2010 Cleveland Browns Team Preview/Predictions
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2009 Record: 5-11
ATS: 10-6-0
In 2009 the decade-long rebuilding project that is the Cleveland Browns shuffled another few inches in the direction of becoming a respectable football team only to fall remarkably, laughably short. Again.
It would take too much time to list the new and inventive ways the Browns found to make a mockery of most of 2009, from 10-hour mandatory bus trips for their rookies in camp to front office firings that led to lawsuits during the season. Suffice it to say, the 2009 Browns were a mess even by their standards, and that’s saying something.
In what seems to be the pattern former Bill Belichick assistants follow, in his first year with the Browns head coach Eric Mangini ran any sort of dissension out his locker room early and often. Before the season started tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. found himself in Tampa Bay, and midway through the season wide receiver Braylon Edwards ended up with the New York Jets.
These events may have allowed Mangini to tighten his grip on the team, but it basically left the Browns with one offensive weapon on their entire roster.
The most versatile and dangerous weapon in the league is arguably KR/PR/WR/RB/QB Josh Cribbs. It’s just unfortunate for the Browns that Cribbs can’t play all those positions at once because after him, this team is dreadfully thin on talent. In 2009 the Browns started 1-11 and their quarterbacks (yes, plural) were so bad that neither Brady Quinn nor Derek Anderson are even on the Browns’ roster heading into 2010 (moreover, that one win was a 6-3 decision at Buffalo, in which the Browns passed for just 23 yards.
In some ways it’s a minor miracle that Mangini remains the head coach of the Browns, but he was saved by the length of the contract he signed and the cynical way he rode running back Jerome Harrison into the ground over the last few weeks of the season (Harrison carried the ball 34, 39 and 33 times in the Browns last three games), as his team muddled its way to a 5-11 finish.
Now, at least in theory, all that’s behind the Browns. They have a new starter at quarterback in Jake Delhomme (Carolina) and a new trio of running backs to spell Harrison: James Davis (second year, Clemson), Peyton Hills (Denver), and Montario Hardesty (rookie, Tennessee).
They will also start the season with a brand new secondary featuring first-round draft pick (seventh overall) Joe Haden from Florida, Sheldon Brown (Philadelphia) and second-round draft pick, safety T.J. Ward (Oregon).
The Browns then hope that the two wide receivers they drafted last year, Mohamed Massaquoi (Georgia) and Brian Robiskie (Ohio St.), can mature and give Delhomme respectable targets which will keep opponents from focusing solely on the Browns’ running attack.
As for the defense overall, defensive coordinator Rob Ryan’s bunch played mostly above its head in 2009. By the end of the year, thanks mainly to injury, Ryan was nearly pulling bodies off the street and crossing his fingers.
This year he’ll get the return of top tackler D’Qwell Jackson at linebacker and a number of additional starters including linebackers Scott Fujita (New Orleans) and Chris Gocong (Philadelphia).
Unfortunately for Cleveland fans, the only unquestioned talent on this team outside of the electric Josh Cribbs is all-pro left tackle Joe Thomas.
Given that, and how Jake Delhomme screams of being a placeholder quarterback for a developing rookie who doesn’t even seem to be on the roster yet (unless Colt McCoy decides to surprise), it’s extremely difficult to see how the Browns don’t bring up the rear in the AFC North for yet another year.
Yes, the front office now features both Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert, the latter of whom is credited with helping build the Philadelphia Eagles into a perennial contender, so hope springs eternal in northern Ohio even if the team threatens to be just as dreadful as ever.
Browns 2010 Outlook
It’s just that optimism might be warranted in 2011… not 2010.
Browns 2010 Futures
Super Bowl Odds: +12500
Conference Odds: +5000
AFC North Odds: +2000
2010 Browns Predictions
Place they’ll finish in AFC North: 4th
Place they’ll finish in AFC Conference: 15th
Over/Under Season Wins Prediction: Under 5.5 Wins
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Dave Golokhov has written for BETUS Sportsbook, Sportsfanmagazine.com, FOX, Askmen.com, Sports-central.org, and the FOXSports.com Funhouse.
