Tag Archives: Sammy Watkins

BROWNS 2014 FIRST ROUND DRAFT DISASTERS

Browns general manager Ray Farmer has made some good decisions this season on acquiring talent, but when it mattered most, the first round of the draft, he dropped the ball big time!

Knowing he had a wide receiver who was going to be suspended for maybe the entire year and in a receiver rich draft, he bypassed highly rated wide outs for a cornerback and a quarterback that will make us all wonder about his grading system when the 2015 NFL draft comes around.

Who would have helped the Browns more this year and in the future, the two players Farmer selected in the first round in Justin Gilbert and Johnny Manziel, or any one of these four wide receivers Sammy Watkins, Odell Beckham Jr., Mike Evans or Kelvin Benjamin?

Manziel-Gilbert-Farmer-Pettine Jersey Photo

Justin Gilbert – 29 tackles – 1 interception – 1 td – 8 passes defensed

 

Johnny Manziel – 18-35-175 yards – 0 td passes – 2 interceptions/29 yards rushing – 1 td

 

Sammy Watkins – 62 receptions – 925 yards – 6 td’s

 

Odell Beckham Jr. – 79 receptions – 1,120 yards – 11 td’s

 

Mike Evans – 63 receptions – 997 yards – 11 td’s

 

Kelvin Benjamin – 72 receptions – 999 yards – 9 td’s

 

Plus there is one more game to play which gives all four wide receivers the opportunity to go over 1,000 yards receiving in their rookie year.

Ask yourself, who would have helped the Browns more this year and beyond?

WHAT’S THE BIGGER LOSS – BRAXTON MILLER FOR THE OHIO STATE BUCKEYES OR JOSH GORDON FOR THE CLEVELAND BROWNS?

OHIO STATE

Braxton Miller was a Heisman Trophy candidate and was expected to lead the Buckeyes to a Big Ten title and into the first ever NCAA College Football Playoff to battle for a National Championship. He has been lost for the year with a shoulder injury that he had surgery on Tuesday, August 26th.

Braxton Miller

Miller accounted for 3,162 yards of total offense and 36 touchdowns for the Buckeyes last season.

He threw for 2,094 yards with 24 TD’s and 7 INT’s.

He rushed for 1,068 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Miller is being replaced by redshirt freshman J.T. Barrett who has never taken a snap in a regular season game at Ohio State. Redshirt sophomore Cardale Jones could also see some time at quarterback. Jones has completed 1 pass in his career in Columbus for 3 yards, but has rushed for 128 yards and 1 score.

 

BROWNS

Josh Gordon was coming off a record setting year in which he led the NFL in receiving yards with 1,646 yards in only 14 games and he scored 9 touchdowns. Gordon’s yards per catch average was 18.9. Gordon has been suspended for the entire year for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy.

Josh Gordan Photo - Courtesy of AP Tony Dejak

photo courtesy of AP – Tony Dejak

Browns G.M. Ray Farmer passed on drafting highly rated wide receiver Sammy Watkins with the 4th overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft and then proceed not to draft a receiver at all in the 7 round draft in a year when the receiver position was considered very deep.

The Browns did sign free agent wide out Andrew Hawkins from the Bengals, but he’s not even close to the player Gordon is, and he’s not even considered a #1 receiver. Hawkins totaled only 12 catches for 199 yards last season in Cincinnati and failed to get into the end zone.

The Browns are banking on free agent veterans Miles Austin and Nate Burleson to step in and fill the void left by Gordon’s suspension. Austin and Burleson combined to reach the end zone 1 time last year and both are known more for their injuries lately, than for what they’ve done on the football field. Austin only played in 11 games for the Cowboys last season and Burleson suited up for just 9 games for the Lions last year. Neither have helped the team or quarterbacks Brian Hoyer or Johnny Manziel so far in the preseason, can you really count on them in the regular season?

