Wayne Cubed

Did a 3 round mock: 1. (9) Kahlil Mack OLB Buffalo 2. (41) Xavier Su'A-Filo OG UCLA 3. (73) Troy Niklas TE Notre Dame Going with BPA at 9, then BPA by IMO, need. I think Xavier will possibly move up a bit after the combine, but is perfect for a power run game and can pass block as well at LG. Niklas is a big ole TE, but isn't hugely athletic.

I'm 4 episodes into season 2, I really enjoyed season 1. Trying to not bulk watch it, because then I'll be searching for something else. Have to say it was an amazing start to season 2.

As if the Pro Bowl means anything... Also, being 40 mil under the cap means very little if the FA market doesn't yield what a team is in need of. A team certainly doesn't build through FA. You say there 1 franchise QB away from being in the playoffs? Are there any franchise QB's in FA? No. So looks like they will attempt to draft one, as will every other team that is still searching for one.

I find that very interesting... Sooo the guy he was firing was present to do the hiring.

The other problem I see with it is who initiated the coaching search and when did Haslam take over? Was Haslam the reason coaches turned the Browns down or was it the dynamic duo? Was Pettine a last ditch effort because Haslam was doing the hiring and had no idea what he was doing? It may have been a good thing to get rid of Lombardi and Banner but it was a terrible process. Either Haslam was hiring from the get go and coaches were turned off by that or Haslam took over the search, in which case he may have been rushed to make a decision.

So who was at these dinners? Haslam and ? It's certainly odd.

I agree. Rex allowed some of his staff to leave when Pettine left, but not all of them. This seems like a fair move.

I know people like to point to average points per game as an indicator if a defensive unit is good, but I like to look at % of drives ending in scores and average points per drive. Here's how Schwartz has faired as DC: 2002 - % of DEIS: 27.1(5th in NFL) APD: 1.58(8th in NFL) 2003 - % of DEIS: 29.8(15th in NFL) APD: 1.53(12th in NFL) 2004 - % of DEIS: 36.5(26th in NFL) APD: 2.07(28th in NFL) 2005 - % of DEIS: 33.8(23rd in NFL) APD: 1.94(27th in NFL) 2006 - % of DEIS: 37.3(27th in NFL) APD: 2.06(29th in NFL) 2007 - % of DEIS: 27.3(7th in NFL) APD: 1.52(11th in NFL) 2008 - % of DEIS: 23.2(2nd in NFL) APD: 1.21(3rd in NFL) It's a mixed bag really. What look like some good defensive units sandwich a 3 year period of bad defenses. The 2007, 2008 defenses were top 5 in the league. Overall, the Titans from 2004-06 were a pretty bad teams overall to begin with, these were on the downside of McNair's career and Billy Volek was getting time at QB. 2006 was Vince's Young's rookie year. I'm happy the Bills went outt and executed their plan and got "their guy". I can't really ask for more than that. Could they have gone a different way? Sure, and people/fans would still be upset. We'll just have to see how this plays out. Maybe Schwartz thinks he needs to prove himself again after his failed stint as HC. BTW, his defensive units in Detroit, besides his first year, didn't finish below 15 in both % of scoring drive ending in points and average points per drive. I don't really think this says much about his DC abilities, but at least they were top half of he league.

Definitely not. I am completely happy for Pettine and think he could make a good HC. It's a good move for Pettine because he needs experience on the offensive side of the ball and Kubiak could fill that role. Just point out that most of his success came as an OC and not a HC.

Meh, I wouldn't exactly call him the most successful HC, he was 61-64 and besides 11' and 12' seasons he's had a lot of bad teams in Houston. Most of his success comes from being an OC in Denver, under Shannahan. But one could argue that success comes form having John Elway as QB.

You can never depend on the Browns.

And I agree with what you are saying, I do. But he should have just said he would hire the best man for the job and leave the whole friends thing out because it's obvious he would want "his" guys. Which he would naturally have a personal relationship with. Anyways. Kubiak for OC?

That's would be interesting. Although a lot of Kubiaks success as a OC was because he had Elway and a stable of running backs.

I'm wrong because Pettine said what he said? He should have just said he would hire the best man for the job and leave the whole friend thing out of it. O'Neil may be the best man for job he may be the worst, who knows. But when someone says they don't want to hire people just because they are friends and then calls a friend, that's a contradiction. If O'Neil turns out to be a terrible DC, is it a contradiction then? By possibly hiring O'Neil, who has no DC experience, he's hoping he will be able to do the job. If he doesn't do a good job, one could argue Pettines personal relationship clouded his judgement. If he didn't want to hire someone just because they were friends, why not hire someone for DC that's currently on the Browns staff? They could be the best person for the job, they are more familiar with the players. But he wouldn't do that, he's built a personal trusting relationship with O'Neil. Whether it works or not will unfold next year. Like I said, he should have just said he would hire the best person for the job.

I don't have any problem with him taking O'Neil. He is probably the best man for the job and that much is obvious. What I was pointing out was the contradiction he made. They have worked together for years. Petrine says he doesn't want this to be a "friends club." Yet his first call was to O'Neil, IMO, that's a contradiction.

Right, but the point being made is that he said he wouldn't be hiring friends but calls O'Neil? Bit of a contradiction, no? Surely they are friends being that he brought him to Buffalo.

It's all over folks, nothing to see here.

I believe they have talent but I wouldn't say a lot, I think the offense is relatively weak, they have 1 good receiver, nothing for a running game and no QB. Yes, the line is good and the defense is good. The problem, as with Bills, will they get the right QB and develop him.

Yes but there is obviously loads of talent in Cleveland. Obviously.

Quick, it's not too late. Fire Marrone and hire Pettine!

Browns fans, meet your new coach (according to Wikipedia) Laura Davies

It's official, the Browns wiki page has been update: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Browns

The bolded is an interesting statement. From all accounts, Rex was going to take back control of the defense in NY thus demoting Mike Pettine. And as DC in NY the Jest defense decreased in rankings each year. That's pretty much public knowledge. And look Pettine leaves, Rex takes back control of the defense, with arguably less talent and the Jest defense improves. It's not like Pettine was stolen away from NY, he wasn't going to be DC there again. So there's that. But sure, I suppose you can keep hyping a guy who one could argue has rode the coattails of Rex Ryan and has yet to prove he can coach anything better than a mediocre defense. EDIT: Just to add, I like Pettine and think what he did this year was great. He showed what this defense should be able to do. But the hype he gets around here you'd think he wasn't replaceable. I assume a lot of it has to do with just how bad the defense was under Edwards and then Wannstedt. The only place to go for the defesne was up, IMO.

What kind of statement is that? Tim, go to bed. So, I stay away for a couple hours and the only difference is a couple of "reporters" on twitter drumming up internet traffic? This whole situation is funny. First, I like Mike Pettine and I like what he did this season but Doug Marrone and Doug Whaley were able to "convince" Mike Pettine to come to Buffalo after he was going to be relieved of his DC duties in NY. There were all sorts of threads this off season that questioned whether the defense in NY was a product of Rex or Pettine. IMO, with superior talent, Pettine still finished behind where Rex's defense finished, so that question has been answered. Doug2 is still here, they were able to get Pettine to come to Buffalo and people are convinced there is no way they could get a DC with Pettine's skills to come to Buffalo? Or find someone with similar skills? Come on. Even if you take that stance that the defense was outstanding, which I believe it was average, the DC job in Buffalo has to look pretty attractive, no?