Off to a good start?

Under normal circumstances, the opening game on any National Football League team’s schedule should be reason enough to get excited.

After all, it signals the end of a boring, seemingly never-ending exhibition campaign and the beginning of arguably the most anticipated season on the annual sports calendar.

For every NFL team, that is, except the Browns, now entering their 18^th season since returning from a three-year hiatus caused by league incompetence. Since that return, the opening game of the regular season has been anything but a exciting.

In the previous 17 attempts to kick off a season on a positive note, this franchise has failed a miserable 16 times, a record in futility that is unlikely to be matched in a league where sustained utter ineffectiveness is virtually non-existent.

Makes no difference where the Browns start a season. For the first 11 seasons and 14 of the first 15 since the return, the league awarded them the season opener. The only blemish on an otherwise perfect record of abject futility in 17 seasons was a 20-3 victory over Baltimore at home in 2004.

So they might as well inform the league they are not going to show up and summarily forfeit Sunday’s game in Philadelphia against the Eagles because history shows they are going to lose, anyway. Why even bother making the trip?

But since league laws do not permit forfeits under such circumstances, we might as well look at what most likely will be the least cared-about game in the NFL during opening week.

It features the two worst teams in the league. That’s not an arguable point. They will wage a race to the bottom and compete for the top choice in next year’s college football draft. That’s good news for the Browns, who own the Eagles’ top pick.

The Eagles had a real good shot at winning this game until shipping veteran quarterback Sam Bradford to Minnesota last week when the Vikings lost Teddy Bridgewater to a wrecked knee. Losing Bradford substantially weakens the Eagles’ offense.

Carson Wentz, whose professional résumé consists of 39 snaps in one exhibition game a month ago before suffering a fractured rib or two, is now the man in charge of the huddle in Philadelphia.

Advantage Cleveland? Yes, depending on how respectfully the Browns’ defense treats the raw rookie, whom the Browns passed on in the last draft. And no, if there is even the tiniest morsel of respect.

If coach Hue Jackson does not allow defensive coordinator Ray Horton to throw everything at Wentz, something is terribly wrong. Horton, a Dick LeBeau disciple, loves to bring the pressure.

So why not bring everything against someone who is a rank neophyte in what real warfare is like in the NFL during the regular season? He got beat up in the one exhibition that sidelined him for the rest of the preseason.

Unload the playbook’s entire blitz package. Make Wentz feel uncomfortable on every snap. Take whatever confidence he has at the beginning of the game and toy with it every time he exits the huddle.

Confuse him with disguised coverages in the secondary. Show him one look and switch to another at the snap. Make him unload the ball before he wants to. And most of all show him absolutely no respect.

If Horton at any time veers toward a more conservative approach, all bets are off. Defense is all about aggression. Steering away from that, especially against a team that isn’t that good to begin with, is asking for trouble.

The only caveat is that Wentz, who operated a pro-style offense in college and is primarily a pocket passer, is a deceivingly good runner. Which means if the Browns do not practice good gap integrity, the kid is capable of hurting them with his legs.

As for the rest of the Philadelphia offense, the Browns should be able to shut down the running game of Ryan Mathews and Darren Sproles and render wide receivers Jordan Matthews, Nelson Agholor and Dorial Green-Beckham ineffective.

Where the Browns could encounter trouble is with the Eagles’ defense, which features a couple of solid linemen in tackle Fletcher Cox and end Connor Barwin and active cornerbacks Leodis McKelvin and Nolan Carroll.

The Eagles’ pass rush probably will give the Browns’ somewhat shaky offensive line problems, especially against Cleveland’s right side. How often the Cleveland offensive linemen get to the second level will determine how well the running game operates.

This one is shaping up as 60 minutes of futility with both clubs plumbing the depths of mediocrity. It very well could turn into a punting duel between Cleveland’s Dustin Colquitt and Donnie Jones of the Eagles. Playing between the 20-yard lines might be the norm.

Cleveland quarterback Robert Griffin III will be harassed all afternoon, rushing a majority of his passes due to the extreme pressure and winding up throwing a pair of interceptions in Eagles territory. Only his ability to escape the rush will keep his sack total to just one.

Wentz will not be as lucky. He will be dropped four times, throw three picks and cross midfield just twice. But his ability to run enables him to be his club’s leading rusher.

After a scoreless first half, during which fans will be given free packets of No-Doz, the Browns strike first midway through the third quarter following a Joe Haden interception deep in Philly territory. Patrick Murray nails a 37-yard field goal for the first points of the season.

The Eagles come right back on the Browns’ next possession, Barwin recovering an Isaiah Crowell fumble at the Cleveland 14-yard line. Caleb Sturgis’ 30-yard field goal squares the score.

The two teams lurch back into futility mode until the final two minutes, when The Third gets hot. He hooks up with tight end Gary Barnidge and rookie wide receivers Corey Coleman and Rashard Higgins on three straight passes to move the ball to the Eagles’ 25-yard line.

With a minute left, the Eagles are forced to burn all three timeouts to conserve time as the Browns resort to the ground game to get closer to the goal line. Three Crowell runs advance the ball to the 12-yard line with just seven seconds left.

Murray’s 30-yard field goal nails the victory and just like that, the Browns are 1-0 after the first game of the season for the first time since 2004. It doesn’t take mathematical wizardry to make the final:

Browns 6, Eagles 3

It will be a very long season

Some seasons for the Browns are more difficult to predict than others because the club has at least a modicum of talent on the roster. This will not be one of those seasons. Not even close.

This is a bad team through and through, the anticipated protestations from the front office notwithstanding. In all the years I have been writing about the Browns, I cannot remember being so pessimistic about a team. There is nothing remotely positive onto which one can glom.

And while I’m the kind of person who sees the glass as always half empty, that thought is relatively positive to what I see unfolding this season. It is going to be long, frustrating almost beyond belief, anger-filled and end up turning off a lot of young fans.

Major publications have forecast as few as one victory for the Browns this season, which would be an all-time low for the franchise that began in 1946. Even I don’t believe it will be that awful.

And though I’m a pessimist by nature, there is no way the Browns are going to win only one game this season, There is also no way they can play anywhere near .500 ball, as some front-office types either believe or have dreamt.

