Cleveland Browns' Evan Moore quite a catch at tight end

Moore and fellow tight end Benjamin Watson are emerging as favorite targets for the quarterbacks on the Browns.

BEREA, Ohio — When the Browns open their preseason Saturday in Green Bay, Wis., the practice game may serve as a measuring stick. A year ago, they kicked off the Eric Mangini era in the same place.

It was a disaster. The Packers blanked the offense and the defense gave up 230 yards rushing in a 17-0 slap in the chops. The operation was so disheveled, the squad was late coming out after halftime.

How far have the Browns come?

If you break it down to one player, tight end Evan Moore, the answer would be "pretty far."

At this time a year ago, Moore was buried on the Green Bay training camp roster. He broke his hand this week in 2009 and tried to play through it.

"I spent the entire preseason with a hand wrapped up in a club trying to block people and catch the ball," Moore recalled. "I tried [to play] because I knew if I didn't I'd be gone."

The Packers were loaded at tight end and released Moore on the final cut. The Browns signed him to their practice squad two months later. In three weeks, he was activated and led the Browns with 80 yards receiving in his first appearance.

That game against San Diego was the last one the Browns lost. Moore played the remaining four weeks. Though he had only six catches in those games, the Browns won all four. The newfound threat of Moore catching the ball downfield helped unclog the running game.

"I know the games I was in we were 4-1 and it felt great," Moore said. "Everyone was having fun. I don't know what it was like before I got here. People were loving it and the games were exciting. That's the thing that's going to make this thing fun."

So this is where Moore's story picks up. Imagine him being integral in the offense from the beginning, rather than at the end. He and Benjamin Watson have been favorite targets for the quarterbacks in Mangini's second training camp.

"The thing people have to realize, quarterbacks love reliable tight ends," Moore said. "I think we have two or three, maybe even four of them. Good offensive teams like San Diego and Dallas throw to their tight ends all the time."

Throwing to the tight end was not a part of Jake Delhomme's passing game at Carolina, even in his great seasons. Watson, of course, is the undisputed starter. But Moore gives the offense another dependable downfield target. The way he held on to passes last year, you'd never know he broke his hand in camp. He didn't need surgery.

Moore and Mangini agree that Moore is a better player now than when he arrived in November.

"I believe I'm more experienced at this position," said Moore, who played wide receiver four seasons at Stanford, where he earned a master's degree in sociology. "I also believe that in this league, a lot of it is about opportunity. And my role here is a little bit different than it was in Green Bay.

"I think we use some strengths that I have a little bit more to my advantage, just in the passing game in general. That's a good football team over there [in Green Bay]. There wasn't much of a spot for me to fill, so it was almost like beating my head against the wall trying to fill a role that really wasn't my forte. I wasn't able to play to my strengths when I was there."

Moore said he doesn't have any special feelings playing against Green Bay, except to see his family. His parents relocated to Sturgeon Bay, Wis., from southern California so that his father could help his uncle jumpstart a manufacturing company.

"To me, it's like I never played there," Moore said. "It's not like I'm going up to show them. To me, it was a year getting paid to weightlift."

But like any undrafted player, Moore has that inner drive to "show teams that didn't think I was any good three years ago."

Moore wasn't drafted in 2008 because of medical concerns relating to a dislocated hip injury in 2005. He was red-flagged after failing the physical at the scouting combine. Back then, he worked out as a receiver. He's 20 pounds heavier now at 250, but the blocking part of his game is still a work in progress.

"I feel the skills I learned in route-running and coverage reading is really valuable," Moore said. "But when it comes to the run game and some pass protection stuff, there's things that the other tight ends [do] because it's a natural thing to them. They just recognize it just by glancing at it. It takes me an extra second to pick that up because I don't have a lot of experience at it. But I'm working at it and getting better at it."

Like the Browns, he's come a long way in a year.