Welcome to the first post of Bleeding Orange and Brown. To get your attention, I'm going to advocate trading Braylon Edward immediately for whatever we can get for him.
More on that in a minute, I just want to keep you reading for now.
For those who haven't read my columns before, I'm a veteran of the newspaper industry who currently has no job due to the economy and general shrinkage of employment opportunities in print journalism. The last newspaper I worked for abruptly closed, but not before bouncing my last paycheck.
I'm a lifelong Cleveland fan and remember the 1980s Browns teams fondly. Unfortunately, they're about all the good memories I have.
But enough about me, back to the Browns.
It's been a rough couple of years for Browns fans, and the first week of the season didn't make things any easier.
But don't despair, brighter things are on the horizon and I think the team is generally headed in the right direction. Now don't take that to mean I'm a shill for the organization, it just means I have confidence the people in place now are a lot more competent than the people formerly occupying the head coach and general manager chairs.
The defense looked a lot better than I expected them to, given Shaun Rogers is about the only threat on the line currently. The rest of the line is what it is, and all we can hope for is that they continue performing to the best of their abilities until we can draft/sign better talent.
However, the glaring problem I saw on Sunday was the complete lack of chemistry between Braylon Edwards and Brady Quinn.
Edwards looked like he'd never ran a route in professional football before in his life. What's worse is that this problem is nothing new. Edwards consistently has made running routes look like the toughest job in the NFL, which it isn't.
Between the drops and his inability to run a route his quarterback is expecting him to run, I don't see any reason to keep kidding ourselves. Braylon Edwards will never be the elite receiver he pretends he can be. The 2007 season is looking more and more like a fluke, and despite his touchdowns that year, he still was one of the league leaders in dropped passes.
This is a contract year for Edwards, and I'm not sure we'll even bother trying to sign him next year. I'm sure he'll want too much money and I've seen all I ever need to see from him. Even if a trade only nets a low-round pick, it's better than nothing.
Once again, thanks for reading, and stick with me as I explore this blog. You can find some of my other stuff over on Bleacher Report, where I am a featured columnist for the Browns.
Original Story:
http://myteamrivals.typepad.com/brown...
