BEREA — Ten things we have learned in a month of watching Browns spring practice.
1, It is impossible to tell how well Trent Richardson will run the ball. He looks fine in the marshmallow world of practicing in a helmet and shorts, but he must prove himself in the mash of training camp contact and preseason games.
Yet, there hasn’t been a peep about anyone but Richardson being the No. 1 running back. Unlike at quarterback, this rookie is the unquestioned starter.
2, Free safety Eric Hagg is on the verge of becoming the second seventh-round Browns draft pick of the expansion era to open a year as a starter. Guard Paul Zukauskas was the first.
Hagg is smart and athletic, but his instincts, a bit suspect when he was at Nebraska, could be a trouble spot. On one practice play Tuesday, he was late sliding to a receiver who had found a gaping hole in the defense. Seneca Wallace easily lofted the ball over Hagg’s head for what might have been a long catch and run in a game.
3, Coaches are itching to get rookie Round 4 pick Travis Benjamin’s speed on the field.
Based on the large volume of work Benjamin has been getting, it appears the staff would love to make hay with sets that include Benjamin and Mohamed Massaquoi as the outside receivers, with Greg Little in the slot.
Benjamin has dropped more than a few balls, after which he routinely screams, “Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!” But the scouts think he has good enough hands to grow into a job.
“I know I can mostly run past anybody,” Benjamin says, “so I just work on the little things.”
4, There are a few weeds in the rookie quarterback’s game.
One time, Brandon Weeden overshot his former Oklahoma State teammate Josh Cooper by a mile on a corner route. On Tuesday, one pass over the middle was batted at the line and picked off by defensive tackle Scott Paxson. Other times, Weeden guns the football toward windows that won’t be nearly as wide as the ones he saw in his Cowboy days. The Browns cover men bat them away, sometimes coming close to interceptions.
It has been clear since the first day Weeden and Colt McCoy were on the field together that Weeden throws a harder, more accurate ball. It is not yet clear he can translate the skill to the early part of his rookie year.
5, Time has softened the blow for McCoy.
Drafting Weeden landed like a heavyweight champ’s roundhouse on McCoy’s chops. McCoy seemed stunned and uptight for a while, and the mood seeped into his performance in early practices.
Lately, McCoy seems to have come to his senses. He is trying to have fun and is throwing he ball better. He doesn’t come right out and say it, but the McCoy mindreaders hear him thinking that he can handle the job better than any rookie.
Weeden has shown plenty of promise, but he has struggled just enough — and McCoy has come around just enough — to leave a sliver of doubt as to whether Weeden will be announced as the starter by mid-August.
6, Rookie Round 2 pick Mitchell Schwartz has an iron grip on the right tackle job.
For a while, 2011 opening-day starter Oniel Cousins, a fifth-year pro, was getting work with the ones. Schwartz, however, has been on top of the physical, mental and emotional aspects of showing he can handle starting as a rookie.
It must be remembered that Cousins soon was replaced in 2011 by Artis Hicks, who was replaced by Tony Pashos. Schwartz has carried himself well in 2012.
7, The receiving corps is a reason to worry.
Watching drills makes one wonder whether Greg Little is fast enough to play outside or quick enough to play inside — and he had all those drops as a rookie. Mohamed Massaquoi has made some practice drops that make one wonder whether the chiefs’ projections of a breakout are wishful thinking.
Weeden seldom goes to Joshua Cribbs in team drills.
The rookie, Benjamin, looks skinny, and he was no great producer in college.
Weeden is experimenting plenty with tight end Ben Watson, but Watson has averaged only about 400 receiving yards in eight seasons, and he’s getting older. What Evan Moore and Jordan Cameron might do is raw theory.
You wonder whether this group is strong enough to help Weeden look good, and whether he is good enough to bring out what talents each man might have.
8, Scott Paxson is a fighter, but is he a player?
When defensive tackle Phil Taylor went down with a pectoral tear, the Browns lost a 2011 first-round pick.
Paxson has been the replacement starter through much of the spring. With him, the starting unit gets a player who was cut seven times by the Steelers and once by Green Bay and had played in a grand total of one NFL game prior to 2011.
Paxson is from Philadelphia and is a huge fan of the Rocky series. Like Rocky, a big part of his appeal is the underdog theme. His teammates and coaches like him a lot.
A big cheer went up Tuesday when he intercepted a Brandon Weeden pass that was batted at the line.
9, Wide receiver Josh Cooper is fun to watch in practice, but it’s practice.
A few years ago, some camp observers were convinced the Browns were on to something with a possession receiver named Kevin Kasper. They weren’t.
In 2009, there was talk that free agency pick-up Mike Furrey might do big things with his Columbus-area pal, Brady Quinn. It was Furrey’s last year in the league, and Quinn’s last with the Browns.
This year, Cooper is catching balls all over the place, and not just from his former college teammate, Weeden. He definitely knows how to get open — against guys wearing shorts.
On the other hand, Cooper has caught the eye as much as any receiver in camp; plus, that Weeden connection doesn’t hurt him one bit.
He and Weeden will be spending much of the summer break playing catch in Oklahoma.
10, Egos don’t seem to be a problem.
The offensive player roster doesn’t have much experience, but the teachers certainly do. Mike Holmgren, Brad Childress, Nolan Cromwell and Gil Haskell have been in the NFL forever.
All of them are substantially older than the head coach, Pat Shurmur. Yet, Shurmur is neither anyone’s puppet nor thin-skinned and sensitive about proving he knows more than the other guys.
One can’t be sure about what goes on behind closed doors, but these guys leave a sense that they work well together.
Childress and Cromwell, new to the Browns this year, could make a big difference.
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What's dragging on? McCoy is the backup. If he can't be dealt for anything more than a 6th or 7th why trade him? A quality backup is invaluable and we haven't had a starter last a full season since the old stadium. Stash him and hope that if he's called upon he plays well enough to develop a trade market next off season; just don't start a QB controversy. We've made our bed with Weeden and now we must sleep in it.
And this is NOTHING like the Hillis situation. I don't see McCoy skipping practices and acting like a mental patient.
