Fantasy Football Info: Should Start
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The Cleveland Browns had a very disappointing season in 2008 as a team and as an offensive unit. Braylon Edwards fell from being a fantasy football star in 2007, to only 3 hundred yard receiving days and 3 touchdowns in 2008. Derek Anderson did not seem like the same quarterback in ’08 as he just seemed to look lost at times on the field. Pro Bowl tight end Kellen Winslow spent practically half of the season fighting off a staph infection to his……well lets not go there.
For a team that looked so primed to start a 5 to 7 year run of fantasy offensive success, how did everything go wrong and more importantly, how can they get their momentum back?
A new Principal is in town
Once the season ended the Browns organization fired head coach Romeo Cronnel and signed Eric Mangini (just fired from the Jets) to lead the team back to competitive form. With a new coaching staff brings much change and that has certainly been the case for the Browns in the 2009 off-season.
In the April draft the Browns selected two wide receivers in the second round in Brian Robiskie from Ohio State (4th pick, 2nd round) and Mohamed Massaquoi from the Georgia Bulldogs (18th pick, 2nd round).
Both receivers have very well rounded frames as Robiskie stands in at 6’3 and 209 pounds and Massaquoi is 6’2 and 210 pounds. But neither receiver is a burner on the outside as Brian ran a 4.59, 40 yard dash and Mohamed ran a 4.66, 40 yard dash.
So far in camp the Browns have left just about all positions on the team as up for grabs to win a starting spot on the team. Obviously Braylon is going to start and has vowed to bounce back in 2009 (I believe he will) but beyond Edwards the No.2 spot could be anyone.
Early in camp some believed that Joshua Cribbs was in line to take over Donte Stallworth’s spot on the team, but Cribbs is in a holdout and this now looks like a no deal for the vet to start.
With Stallworth gone and Cribbs in the outs with the organization, the team now will decide which rookie will start.
So far the early favorite is Brian Robiskie as he was projected to be one of the most “NFL ready”
receivers in the 2009 draft.
If and when Robiskie wins the job he could have a nice rookie campaign as he will have a good quarterback in either Brady Quinn or Derek Anderson to throw to him. Brian will also benefit from having a true No.1 receiver on the team, this will allow less coverage to roll his way in the passing game.
With pro bowl tight end Kellen Winslow now in Tampa Bay with the Buccaneers, the Browns now have a void in the passing game and a decent amount of Winslows production should fall in the hands of Robiskie and Massaquoi.
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