Coaching out of the box

Two thoughts regarding Paul Guenther’s recent remarks about Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel.

First, why would the defensive coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals say anything publicly about the second-string quarterback of a division opponent?

“Honestly, I think the kid needs more time before anyone writes him off,” Guenther told ESPN recently. He meant Manziel, whose struggles in his rookie season have been well documented, needs more time to develop as a professional quarterback.

“Drew Brees did it,” he continued, referring to the New Orleans Saints quarterback who entered the National Football League in 2001 with the same height problem as Manziel. “I know Drew is a little bit thicker than Johnny, but about the same height.”

Truth is Manziel is a mere half-inch shorter than Brees and a few pounds heavier if we are to believe the stats put out by the teams. “I don’t see any reason why he can’t do it up there (in Cleveland),” Guenther said.

“He was such a high profile guy out of college and everyone expected what he did at Texas A&M, but it’s a man’s game. It’s a lot different (in the NFL) and it takes time. You have to take your lumps a little bit.”

Like the 30-0 embarrassment in Cleveland that was Manziel’s professional starting debut against the Bengals late last season. Two interceptions, three sacks and 80 yards through the air was as humbling a debut as any quarterback for the Browns since can’t remember when. Lumps from that game are just starting to disappear.

“I think he has good feet, is obviously a threat to run it and I think in the right system he can be a good player,” Guenther continued, obliquely suggesting he is not a fit in Cleveland because the Browns don’t run the right system.

“There was so much expected in his first game and maybe some of that was self-warranted, but it was so much from the fan base that you have to let him make mistakes.”

In no way, though, did the interview unlock the mystery as to why Guenther was talking about a rival quarterback. He’s got enough to worry about with his team to be concerned with someone like Manziel. It’s a head scratcher.

Now for the second thought. Guenther compared Manziel to Brees. Wrong quarterback. It should have been Seattle’s Russell Wilson.

Manziel is the anti-Brees quarterback for a number of reasons. First of all, the Saints’ quarterback has a terrific arm. Always did. Manziel’s is good, but not nearly as strong as Brees’.

He was a pocket-loving, gun-slinging quarterback coming out of Purdue and hasn’t stopped yet. Manziel, on the other hand, was not strictly a passer coming out of A&M. His game was predicated on making plays any way he could whether it was with his arm or feet. The ability to use his feet well was his greatest asset in college and he took full advantage.

Brees’ greatest asset? His arm and the ability to quickly find and then hit the open receiver. He scored only 15 touchdowns in his three-plus years at Purdue, but threw 90 touchdown passes with 45 interceptions (20 in his sophomore season). He ran for 900 yards, 521 as a senior.

Manziel in college ran instinctively when his first two receivers (often times only one) weren’t open. He compiled an amazing 1,410 yards on the ground (on 201 carries, many of them designed) in his first season with the Aggies, scoring 21 TDs.

He amassed 5,116 yards of total offense in his Heisman Trophy winning season with 47 total touchdowns and a comparatively low 22 interceptions in 595 throws.

He used his feet to bail himself out in college when he had trouble finding his target, which was too often. He gave up early on plays. In the limited time we have seen him with the Browns, he still bolts from the pocket way too soon.

Brees knew exactly what to do when that happened in college and did not bail prematurely. His patience and ability to sense the pass rush were rewarded. And it hasn’t changed in the NFL.

Now let’s turn to Wilson. Shorter than Manziel by nearly two inches, he is much more like the Cleveland quarterback than Brees insofar as to what he is capable of doing with one notable exception.

He often bails early, but his ability to escape pressure and buy time combined with his innate sense of knowing where that pressure is coming from and making the right play at the right time is what separates him from other NFL quarterbacks. Manziel failed miserably at that last season in his brief appearances.

If Guenther was using Brees as inspiration for Manziel, wrong again. Brees has carved out a solid career in 14 seasons, but has been to just one Super Bowl and won it. Wilson has been to two Super Bowls in his first three seasons and won one. If there is anyone for Manziel to aspire to, it should be Wilson.

Other than that, coach Guenther, carry on.

Nothing to lose with Pryor, but back off the excitement

So what’s to make of the Browns claiming Terrelle Pryor off National Football League waivers Monday?

Not sure what position to place in front of his first name. Quarterback? Wide receiver?

If it’s quarterback, he automatically becomes the second-best at that position on the team. If it’s wide receiver, don't get too excited.

The ex-Buckeye quarterback sure knows how to play the former position. Did it very well at Ohio State. Struggled to translate his game to the NFL, though.

