Forget the Browns and the Indians - the Cavs will be starting up soon and we have every reason to expect a title run this season. Even realists like Bill Livingston and Terry Pluto are acknowledging that the fans should expect more this season.

In most sports, continuity is very important. The Cavs have everyone back, and they showed at the end of the season that they were beginning to gell as a team. They are also very deep, with interesting additions like David Wesley and Shannon Brown. Finally, many of their players are young and will continue to get better. I was surprised that they resigned Dwight Gooden, but his performance in the first preseason game might be a preview of an excellent season. If he gets better and more aggressive, the Cavs will be really tough to beat.

I know we’re piling on with the criticism of Maurice Carthon, but he keeps giving us more amunition.

As a former fullback, Carthon seems to be obsessed with proving that fullbacks can and should do more than block. I remember reading an article last year in the Plain Dealer in which Terrell Smith was expressing his enthusiasm with Carthon’s goal to get him more involved in the offense. Terry Pluto addresses the now infamous Vickers pass last week and sums up the problem very well:

This play highlights a problem with Carthon’s approach, one that coach Romeo Crennel must address. In the end, the play calling is the responsibility of the head coach. He put Carthon in charge a year ago, the first time the former fullback has ever called plays.

He must tell Carthon, “If you want to get a couple of inches for a first down in the key part of the game, don’t give the ball to a fullback.'’

You might recall that Vickers was tackled for a loss in a similar situation during the opening loss to New Orleans.

Crennel also needs to say, “Hey, Maurice, fullbacks are here to block. We don’t need them running sweeps. We don’t need them throwing passes. We don’t need them split out wide as a receiver (as they sometimes do with Smith).'’

In fact, it’s absolutely ridiculous to have two fullbacks on the field at the same time, especially since Droughns (now a tailback) was a fullback early in his career and has some blocking skills.

I’m gald someone else noticed the fact that the Browns sometimes split out the fullback as a receiver. That’s just idiotic.