The Cleveland Comeback: New Coach Brings New Life (M15)

[ATLBrayden]

The Browns have had a rough history to say the least... poor QB play, rarely making the playoffs, the Modell move, but it all ends here. The Browns believe they have found their guy, his name? Johnny Manziel. Manziel is known for his wild lifestyle and crazy play in college, but many people say that the only thing he has that will translate to the NFL is trouble making.

I'm going to post a few things then I'll give the all clear for everyone else to post. Don't worry, once the season two posts start then everything will be more in-depth, I'm just posting short recaps for season one.

House Rules:
8-10 minute quarters, gotta find something I like
All-Pro
No crazy spending in free agency
Keep roster management and gameplay sim
Simulate season one
I'm gonna mess with coach mode style on defense (no controlling players, just watching) and try no switching on offense (to prevent myself from face catching or cutting off routes)

[ATLBrayden]

Season 1 Recap:
Browns go 6-10 (3rd in AFCN) and miss the playoffs
Browns fire HC Mike Pettine
Browns hire HC Swoosh Jones (OC from Baylor)

Johnny Manziel - 85.8 PR w/3,718yds 26TDs 24INTs 68%comp (WON AFC ORoY)
Isaiah Crowell - 315att 1059yds 3.4ypc 3TDs
Josh Gordon - 75rec 1,077yds 10TDs

League Leaders:
Aaron Rodgers - 4,869yds 27TDs 22INTs
Adrian Peterson - 310att 1,833yds 5.9ypc 12TDs
Calvin Johnson - 114rec 1,689yds 10TDs

Paul Posluszny - 166 tackles
Junior Galette - 17 sacks
Kareem Jackson - 11 interceptions


Notable retirements:
OLB Dwight Freeney
OLB John Abraham
K Adam Vinatieri
QB Matt Hasselbeck
P Shane Lechler
HB Maurice Jones-Drew
RE Justin Smith
HB Steven Jackson
CB Champ Bailey
WR Plaxico Burress
SS Adrian Wilson
HB Willis McGahee

Player re-signings:
FS Tashaun Gipson (7yrs 45.5m w/12m guaranteed)
TE Jordan Cameron (6yrs 34.8m w/6.62m guaranteed)
LOLB Jabaal Sheard (6yrs 13.9m w/5.55m guaranteed)
FB Stanley Havili (4yrs 3.48m w/280k guaranteed)
LE Phil Taylor (5yrs 7.59m w/2.32m guaranteed)
CB Buster Skrine (3yrs 2.82m w/450k guaranteed)

Cap Left: 27.8m

[ATLBrayden]

Free Agency recap:
WR Michael Crabtree (4yrs 18.4m w/4.72m guaranteed)
K John Potter (1yr 640k)
CB Byron Maxwell (4yrs 17.9m w/5.48m guaranteed)
RT Bryan Bulaga (5yrs 39m w/14m guaranteed)
DT Stephen Paea (4yrs 21.6m w/5.96m guaranteed)
SS Will Hill (5yrs 41m w/10.3m guaranteed)

Draft recap:
TRADE: Browns send 5th overall to Minnesota for 14th overall, 2015 2nd round draft pick, 2015 4th round draft pick

Rd 1 Pk 12 - LE Nick Ford, Nebraska, 73ovr
Rd 1 Pk 14 - WR Cullen Conley, Alabama, 81ovr
Rd 2 Pk 12 - CB Deshun Bishop, Auburn, 78ovr
Rd 2 Pk 14 - CB Bryson Floyd, Central Michigan, 71ovr
Rd 3 Pk 12 - WR Lamonte Dennard, Texas A&M, 62ovr
Rd 4 Pk 5 - CB Cordell Massey, Wake Forest, 66ovr
Rd 4 Pk 12 - RG Johnny Harrison, Pittsburgh, 74ovr
Rd 4 Pk 14 - CB Sherman Priester, Michigan St., 64ovr
Rd 5 Pk 12 - LOLB Philip Boenzi, Lambuth, 70ovr
Rd 6 Pk 12 - RE W.T. Green, Beth Cookman, 62ovr
Rd 6 Pk 27 - LE Burness Martin, Southern Miss, 70ovr
Rd 7 Pk 12 - ROLB Kona Patrick, Ga. Southern, 60ovr

All in all the Browns had a solid draft, bringing Manziel some weapons and protection while bolstering the defense.

[ATLBrayden]

Season 2:
Browns send SS Donte Whitner and 2017 3rd round draft pick for Chargers 2016 2nd round draft pick, 2016 4th round draft pick, and 2016 5th round draft pick
Browns send LOLB Paul Kruger and 2016 3rd round draft pick for Jets 2016 2nd round draft pick, 2016 3rd round draft pick, and 2016 4th round draft pick
Decided to unload Kruger and Whitner since they were no longer starting and freed up a good amount of cap.