After crashing and burning with four teams (Oakland, Seattle, Kansas City and Cincinnati), Pryor had decided that switching to wide receiver is his last chance to prolong his professional career.

The Browns have made it clear that Pryor will begin training camp next month as a wide receiver. He will be like a baby just out of the womb when it comes to catching footballs.

After spending his entire life throwing the prolate spheroid, seeing the opposite end heading his way will be somewhat like culture shock to the nearly 6-5, 235-pounder.

So when he tweets that “I will make a great WR” after making the switch upon his release from the Bengals, he has no idea what life is like away from lining up either under or behind the center.

Unless he’s the greatest athlete since Jim Brown ever to pull on a Browns jersey, he will encounter all kinds of problems as he learns a position so radically different  than the one he’s used to.

Instead of watching his receivers run routes, he will run them himself. It takes many years to learn the nuances of the position and he will have to be a sensationally quick study to come even close in camp.

Receivers run much more than quarterbacks. They must run precise routes. They are called on to block. That’s the mental part of the game Pryor might find difficult.

About the only area Pryor will find simpler is learning the playbook. Far less to absorb. Quarterbacks are charged with the most responsibility of any player on the team on either side of the ball.

Route discipline, especially in the Browns’ conservative move-the-ball–slowly offense this season, is essential. It is not learned overnight. Recognition of what the opposition is doing on defense also will be new to Pryor.

Catching the ball while on the move with someone headed in your general direction can play havoc with your concentration. The kind of hits wideouts absorb is significantly different than those taken by quarterbacks. A plus are his large hands.

It is going to be a long, uphill climb for the desperate Pryor. There have been a few quarterbacks who made a successful switch from quarterback to wide receiver, the most notable being Hines Ward, who quarterbacked at Georgia.

Some like Matt Jones and Brad Smith failed. Others like Joshua Cribbs, Antwaan Randle El, Marlin Briscoe, Freddie Solomon and Gene Washington found moderate success.

But none of the above ever made the switch this late in their careers. That’s what is facing Pryor, who it would appear is going to have to learn to play the game all over again from a much different perspective.

So while the move by the Browns is probably being met with some excitement in some quarters of Browns Nation, cautious optimism is about the best they can hope for with the ex-quarterback, especially since the club's weak receivers corps can't get any worse.

RIP Johnny Football?

So Johnny Football is gone. Dead and buried. Never to be heard from again.

So, too, is the money sign. You know that stupid little thing when Johnny Football – oops, sorry – make that Johnny Manziel rubs the thumb on his hands together with his index and middle fingers after a touchdown he produces.

Gone. Dead and buried. Never to be seen again.

Why? Because that’s what Manziel declared the other day to the Cleveland media. And then, like most of what Manziel says or does these days, it went viral. The declaration went world wide.

Yep. The days of Johnny Football are now just a small slice of football history. Rest in peace.

Do you buy that?

Sure, Manziel confessed the image he established and then nurtured at Texas A&M proved a massive distraction once he entered the world of professional football. He said as much to the media.

“I feel bad about that today,” he said with a straight face. “I feel bad about that throughout the last months of my life really thinking back and seeing how much of my life outside of this field and outside of this locker room was documented.”

He further admitted he could not handle the persona that accompanied him to the National Football League. “It just overtook who I was as a person,” he said. “I think at times Johnny Football probably took over me a little bit, too, and I bought into that.”

Continuing his self-analysis, Manziel said, “I think I didn’t do my best to hush things down, push down the hype. I think at times I welcomed it with immaturity and just accepted that a little bit. And that’s my fault.”

It sure is easy to look back and second-guess your behavior and label it immature while issuing what amounts to a giant mea culpa.

It never occurred to Manziel that he was a sideshow as the 2014 season unfolded? It never occurred to him he was living under a microscope? And it never occurred to him he was a polarizing figure? Really?

It began with the “hurry up and draft me because I want to be there; I want to wreck this league together” text he sent then Browns quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains on college draft night last year.

It then spiraled out of control from there and wound up with two awful performances as a starter when he replaced an ineffective Brian Hoyer toward the tail end of last season.

So it’s good to know Johnny Football and the money signs are gone from the Cleveland sports scene. (But the cynic in me says they will reappear somewhere down the line when Manziel eventually moves on to another NFL team.)

All it took was one season of reckless behavior as an NFL rookie to come to the conclusion that one year was all that was needed for Manziel to grow up. No more outside distractions. It’s all about football now.

“I just want to be a another player on this team who is in here trying to get better and just trying to be successful,” he said. “My focus is on football. It’s what I’m here to do. It’s what I love to do and that’s what I’m here to talk about.”

