cardslesson101 wrote:howski, what do you think about McDaniels if he became the OC?
I think it would be a good choice at OC, as long as he doesn't have a problem with Bradford at QB like he did with Cutler. I thought I would have heard Brad Childress would have been the OC with the Spagnuolo connections but I guess not.
cardslesson101 wrote:I just don't think Bradford having to learn a different offense in his 2nd year is a good thing.
Offensive coordinators have a very high turnover rate. If they suck, they get fired. If they're good, they get hired as a head coach. These are professional football players. Bradford has already shown that he's mature and I'm sure he could handle an improved offensive scheme.
Of course he'd love to throw laterally to Amendola every play because it's a guaranteed completion. But I think he can handle throwing a PA bomb on first down every once and awhile instead of running a HB dive with Jackson every single series.
Rams offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur has emerged as the leading candidate for the Cleveland Browns' head coaching job, according to league sources.
The sources said Cleveland hopes to hammer out a contract with Shurmur within the next 48 hours and introduce Shurmur as coach at a news conference by Friday.
The contract should not be difficult to close, since Browns president Mike Holmgren, general manager Tom Heckert, executive vice president Bryan Wiedmeier and Shurmur all have the same agent, Bob Lamonte.
If Shurmur's deal falls through, the Browns could turn to former Panthers head coach John Fox, who spent Wednesday interviewing with the Broncos. Cleveland already has also interviewed Falcons offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey and Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell, but Shurmur, 45, is the candidate that has commanded the most attention.
Holmgren likes Shurmur and what he can bring to the Browns, according to the sources.
Although he lacks head coaching experience, Shurmur's background running a West Coast offense and working with young quarterbacks is appealing to Holmgren, who set out on his search determined to "find exactly the right person for the job who can eventually someday lead us to the championship. That is my only goal."
Holmgren wants to expand Cleveland's offense, which languished under Mangini and offensive coordinator Brian Daboll.
Under Shurmur's guidance this season, Rams rookie quarterback Sam Bradford passed for 18 touchdowns and 3,512 yards -- second-most by a rookie behind Peyton Manning's 3,739 in 1998. Before joining St. Louis' staff, Shurmur coached Philadelphia's quarterbacks, and developed Donovan McNabb into one of the game's top QBs.
Looks like Shurmur will be it and yesterday Bernie said that when asked it seems like they already have a person in place once it happens (McDaniels?). On the actual offseason Blackmon and Floyd going back to school really hurt our chances of getting a #1 WR in the draft unless Jones makes it to us which could happen, or we could end up getting Aldon Smith from Mizzou at DE at our spot. We are going to have to look at some of the FA's for our receiver need. Not to bad of options:
Vincent Jackson (SD) – The Chargers still have a lot of progress to be made in retaining their own players. Philip Rivers found great success even without his big name receivers earlier in the year, which seems to make Vincent Jackson more expendable. Coach Norv Turner has paid complements to his star receiver, saying he’s a better player this year than he was last, which sends a message to the front office that they shouldn’t hesitate to bring him back in 2011 and onward.
Sidney Rice (MIN) – Coming back from a pretty serious hip injury, Rice continued to impress with his athletic ability and added to his highlight reel. His per game numbers didn’t mimic his dominant 2009 season, but that’s expected with lesser quarterback and offensive line play. Rice figures to play a large role in the organization’s future, making his re-signing every bit the priority of finding a playoff-caliber quarterback.
Santonio Holmes (NYJ) – Aside from the “character concerns,” the Steelers were quick to send Holmes packing to the highest bidder because of the expected cost in retaining Holmes this offseason. Now that decision will fall squarely on the shoulder of the Jets. Holmes is the best receiver in a very talented corps. He’s a good route runner and is known to come up big late in games. If the Jets have to choose only one of their two big name receivers, you’d have to think it would Holmes, who has the most targets and receptions on the team since week 5.
Braylon Edwards (NYJ) – Edwards has been the big play threat on an offense that is most explosive when the running game opens up the playaction to him down the field. Of the Jets’ star free agents this offseason, Edwards is the most likely to be let go though.
Malcom Floyd (SD) – Floyd was given the highest tender last offseason and proved worthy of the contract in the games he played. After Philip Rivers’ performance in the absence of both Floyd and Jackson, the Chargers may decide to only keep one of the two and trade the other to make improvements elsewhere (maybe a new special teams coach). Floyd is a tall, athletic downfield threat with the body control to become a number one receiver in the league.