They will win more than once. Maybe even more than twice. Maybe. But that’s it. Anything beyond three victories is beyond the wildest dreams. The search for three victories thus begins on . . .

Sunday Sept. 11 – at Philadelphia, 1 p.m., CBS –If the Browns are to win just one game this season, this would be the one even though it’s on the road and they are a terrible road team. In fact, season openers have not been kind to the Browns since the resurrection in 1999. They have won only one opener (20-3 over Baltimore in 2004) in that span. The opener this season will be third straight on the road. It will not be a high–scoring game between arguably the worst two teams in the National Football League. Both have bad offenses and suspect defenses. It very likely will turn into a punting duel between Dustin Colquitt of the Browns and the Eagles’ Donnie Jones. The game will turn in the fourth quarter when the Browns intercept rookie quarterback Carson Wentz for the third time deep in Eagles territory and Cleveland kicker Patrick Murray sneaks a 25-yard field goal just inside the left upright for a 6-3 victory.

Sunday Sept. 18 – vs. Baltimore, 1 p.m., CBS – The scoring drought continues in the home opener against the Ravens. The Cleveland defense, which looked decent against the Eagles in the opener, will not fare as well against a Baltimore offense that can score in many different ways. Joe Flacco continues his career success against Cleveland with touchdown passes to Steve Smith, Mike Wallace and Breshad Perriman and Justin Forsett runs for a pair of scores in a 35-7 victory. Terrelle Pryor scores the lone Browns touchdown on the receiving end of a 72-yard bomb from Robert Griffin III.

Sunday Sept. 25 – at Miami, 1 p.m., CBS – Same old story against the Dolphins. More defensive woes as Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill strafes the Cleveland secondary repeatedly,, racking up nearly 350 yards and scoring strikes to Jarvis Landry, DeVante Parker and former Browns tight end Jordan Cameron. The Cleveland attack, meanwhile, staggers along with no ground game against Ndamukong Suh & Co. The Third, forced to throw nearly 40 times, connects with rookies Corey Coleman and Rashard Higgins on a pair of late touchdowns passes in the 31-14 loss.

Sunday Oct. 2– at Washington, 1 p.m., CBS – A possible revenge game for The Third, whose stay in Washington ended bitterly. If nothing else, look for the Browns to be very competitive in this one, especially on offense. The Third will play what turns out to be his best game of the season, clicking on nearly 75% of his passes. Pryor, Coleman, and tight end Gary Barnidge are the major beneficiaries against a befuddled Redskins secondary. Each scores a touchdown, as does Duke Johnson Jr. on a spectacular 62-yard screen pass. The Cleveland defense does not cooperate (surprise!), making Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins look like an All Pro. Cousins keeps pace with The Third with four scoring passes, but is picked in the final moments by cornerback Joe Haden near midfield. Five plays later, Murray boots a 34-yard field with mere seconds left for a 31-28 victory, evening the record at 2-2.

Sunday Oct. 9 – vs. New England, 1 p.m., CBS – Back home with a .500 record only to greet the Patriots in a game featuring Tom Brady’s return from a four-game suspension. The future Hall of Famer shows no rust from the enforced layoff, shredding the Cleveland secondary all afternoon with absolutely no pressure from the front seven. He puts the ball up a relatively conservative 24 times and hits on all but three, connecting with Julian Edelman (twice), Rob Gronkowski and Danny Amendola on scoring passes, while LeGarrette Blount scores twice from inside the 5 in the 42-10 rout. Josh Gordon returns from the suspended list for the Browns, but is held to just two small-yardage catches.

Sunday Oct. 16 – at Tennessee, 1 p.m., CBS – The last time these teams met in the second game of last season, the Browns jumped out to a 21-0 halftime lead and coasted to a 28-14 victory at home. Johnny Manziel was the Cleveland quarterback, connecting twice with Travis Benjamin on long scoring passes. That was then; this is now. Manziel is gone, Benjamin is in San Diego, Demarco Murray is the new Titans running back and Marcus Mariota is that much more experienced as the Tennessee quarterback. Murray and rookie Derrick Henry make the Titans’ ground game a legitimate threat. And considering how poor the Cleveland run defense remains, that threat is lethal. Murray and Henry pound the defense for 174 yards, score thrice, Mariota heaves scoring passes to tight end Delanie Walker and wideout Andre Johnson and the defense limits the Browns to only 222 yards and 10 points in the 38-10 drubbing.

Sunday Oct. 23 – at Cincinnati 1 p.m., CBS – In the last 12 seasons, the Browns have traveled downstate to Cincinnati a dozen times and won only twice. After this one, it will be two victories in 13 such journeys. Even though Browns coach Hue Jackson knows the Cincinnati offense like the back of his hand, having served as the Bengals’ offensive coordinator for the past few seasons before moving up north, it won’t help on this day. All he can do is admire, probably reluctantly, as he watches what he created destroy his defense. Quarterback Andy Dalton and wide receiver A. J. Green will play pitch and catch all afternoon; Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard will run freely; and the solid Cincinnati defense will smother the Cleveland offense on yet another lopsided victory, 45-13, with The Third and Gordon hooking up for the lone Cleveland touchdown.

Sunday Oct. 30 – New York Jets, 1 p.m., CBS – Limping back home after three straight embarrassing losses, it doesn’t get any easier or more friendly against the Jets, who can beat you in a number of ways. On offense, there’s bearded, Harvard-educated quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, coming off a 3,900-yard, 31-touchdown season. He’s throwing to the likes of Eric Decker, Brandon Marshall and running back Matt Forte, looking to revive a career that took a hit last season, all operating behind a strong offensive line. On defense, Muhammad Wilkerson and Leonard Williams anchor the line in front of a solid set of linebackers. And then there’s cornerback Darrelle Revis lurking in the secondary. It will added up to yet another humiliating loss, the Browns avoiding a shutout when Josh McCown hooks up with Barnidge in the final minute of a 38-7 loss.