Referring to his 10-week stay this past spring at a rehab center in Pennsylvania for what was reportedly a drinking problem, he later added, ”I’m trying to close a chapter of my life and move forward and continue to build on things I’ve done throughout this offseason.”

All the right words uttered with an appearance of sincerity. But for some reason, they come off as disingenuous. Manziel has enjoyed the glory and the attention for too long to shut it off just like that.

We are being led to believe he will be just one of the guys from now on. No outside distractions. No nonsense. Just football.

So . . . do you buy the notion that the Browns quarterback who wears No. 2 this season is a changed young man?

I’ll cast the first vote: No.

Good luck, coach

Mike Pettine has declared the latest Johnny Manziel escapade a non-story. The Browns’ head coach is absolutely correct. But that does not eliminate a problem.

When Manziel tossed a partially loaded water bottle in the direction of a heckler at a professional golf tournament last weekend in Dallas, it became international news.

OK, that’s an exaggeration. But it took on a much larger meaning than it should have because it involved one of the stars of the TMZ World who happens to play quarterback for the Browns.

What it should not be is one of the items on Pettine’s agenda. He has much more to worry about than Manziel. Much, much, much more. And yet, there it is.

Yes, it is a non-story that has become a story in spite of being a non-story. And it joins the list of other Manziel off-the-field exploits that were much more newsworthy than this.

Taking time out to talk about his quarterback’s off-the-field life is nothing more than annoyance for Pettine. He, of course, would much rather discuss the positives about the changed Manziel. He can and does, but it is overshadowed by incidents such as the latest one.

Unfortunately, that will continue to be the case because Manziel is a human magnet when it comes to trouble. It seeks – and usually finds – him rather than the other way around.

It will remain that way as long as he pursues a career in professional football. Whether it’s with the Browns or some other National Football League team, he will be the focus regardless of his status with the team.

Whether or not he did it deliberately, he built and nurtured the Manziel brand. He has made himself a target. He’s Johnny Football. A former Heisman Trophy winner. He cannot escape the world he created. He brought it on himself.

Practically every move he makes is scrutinized. Not fair and yet a reality of life. He has no private life. When he steps out in public, the world becomes one gigantic camera. He is a lightning rod. He can’t get out of his own way.

There are a lot of crazy people lurking out there to make life miserable for him. It’s as though he walks around with an enormous bull’s-eye on his back that beckons trouble.

While at Texas A&M, Manziel enjoyed wearing that target. He was a star there. It’s a whole lot different now. Now, he is discovering that unless you translate collegiate success into pro football success, all that glitz and glamour is nothing more than a distraction, an impediment to the ultimate goal.

There’s an excellent chance we’ll never know how good Manziel can be as a pro. His non-football adventures have become a mitigating factor.

Coaches have enough to do without outside interference. It is something with which Pettine has to deal as long as he and Manziel are employed by the Browns.

Manziel needs to keep the lowest of low profiles from now on if he is serious about his job. Moving to a golf community from his downtown Cleveland digs was a step in the right direction.

But he’s still only 22 years old and likes to have a good time. That, of course, flies in the face of the low profile the club probably wishes he would keep.

Is there a solution? Probably not. Will the media pester Pettine again this season about his backup quarterback’s behavior? Count on it. Comes with the territory.

Pettine’s biggest challenge will be to make certain the rest of his locker room is not distracted by whatever trouble in which Manziel eventually finds himself embroiled.  His team will have enough trouble maintaining focus in what is certain to be a pivotal season with regard to the coach’s future employment.

As for Manziel, his situation is one he’s going to have to live with for the rest of his professional football career. Once that stops, his TMZ World comes crashing down. Where and when that stops, though, is anyone’s guess.

Statistically speaking

Having fun with the Browns’ roster . . .

It currently consists of 90 men and right now has a small degree of fluidity. Some pieces and parts, usually those who are nothing more than training camp fodder, are released occasionally and replaced by others who eventually will become pieces and parts who will be released.

When training camp begins in late July or early August, the degree of roster fluidity will intensify as the coaching staff begins to seriously break down how it wants that roster to look by the start of the regular season.

The breakdown right now: 43 men on offense, 43 men on defense and the remaining four are special teamers (two placekickers, a punter and a long snapper).

Further breakdown:  The offense has four quarterbacks, seven running backs, 11 wide receivers, six tight ends and 15 offensive linemen; the defense has 13 linemen, 12 linebackers and 18 defensive backs.

That’s a rather large preponderance of players in the secondary, which probably will lead the team in roster cuts with no more than 10 eventually surviving. Next hardest hit most likely will be the offensive and defensive lines with nine making the cut on offense and seven, maybe eight on defense.

