Author: Gerardo Orlando (Page 5 of 45)

Now that the shock has worn off, here are some thoughts:

– So many people are analyzing this trade in the context of Richardson being the third pick in the draft and also in the context of the past 14 years of misery in Cleveland. I get it, but that shouldn’t impact the football decision this regime made.

– Richardson’s potential is hard to give up, but his production never lived up to the potential. Yes, he was injured last year, and I like many had high hopes that a healthy Richardson would be a beast this year. He hasn’t been. He still dances too much approaching the hole. He seems to lack the instinct of great between-the-tackles runners like Emmitt Smith. He has never had the explosiveness of elite backs like Barry Sanders. He’s also been very injury prone. In hindsight, I don’t think even Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert would have drafted him again at #3 knowing what they know now. So we need to put aside where he was drafted.

– Given his production, and even with his potential, the Browns definitely got more than fair value in return for Richardson. Having another first rounder in a loaded draft next year is a great asset.

– Many of us were wondering why we weren’t seeing Richardson on third down. Tony Grossi has implied that the new coaching staff wasn’t happy with his grasp of those packages. This new regime saw him play two mediocre games, and apparently they weren’t that impressed.

– I was all for drafting Richardson in 2011, but I understood the risk of taking a running back that high. So far the move hasn’t panned out that well, and I can’t blame the new regime for getting back a first rounder for a running back, particularly when they subscribe to the theory that you can always find backs in later rounds.

– Most suspect that the current regime has given up on Brandon Weeden. None of us know for sure, and he or Hoyer could potentially surprise everyone by playing great over the rest of the season, but it’s safe to say the Browns will likely need to address the quarterback situation, and they’ve certainly put themselves in a position to address that in a stacked 2014 draft if necessary.

– Because that draft is stacked, the Browns don’t have to collapse this year and “tank for Teddy” for all this to make sense. There will likely be plenty of good quarterback prospects to choose from next year, and they also have the assets to trade up if they so desire.

– This team doesn’t suddenly become a 2-14 mess like the Raiders just because they traded Richardson. The defense should be able to keep them in most games. We can’t replace Richardson’s potential, but his actual production won’t be that hard to replace. If they can get solid quarterback play from Weeden or Hoyer, they will win some games. I’d rather see the defense and offense improve so next year’s draft isn’t the start of another total rebuild project.

It’s disappointing that after only two weeks the entire season has been thrown into turmoil with this trade. I understand why some fans are reacting so negatively. But from a football perspective I think they made a good move. We’ll see how it plays out.