Sunday Nov. 6 – vs. Dallas, 1 p.m., Fox – It’s amazing how much difference one man can make in a football team. With Tony Romo at quarterback, the Cowboys are a very good football team. Good things happen on both sides of the football. When Romo is injured, which is much more frequently as he gets older, the Cowboys become a very average football team. And that’s what the Cowboys bring to Cleveland, Romo still recovering from a back injury suffered in the exhibition season. Rookie Dak Prescott has been decent, but somewhat inconsistent. Up some weeks, down other weeks. Rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott has been the bellwether of the offense with nearly 1,000 yards in the books. This one very well could produce the Browns’ best offensive output of the season. McCown, replacing an ineffective Griffin at quarterback, throws for three scoring passes to Coleman, Higgins and Gordon. But Elliott rambles for nearly 200 yards and three touchdowns and Prescott and wideout Dez Bryant collaborate for another pair of scores in a 41-27 victory.

Thursday Nov. 10 – at Baltimore, 8:25 p.m., NFL Network – Second time around for these two division rivals, this time in front of a national television audience. And the outcome will be no different than the earlier meeting. The only difference is the Browns will put up more than seven points with McCown in charge of the offense. He and Gordon will provide two of the three touchdowns with Duke Johnson Jr. scoring the other. The Ravens counter with another blistering attack against the beleaguered Cleveland defense. Flacco throws three more touchdowns to Perriman, Smith and Kamar Aiken; former Browns running back Terrance West piles up 102 of the Ravens 198 yards on the ground and scores once; and kicker Justin Tucker tacks on a pair of field goals in the 34-21 victory as the losing streak reaches six games.

Sunday Nov. 20 – vs. Pittsburgh, 1 p.m., CBS – First meeting of the season between the AFC North’s leaders and cellar dwellers. The game draws more Steelers fans than Browns fans at the former Cleveland Browns Stadium. And they are not disappointed. Ben Roethlisberger returns to wreak his usual havoc on the Cleveland defense. Big Ben, who has faced Cleveland 22 times and owns 20 victories, always seems to elevate his already superior passing game against the Browns. And this one is no different. The future Hall of Famer relentlessly picks apart the Cleveland secondary, hooking up with six different receivers, throwing scoring passes to Markus Wheaton, Darrius Heyward-Bey and Antonio Brown twice. Running backs Le’Veon Bell and DeAngelo Williams combine for 172 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Pittsburgh defense, meanwhile, completely shackles the Browns’ offense, picking off three McCown passes and limiting it to just 187 total yards and an Isaiah Crowell touchdown in the 45-7 victory. Losing streak is now at seven games.

Sunday Nov. 27 – vs. New York Giants, 1 p.m., Fox – Sports Illustrated predicted the Browns would win only one game this season. And this one, inexplicably, was the one. Not going to happen. The Giants’ offense with Eli Manning at the controls and the likes of Odell Beckham Jr. and Victor Cruz running routes for him and Rashad Jennings and Shane Vereen running the ball is too much for a Cleveland defense that is working overtime on a weekly basis. McCown recovers from the Pittsburgh disaster and delivers scoring passes to Gordon and Barnidge and is picked off just once. Manning’s workmanlike 247 yards passing and touchdown passes to Beckham and Cruz are aided by a ground game that piles up 127 yards and a pair of scores. The Giants’ defense sacks McCown four times and holds the running game to just 72 yards in the 31-14 victory. And the losing beat goes on for the eighth straight week.

Sunday Dec. 4 – Bye – And not a moment too soon.

Sunday Dec. 11 – vs. Cincinnati, 1 p.m., CBS – Aaaah. A whole week off between games. Another whole week then to recharge the batteries and do something about that eight-game losing streak. And get ready for . . . ugh . . . the Bengals. Yep, the same team challenging Pittsburgh for the top spot in the AFC North. So much for a soft return. The last time these teams met back in week seven in Cincinnati, the Bengals spanked the Browns by 32 points. This time, the game is much closer because the Cleveland offensive line puts together its best game of the season, keeping McCown’s uniform clean all afternoon. The quarterback responds with a 300-yard day and scoring passes to Coleman and Higgins and Crowell and Duke Johnson Jr. rack up 125 yards and a Johnson TD. But the Cleveland defense is no match for the Cincinnati offensive line, which leads the way for Hill and Bernard to ramble for 184 yards and two touchdowns and permits Dalton to connect on TD passes to Green and tight end Tyler Eifert in the 31-24 victory.

Sunday Dec. 18 – at Buffalo 1 p.m., CBS – What do Buffalo and the middle of December conjure up? That’s right, snow and plenty of it blowing in off Lake Erie as a football game between the Browns and Bills begins. It winds up just about the way you would expect. With the grounds crew furiously trying to keep the playing field playable, this one turns into a game full of fumbles, bad snaps, intercepted passes, slipping and sliding and really nothing resembling a professional football game. The game is played primarily between the 20-yard lines and turns into a tactical and strategic game of field position. Neither team penetrates the red zone in the first half. The Browns finally cash in on linebacker Emmanuel Ogbah’s strip sack of Buffalo quarterback Tyrod Taylor at the Bills’ 21-yard line with Murray breaking the scoreless tie with a 25-yard field goal midway through the third quarter. On the next Cleveland series, Bills safety Aaron Williams picks off McCown inside the Cleveland 30. For once the Cleveland defense stiffens, forcing a Dan Carpenter field goal from 28 yards. With timing running down and the teams apparently heading for overtime, Crowell botches a handoff from McCown deep in Cleveland territory. Rookie defensive end Adophus Washington recovers at the Browns’ 21-yard line with less than a minute left. Three running plays later, Carpenter extends the Cleveland losing streak to 10 games with a 31-yard field goal.

Saturday Dec. 24 – San Diego, 1 p.m., CBS – Never in their long history have the Browns gone through an entire season without winning a home game. Both of this season’s victories were achieved on the road (Philadelphia and Washington). After this one, that rather dubious honor remains in tact. If you are going to play the Chargers in a season, it’s best to do so at home when it’s 18 degrees at game time, some 60 or so degrees chillier than San Diego. Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers is rendered ineffective by a gusting wind. Wind-blown passes rarely find the hands of receivers Keenan Allen, Travis Benjamin and Antonio Gates. And running back Melvin Gordon and Danny Woodhead find little traction on the icy field. The Browns, meanwhile, resort to ball control and managing the clock. For the first time this season, they win time of possession and complete a game without a turnover. It isn’t pretty, but it’s effective. McCown throws only 14 passes and guides two long drives that result in touchdowns by Crowell and fullback Malcolm Johnson. The defense, playing its best game of the season, limits the Chargers to only 68 yards on the ground and 178 through the air in the 14-6 victory.