With the team offensive philosophy skewing heavily toward the running game, it wouldn’t be surprising if all but two of the seven running backs stick and five of the 11 wide receivers are trimmed.

Sixty-one will survive entering the regular season in September – 53 on the regular team and eight more on the practice squad, which means 29 names currently on the roster will disappear before the Sept. 12 season opener in New Jersey against the New York Jets.

Of the 90 men on the roster, 24 are rookies. That’s 26.7%. Eleven more have one year’s experience, 14 have two years, 10 have logged three years and 11 more have four years.

So of the 90, 70 have no more than four years’ experience in the National Football League. That’s a whopping 77.7%. In other words, three of every four members on the team is relatively inexperienced.

The average age of this team is 25.5 years, which has to put it near the top of the list of youngest NFL teams.

On the low end of the age range is rookie running back Duke Johnson, who won’t be 22 until the third game of the regular season. On the opposite end, we find (surprise!!) quarterback Josh McCown, who will be 36 on the Fourth of July.

The other graybeards are linebacker Karlos Dansby (33), defensive back Tramon Williams (32), defensive lineman Randy Starks (31), and offensive tackle Joe Thomas, guard John Greco and wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, all 30.

The tallest Brown? Tie at 6-6 with Thomas, fellow offensive lineman Andrew McDonald, tight end Gary Barnidge and defensive lineman Desmond Bryant. The Smurf award goes to wide receiver Andrew Hawkins at 5-7.

Who is the beefiest? Rookie nose tackle Danny Shelton at 339 pounds. Wideout Taylor Gabriel is at the other end of the scale at 167 pounds. He's sort of a half Shelton. 

Will Mack be back?

So Alex Mack has chosen to keep Browns fans prisoners with regard to his future plans.

Will the Pro Bowl center remain with the club after the upcoming season? Or will he bolt?

His contract forces him to play at least one more season with the team that drafted him seven years ago. It also permits him to leave following this season as an unrestricted free agent should he choose to.

There are those who say, “Who can blame him?” if he opts to depart. After all, playing for one of the losingest teams in the National Football League can be awfully depressing.

The Browns’ front office, while hopeful Mack will choose to remain loyal, must be more pessimistic privately. Why else draft Cameron Erving in the first round of the recent college football draft?

Sure, he was an offensive left tackle at Florida State. A very good one, too. But when the Seminoles’ starting center went down midway through last season, Erving moved over and played the pivot as though he had played it his whole life.

Speculation immediately rose that the selection of Erving was insurance against Mack departing Cleveland following this season. Understandable deduction. Basically, General Manager Ray Farmer was hedging his bets on Mack’s decision.

If Mack stays, Erving is locked into a position that suits his strengths better. And if Mack leaves, the rookie merely shifts over to anchor the offensive line. Win-win.

But that does not answer the main question. What will Mack, whose departure with a broken leg in game five last season coincided with the demise of the Cleveland offensive line, finally do?

He partially answered that the other day at the club’s organized team activities session in Berea. “I’m going to defer,” he told reporters. “I’ll talk about that at the end of the season.”

He said he has not made up his mind. “No,” he insisted. “Absolutely not, Let’s play the games. Let’s see how the season goes. I’m really not interested in talking about that until after the season.”

So it appears as though how the Browns fare this season will factor into his Mack’s decision. “I definitely want to win games,” he said. “It’s very important to me. No one likes losing. Across any job, anything, at all times. It’s tough without a doubt.”

And what else will it take? “What you always do,” Mack said. “You just want to come out here, play the games, play well and win games. That’s what every person in this building’s goal is.”

So all the Browns need to do, at least according to Mack, is win. Win more than they lose. Beyond that, he was vague, if not non-committal.

Okay, let’s break this down and figure out how much of a chance the Browns have at equaling Mack’s standards regarding his future with the club.

Defensively, they can’t be any worse at stopping the run than they were last season, when they were the NFL’s caboose in the category. Adding top draft choice Danny Shelton and free agent Randy Starks and larger doses of health can’t hurt.

Dropping opposing passers, another huge problem last season, ostensibly got better with the drafting of outside linebacker Nate Orchard, who will join fellow Utah alum Paul Kruger in an effort to improve those numbers.

The secondary, which didn’t get picked on nearly as much because opponents were so successful on the ground, should be that much stronger than last season if we are to believe Justin Gilbert is a reformed young man in the commitment category.

Now then, let’s take a look at the offense, where Mack is expected to be a vital contributor. Let’s start with quarterback.