THINKING OUT LOUD ON LEBRON, JOSH GORDON, WORLD CUP AND MORE

Not only has Dwyane Wade’s on-court game diminished,  so has his endorsement game. When the only commercial we see you in now is for the “Endura Cool Towel” which you can buy at Lowes, you know your superstar status is in question. Think about that LeBron!

LeBron and Dwyane Wade on the bench

The longer this free agency period goes in the NBA without a legit free agent willing to take less money to play in Miami, the Cavs chances, as well as all the other teams in on the LeBron James sweepstakes increase daily. I had the Cavs chances at 30 percent yesterday. I’ll improve that to 35 percent today.

So yes, Cleveland has a decent shot at getting LeBron James back if he doesn’t retrun to the Heat. If that happens thank yous need to be sent to the Spurs, Endura Cool Towels, Kyle Lowery and others.

The Indians off season moves, or lack thereof, are hurting their chances to win the Central Division, as they trail first place Detroit by seven games and second place Kansas city by three games. Here are the moves that hurt the most.

Tribe Home Opener 2014 - Panoramic View

 

They elected not to resign starting pitcher Scott Kazmir who is now (10-3, 2.53era) with the first place Oakland A’s.

Aaron Harang was a spring training invite for the Indians, but was told he didn’t make the Indians opening day roster, so he used a clause in his contract to opt out and become a free agent. Soon after, he was picked up by the Atlanta Braves where he has posted an 8-6 record so far with a 3.67era.

They passed on adding a power bat, which they so desperately needed like Nelson Cruz in free agency and all he’s done so far for the Baltimore Orioles is hit 27 home runs, while driving in 70 with a .286 batting average. How good would he look in the middle of the Tribe’s order?

I will give the Indians credit for not re-upping Ubaldo Jimenez (3-8, 4.52), saying so long to Chris Perez and not caving in to Justin Masterson’s ridiculous demands for a huge contract, but the earlier mentioned moves that they didn’t make have really hurt.

There’s still time to do something before the trading deadline of July 31st, but they better act quickly if they not only want to still challenge for the division title, but also the two A.L. Wild Card spots.  With 76 games to go the Indians are 5½ games out of the second Wild Card spot.

On a positive note, let me be the first to say congratulations to Michael Brantley for representing the Indians at this year’s MLB All Star Game. It hasn’t been officially announced yet, but this is a no-brainer. If he doesn’t make it, an investigation should be done by the FBI and the CIA with Major Legaue Baseball. Brantley is the Tribe’s best all-around player and he has the numbers to back that up (.319-13HR-56RBI) through 86 games.

I can remember saying it on the radio, TV and on KennyRoda.com over the last two years. I never worried about wide receiver Josh Gordon during the season, but when he’s away from the Browns in the off season is when you should be very worried about him, and how accurate have those statements been? Wow, you talk about throwing away a chance at stardom, that’s exactly what Gordon is doing. He’s soaking wet with talent, but prefers partying and allegedly breaking the law over a successful career in the NFL. He needs some serious help to get his life together as former teammate D’Qwell Jackson pointed out on Twitter yesterday.

If Gordon is suspended for a full season, and reports suggest that we should find that out here in the next week or so, the Browns will have 14 other wide receivers on the roster that combined for one touchdown catch last season. Yes that’s right, one TD grab! Nate Burleson caught one in Detroit in the 9 games he played for the Lions.

I said it then and I’ll say it again; not drafting a wide receiver somewhere in the draft was a big mistake by Ray Farmer and the Browns. I wanted Sammy Watkins in the first round, but I can understand the trade down to select Justin Gilbert and get Buffalo’s number one pick next year. But to ignore the WR position the rest of the draft was a bad decision by Farmer.

©Kenny Roda

©Kenny Roda

Thank you Jurgen Klinsmann, Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard and the rest of the U.S. soccer team for an exciting run in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

I thought I’d never say this, but I’ve become a full-fledged soccer fan! Yeah that’s right, the guy who used to rip the sport on the radio many years ago, now has fallen in love with the sport! I think I’ve missed two World Cup games. I watched every minute of every game played by the United States and was thoroughly depressed when the U.S. Men’s National Team was knocked out in the round of 16 by Belgium.

