Cleveland Browns Offseason Talk

• hoops23

  

  Seneca Wallace has good arm strength, not really sure what some of you guys are talking about..
  
  He's also better than Quinn and DA.
  
  However, he's still a career back up.. He may start this year if we don't grab another QB, but he's not the long term answer for sure.
• BR1986FB

  royal_k wrote: I don't get this trade either. I don't think he's an upgrade over what we have. I guess we have to trust Holmgren in this decision. Obviously, he has something else planned. I don't see him being satisfied with thses 3 QB's heading into the season.

  I think they are still working hard to get a starter. Holmgren can't possibly be considering starting Quinn.
  
  People need to get off of Troy Smith's jock too. I'm going to trust Holmgren's evaluation over a bunch of OSU homers.
• ytownfootball

  

  Oh, I defer to what Holmgren thinks over my limited knowledge, rest assured, I just don't see much difference in the two minus a little arm strength. I'm not a fan of small, elusive type QBs that are prone to run without going through progressions. I'd much prefer a standard pocket QB, neither of them fit that mold which confuses me. I'll wait and see, but theres not enough distinction between the two to justify one over the other is my point, not "We should bring in T.Smith"
• pkebker

  Is the 2011 late round draft pick that we just traded to Seattle, the same pick we recieved from the Corey Williams trade?
• BR1986FB

  http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2010/03/seneca_wallace_has_the_tools_a.html
• OneBuckeye

  

  I am afraid of who the young quarterback of the future the article mentions is. I don't want to go through drafting a QB high and watching said draftee go through growing pains again and all the contreversey it entails.
• OneBuckeye

  

  A blurb about the situation at the ILB position.
  
  http://espn.go.com/blog/afcnorth/post/_/id/10322/fujita-creates-surplus-for-browns
  

  The Cleveland Browns have an interesting situation brewing at inside linebacker.
  
  Sunday's free-agent signing of Scott Fujita adds to a mix of veterans and youngsters competing at the same position. In the end, there may not be enough room for all of them.
  
  Fujita joins Eric Barton, D'Qwell Jackson, Kaluka Maiava and the versatile Jason Trusnik as players who spent time starting at middle linebacker for Cleveland last season.
  
  A starter for the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints, Fujita didn't come to Cleveland to be a backup. So let's assume he's a starter next fall. That leaves four players -- Jackson, Barton, Maiava and Trusnik -- competing for one starting job.
  
  Barton signed a four-year deal last season and is a favorite of head coach Eric Mangini. But Barton is coming off neck surgery and his health is in question. Jackson has been one of Cleveland’s most productive defenders, but he's also coming off a season-ending pectoral injury. Jackson has a second-round tender and could generate some interest in the trade market.
  
  Maiava and Trusnik both are young players who can provide depth.
  
  Because the Browns play a 3-4 defense, they would probably prefer to keep a large surplus of linebackers. But Fujita, Barton and Jackson are a particularly odd trio with tons of combined starting experience and just two jobs available.
  
  Fujita isn't going anywhere. So an educated guess is Cleveland's front office, led by new president Mike Holmgren, likely has to decide between keeping Barton or Jackson this offseason.

• BR1986FB

  A name that article failed to mention was David Bowens. When injuries struck and Bowens was forced into ILB duty, the defense played MUCH better. I could see Barton being let go and DQ Jackson possibly being demoted/traded.
  
  Still hoping that the rumor of DQ (and more) to Dallas for Tashard Choice (and more) comes to fruition.
• OneBuckeye

  

  BR1986FB wrote: Still hoping that the rumor of DQ (and more) to Dallas for Tashard Choice (and more) comes to fruition.

  Had not heard that was a possibility but that deal sound excellent.
• BR1986FB

  I still think that Holmgren's goal is to bring in a starting caliber QB and jettison both Quinn and DA so there's no leftover sentiment towards starting one of the incumbents.
• OneBuckeye

  

  Pennington is off the market as he resigned with the Dolphins.
• ts1227

  

  krazie45 wrote: So what's the difference between Seneca Wallace and Troy Smith you might ask?
  
  well let's see:
  
  One wants to be a Brown and the other is forced from a trade.
  
  One has a strong arm while the other does not
  
  One is still young with potential while the other has reached his peak
  
  But the most important thing is that one is Holmgren's puppy dog while the other isn't. I've liked the moves this club has made so far but this is beyond stupid. While the hell would you bring in Wallace and not Smith is BEYOND me.

  That's a lot of extra words you typed in order to say what you really meant: "Troy Smith is an Ohio guy who went to Ohio State, and Seneca Wallace is not"
• BR1986FB

  ts1227 wrote:

  krazie45 wrote: So what's the difference between Seneca Wallace and Troy Smith you might ask?
  
  well let's see:
  
  One wants to be a Brown and the other is forced from a trade.
  
  One has a strong arm while the other does not
  
  One is still young with potential while the other has reached his peak
  
  But the most important thing is that one is Holmgren's puppy dog while the other isn't. I've liked the moves this club has made so far but this is beyond stupid. While the hell would you bring in Wallace and not Smith is BEYOND me.

  That's a lot of extra words you typed in order to say what you really meant: "Troy Smith is an Ohio guy who went to Ohio State, and Seneca Wallace is not"

  No kidding.
  