Sunday Jan. 1 – at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m., CBS – Nothing like heading into the season finale with a victory in this victory-starved season. And wouldn’t you know it. It’s in Pittsburgh, where the Browns haven’t won a game since 2003. Twelve straight losses in the Roethlisberger era and it continues on this first day of 2017. Happy New Year, Browns, you have drawn the short straw for the last game of the season. This time, the Steelers are protecting a one-game lead in the AFC North and must win this one to gain a bye in the first round of the playoffs. No sweat. Roethlisberger again strafes the secondary to the tune of 422 yards, four touchdowns (one each to Brown, Bryant, rookie Eli Rogers and Bell) and the offensive line paves the way for a 122-yard day for Bell. The Pittsburgh defense brings McCown and his offense back down to earth with five sacks, a couple of picks and a fumble recovery in the 48-13 victory.

We’ll see soon enough on Wentz

From a dramatic standpoint, consider Carson Wentz’s professional football debut against the Browns Sunday in the regular-season opener in Philadelphia delicious irony.

Wentz, the quarterback the Eagles thought of enough to trade up for in the last college draft, will face the team they traded with to get him.

The Browns owned the second overall selection in the lottery and practically everyone in the pro football community believed they would grab one of the two top quarterbacks, Jared Goff or Wentz, to become their quarterback of the future.

When the Los Angeles Rams traded up and leapfrogged the Browns into the top spot and took Goff, the Browns decided Wentz wasn’t what they were looking for and allowed the Eagles to move up to the No. 2 slot and take him.

It appears as though Wentz, a small college quarterback who owns a pair of national small college championships, apparently failed the Browns’ eye test.

So confirmed Browns chef strategy officer (whatever that means) Paul DePodesta to ESPN Cleveland’s Tony Grossi at the beginning of training camp in late July on the thinking about trading down after the Rams selected Goff.

“We have to make judgments on individual players and we’re not always going to be right,” DePodesta said. “But in this particular case, we just didn’t feel it was necessarily the right bet to make for us at this time. . . . We will not always be right on those types of things.”

Later, he went on to say that “in a given year, there might be two or three NFL-ready quarterbacks at the college level. In another year, there might be zero. There might not be anybody in that year good enough to be a top 20 quarterback in the NFL.”

Wentz, at least from the Browns’ standpoint, did not fall into the NFL-ready category and thus the trade down with the Eagles. It’s all a matter of evaluation, good, bad or otherwise.

"We didn't draft Carson Wentz because we didn't think it was the right fit for our team at this time," Browns coach Hue jackson told Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio Tuesday. "There's nothing more to it. Obviously, that will make for great debate in the media and that's fine."

The Browns will find out Sunday whether they might have made a mistake when they get up-close-and-personal look at Wentz. Of course, it will be only a small sample of what lies ahead for the kid and in no way should be construed as anything but.

But one can only imagine what is going through Wentz’s mind right now after a rather interesting training camp and exhibition season. He rightfully believed his rookie season would be spent learning how to be a National Football League quarterback behind Sam Bradford.

Then fate – and the Minnesota Vikings – stepped in. Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater rips up a knee and just like that, the Eagles ship Bradford to the land of 10,000 lakes in a deal they couldn’t refuse and Wentz suddenly is thrust center stage.

The Eagles, expected by many experts to challenge the Browns for the worst record in the NFL this season, are taking a calculated risk by elevating Wentz so soon. It very well could be looked at as a what-have-we-got-to-lose situation.

In doing so, though, Wentz could not be any more ill prepared as any rookie making his pro debut. It’s not as if he has gone through an entire training camp and exhibition season and displayed talents that made the Bradford trade possible.

He hasn’t played a game of football since Aug. 11, when he suffered a hairline fracture of a rib or two in the opening exhibition against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a game in which he was hit hard numerous times.

His NFL résumé entering Sunday is as follows: Six possessions, 39 snaps (including three where penalties resulted in no play), 24 passes, 12 completions, 89 yards, no touchdowns, one interception and three scrambles for 15 yards.

That’s it. His best drive was an 11-play, 71-yarder that ended with the pick inside the 5-yard line.

Wentz has been recovering from the rib injury since then. His return was problematic until Monday when Eagles coach Doug Pederson, in the wake of the Bradford deal, announced the rookie was healthy and would face the Browns.

There is no question he will be as raw as any quarterback has ever been in his NFL debut. And you can bet Browns Nation will pay close attention to how he performs, remembering what their team did – or did not do – on draft day.

There is no doubt Wentz, the Browns’ snub lurking in the back of his mind, will be out to prove they made a mistake in not staying put at No. 2 and taking him. DePodesta and the rest of the Cleveland top brass will be watching. 

They’re not done yet

Well that 53-man roster didn’t last very long. It took less than 24 hours for the Browns brass to shake it up, reset it and affect the lives of 10 players, including one of their 14 draftees, in the process.

Gonzo are cornerback Trey Caldwell (the draftee – he was a fifth-round selection), linebacker Cam Johnson (reducing the Johnson presence on the roster to two), safety Rahim Moore and running backs Raheem Mostert and Terrell Watson.

Say hello, at least for the time being, to running back George Atkinson, defensive end Tyrone Holmes, linebacker Corey Lemonier and defensive backs Marcus Burley and Briean Boddy-Calhoun, all picked up off the waiver wire.

According to reports, ex-Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan, waived by Kansas City, will be added to the practice squad that now consists of tight end Connor Hamlett, offensive linemen Kaleb Johnson and Dan France and wide receiver Darius Jennings, all of whom did not survive the original cut to 53.

Hogan was drafted by the Chiefs well after the Browns took Cody Kessler in the third round last May. Both are Pac-12 quarterbacks who ran pro-style offenses. Hogan is bigger at 6-3, 220 pounds. His and Kessler’s big negative is lack of arm strength.

The most intriguing newcomer might be Atkinson, an impressive performer for the Oakland Raiders during the exhibition season. With the loss of Mostert and Watson, he is the only insurance behind running backs Isaiah Crowell and Duke Johnson Jr.