I’m hopeful that other new U.S. fans like me will stay with the sport and help it grow in notoriety over the next four years leading up to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

I Believe!

 

BROWNS DRAFT GRADE FROM OURLADS SCOUTING SERVICE AN “A”

Dan Shonka from Ourlads.com, a scouting service that has been breaking down college player for the NFL Draft for 33 years, came away impressed with Browns G.M. Ray Farmer and his 2014 Draft!

Ourlads Photo

DAY 1 OF THE NFL DRAFT WAS A SUCCESS IN MANY WAYS FOR THE BROWNS

In his first draft as the Browns G.M. Ray Farmer made like Monty Hall  on Day 1 and played “Lets Make A Deal” and came out a winner!

Manziel Jersey - Commish

Lazor Insurance & Financial Services

 

KENNY RODA 2014 NFL MOCK DRAFT 2.0

One of the craziest years in trying to figure out who will do what and who’s going where. If I get six of these right I will be thrilled. So with that said, here’ my final Mock Draft for the 2014 NFL Draft.

1   Houston                      Jadeveon Clowney           DE            South Carolina

2   St. Louis                      Greg Robinson                 OT           Auburn

3   Atlanta                        Khalil Mack                       LB            Buffalo (In a Trade w/Jags)

4   Cleveland                   Sammy Watkins               WR          Clemson

5   Oakland                      Jake Matthews                 OT           Texas A&M

6   Jacksonville                Mike Evans                     WR      Texas A&M (In a Trade w/Atlanta)

7   Tampa Bay                 Johnny Manziel                QB           Texas A&M

8   Minnesota                  Blake Bortles                     QB            UCF

9   Buffalo                        Taylor Lewan                    OT           Michigan

10  Detroit                       Darqueze Dennnard        CB            Michigan State

11  Tennessee                 Justin Gilbert                    CB            Oklahoma State

12  NY Giants                  Zack Martin                       OT           Notre Dame

13  St. Louis                    Calvin Pryor                       SS             Louisville

14  Chicago                     Aaron Donald                      DT            Pitt

15 Pittsburgh                  Odell Beckham Jr.            WR           LSU

16  Dallas                         Ha Ha Clinton-Dix            FS             Alabama

17  Baltimore                  Eric Ebron                          TE            North Carolina

18  NY Jets                       Brandin Cooks                  WR          Oregon State

19  Miami                        Cyrus Kouandjio                OT           Alabama

20  Arizona                      Derek Carr                         QB          Fresno State

21  Green Bay                 Timmy Jernigan                DT          Florida St.

22  Philadelphia              Anthony Barr                    LB            UCLA

23  Kansas City                Marqise Lee                     WR          USC

24  Cincinnati                  Kyle Fuller                         CB           Virginia Tech

25  San Diego                  Jason Verrett                    CB           TCU

26  Cleveland                  Teddy Bridgewater          QB           Louisville

27  New Orleans            Marcus Martin                    C             USC

28  Carolina                    Moses Morgan                   OT           Virginia

29  New England            Stephen Tuitt                    DL           Notre Dame

30  San Francisco           Ryan Shazier                      LB           Ohio State

31  Denver                      Trent Murphy                    LB           Stanford

32  Seattle                       Louis Nix III                        DT          Notre Dame

 

PICKING APART THE NFL DRAFT PROSPECTS

The negatives.  Areas of concern. The warts. Must improve these parts of his game. Aw yes, as teams and media members prepare for the NFL draft we’re always looking for a player’s weakness and how that may affect the decision to draft him if you’re a team, or where to rank him if you’re a media member. So today I figured I’d share with you some of the negatives I’ve heard from talent evaluators that I’ve talked to about some of the top players in this draft.

DE – Jadeveon Clowney – Takes plays off. Injury issues. Plays to stiff and upright. Can be pushed up field. Maturity issues on and off field. Is he discipline enough and can he set the edge?