Mack will be snapping the ball to either Josh McCown or Johnny Manziel. Stop for a moment and think about that. One is journeyman who defines the very term. The other is a question mark at best.

The most important position on the offense, if not the entire team, is in the hands of, no matter who wins the starting job, the worst – by far – quarterback in the AFC North. If not the entire NFL.

With the exception of a brief period when he excelled a few years ago with the Chicago Bears when Jay Cutler was injured, McCown and mediocrity have traveled hand in hand down the same path.

And Manziel is a puzzlement wrapped in an enigma. No one, maybe not even him, knows what to expect from him when the Browns gather in Berea for training camp later this summer.

Maybe he can recapture his glory days at Texas A&M when he won the Heisman Trophy and became the darling of the college football crowd. Maybe he can overcome a substance abuse problem that required a long stay at a treatment facility.

There is always the possibility that maybe he can’t.

Now let’s look at the running game. Second-year running backs Terrance West and Isaiah Crowell, if they don’t suffer the sophomore jinx, should provide the Browns with a strong running game, especially now that Mack is back.

The addition of third-round choice Duke Johnson can’t hurt, especially in the passing game, where the return of the screen pass is highly anticipated.  The addition of Johnson definitely improves that position.

Up next the wide receivers corps. Not exactly a group that excites.

With Josh Gordon down for at least one year, the Browns own what might be the most non-threatening group of pass receivers in the entire NFL. There is not a single deep threat, unless you consider little Taylor Gabriel and brittle Travis Benjamin.

The addition of free agent Dwayne Bowe and Brian Hartline will not improve the speed. Both men are possession receivers. So are Andrew Hawkins and rookie Vince Mayle. The Browns might lead the NFL in possession receivers.

The tight ends will not be a major factor in the passing with the departure of the brittle Jordan Cameron. Good blockers in Jim Dray, Rob Housler and Gary Barnidge. That’s about it.

As for the offensive line, it should be one of the best now that Erving, a strong candidate to open at right tackle, has arrived. That move should push Mitchell Schwartz inside at guard, where he can be more effective.

The Cleveland offense, clearly bucking the NFL trend toward the forward pass, will be run centric. Their entire success on that side of the ball will be predicated on that phase of the game.

As for the special teams, it cant get any worse than last season for the return teams. The punter is boringly mediocre. And the Browns still can’t find a reliable placekicker.

Summing up: A good defense that can get better if the offense can stay on the field, an offense that most likely will be extremely one-dimensional and might have trouble remaining on the field and special teams that won’t excite anyone.

Now factor in a schedule that includes the tough NFC West (as opposed to last season’s weak NFC South) and only four games against teams that had losing seasons last season and you have a formula that mitigates against a winning record.

Mack hints he might stay if the Browns win games. He didn’t say how many, but one gets the impression it had better be more than last season’s seven.

Bottom line: He’s gone.

The final grade is in

Last year, Browns General Manager Ray Farmer entered the National Football League’s college draft with 10 picks. After a series of trades, he made just six selections.

This year, Farmer entered the lottery with 10 picks again and, after a series of trades, doubled his fun, ending the three-day event with a dozen new Brownies. And what an interesting group it is.

It includes a wide receiver (this is not a typo), a couple of tight ends (one undersized), two defensive linemen, three candidates for the secondary, a pair of linebackers, a running back and an offensive tackle. He hit every major position on the roster except quarterback. The man earned his keep.

It took him 13 attempts, but the stubborn GM finally pulled the trigger on a wide receiver when he (with no apparent weapon pointed at him) wrote Vince Mayle’s name on a piece of paper and submitted it for the league’s consideration.

The big wide receiver from Washington State, benefiting from a pass-heavy offense, led the PAC-12 in receptions and yardage, but developed a reputation for dropping passes, which might be considered understandable when you average 12½ targets a game. Just what the Browns need . . . another pass dropper. Shades of Greg Little.

Why he waited this long for a wideout is known only by Farmer, whose cache tilted slightly toward the defensive side of the ball with seven selections, ranging from a run-stuffing nose tackle with the opening selection to a surprising final pick as the draft wore down.

The GM wisely chose Oregon cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, who probably would have been a first-round pick had he not torn up his knee preparing for the Rose Bowl late last year. The talented 5-9, 195-pound All-America might miss the entire 2015 season, but was worth the late-draft gamble.

Chances are he’ll be fully healthy and ready to compete for one of the starting jobs by the time the 2016 season rolls around. Talents like Ekpre-Olomu are worth waiting for. His selection helped elevate the final grade.

