2007 Cleveland Browns Football
Dog Pound May Soon Pack a Big Bite
While everyone will be watching the usual big name teams make big moves and raise big expectations, folks in Cleveland just might soon have something big themselves. The team who comes in dead last in the rankings for “NFL’s flashiest uniforms” has been quietly stockpiling talent and putting themselves in position for a standoff with the AFC elite. Though 2007 might not be the year that they contend for a conference title, the Browns should make a strong push for a playoff spot. It is difficult to see how high the odds makers will power rate the Browns, but rest assured Ace sees the Browns as a play on team in terms of our NFL picks and a great NFL bet on for the 07 campaign at the time of publish.
Fighting through division rivals Baltimore, Cincinnati, and 2005 Super Bowl champ Pittsburgh won’t be easy. On top of the six division games, the Browns play a relatively soft schedule. Their home games include Buffalo, Miami, Houston, San Francisco and Seattle. They travel to New England, the Jets, Oakland, Arizona and St. Louis. Though one could not say this is an “easy” schedule, there are certainly a number of very winnable games. Head coach Romeo Crennel knows how to win after spending years as special teams coach for Bill Parcells and as defensive coordinator under Bill Belichick. His team will be prepared for big games and play fundamental football, especially on defense.
Signing Jamal Lewis and trading Reuben Droughns to the Giants for veteran receiver Tim Carter indicates that the Browns are willing to do what it takes to win. Carter adds a deep threat to Charlie Frye’s arsenal along with possession receiver Joe Jurevicius, big play man Braylon Edwards and rising star and “soldier” Kellen Winslow Jr. Frye completed an impressive 64.3% of his passes last season in 13 games. His downside as a young quarterback was his touchdown to interception ratio, which was 10:17. Throwing for only 6.3 yards per attempt, Frye settled for shorter passes and dump offs. In his second full year as the starter, Frye can be expected to improve significantly.
Tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. led the team with 89 receptions and backup Steve Haiden had 36, good for fourth on the team. Frye has scrambling ability and finished second on the team behind Droughns with 215 yards rushing. As evidenced by these numbers and Frye’s low yards-per-attempt, the Browns need to address their offensive line to give him more time to throw. Offensive line play is an area that often gets over looked by novice NFL handicapping, but as we at AceFootballPicks.com know, it is one of the most important areas of evaluating a teams play and future success. The Browns got a good start by signing four year veteran and former Bengal guard Eric Steinbach to a seven year contract.
After watching him set the single game rushing record of 295 yards against them on September 14th 2003, Jamal Lewis made his impression on the Browns, who signed him before trading Droughns. Droughns was unable to repeat his 1200 yard season of 2005 and was due a $1.75 million roster bonus. The Browns will likely pair Lewis up with Oklahoma RB Adrian Peterson with the third overall pick in April’s draft. Putting Lewis and Peterson together would give them the high powered tandem that every team who advanced deep into the playoffs in 2006 possessed. The veteran power game of Lewis and the young aggressiveness of Peterson could be compared to Corey Dillon and Lawrence Maroney in New England in ’06. If the Browns, for some reason, believe Jamal Lewis is capable of carrying the entire load on his own, Cleveland could go with Wisconsin offensive tackle Joe Thomas at number three. Either way, they would be addressing a key position of need with a premiere player. The Browns are rising to contention and will soon be a force in the AFC.
We will continue to roll out articles from our expert NFL handicappers so stay tuned to AceFootballPicks.com today through the 2007 football campaign.
