2007 Regular Season
If our preseason is any indication, the big winner from our offensive realignment might be WR Nathan O’Rourke, who had a huge preseason, and looks like our prime target for a much more pass-intensive attack. He has yet to top 600 yards in a season – but he had close to 400 in our four preseason games. Look out!
After four weeks, we are 2-2, and looking okay. However, Bobby Silvers has blown out his ankle - he’s gone for the year, and we have a sudden shift with the team. Shawn Mathews, untested journeyman, is our #2 option, and we have a passable rookie as our #3. We need to sign someone, and hope we can get by without Silvers. Very tough break.
In our first game after Silvers is gone, we rise up and beat Pittsburgh – Mathews is steady, but the defense won the game. We follow up with another smothering defensive win over Miami – and at 4-2 this team is looking the best it ever has. We’re still getting more rushes then most teams, but adding a bit more vertical passing has certainly made a difference, I think.
And in the early going, it has been WR Randall Sanders, and not O’Rourke, making the biggest splash in our passing game – Sanders might be on his way to the big season that I had forecasted for O’Rourke. Sanders gets game MVP in our next win, as he posts 152 yards and 2 TDs (both in the fourth quarter, inn our comeback) to help seal it.
We drop a game at New England, but reach our halfway point at 5-3, only a half game behind Pittsburgh. Wow. We rank #2 in yards allowed per carry – so our defense against the run is right where I want it to be, finally.
After slipping to 6-4, we lose RB Newman for a few weeks – and will place the running chores into the hands of rookies Donovan Adams and Michael Hudson. Adams is a pure runner with terrible hands for receiving, but seems to be okay as an offset to our passing game. Hudson is more complete, and will be in for passing downs mostly. Both were 1,000-yard rushers in college – so they understand where to go with the ball, at least.
Down the stretch, we cannot maintain our early success – but we get to the finale with a shot to finish .500 on the season. A one-point loss seals our season at 7-9, but there’s a lot more to be excited about with this team than to date – so that’s pretty good overall.
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Front Office Football 2004
2007 Summary for Cleveland Browns
Record: 7-9
Winning Pct.: .437
Cleveland Browns Team Rank
Rushes 421 18
Rushing Yards 1550 26
Yards Per Carry 3.68 26 (T)
Pass Attempts 557 16
Completions 335 8
Passing Yards 3929 6
Yards Per Attempt 7.05 14
3rd Down Conversions 39.4 22 (T)
Points Per Game 21.5 12
Turnovers 30 22 (T)
Turnover Margin -1 18 (T)
Opponents Team Rank
Rushes 469 26
Rushing Yards 1858 23
Yards Per Carry 3.96 14
Pass Attempts 513 5 (T)
Completions 286 3
Passing Yards 3365 2
Yards Per Attempt 6.55 9
3rd Down Conversions 44.6 27
Points Per Game 20.7 16
Turnovers 29 10 (T)
Week Team Versus Oppnt
1 19 at BAL 28
2 19 at SFO 16
3 21 at IND 16
4 14 at BUF 16
5 23 PIT 3
6 31 MIA 3
7 33 NYJ 27
8 27 at NED 31
9 21 BAL 31
11 28 at CIN 21
12 6 at STL 24
13 14 KCY 17
14 14 SEA 23
15 21 CIN 31
16 34 ARI 24
17 20 at PIT 21
Passing Pos Att Comp Yards Y/Att TD Int
18 Mathews QB 426 248 2892 6.78 17 19
16 Silvers QB 125 84 959 7.67 7 3
**Team --- 557 335 3929 7.05 25 22
Rushing Pos Att Yards Y/Att TD
40 Newman RB 188 731 3.88 3
28 Adams RB 120 394 3.28 4
21 Hudson RB 68 229 3.36 2
**Team --- 421 1550 3.68 9
Receiving Pos Targ Catch Yards Y/Ctc YAC TD
83 Sanders WR 121 62 827 13.3 144 6
82 Metzger TE 85 58 500 8.6 105 3
88 O'Rourke WR 92 52 736 14.1 116 6
81 Ivory WR 85 45 620 13.7 130 3
40 Newman RB 49 37 374 10.1 180 2
89 Rose WR 53 32 436 13.6 91 1
36 Woodson FB 28 19 135 7.1 86 1
**Team --- 556 335 3929 11.7 948 25
Defense Pos Tack Asst Sack Hurr Ints Defn
92 Goodwin ILB 137 43 0.0 2 3 7
52 Wiggs OLB 68 15 2.0 2 2 4
78 Huffman DE 63 14 11.0 23 0 0
99 Tyler OLB 60 19 6.5 8 1 4
43 Richmond CB 56 10 0.0 0 2 6
30 Lucas CB 54 23 1.0 1 3 9
37 Dunn CB 49 21 0.0 0 3 10
41 Jacobs S 46 25 0.5 0 3 3
95 Gibson DT 41 13 2.0 5 0 1
23 Mace CB 40 8 0.0 2 0 5
72 Cascadden DT 37 23 4.0 4 0 3
51 Jervey OLB 34 10 1.0 2 1 3
93 Fox DE 27 14 2.5 8 0 0
79 Limon DE 24 5 4.5 14 0 0
45 Pryor S 22 3 0.0 1 0 1
34 Richmond S 18 6 0.0 0 2 1
98 Fisk OLB 17 7 1.0 1 0 3
**Team --- 853 261 36.0 76 20 60
Season Wrap-up
I’m pretty pleased with the way the defense is taking shape, and with the potential we are showing there. When we can stop the run, we can play a good game overall. I think we have players who can come together and play well for us.