It appears as though Holmes is being brought in because of his production on the small college level, racking up 18 sacks at Montana last season. The analytics folks at 76 Lou Groza Blvd. are easily attracted to large production numbers.

At 6-3 and 253 pounds, Holmes is too light to play end and fits the profile of an outside linebacker in Ray Horton’s 3-4 base defense. Unless the coordinator suddenly switches to a 4-3, Holmes is more likely to hone his pass-rushing skills as a standup linebacker.

Lemonier, Boddy-Calhoun and Burley are merely roster fodder for the time being until the front office swings back into action following the Labor Day holiday as they continue to reshape the roster to suit the coaching staff.

All five newcomers are bottom-of-the-roster residents, with perhaps the exception of Atkinson, and won’t seriously affect the plans by coach Hue Jackson and his staff as they prepare for the season opener next Sunday in Philadelphia against the Eagles.

A few of them might even stick if they show any talent for playing on special teams. Atkinson, who returned a kickoff for a touchdown for the Raiders in the exhibition season, could be a candidate for that role with the Browns.

Don’t get used to the current roster just yet. The mercurial nature of it is bound to bring about more change well before the trip to Philly. It is unlikely Sashi Brown and Co. will resist tinkering with it some more. There are still too many holes to be addressed.

Stay tuned.

Wow! What a draft class

It would be folly to accuse the Browns’ front office of roster prejudice following Saturday’s whacking of said roster to 53 players. Or would it?

Perusal of the not-chiseled-in stone-yet final 53 upon closer look reveals what amounts to extreme prejudice with every selection in the last college football draft landing on the list. Yep, all 14 have been deemed ready to play in the National Football League.

It seems the analytical approach that went into reframing – some would call it rebuilding because that's what it really is – the roster has paid off handsomely. Fourteen picks have translated into 14 roster spots.

Too bad the new members of the Ivory Tower couldn’t have swung another deal or two and picked up even more future contributors to the cause.

When the final slicing and dicing was concluded, the roster looks like this: Three quarterbacks, five running backs, six wide receivers, three tight ends and eight linemen on offense; six linemen, nine linebackers and 10 backs on defense; and the special teamers, the long snapper, punter and placekicker.

Broken down even more, the roster includes 16 rookies, three other players not designated as rookies but who have never played in a regular-season NFL game, eight players in their second season and four more in their third year.

Add them up and you have 31 players with less than four years experience. That is an astonishing 52.8% of the roster.

Missing from the final cuts are wide receiver Josh Gordon and outside linebacker Armonty Bryant, who will each serve a four-game suspension at the beginning of the season.

Perhaps the most surprising move of the day involved cornerback Justin Gilbert, the Browns’ No. 1 pick a couple of years ago. Not that he didn’t make the final roster. The surprise was the Browns found a willing trade partner, shipping the third-year man to AFC North rival Pittsburgh for a sixth-round pick in 2018.

It’s extremely rare in the NFL to see an intra-division deal. The last one in memory was in 2006 when the Browns agreed to swap first-round picks (it was just a one place move down) with the Baltimore Ravens, who selected defensive lineman Haloti Ngata.

Ngata, who plays now for Detroit, went on to become a five-time Pro Bowler and two-time first-team All-Pro. The Browns, whose draft history since the resurrection is sketchy at best, took linebacker Kamerion Wimbley, who retired prior to the 2015 season as a member of the Oakland Raiders.

New faces on the Cleveland roster this season – there are 27 of them and, yep, that’s slightly more than half the team – include rookie free agents Tracy Howard, a cornerback, and inside linebacker Dominique Alexander.

This, of course, will not be the roster that opens the regular season a week from Sunday in Philadelphia. There most likely will be some movement once players from all around the league clear waivers and the 10-man practice squads are set.

Rumors already have the Browns signing Britton Colquitt of the famous Colquitt punting family to replace Michael Palardy, who beat out Kasey Redfern on the not-so-final 53. He was cut by Denver a few days ago after spending seven seasons as the Broncos’ punter.

Colquitt’s father Craig punted for Pittsburgh from 1978 to 1984 and older brother Dustin has been Kansas City’s punter since 2005.

The signing of veteran burly defensive tackle Stephen Paea, if nothing else, gives the defensive line some experience. The 28-year-old free agent, who logged four seasons with Chicago and played sparingly with Washington last season, has 13½ career sacks.

He arrives with the right attitude. “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” he tweeted “God is good. #DAWGPOUND #Cleveland Browns.” He’ll learn soon enough.

It will be interesting to see how coordinator Ray Horton schemes his defense with Paea aboard. The lack of a decent pass rush moved Horton, a 3-4 devotee, to experiment with four-man fronts featuring rookies Carl Nassib and Emmanuel Ogbah on the flanks during the exhibition season.

Paea could be paired with Danny Shelton or Jamie Meder on the inside to provide insurance against the running game in a 4-3 set.

As for other areas, expect some movement in the heavily populated secondary as waiver scanning continues throughout the weekend. Ten is one too many back there. 

As for the offense, new quarterback Robert Griffin III will have a receivers corps in the first four games consisting of four rookies, a converted quarterback (Terrelle Pryor) still in the learning phase of his new position, and Smurfish Andrew Hawkins, who has had numerous concussions. Good luck with that.

All of which probably means coach Hue Jackson most likely will rely heavily on the ground game and a short passing game as he attempts to pump some life into what was a moribund offense in the exhibitions. Lack of a quality offensive line won't help.

If The Third is forced to throw the ball anywhere from 25 to 35 times a game, that probably will mean a rout is in progress. Judging from the roster makeup now, it looks as though that very well might be the case.

Staggering stats

Final statistics for the Browns’ exhibition season are in and accurately reflect the record: Four games, four losses against four National Football Conference opponents.

The stats are sad beyond belief and serve as a portent of what lies ahead. Both sides of the football are culpable as the club registered lows in futility in numerous statistical categories.

And yes, before you think I have taken premature leave of my senses, I realize those four games were meaningless from a record standpoint. But at the same time, there is a certain amount of pragmatism that cannot be ignored.

Read the following stats and weep, not for a franchise that can’t get out of its own way, but for the fans of that franchise who deserve so much better than they are about to receive.