Browns sign WR Jeremy Maclin (1yr 5.61m)
Browns sign MLB Rolando McClain (1yr 3.55m)
Browns sign WR Jermaine Kearse (1yr 1.62m)

Cleveland Browns Depth Chart - 2015
Regular Offense
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
WR	Jeremy Maclin (95)	Michael Crabtree (90)	Cullen Conley (81)
TE	Jordan Cameron (88)
LT	Joe Thomas (99)
LG	Joel Bitonio (83)
C	Alex Mack (99)
RG	Johnny Harrison (74, R)
RT	Bryan Bulaga (89)
WR	Josh Gordon (95)	Jermaine Kearse (81)
QB	Johnny Manziel (86)
FB	Stanley Havili (83)
HB	Isaiah Crowell (80)
Base 3-4 Defense
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
LDE	Phil Taylor (77)
NT	Stephen Paea (84)
RDE	John Hughes (77)
LOLB	Jabaal Sheard (83)
LILB	Karlos Dansby (89)
RILB	Rolando McClain (87)
ROLB	Barkevious Mingo (87)
CB	Joe Haden (94)	Justin Gilbert (82)	Buster Skrine (73)
SS	Will Hill (90)
FS	Tashaun Gipson (97)
CB	Byron Maxwell (86)	Deshun Bishop (78, R)
Special Teams
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
K	John Potter (68)
P	Jordan Gay (70)
PR	Sherman Priester (92)
KR	Sherman Priester (92)	Cordell Massey (90)
LS	Alex Mack (99)

[ATLBrayden]

Josh Gordon's time in Cleveland coming to an end? Trade talks on him are at an all time high.

Reports are that the Browns FO are fed up with Josh Gordon and his inability to stay on the football field. With the recent signings of Jeremy Maclin and Michael Crabtree, there's a very good chance that Josh Gordon will not be in a Browns uniform much longer. It should also be noted that Josh Gordon's contract is up after this season and the Browns haven't started talks to negotiate a long term deal.

[ATLBrayden]

Forgot to say THERE IS AN ALL CLEAR to post, feel free to say whatever.

[ATLBrayden]

Week 1: Broncos @ Browns

"The Broncos have recently gone all in on winning a championship with Peyton Manning at the helm, do you think your team can stop them?"

"The Broncos are obviously a tough opponent," Coach Jones said, "but I'm confident we can beat them."

"The Browns are currently in a rebuilding process, do you think they can go anywhere this year?'"

"This team is done with the rebuilding process, it's time to go out and win some games." Coach Jones replied.

A bold statement, but Coach Swoosh Jones was ready to turn this team around, and he was ready to do it now.

The Browns have all the pieces, a strong o-line, stud wide outs, a dual-threat TE, a young QB, and a bloodthirsty defense.

"I plan on taking the offense I ran at Baylor, making a few tweaks, and bringing it to Cleveland," Coach Jones added.
Baylor had an up-tempo offense that was pass first, but also had deadly read option and running plays. It was focused on short to intermediate routes with the occasional deep play.
(Note, this is not based on Baylor's real life offense, I have no idea what they run.)

[ATLBrayden]

Week 1: Broncos @ Browns

Denver Broncos at Cleveland Browns
Jan 1,	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Denver Broncos (0-0-0)	0	3	0	7	10
Cleveland Browns (0-0-0)	3	14	7	21	45

Denver Broncos PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Peyton Manning 16/21 125 0 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD C.J. Anderson 12 53 4.4 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD C.J. Anderson 4 23 5.7 Julius Thomas 4 26 6.5 Demaryius Thomas 2 32 16.0 Keithen Little 2 5 2.5 Yusef Huval 1 6 6 Aurel Martin 1 21 21 Emmanuel Sanders 1 10 10 Montee Ball 1 2 2 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD T.J Ward 5 1 Aqib Talib 3 0 Bradley Roby 3 0 Danny Trevathan 3 0 Von Miller 3 0 Chris Harris Jr. 2 1 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Patrick Murray 1/1 1/1 37 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Britton Colquitt 2 89 44.5 1 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Markell Travis 1 27 27 Yusef Huval 1 20 20

Cleveland Browns PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Johnny Manziel 16/18 253 5 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Isaiah Crowell 12 154 12.8 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Jordan Cameron 5 51 10.2 3 Jeremy Maclin 4 43 10.7 1 Josh Gordon 4 140 35.0 1 Michael Crabtree 2 13 6.5 0 Terrence West 1 6 6.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Joe Haden 6 0 0 Will Hill 5 0 0 Karlos Dansby 6 0 1 Desmond Bryant 1 1 0 Stephen Paea 2 1 0 Tashaun Gipson 4 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG John Potter 1/1 6/6 28 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Sherman Priester 2 58 29.0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Sherman Priester 1 4

You look at the score and say, "Wow, the Browns offense did great," but really it was the work of the defense that allowed the Browns to win. By constantly pressuring Peyton, forcing fumbles and causing interceptions, the Browns' defense consistently gave their offensive good field position allowing them to blow up the scoreboard. Josh Gordon had a monster game, will that help him stay on the team?