WR – Sammy Watkins – Only 6 foot. Caught a lot of balls at or behind the line of scrimmage. Occasional concentration issues.  Arrested for drug possession as a sophomore. Needs to stay in shape.

LB – Khalil Mack – Didn’t play against elite talent. Got in a fight with a teammate. Needs to use his arms better.

OT – Greg Robinson – Not a good pass blocker. Needs better balance. Speed rushers gave him problems.

OT – Jake Matthews – Needs to get stronger and add a few pounds. Has trouble at times with the bull or power rush. Run blocking isn’t as good as his pass blocking.

WR – Mike Evans – Has trouble getting off press coverage. Must improve his route running.  Not a guy with that burst of speed at the line or downfield.

QB – Blake Bortles – Played against few elite teams. Lack of pin-point accuracy. Not enough juice on the ball at this time for NFL throws. Doesn’t lead receivers with his throw.  Will try and force the ball. Overall fundlamentals need fine tuning. Footwork needs work.

QB – Johnny Manziel – Too short. Durability will be a factor. Is a system guy. Bad weather could affect him so he needs to play in a dome or in a warm weather city. Wants to escape the pocket too soon. When he stays in the pocket will he be able to see the receivers. Fundamentals are not good. Off the field issues, will they follow him to the NFL? Can he takes snaps from under center and read a defense?

TE – Eric Ebron – A wide receiver playing tight end. Bad blocker. Route running is suspect. Must get stronger in upper and lower body to play tight end in the NFL. Too many drops.

CB – Justin Gilbert – Needs to improve his technique. Relies too much on just his athletic ability. Doesn’t tackle well at all. Plays too far off receivers and not physical enough when at the line of scrimmage.

CB – Darqueze Dennard – His size is a factor at only 5’10 and some change. Has trouble playing zone coverage. Because of his size he grabs a lot and in the NFL he’ll get caught.

QB – Teddy Bridgewater – Has a funny build and his bone frame is a concern. Numerous injuries throughout his career going back to high school. Small hands. Deep ball accuracy is not good. Competition level he played against was suspect. Horrible pro day. To glove or not to glove on his throwing hand?

QB – Derek Carr – Didn’t play against enough elite competition and when he did, he didn’t perform well. Struggles when under pressure and will try and force the ball. Isn’t very mobile and doesn’t make many pass rushers miss. Throws off his back foot at times. A lot of completions were short and quick. Can he play under center?

OT – Taylor Lewan – Needs better knee bend and balance. Gets beat inside. A hot head or a dirty player.  Grabs too much.  Needs to be more powerful to play left tackle at the NFL level. Is he going to have off the field issues like he did at Michiagn?

MY AFC NORTH 1ST ROUND ONLY 2014 MOCK DRAFT 2.0

 

1ST ROUND

4   CLEVELAND BROWNS       Sammy Watkins         WR    Clemson

15  PITTSBURGH STEELERS         Darqueze Dennard          CB     Michigan State

17  BALTIMORE RAVENS              Zack Martin                     OT     Notre Dame

24  CINCINNATI BENGALS           Kyle Fuller                       CB     Virginia Tech

26 CLEVELAND BROWNS       Derek Carr                QB     Fresno St.     

 

2ND ROUND  –  *Bonus Pick

35  CLEVELAND BROWNS      Cyrus Kouandjio       OT   Alabama

 

CHRIS CARTER ON JOHNNY MANZIEL,SAMMY WATKINS AND MORE

Hall of Fame WR Chris Carter shares his thoughts on Sammy Watkins, Johnny Manziel, Mike Evans and more.

 

JOE HADEN TALKS ABOUT HIS CONTRACT, PETTINE AND MANZIEL 5-1-14

Browns Pro Bowl cornerback Joe Haden shared his thoughts on his new head coach, where he and the Browns are at in contract talks and Johnny Manziel after the final day of min camp


Joe Haden Mini Camp 2014