Training camp is about to open, so it's obviously time to talk fantasy football.
Cleveland, Ohio – Every preseason we do this to ourselves here in Cleveland. THIS is gonna be the year the Cavs win a title. THIS is gonna be the year the Indians take the World Series. THIS is the year the Browns get off that list of four NFL teams that have never made it to the Super Bowl.
And every year, what happens? Disappointment and frustration show up under the Christmas tree.
Let's skip the Cavs and LeQuit. Ditto with the Indians; having a utility infielder being their top closer is its own special kind of pain.
Let's talk Browns. Yeah, they're in a rebuilding year, but they're rebuilding under Mike Holmgren. That's different than rebuilding under Phil Savage and Romeo Crennel. You can find nits to pick in this year's draft choices and free-agent signings (Jake Delhomme? Really? How much would you have LOVED having Donovan McNabb barking signals at Cleveland Browns Stadium?).
But the reality is that even with Delhomme, the Browns have upgraded all across the board. Nobody wants to anoint Holmgren as the reincarnation of Vince Lombardi, but we really do have the sense that with "The Show," it really is a case of "Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing."
Even so, we're not gonna let ourselves get caught up in that preseason hype. We're going to wait at least till the Browns win their first game before we start calling Roger Goodell to ask when Cleveland can start printing playoff tickets.
And it may not be that long a wait, to be honest. The Browns' first two regular season games are against Tampa Bay, then Kansas City, teams with a combined 7-25 record last season.
With that in mind, it might not be a bad idea to follow the advice of Rustyn Rose (SURE that's a real name), who blogs for the fantasy website fantasyknuckleheads.com and pick up running back Montario Hardesty. Rose obviously is a very wise and knowledgeable prognosticator, as he agrees with the Plain Dealer's Tony Grossi that the rookie out of Tennessee will start ahead of Jerome Harrison, despite Harrison's strong finish in the 2009 campaign.
With a short-arm quarterback in Jake Delhomme, and no air game to speak of, the Browns will be running the ball quite a bit, so even if they split carries, Hardesty should get a decent workload in Cleveland this season. That said, even with a heavy workload, his fantasy value may be limited in 2010.
Hardesty has the size to be a "featured back" in the NFL. He's at 6-0 and 225 pounds. So far this spring, Hardesty has impressed everyone who's seen and talked to him. When training camp opens (Saturday), his fantasy value will likely spike. Goodbye sleeper status.
Montario's value has as much to do with his competition, Jerome Harrison, as his own abilities. Sure Harrison had some big games in 2009, but they came against the Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars. Other than that, what has he done in his four-year career? Expect him to become the team's change of pace back.
Maybe, but wouldn't it be kind of nice to see a sort of modernized wishbone, with fullback Lawrence Vickers leading the way for either Hardesty or Harrison? Especially sweeping around left end, with tight end Ben Watson and tackle Joe Thomas in front?
Dear Mike Holmgren and Randy Lerner: Please pay Starting Blocks $1 bazillion for this play . . . if it works. If not, what the HECK are doing listening to a newspaper blogger?
Smart manThe measure of a man's intelligence, or so the saying goes, is how much he agrees with you.
To that end, Starting Blocks contends that Fox Sports Ohio's Zac Jackson, writing for the Orange and Brown Report, is a dadgum genius. Wonder why? Check out a portion of his training camp preview and see just how much it resembles about what we just suggested for the Browns' backfield.
It takes blocking at every level, a threat of the pass and the right back finding a rhythm. But in (Jerome) Harrison, (Montario) Hardesty and '09 training camp star James Davis -- who's returning from a season-ending shoulder injury -- the Browns have three guys capable of following one of the league's best fullbacks, Lawrence Vickers, to daylight. How they sort themselves out starts right away and includes factors such as Davis' health and how many reps the rookie earns early on.
Wish we'd said that.
Never tell me the odds
Han Solo issued that warning to C3PO. Somebody should put it on a loop to play in the Browns' locker room. Sportspicksadvisors.com has the Browns' odds of making it to the Super Bowl at 100 to 1.
Frankly, we're a little surprised. Or we were till we realized Sportspicksadvisors.com only has even money on the Sun coming up tomorrow.
From The Plain DealerOn the eve of the opening of training camp, beat writer Tony Grossi breaks down the Browns' roster: Who's on first, who's got to step it up and who's coaching 'em to make sure that happens.
Grossi and The Plain Dealer's graphics department also give fans who'll be headed to the Browns' practice facility in Berea a breakdown of what's where and how things will work.