Following a very strong first round with nose tackle Danny Shelton and offensive tackle Cameron Erving, and so-so results in rounds two and three with edge rusher Nate Orchard, running back Duke Johnson and defensive end Xavier Cooper, Farmer went to work on the rest of the roster.

In fourth-round strong safety Ibraheim Campbell and seventh-round inside linebacker Hayes Pullard III, Farmer clearly went for the aggressive type, one of coach Mike Pettine’s favorite attributes. Both have a nose for the ball and are not bashful tacklers.

Farmer, however, did not solve the dilemma at tight end. Malcolm Johnson and Randall Telfer, both sixth-round picks, are solid blockers with hands more suited for that aspect of the position.  The undersized (6-1, 230) Johnson might be utilized as a fullback in heavy packages on short-yardage plays or goal-line situations.

That means Cleveland's tight ends this season will not be option 1, 2, 3 and probably 4. There are no pass-catching tight ends on the roster. One less thing opposing defensive coordinators have to be concerned with.

Cornerback Charles Gaines, another sixth-rounder, should find his value on special teams

Shelton, Orchard, Campbell and Pullard definitely will be Pettine’s favorites with their belligerent approach to the game. The big question is how well each player’s particular talents translate to the pro game, Orchard in particular.

The moves that enabled him to rack up 18½ sacks at Utah last year will not work against NFL offensive linemen, who will be much larger and a whole lot quicker than the ones he faced on the collegiate level. Barkevious Mingo arrived in Cleveland with a similar reputation as an edge rusher and  failed to deliver.

Last season, Farmer’s six picks produced three starters in running back Terrance West, left guard Joel Bitonio and outside linebacker Christian Kirksey. First-round selections Justin Gilbert and Johnny Manziel failed miserably and fourth-round cornerback Pierre Desir watched most of the season.

This year, both first-rounders will start. So will Orchard. The other nine picks, barring a surprise, will either play complementary roles, play on special teams or, in a couple of cases, fail to make the team by the time the regular season commences.

Some teams get lucky when middle- and late-round picks surprise and become starters. The Browns have not been one of those teams for a very long time. One who has a chance is Ekpre-Olomu and they might have to wait until next year to find out.

Campbell, a possible heir apparent to Donte Whitner at strong safety, and Pullard, who could push Craig Robertson to start next to Karlos Dansby at inside linebacker, are brash overachievers and have a chance to break the mold.  

Overall, Farmer was headed for a final grade of C+ until he figured out that Ekpre-Olomu was worth the final pick even though his contributions will be delayed. That elevates the final grade to a B- and that’s being charitable.

Wronging a right

Well, that didn’t take long. The euphoric feeling following the Browns’ selections in the first round of the National Football League college draft Thursday night gave way Friday night to puzzlement.

After Friday night’s journey through the second and third rounds, it’s time to admit I have no idea what label to pin on Ray Farmer’s philosophy with regard to the annual lottery.

He was all over the place Friday night. Just when you expected him to zig, he zagged. When you thought he would certainly select what appeared to be an obvious choice, he went in a completely different direction.

There had to be several huh!, what-in-the-world-is-he-doing moments among the faithful.

The Cleveland general manager mystifyingly sidesteps every opportunity to draft a wide receiver. In doing so, one can only assume he is satisfied with his current corps of receivers. He shouldn’t be.

He had a chance to draft big Jaelen Strong of Arizona State or Minnesota tight end Maxx Williams in the second round and, after trading down eight spots, selected Utah defensive end Nate Orchard, who projects as an edge rusher. Strong went to Houston early in the third round and Williams to Baltimore in the second.

In the third round, Farmer turned his nose up at big Auburn wideout Sammie Coates, later taken by the Pittsburgh Steelers, and added Miami of Florida running back Duke Johnson to the roster. A late third-round trade with New England netted Washington State defensive end Xavier Cooper.

Farmer and his minions have no clue that the key components to the offense, the quarterbacks and receivers, are substandard. They obviously haven’t received the memo that the NFL has turned into a passing league.

It’s almost as though they believe Josh McCown and Johnny Manziel have been provided with the necessary tools to function in a winning manner. No they haven’t.

There are absolutely no threats at tight end. And there is no one of size on the flanks who can stretch a defense and open up the running game. They do not exist on the roster.

Johnson’s arrival will help the running game to a certain extent, particularly the passing aspect, which was a dismal failure last season. But he is not an every-down back. He’s a change-of-pace guy. He’ll do nothing more than complement Isaiah Crowell and Terrance West. Third-round picks should be more than part-timers.