It seems that what we really need is a gamebreaker on offense – and my inclination is that it might be time to bring in a serious running threat. I don’t mind that being an established player if we can get one, but drafting a stud RB might be a good plan for us. Alternatively, maybe a serious top-grade wideout might do the trick – we’d love to have a go-to threat for our fledgling air attack. Either way, we need a focus for the offense.
Getting a healthy Silvers back at QB is an essential part of moving forward – so we will watch his ankle closely. I expect that his “fastest man on the team” days are over – we now need him to be able to step into the role as our overall offensive leader.
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2007 Awards List
Award Player Team
Player of the Year Don Daniel DEN
Front Office Bowl MVP Leo Ayer DEN
Coach of the Year Not Yet Awarded
Legend of the Game Not Yet Awarded
Offensive Player of the Year Roderick Arsenault HOU
Defensive Player of the Year Desmond Shirk ATL
Offensive Rookie of the Year Willie Droughns IND
Defensive Rookie of the Year Cole Harrison STL
All-League First-String Quarterback Jacques Cheatham PHI
All-League First-String Running Back Roderick Arsenault HOU
All-League First-String Fullback Jacinto Brock PIT
All-League First-String Tight End James Marble BAL
All-League First-String Wide Receiver King Brame PHI
All-League First-String Wide Receiver John Herb TEN
All-League First-String Center Rocco Lavergne PIT
All-League First-String Offensive Guard Randall Ayotte SEA
All-League First-String Offensive Guard Aaron Jacobs NYJ
All-League First-String Offensive Tackle Joseph Clack IND
All-League First-String Offensive Tackle Ned Ford NED
All-League First-String Punter Leif Schnell BUF
All-League First-String Kicker Brice Bove NOS
All-League First-String Defensive End Willie Chenoweth KCY
All-League First-String Defensive End Brian Kavanagh HOU
All-League First-String Defensive Tackle Desmond Shirk ATL
All-League First-String Defensive Tackle Jamie Curtis WAS
**All-League First-String Inside Linebacker Cedric Goodwin CLE
All-League First-String Outside Linebacker Nelson Borders CAR
All-League First-String Outside Linebacker Robert Juan GBY
All-League First-String Cornerback James Burnell NYJ
All-League First-String Cornerback Carl Armes DEN
All-League First-String Safety Edward Johnson PHI
All-League First-String Safety Scott Jacobs BAL
All-League Second-String Quarterback Kim Roux HOU
All-League Second-String Running Back Brian Grant STL
All-League Second-String Fullback Wallace Goble SDO
All-League Second-String Tight End Clark Hardy NOS
All-League Second-String Wide Receiver Silas Purser NED
All-League Second-String Wide Receiver Gregory Broadway SFO
All-League Second-String Center William Huie SFO
All-League Second-String Offensive Guard August Dempsey STL
All-League Second-String Offensive Guard Jerrell Randolph DET
All-League Second-String Offensive Tackle Ellsworth Williams SEA
All-League Second-String Offensive Tackle Zachariah Ly OAK
All-League Second-String Punter Matt Hughes WAS
All-League Second-String Kicker Landon Testa TEN
**All-League Second-String Defensive End Rodney Huffman CLE
All-League Second-String Defensive End Doug Garcia TEN
All-League Second-String Defensive Tackle Ervin Hope DEN
All-League Second-String Defensive Tackle Charles Trainor JAX
All-League Second-String Inside Linebacker Hayden Brown TEN
All-League Second-String Outside Linebacker David Williamson STL
All-League Second-String Outside Linebacker Jerry Padron NOS
All-League Second-String Cornerback Dylan Behr NYG
All-League Second-String Cornerback Brad Teter KCY
All-League Second-String Safety Tyrell Boone DAL
All-League Second-String Safety Henry Menefee OAK
League's Fastest Man Ed McDonald KCY
League's Strongest Man Daniel Sumner DAL
Of course, we are thrilled to have two all-star honorees, the foundation players for our improving defensive front.
In a move that makes perfect sense, RT Deon Hiatt, my late chemistry-induced roster casualty, ended up re-signing with his old team, Cincinnati. He played in a few games, and might get another look for the coming year. (That sounds just like what I might expect to see happen in real life)
Work to be done… but coming up will be our first free agency period where there will be bona fide unrestricted free agents – only the 5th year guys, but still an opportunity to possibly bring aboard a real star or two!