jared Goff’s name. Why? They knew all along Goff was their man. . . . Have to assume either Joey Bosa or Zeke Elliott was the Browns’ target in round one. San Diego and Dallas blew that up in a hurry by taking the former Buckeyes at three and four. . . . Main theme for the Browns: Going down. . . . Corey Coleman was the best player left on the Cleveland board at No. 15? Hmmmmm. . . . Adding to the ineptitude was the acquisition of Jamar Taylor from Miami in a deal in the waning moments of the draft. The highly regarded cornerback coming out of college has been a huge disappointment for the Dolphins. Sort of like Justin Gilbert with the Browns. The old change-of-scenery excuse was used. Could that mean the departure of Gilbert for the same reason? . . . Preview of next season’s draft: Can you say Deshaun Watson?

The grade is in

Something was missing for the Browns and their large global fan base during the three-day extravaganza in Chicago last weekend, a.k.a. the National Football League college draft.

The wow!! factor.

Not once during the seven-round grind, during which the Browns traversed the lottery at least five times, could a tried and true Browns fan honestly say, “Wow! What a great pick!”

Fourteen times the Browns were placed on the clock and not once did the name ultimately called register anything more than a perfunctory clap because “these guys know more about these players than we do. We’ve got to trust them.”

Only the draft-o-philes, the small number of fans who follow the draft religiously almost from the end of the previous lottery, can tell you everything you need to know about a certain player.

No, this was a Browns draft that most likely will be known more for its quantity than its quality. Drafting an average of two picks a round, they selected many players who didn’t come close to appearing on most fans’ recognition radar.

It’s not as though Sashi Brown and his crew didn’t have a chance. They certainly did, but opted to draft down twice from their original overall No. 2 slot, thus taking themselves out of the running for a crack at the short list of elite players.

They opted to initially address the wide receivers, one of the many pressing needs on the club, surprisingly taking speedy Baylor wideout Corey Coleman, rated by many analysts as the third-best at the position behind Laquon Treadwell and Josh Doctson. It foretold a draft full of surprises for Browns fans.

It more than likely was a nod to the Browns' draft board, which undoubtedly told them their No. 1 target was gone by No. 8, necessitating the second trade down. But that does not absolve them from close scrutiny in the remaining six rounds

Slotted either first or second in all but one of those rounds enabled them to take the best player off the board. They led off the second and third day of the draft and yet made some rather bizarre selections.

Second-guessing decisions made by those whose job is to make those decisions is a fun sport and always rears its homely little head in matters such as the draft. So here we go.

At the beginning of day two, the Browns were in position to take UCLA linebacker Myles Jack, a wow! factor player who would have been a top five pick until revealing  recently he might need microfracture surgery on an injured knee. Scared everybody in round one and he slipped into day two.

Word filtered out during day one that noted orthopedic surgeon James Andrews said Jack did not need that delicate surgery and was not the risk factor originally believed. So he was there to be taken the next day.

Either the Browns either didn’t buy what Dr. Andrews said or didn’t want to take the chance he might be wrong and selected defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah instead to kick off day two.

Four picks later, the Jacksonville Jaguars couldn’t get Jack’s name up quickly enough to the NFL clearing house. The Jags wind up with a sure-fire starter and the Browns wind up with a player who might be good enough to crack the starting lineup.

The way it works in the NFL is you expect players selected in rounds one and two to come in right away and win a starting job. The Browns have failed spectacularly in that department the last few years with one exception: guard Joel Bitonio.

Round three produced Carl Nassib, who could be a situational pass rusher; offensive tackle Shon Coleman, a standout in Auburn’s running game; and another surprise, quarterback Cody Kessler with Connor Cook still on the board, prompting coach Hue Jackson to caution, “You’ve got to trust me on this one.”

At the beginning of day three, the Browns had the first two selections in round four, opting for outside linebacker Joe Schobert with the first pick and trading the second to Oakland.

Linebacker definitely needed to be addressed, but the secondary, which lost both starting safeties, was a more urgent position. Strong safety Miles Killebrew, a big hitter who has linebacker size at 6-2, 215 pounds, was sitting there. Detroit took him later in the round.

Killebrew would have been a much better replacement for the departed Donte Whitner, giving the Cleveland secondary some size. Schobert has to beat out Paul Kruger, Armonty Bryant, Scott Solomon (update: the club has terminated Solomon's contract) and Barkevious Mingo to get playing time.

Other second guesses involve the other three peculiar picks in the fourth round – wide receiver Ricardo Louis, safety Derrick Kindred and tight end Seth DeValve.

Louis comes out of a run-first, run-a-lot program at Auburn, Kindred is a smaller version of Killebrew and DeValve will never be as famous as he is now as the most surprising selection of any draft in recent memory. All received extremely low grades from analysts, considerably lower than where they were taken.

Rashard Higgins, a highly productive wideout from Colorado State with much better credentials than Louis, was disregarded. Surprisingly, he was there in round five and the Browns did not make the same mistake. He will be a better pro than Louis and could see a fair amount of reps.

Where the Browns really hit it big was, ironically, their last choice. Inside linebacker Scooby Wright III will come in and play well enough to force Christian Kirksey back outside and partner with veteran newcomer Demario Davis in the middle

The most unfair grades in the sports world, those awarded immediately following any draft, are in for the Browns from around the NFL universe. They range from an A grade by the folks at Pro Football Focus to a C- from more than a few.

At the same time they drafted for the present, Brown and Co. began stockpiling choices for the future, concentrating on the early rounds. The only problem there is securing a large number of draft picks means nothing if those selecting do not apply wisdom to those selections.

If this year’s Browns draft by the Browns is any indication, there is some cause for concern for the future. In order to consider this draft a success, they need to get at least four starters and at least four other significant contributors out of it.

The Berea brass say they are pleased and excited about what went down last weekend. Of course they are. What else would you expect them to say?

It’s encouraging the wide receivers corps and pass rush have been upgraded, as well as the overall team speed. The offensive and defensive lines remain iffy, as well as the secondary.

There were some hits, most notably Corey Coleman, Ogbah, Nassib, Higgins, Wright and possibly Shon Coleman. But the misses outweigh the hits. The fourth round was a huge mess. The biggest beneficiary for those selected after round three is special teams coach Chris Tabor.

Final grade: B- (and that’s being extremely generous)