First, the offense and it is, indeed, very offensive.

It produced an NFL-low 44 points. In so doing, it amassed five touchdowns, 51 first downs (10 with the help of a penalty), 856 total offensive yards (214 a game), was 12-of-48 on third down (25%), averaged 81 yards on the ground, 133 yards through the air, surrendered 17 sacks and owned the ball for 24 minutes and 27 seconds a game.

To be fair, there was some improvement along the way. After possessing the ball for a grand total of just 40 minutes and 17 seconds in the first two exhibitions, the Cleveland offense improved to 57 minutes and 11 seconds in the final two.

Improvement in first-down production was tortoise-like, if not downright embarrassing. Hue Jackson’s offense went from 11 in the first game to 12 in the second to 13 in the third to a robust 15 in Thursday night’s finale loss to the Chicago Bears.

It was believed defense would be a problem for this team heading into the regular season. Based on what we’re seen thus far, offense has joined its defensive brethren atop the worry category.

Speaking of the defense, let’s take a closer look. And yes, it is equally offensive in a statistical sense.

It gave up 90 first downs (22½ a game), faced 69 third-down situations and whiffed on 33 of them (47.8%), surrendered 374 yards a game (150 on the ground, 224 through the air), picked off one pass, sacked opposing quarterbacks only seven times and was on the field for an average of 35 minutes and 33 seconds.

From a team standpoint, the Browns committed 30 penalties (not including those that were declined) for 249 yards, a direct reflection on team discipline. Its minus-48 in point differential barely beats the New Orleans Saints, the only other NFL team with a winless exhibition record.

It is any wonder national observers on the National Football League see nothing but gloom and doom for the Browns this season? There is absolutely nothing on which they can justify being even remotely sanguine about their chances.

Some statistics lie. These do not.

One more stat, this one trivial, to digest. Before this season, the Browns only twice in their long history went winless through an exhibition season.

In 1972, they were 0-6 in meaningless games, but finished 10-4 during the regular season and lost to the undefeated Miami Dolphins in the first round of the playoffs And in 2008, they were 0-4 and finished 4-12 in what would be Romeo Crennel’s final season as head coach.

Draw your own conclusions.

Roster prediction time

Time to dust off the old crystal ball and predict the Browns’ final – using that term loosely here – 53-man roster as they set the table for the launch of the 2016 season.

These predictions are being made before the final exhibition later Thursday night against the Chicago Bears at home with the distinct possibility injuries might play a role in what the final 53 will look like.

Two exceptions will be made because of National Football League four-game suspensions handed out to wide receiver Josh Gordon and outside linebacker Armonty Bryant right out of the chute.

Their names will not appear in the predicted final 53, but their appearance in game five against New England during the regular season will trigger the release of two names that do appear here.

Bear in mind the roster, such as it is when all NFL teams must be at the 53-man limit by 4 o’clock Saturday afternoon, is extremely fluid. What you see at 4 p.m. Saturday most likely will look at least somewhat different by the time the Browns travel to Philadelphia for the regular season opener Sept. 11.

The transaction wire will hum furiously when all the roster trims are announced and finalized through the league’s clearinghouse Saturday. Most roster moves by the Browns after that will be made on the second-team and special-team levels.

That said, here is what I believe the Cleveland roster will look like at 4 p.m. Saturday. Listed by position, name, who stays, who leaves.

First, the offense.

Quarterback: Robert Griffin III, Josh McCown, Cody Kessler. With the distinct possibility The Third does not make it through an entire season, all are safe here. Unless the first two are injured, this is a learning season for Kessler.

Running back: Isaiah Crowell, Duke Johnson Jr., Raheem Mostert, Terrell Watson, Malcolm Johnson, Rajion Neal. Neal is the only casualty with Mostert and Watson backing up Crowell and Duke Johnson. Malcolm Johnson is the only fullback on the roster and safe. (Update correction: Add Jahwan Edwards to this list, then subtract him. He'll join Neal looking for a job.)

Wide receiver: Corey Coleman, Taylor Gabriel, Josh Gordon (suspended), Andrew Hawkins, Rashard Higgins, Darius Jennings, Ricardo Louis, Marlon Moore, Jordan Payton, Terrelle Pryor.

Coleman, Gabriel, Higgins, Jennings, Moore, Payton and Pryor are safe. The veteran Hawkins, with a history of concussions will be trimmed, along with Louis.

Tight end: Gary Barnidge, Connor Hamlett, Seth DeValve, J. P. Holtz. Holtz will be the lone casualty. Barnidge, of course, is a Pro Bowl type receiver. The 6-7 Hamlett has been a pleasant surprise and the coaches want to see more of DeValve.

Offensive line: Joe Thomas, Joel Bitonio, Cameron Erving, John Greco, Austin Pasztor, Alvin Bailey, Dan France, Spencer Drango, Shon Coleman, Garth Gerhart, Mike Matthews, Kaleb Johnson. Normally, teams keep eight men on the offensive line. The Browns will keep nine with Gerhart, Matthews and Johnson exiting. Look for either Coleman or Drango to move up to the first team by midseason, if not sooner.

Now the other side of the football.

Defensive line: This is where the roster needs the most work. Right now, there are only seven men listed on the roster and two, end Kenton Adeyemi and tackle Chigbo Anunoby, will be looking for work Saturday.

That leaves Xavier Cooper, rookie Carl Nassib, John Hughes III, Jamie Meder and Danny Shelton, a young and extremely inexperienced group. Look for some waiver movement here. The Browns need at least six men on the roster at this position.

Outside linebacker: Emmanuel Ogbah, Joe Schobert, Nate Orchard, Cam Johnson, Jason Neill, Armonty Bryant (suspended). All survive except Neill. Another very young and inexperienced crew that includes three rookies and a second-year man. Look for waiver movement here, too.

Inside linebacker: Demario Davis, Justin Tuggle, Scooby Wright III, Christian Kirksey, Tank Carder, Dominique Alexander. Davis and Kirksey, who played mostly outside last season, are solid along with Carder and Tuggle, reliable special teamers. Alexander has been a pleasant surprise. Only Wright will be missing when the Browns start preparing for the season opener against the Eagles. Too bad. I was hoping he would be more impactful, but the pro game seems to quick for him.