  I think someone needs to do a little homework before they say "one has a strong arm and the other doesn't. I'm assuming he's talking about Smith having the weak arm because arm strength has NEVER been an issue with Wallace. They actually had to train him to put arc on his passes because he was throwing straight line laser beams at receivers.
• dat dude

  Might want to take your own advice. I have no idea regarding Wallace's arm strength but I know for certain that Smith's arm strength has never been in question.
• BR1986FB

  dat dude wrote: Might want to take your own advice. I have no idea regarding Wallace's arm strength but I know for certain that Smith's arm strength has never been in question.

  Try reading.
  
  I know that Smith has arm strength. I made the comment that unless he was referring to Smith, which I knew he wasn't, that he might want to do a little research. Neither QB has a weak arm.
  
  The knocks on Smith are his ability to read defenses (not the sharpest knife in the drawer) and his long windup.
• OneBuckeye

  

  I hope they bring Brady back, just because I think he is still a viable option.
• miller45452003

  Browns hosting Spikes for a private workout. Would love to trade down a few spots for this beast.
  
  http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/03/09/browns-to-conduct-private-workout-with-spikes/
• dat dude

  BR1986FB wrote: I think someone needs to do a little homework before they say "one has a strong arm and the other doesn't. I'm assuming he's talking about Smith having the weak arm because arm strength has NEVER been an issue with Wallace.

  Try reading. I know that Smith has arm strength.

  Hm, why would you assume he was talking about Smith if you knew he had arm strength? Why not just say they both have above average arm strength?
• BR1986FB

  Browns will bring in Troy CB Jorrick Calvin for a personal workout. He is apparently gaining a great deal of interest.
• BR1986FB

  dat dude wrote:

  BR1986FB wrote: I think someone needs to do a little homework before they say "one has a strong arm and the other doesn't. I'm assuming he's talking about Smith having the weak arm because arm strength has NEVER been an issue with Wallace.

  Try reading. I know that Smith has arm strength.

  Hm, why would you assume he was talking about Smith if you knew he had arm strength? Why not just say they both have above average arm strength?

  Because his post was homer/pro-Smith and because I'm a smartass.
• buckeyes_woowee

  I really think Wallace is going to play well. He just hasn't had the chance to be a full time starter.
• krazie45

  

  ts1227 wrote:

  krazie45 wrote: So what's the difference between Seneca Wallace and Troy Smith you might ask?
  
  well let's see:
  
  One wants to be a Brown and the other is forced from a trade.
  
  One has a strong arm while the other does not
  
  One is still young with potential while the other has reached his peak
  
  But the most important thing is that one is Holmgren's puppy dog while the other isn't. I've liked the moves this club has made so far but this is beyond stupid. While the hell would you bring in Wallace and not Smith is BEYOND me.

  That's a lot of extra words you typed in order to say what you really meant: "Troy Smith is an Ohio guy who went to Ohio State, and Seneca Wallace is not"

  Very nice generalization/judgement, but sorry to say you swung and missed. My point is that you have two guys who have similar skill sets. Now do you bring in the younger guy who has a chance to develop and who wants to be a leader for the Cleveland Browns, or do you bring in the guy who HAS reached his peak as a player (career backup) and is a "fit" because he's buddies with Holmgren (not Mangini who will actually be coaching him). I've seen enough of Seneca Wallace in the NFL to know that he is not the answer for the Browns, I cannot say that for Troy Smith because he hasn't had enough playing time.
  
  It's clear that this is a move to get a guy who knows the west coast offense and can teach it to whoever the young guy at QB is going to be. Seneca Wallace is not the answer at anything other than 2nd string and if he's our opening day starter, it's going to be a looooooooong season.
• charliehustle14

  I know there's a lot of OSU homers wanting Smith to go to Cleveland, but they do have a pretty valid argument.
  
  -Younger
  -Similiar skill set
  -Hometown kid and OSU kid (more fans would be willing to pay to see Smith QB instead of Wallace
  -Wallace has reached his potential, as a career back up. Smith still has time to develop into a starter. If worst comes to worst and Smith doesn't develop, you're in the same position as you are now with a career backup.
  -Playing in the AFC North would be ideal for Smith. He'd get to play against the team that didn't give him a chance (Baltimore), another in-state team (Cincy), and a team that he's always hated (Pittsburgh)
• Writerbuckeye

  

  I'm as big an OSU homer as anyone and I don't get the Troy Smith love-fest.
  
  Perhaps it's because his lack of dedication to stay fit and compete in the Florida game provided an aspect of his personality that really, really turned me off.
  
  I'm really not sure.
  
  In any case, there is a HUGE difference between Wallace and Smith right now that nobody is talking about, and that is the fact that Wallace has already played in significant games and played pretty well. Smith has not.
  
  Yes, Smith has potential -- but so does every QB on the draft list. It doesn't mean I feel confident in taking any of them.
  
  Wallace was acquired to give the Browns -- AT THE VERY LEAST -- a solid backup QB to replace Anderson, because there's no way in hell Anderson is going to collect that roster bonus in another week or so.
  
  This move really isn't that mysterious.
• krazie45

  

  Not to mention the fact that Troy Smith is 1-0 against the Steelers