Farmer, who seems to be concentrating on bolstering the front seven of his defense, needs to step back and take a very long and very realistic look at what is clearly the worst offense in the AFC North. It won’t scare anyone.

Orchard, who compiled an astounding 18½ of his 25 career sacks last year, most likely will slide into the spot vacated by Jabaal Sheard, who bolted for New England in free agency. Sometimes, football people can be blinded by statistics that don’t tell the whole story.

Did Orchard all of a sudden become a pass-rushing demon? Where was he the first few years of his tenure at Utah? Maybe he’s one of those football players who seem   to get better as he matures. We’ll find out later this year.

Cooper’s selection merely adds depth to an area of the team that, if it can stay healthy, might be the strongest on the team. But enough already. Time to address the weakest skill position on the team that isn’t quarterback.

This year’s crop of wide receivers in the draft is stronger than last season’s excellent field, but time is running out. Still left are Florida State’s Rashad Greene, Tre McBride of William & Mary, Justin Hardy of East Carolina, Maryland’s Stefon Diggs and Tony Lippett of Michigan State.

Surely, one will be available when the Browns have consecutive picks midway through round four Saturday. If Farmer makes a move in that direction, a small celebration is in order. Don’t hold your breath.

Good start

Say hello, Browns fans, to your new nose tackle and new offensive right tackle who will be your starting center in 2016.

Say hello to Danny Shelton and Cameron Erving – two intelligent selections for a change.

In making common-sense picks with his first two cracks in the first round of the annual National Football League college draft Thursday night in Chicago, Cleveland General Manager Ray Farmer went trenching for talent and struck it rich.

It was a statement that indicates the GM realizes his two lines needed help. Resisting – or least seemingly resisting – the temptation to trade up in order to address the skilled areas of the team, it appears he finally gets it.

Shelton, the boulder-sized defensive tackle from Washington, can’t help but improve the team’s shocking inability to stop the run and, at the same time, improve the interior pass rush.

His entrance on stage with Commissioner Roger Goodell provided the highlight of the evening. Dressed in his native Samoan garb, the academic All-America bear-hugged the much smaller commissioner, then joyously lifted him off the floor for a few seconds.

With this addition to the roster, the Browns’ annual slide to the bottom of the league while defending the run should stop.

The wide body 6-2, 335-pound Shelton, whose short-area quickness is his greatest asset, is a shorter version of Haloti Ngata, who tormented Cleveland offenses for many years with the Baltimore Ravens before being traded to Detroit in March.

He should have no trouble supplanting Phil Taylor in the middle of the defensive line in coach Mike Pettine’s 3-4 hybrid scheme, mainly because Taylor can’t stay healthy. Look for Taylor to move outside.

Shelton is not your standard two-down run stuffer who trots to the sideline on third down. Asked by the NFL Network’s Deion Sanders what the Browns should expect from him, he replied, “The best defensive tackle. The best run-stopping defensive tackle. The best pass-rushing defensive tackle.” In other words, he stays on the field.

His ability to penetrate on obvious passing downs enabled him to record nine sacks last season at Washington. With Shelton on board and a healthier defensive line overall, it will be difficult for the Browns to land again at the bottom of the league’s rankings against the run.

The selection of Erving, another smart move, was to a certain extent made out of necessity. His versatility – he has played all five positions along the offensive line – will allow the Browns to move him into the pivot when Alex Mack leaves following the 2015 season.

So while it appears as though the Erving selection was a hedge against Mack’s departure, that is hardly the case. He is considered the second-best interior lineman in this lottery and should fit in nicely, giving the right side of the offensive line some needed toughness.

For right now, though, look for him to start at right tackle, moving Mitchell Schwartz inside at right guard where he should be more effective. No need to worry about Erving’s pass protection skills. He was good enough to play left tackle and protect Jameis Winston’s blind side at Florida State.

In selecting Erving, Farmer passed up Kentucky’s Bud Dupree, an edge rusher who went to the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Central Florida wide receiver Breshad Perriman, who was grabbed by the Baltimore Ravens.

Nevertheless, it was somewhat gratifying he did not overdraft for a wide receiver after the last of the top three wideouts fell off the board two picks after the Shelton selection. The Trader Ray Farmer of last year's draft was missing in action.

So now with two vital areas addressed, the GM goes back to work Friday night in rounds two (pick No. 43) and three (pick No. 77), where the wide receiver situation should finally be addressed. Jaelen Strong of Arizona State and Missouri’s Dorial Green-Beckham are still on the board.

So are outside linebacker Randy Gregory from Nebraska, Alabama safety Landon Collins, offensive tackles T. J. Clemmings from Pittsburgh and Oregon’s Jake Fisher, Virginia outside linebacker Eli Harold, Minnesota tight end Maxx Williams and cornerback Jalen Collins from LSU. All are need positions.