There are still 15 defensive backs on the roster. Nine will be kept. Here’s how they break down.

Cornerback: Joe Haden, Justin Gilbert, Trey Caldwell, Charles Gaines, Jamar Taylor, Tramon Williams, Tracy Howard, Eric Patterson, Mikell Everette. Big surprise here will be the departures of Gilbert and Williams. The former has continued to disappoint; the latter is well on the downside of his career. Also gone are Howard and Everette. Haden and Taylor will start with Caldwell, Gaines and Patterson worked into the various sub packages.

Strong safety: Ibraheim Campbell, Derrick Kindred, Don Jones. Campbell is your starter with the rookie Kindred closing fast. Jones is gone.

Free safety: Jordan Poyer, Rahim Moore, Pierre Desir. The disappointing Desir, who started as a corner, finally leaves after two disappointing seasons. Poyer starts, but Moore sees a lot of playing time in some of those sub packages.

Finally the special-teams specialists.

Long snapper Charley Hughlett is unopposed, as they say in politics. And after Travis Coons’ release, Patrick Murray is the placement specialist. The punting job is up in the air after the trade of Andy Lee. Kasey Redfern and Michael Palardy were added to the roster within the last week following the Lee deal. It’s possible both will be gone by the Eagles game, depending on what the waiver wire looks like late Saturday. If no moves are made, Redfern is the choice.

Looking forward to seeing how much different the Cleveland roster looks at 4 p.m. Saturday compared to what you see here. Either way, the bottom line suggests only one conclusion: It’s going to be a very long season.

Sashi’s dream world

Browns big boss Sashi Brown says the organization will be “very disappointed if we have four wins” this season. Yep, that’s what he said in a sit-down with the Cleveland media late last week.

Four victories, of course, would be an improvement over last season when the Browns were 3-13. Improving on that, even though it’s only one game, would be disappointing, according to Brown. Talk about abundant optimism.

Well get ready, boss, to be not only disappointed, but really, really, really disappointed. Then head for shocked, dismayed and downright angry that your team won’t come even close to your disappointed figure of four.

If the Browns duplicate last season, be thrilled considering the lack of talent on this team. The prism through which he sees his team is myopic and unrealistic.

If this is the bar Brown is setting for the 2016 Browns, coach Hue Jackson might as well start updating his résumé right now. He will be gone after one season. Maybe sooner. And it won’t be his fault.

It won’t be Brown’s fault, either. The blame in the buck-stops-here world belongs to the man who placed Brown in this situation. That would be James Haslam III, the esteemed billionaire owner.

Haslam knew Brown was not a football man. He is an attorney, the club’s general counsel before being elevated to his current position. He dealt more with the business side of the team.

Not certain how, but he seems to have gleaned enough knowledge of the game to become the club’s spokesman when it comes to expectations. Instead of deferring to the men in the front office who really know the game, he hangs it all out there.

Maybe he gained considerable knowledge about the game of professional football by osmosis. How he arrived at the decision this is a better team than last season’s is hard to fathom.

Four victories for the Browns this season would be just short of spectacular. It would be a tribute to the coaching acumen of Jackson to achieve that victory total.

It’s time for someone in the Ivory Tower to take the boss aside, carefully remove his blinders and be truthful with him. Point out what just about everyone else sees: a bad football team.

All you have to do is listen to Jackson’s words and then read between them.

“We’re a work in progress,” he said after last Friday’s 30-13 exhibition shellacking in Tampa. “I think we all know that. By no means are we going to put our heads in the sand. There’s some stuff we need to fix and we’re going to fix them. I promise you we will.”

Sound familiar? A little like Romeo Crennel? And Eric Mangini? And Rob Chudzinski? And Pat Shurmur? And Mike Pettine?

Am I forgetting anyone? Oh, yes. Who can forget Chris Palmer and Butch Davis?

There is a common thread here. At one time or another, the aforementioned often uttered those very same lines. The words are disturbingly the same. Jackson is merely echoing them.

With the Browns, only the names and faces change. The losing lingers on.

Kruger's slow exit

The new-look Cleveland Browns looked even newer Monday after the club whacked 14 names off the roster.

And they got a lot younger.

One of the victims was veteran outside linebacker Paul Kruger, who should have been whacked a few months ago when the new front office decided to purge the immediate past and jettison the likes of Donte Whitner and Karlos Dansby.

Kruger arrived in Cleveland three years ago as the savior who would help revitalize the pass rush. He sandwiched his 11-sack season two years ago between seasons of 4½ and last season’s 2½ sacks. That greased his slide out of town. No big loss.

So why did it take OTAs, minicamps, training camp and three exhibition games for the front office to reach this conclusion? The Browns cited lack of production. Well, duh. What took them so long to figure that out? Slow thinkers anonymous?

It is now obvious the getting-leakier-by-the-moment Cleveland defense will be among the youngest, perhaps the youngest, in the National Football League. In essence, it will be on-the-job training.

Unless the Browns accidentally hit the jackpot in the last draft with the likes of Carl Nassib, Emmanuel Ogbah and Joe Schobert, selected for their ability to get extremely up close and personal with opposing quarterbacks, those quarterbacks won’t need their uniforms laundered after the game.

Throw in pro sophomores Nate Orchard, Xavier Cooper and Danny Shelton, and you have the makings of a Cleveland defense that could set all kinds of negative records that could last a long time.

The club released 10 others, mostly roster fodder. They included quarterback Austin Davis, tight end E. J. Bibbs and placekicker Travis Coons.  Two others, including running back Glenn Winston, were placed on injured reserve.

Why the Browns keep Winston at all is puzzling. He’s been with the club for what seems like a decade – actually, this is his third season – and can’t stay healthy. He carried the ball once last season and lost eight yards. That’s his total contribution.

In one other move, the Browns not surprisingly traded Andy Lee to Carolina for Kasey Redfern in an exchange of punters. The Browns also shipped a seventh-round pick to the Panthers and received a fourth-rounder.

The Browns will probably deny it, but Lee’s feeble attempt to tackle Tampa Bay’s Adam Humphries en route to a 73-yard return for a touchdown Friday night undoubtedly led to the change of uniforms.

