Updated Depth Chart

Cleveland Browns Depth Chart According To Me

Although I am not thrilled with the idea of Charlie Frye starting the season, I have done my best to figure out exactly how the depth chart and/or the 53 man roster should look. Some names are doubled up and only count once.

Browns Depth Chart According To Me

WR Joe Jurevicious-----Joshua Cribbs
LT Joe Thomas--------Nat Dorsey
LG Eric Steinbach------Lennie Friedman
C Hank Fraley---------Rob Smith
RG Seth McKinney-----Isaac Sowells-----------Fred Matua
RT Kevin Shaffer-------Kelly Butler
TE Kellen Winslow-----Steve Heiden
WR Braylon Edwards----Travis Wilson
QB Charlie Frye--------Brady Quinn------------Ken Dorsey
RB Jamal Lewis---------Jason Wright-----------Jerome Harrison
FB Lawrence Vickers----Charles Ali

DE Shaun Smith----------Orpheus Roye
NT Ted Washington------Ethan Kelley
DE Robaire Smith---------Simon Fraser
LOLB Antwan Peek----------Willie McGinest
ILB Leon Williams---------Andra Davis
ILB D’Qwell Jackson-------Clifton Smith
ROLB Kamerion Wimbley----Chaun Thompson
LCB Eric Wright------------Kenny Wright
RCB Leigh Bodden----------Daven Holly-------------Gary Baxter
SS Sean Jones------------Justin Hamilton
FS Brodney Pool----------Mike Adams

P Dave Zastudil
K Phil Dawson
H Dave Zastudil
PR Joshua Cribbs----------Syndric Steptoe
KR Joshua Cribbs----------Chris Barclay
LS Ryan Pontbriand

Practice Squad:

Brandon McDonald, Melila Purcell, Chase Pittman, Jason Short,
Ryan Krause, Kris Griffin, DeMario Minter, Mason Unck

Some notes of interest or conjecture...

-Travis Wilson has not played well enough to merit a spot on this team. With the exception of the Bears/Browns preseason game, Wilson has dropped everything short of a baby in this camp. However, talent wise he offers more than Tim Carter (although that means we gave away Droughns like clothes to the Salvation Army), Mike Sanders, and Maurice Mann.

-The Offensive Line depth situation is all scrambled. Any combination of Andrew "Keg" Hoffman, Nat Dorsey, Isaac Sowells, Fred Matua, and Ryan Tucker are all completely scrambled differently depending on one's substitutional and personal preference.

-It would not be hard to convince a fan that there are reasons to keep all 6 RB's (including FB's). That just is not probable. Lewis is a lock, J. Wright is almost a lock, J. Harrison is too good of an investment, C. Barclay has done everything asked and then some, Vickers is a must keep, and Ali was brought in specifically for Lewis.

-Tight Ends could also keep all candidates; Winslow=best TE in football, Heiden a must keep, Dinkins is solid but inconsistant, and Ryan Krause followed CHUD from San Diego. Granted the 3rd and 4th TE's will probably see next to no time but Special Teams, but that may be enough to keep them.

-In the front seven on defense, all but J'Vonne Parker from the 1st and 2nd teams should be safe. Like Parker, Oshinowo, Chase Pittman, Griffin, McMillan and Purcell are all undersized or just a big body-provide no real talent, yet. Most of which will be cut or put on the practice squad.

-Cornerback, a position feared for its thin nature is just the converse now. Eric Wright has shutdown potential, Bodden would start on 70% of the teams in the league they are clearly safe. Kenny Wright and Daven Holly are safe due to their ability to play effectively today. The interesting thing is Gary Baxter and DeMario Minter should be safe due to injury situation. Brandon McDonald at least has good instincts and could have a place on Special Teams.

-If by some miraculous turn of events, LeCharles Bentley blows the coaching staff away by week 7 and gets activated...then Rob Smith will lose out. I wouldn't hold your breath on that one though.

-Of course, some explaination on the QB carosel. As it stands, I have Frye then Quinn then Dorsey. Rumors have circulated that whom ever loses the competition between Frye and Anderson is out. The reason being, someone has to be in Quinn's ear while Frye is on the field and it doesn't take a personel expert to tell you we don't want that person being Anderson. Anderson has gotten by from the skin of his perverbial teeth. And by teeth I mean his deep ball.

As we move toward the September 9th start, aspirations are very high. The offense is the sexiest on paper its been since Bernie Kosar was at the helm. However, Bernie is not at the helm (keep all jokes about the aforementioned to yourself). Jamal Lewis can be responsible for a good bit of offensive production, but he can't carry it all. Braylon Edwards is poised to have a 1300 yd season (884/6 tds last year while dropping more passes than Travis Wilson). Kellen Winslow will meet his potential as the league's best TE. Joe Jurevicious is the best possession WR in the game today. The previous three statements cannot be close to true if Charlie Frye is the captain of this ship for more than a few weeks. Most CLE fans want to believe that Carson Palmer is a top 4 QB in the NFL because he sat out a full year. Not true, he just didn't play-he was always good. Lienart, V. Young, J. Cutler all from last years draft are in no question worthy of starting in this league and on their respective teams. Quinn may start week 4, he may start week 14. Doesn't matter, in my opinion, he is as ready to make throws, decisions, runs, and audibles today as he is 3 months from now. He has proven to me without a shadow of a doubt he is above and beyond anything Frye or Anderson can do. Examples: post route to Winslow vs DEN, Jurevicious back corner of the endzone vs CHI (and yes he was in, with 3 feet in bounds-right, left, and right again). Bottom line, if Quinn goes in and does well then I was right. If Quinn goes in and blows it, or gets shell shocked, or mismanages then quite honestly he is not the QB we all thought he was and it is better to find out now than later. This team can potentially be a 9-7 team. Add a little luck here and there maybe even a little better. They are not that team with Frye, they could be with Quinn. There is no time to treat the Cleveland Browns as the old Cleveland Browns. There's no Willie Green's, Ben Taylor's, or Tim Couch's on this team. Its time we stop saying things like, "they are good enough to play for the Browns", or "if we throw him to the wolves we may have a Tim Couch situation on our hands". As the kids on the playground during recess say, "Tough Titties". No other team looks at it that way. Sure we could take our time and inch our way into things like some 7 year old girl trying to get into a swimming pool on the 1st of May. But why? We could put a team out on the field that potentially could win 6-7 games and yes, it would be measured improvement. But, do it for the right reasons. Do it because Quinn doesn't know the playbook, or doesn't show chemistry with his recievers, or because he simply doesn't understand the nuances of the offense. Don't sit Quinn because that's just the way. Most "experts" are saying that Quinn did what he did against 2nd and 3rd team defenses, but ask yourself this could Frye/Anderson do what he did against 4th team defenses. I am 90% positive the answer would be NO. They just don't make the fluid decision, accurate throws, leading dump off passes, and ball fakes that Quinn can and did. The 2007-08 Cleveland Browns team is improved nonetheless. But would you rather rest on the laurels of "at least we improved" or would you rather say, for once "That was a season that makes me proud to be a Browns Fan"? Quinn's the real deal and until he leads this Browns team on the field of regular season play, The Browns team will not be.