If Farmer is as successful in the next couple of rounds as he was Thursday night, then the uniforms won’t be the only things new in Berea.

Farmer needs to look at the big picture

Good to be back on the planet. Not much on the interstellar news front.

Now then, what’s new? Oh yeah, the college draft is Thursday and the Browns still have two selections in the first round.

That, in and off itself, is a minor miracle given Ray Farmer’s predilection of playing trading games with his fellow National Football League general managers. And wouldn’t you know it, rumors persist Farmer has a deal or two he’d like to make.

His main target, according to those rumors, is Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota, with whom has had a love affair (strictly professional, of course) the last two years. And he’d like to continue it in Cleveland.

Unless the Cleveland GM is willing to surrender both of his first-round picks (Nos. 12 and 19) in an effort to get into position to draft Mariota, Browns fans will have to settle for Josh McCown and Johnny Manziel as the club’s quarterbacks this season while Mariota lands elsewhere.

There are those who fully endorse shipping those first-round picks and a whole lot more for the opportunity to select Mariota. That would be insane and only add to the blunders this team has made in the draft for the last 16 years.

Surrendering all those picks is too stiff a price to pay for a quarterback whose success – albeit one that helped him win the last Heisman Trophy – was predicated on a system that is 180 degrees the opposite of a pro style scheme.

The Browns, who need help in a multitude of areas, can ill afford to take such a gamble. Too many holes to fill elsewhere. Like the right side of the offensive line.  Or the secondary. Or the pass rush. Or the run defense. Or the secondary. Or the receiving corps.

If Farmer overcommits for just one position, he will surely disrupt the integrity of the roster. Football is a team game and right now, his team needs far outweigh the needs of one position.

Granted, McCown and Manziel are not the answer at quarterback. But improving the other moving parts of the offense and defense should help to erase any notions the GM has to weaken his team and hone in on Mariota.

There are too many terrific college players who do not write the word quarterback on their resumes to consider. This is a deep draft. Deeper, some say, than last year’s.

The most important area for Farmer to address is the trenches, where most games are won and lost. Win the battles up front and the likelihood of winning games grows exponentially.

The Browns, despite their predictable protestations, are a fragile football team.  They say they like where they are entering the lottery. All teams say that at this time of the season. And then you break it down. So let’s do that.

First the offense. The Browns have a decent offensive line that generally does a good job protecting the quarterback, but needs help on the right side, especially with the running game.

As for the ground game, second-year backs Isaiah Crowell and Terrance West had their moments in their rookie seasons, but need to become more involved in the passing game. If not, opposing defenses will ignore them and take dead aim on the quarterback.

The receiving corps is somewhat better than last season, but that’s not saying much since last season’s group might have been the worst in the entire NFL. Adding veterans Dwayne Bowe and Brian Hartline will not offset the season-long absence of Josh Gordon.

Farmer must fix that offense to take pressure off a defense that spent too much time on the field last season. The receiving corps, after being blatantly ignored last season, must receive more than token attention. McCown and Manziel need someone to rely on and that someone is not on the current roster.

If it’s coach Mike Pettine’s intention to play smashmouth football on offense, the run game needs to be addressed. As it stands now, it is anything but smashmouth worthy. This offensive line is not physical enough to be awarded that label.

Now the defense. Help is needed just about everywhere. It all starts up front with the plug uglies. Shut down the run and your chances of winning dramatically rise. Last season, the injury-riddled Cleveland defensive line shut down no one.

It didn’t help that the pass rush ranked among the lowest (27^th) in the NFL. Outside linebacker Paul Kruger had more than one-third of the team’s 31 sacks. That’s got to improve.

The secondary, statistically speaking, caught a break last season, ranking in the top 25%. That’s because the opposition enjoyed too much success running against the Browns and didn’t need to put the ball up as often.

As for the special teams, the Browns need a return specialist, a new placekicker and a punter. I know, Captain Obvious.

Last season, no one stepped up in the return game and helped win the field-position battle. The punt game was erratic, while the club had to change placekickers in the middle of the season.

There is a ton of work Farmer needs to do with this team. If he believes otherwise, he is fooling only himself. Check out this season’s schedule. It is ridiculously more difficult than last season’s softie.

If Farmer honestly thinks mortgaging the future for a quarterback who won’t pay dividends for at least a couple of seasons is the road down which to travel, then he’s punching a ticket for his departure from Cleveland after just two seasons in the GM's chair.

And then they start all over again.