Coach Hue Jackson confronted the three-time Pro Bowler about his lack of effort and apparently did not oppose the swap. Arguably the most consistent performer on the team last season, Lee goes from the sub basement to the NFL penthouse. In his one season with Cleveland, he set club records for gross average and net average.

Redfern, on the other hand, is with his third NFL team, but has never punted in a regular-season game. It is assumed, too, he will be the holder for placekicker Patrick Murray, who won that battle with Coons.

Next and final cut for the Browns, who need to pare one more man from the roster to get down to the required 75, is Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. when they must trim the roster to 53.

Most of the remaining 22 players fighting for their professional football lives are rookies and free agents who will dominate the Cleveland lineup in the final exhibition Thursday night in Cleveland against the Chicago Bears.

With few exceptions, probably draft picks who haven’t received much playing time in the first three exhibitions and are expected to land on the 53-man roster or 10-man practice squad, the lineups against the Bears will seem somewhat foreign to those who pay full price as a vast majority of the starters sit this one out.

It’s time to get used to many new faces as the Browns launch yet another roster reconstruction.

Browns-Buccaneers autopsy

Observations after watching the Browns get dominated by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in exhibition game No. 3 Friday night in Tampa . . .

The third game of the four-game exhibition season in the National Football League is popularly called the dress-rehearsal game. It’s the only exhibition when the starters play at least a half before becoming spectators.

The Browns and Tampa Bay Buccaneers Friday night played such a game that was witnessed by a national television audience. Based on the result of that game, a 30-13 Tama Bay victory, the Browns are nowhere near ready for prime time TV, or any TV for that matter. Fans across the nation saw how bad this Browns team really is.

If it weren’t for NFL bylaws that require each team to play 16 games during the regular season, Friday night’s contest could be used as evidence that shutting down the show (season?) entirely might not be a bad idea for the Browns. This team is flat out not ready to play for keeps.

The first units of both teams produced a 27-10 halftime lead for the Bucs, who led, 27-3 (it was 17-3 after a quarter), before Robert Griffin III and Josh Gordon hooked up on a 43-yard scoring play with about a minute left to avoid a total embarrassment.

All three units shared the blame for this one. The offense sputtered; the defense, at least in the first half, was AWOL; and the special teams gave up two long punt returns, one for a touchdown,

The defense in the first 30 minutes played as though it was the first exhibition, not the third. This time, though, the awful run defense had plenty of company in the pass defense.

Tampa Bay quarterback Jameis Winston strafed the Browns’ secondary for the first 30 minutes, hitting on one big play after another. The pro sophomore put the ball up 25 times and completed 16 for 259 yards and touchdown passes to Charles Sims III and Mike Evans, who caught five passes for 115 yards.

While it might seem like a good opportunity to blame the secondary for the damage, it would be incorrect. Why blame the defensive backs when the pass rush afforded Winston more than ample time to pile up the yardage.

There is just so much time a cornerback or safety can stick with his man. Lack of cooperation from the guys up front makes it that much more difficult.

On the Sims touchdown for example, Winston had nine seconds to get rid of the ball. No Cleveland defender was near him when he delivered the three-yard scoring strike after rolling out to avoid pressure, such as it was.

It was that way all evening for the Cleveland defense, which racked up a sizzling zero sacks with only two tackles for loss. It is a problem that probably will get worse before it gets better.

This team does not know how to rush the passer. Tampa Bay does not have a great offensive line and yet the Cleveland pass rush couldn’t get close enough to Winston to smell his sweat.

The Bucs, on the other hand, know how to pressure the quarterback. They recorded eight sacks, five in the first half against The Third. The Cleveland offensive line, with two new starters, was overmatched and overwhelmed all evening by a much more aggressive defense.

If the Browns can’t protect the passer and get to opposing quarterbacks with any degree of regularity, it’s going to a longer season than originally thought, making Hue Jackson’s first year in Cleveland seem like an eternity.

The Browns clearly did not arrive ready to play a game of football Friday night. They played passively compared to the home team. The fault there lies squarely with the coaching staff.

There is a lack of talent on this team and it showed against the Bucs. That’s the bad news. The good news is it can’t get any worse.

Or can it?

*       *       *

Random thoughts . . .

Don’t know why Jackson was so upset with punter Andy Lee after Adam Humphries’ 73-yard return for a touchdown in the opening quarter. The coach was very animated in his discussion with the veteran punter, who jogged toward Humphries, but made no effort to tackle him. Does Jackson want to risk his punter in a meaningless exhibition? Apparently so. Late in the third quarter, the Bucs’ Bernard Reedy was headed for another punt return score when Lee shoved him out of bounds after a 43-yard journey. . . .

The Cleveland second unit defense, which featured a majority of youngsters, held the Bucs to just a field goal in the second half and produced the half’s best scoring opportunity after Danny Shelton caused a fumble deep in Tampa Bay territory in the third quarter. But the best the Browns could generate was a Travis Coons field goal after three plays gained only three yards from the 11-yard line. Why Jackson opted for a field at 27-10 is puzzling. It’s an exhibition game. Three meaningless points at that juncture is nothing more than making the final score only a little better. Going for a touchdown makes more sense even if didn’t work. .It’s an exhibition game!! . . .

Josh Gordon is amazing, but you already knew that. Here’s a guy who hasn’t played competitive football in nearly two years and looked in mid-season form with his two receptions for 87 of Griffin’s 119 yards. His touchdown catch was classic Gordon as he maneuvered in front of his defender to be in position to catch the slightly underthrown pass and tumble into the end zone. Too bad he’ll miss the first four games of the season. . . .

Quickies . . . Isaiah Crowell ran hard and effectively, averaging nearly five yards with his eight carries. . . . . Fellow running back Duke Johnson Jr. needs to get more touches. He has the best moves on the team. Just get him the ball. . . . Rookie linebacker Emmanuel Ogbah looked like he belonged in the second half. He was credited with three tackles, but it sure looked like more than that. . . . Wide receiver Taylor Gabriel was targeted nine times, catching six balls for 60 yards. No question the tough little guy makes the final roster. . . . Quick question: Where are rookie wideouts Ricardo Louis and Jordan Payton and why haven’t they played? . . . Another quickie: What is this team’s personality on offense? After three games, I have no idea.