Steve Smith (NYG) – Smith was the perfect slot receiver for the Giants’ terrific threesome and was on his way to his second consecutive 1000-yard season before an injury derailed him in the middle of the year and leaves the start of his 2011 season in jeopardy. The Giants will know his situation best and are therefore the frontrunners for Steve Smith.
Terrell Owens (CIN) – It looks like the mouth on this man is directly correlated with his performance. The minute he starts putting up some decent numbers, he begins sharing his nonsense again. Production for the 37 year old TO surprised many this season, but by late season, he began blaming the coaching staff for its’ offensive struggles which many have reported will keep the Bengals from bringing him back. If he can find a new home next year, it would be his 6th different team in 9 seasons. He’s burned plenty of bridges and already had plenty of difficulty finding a team last offseason and no team has proven to be more kind to players looking for another chance than the Bengals. Given the talented receiver free agent class, I have a feeling this could have been the last season from TO in the NFL.
Randy Moss (TEN) – No one predicted this 2010 season for Moss. Just as loudly as he entered the league over a decade ago, he seems to be going away just as quietly. The Titans placed the only waiver claim on Moss who was released after a catering incident in Minnesota. Like TO, has he burned too many bridges too? If there’s any team that can light a fuse in Moss, it’s his old Patriots, but do they want the headache? Brady certainly doesn’t seem to need the help anyway.
Mike Williams (SEA) – Is there anyone out there—Lions fans excluded—that didn’t love to see Mike Williams playing some good football for his old college coach? Let’s keep it simple, he’s staying in Seattle.
James Jones (GB) – Will the Packers be willing to pay Jones like a starting receiver? If not, he may be one of the first ones out of Green Bay if he becomes an unrestricted free agent. He’s as talented as any number of starting wideouts and has shown flashes that he could be just that. He has a knack of dropping passes here and there, but aside from that, James Jones is a complete receiver who can run the entire tree.
Steve Breaston (ARI) – The Cardinals know the health of Breaston’s knee better than any other teams. If it checks out clean, they also know his abilities better than anyone else. He’s a breakout star in the making and would form a formidable duo with Larry Fitzgerald if the team could get their quarterback situation untangled.
Other Notable Free Agents:
Early Doucet (ARZ)
Brian Finneran (ATL)
Donte' Stallworth (BAL)
TJ Houshmandzadeh (BAL)
Rashied Davis (CHI)
Devin Aromashadu (CHI)
Chansi Stuckey (CLE)
Sam Hurd (DAL)
Jacoby Jones (HOU)
Mike Sims-Walker (JAC)
Kevin Curtis (MIA)
Hank Baskett (MIN)
Greg Lewis (MIN)
Lance Moore (NO)
Courtney Roby (NO)
Derek Hagan (NYG)
Darius Reynaud (NYG)
Brad Smith (NYJ)
Johnnie Lee Higgins (OAK)
Legedu Naanee (SD)
Ben Obomanu (SEA)
Laurent Robinson (STL)
Danny Amendola (STL)
Mark Clayton (STL)
Maurice Stovall (TB)
Santana Moss (WAS)
cardslesson101 wrote:I just don't think Bradford having to learn a different offense in his 2nd year is a good thing.
Offensive coordinators have a very high turnover rate. If they suck, they get fired. If they're good, they get hired as a head coach. These are professional football players. Bradford has already shown that he's mature and I'm sure he could handle an improved offensive scheme.
Of course he'd love to throw laterally to Amendola every play because it's a guaranteed completion. But I think he can handle throwing a PA bomb on first down every once and awhile instead of running a HB dive with Jackson every single series.
Not a fan of Brad Childress as OC. He had a wealth of offensive talent at Minnesota, and didn't seem to get much out of it. Granted QB was sometimes an issue. Adrian Petereson's talents were squandered time and again - and it always seemed obvious when it was going to be an APeterson play, or not. Like Shurmer with S jackson, he would inexplicably take his best offensive player off the field for 3rd downs.
cardslesson101 wrote:I just don't think Bradford having to learn a different offense in his 2nd year is a good thing.
Offensive coordinators have a very high turnover rate. If they suck, they get fired. If they're good, they get hired as a head coach. These are professional football players. Bradford has already shown that he's mature and I'm sure he could handle an improved offensive scheme.
Of course he'd love to throw laterally to Amendola every play because it's a guaranteed completion. But I think he can handle throwing a PA bomb on first down every once and awhile instead of running a HB dive with Jackson every single series.
Not a fan of Brad Childress as OC. He had a wealth of offensive talent at Minnesota, and didn't seem to get much out of it. Granted QB was sometimes an issue. Adrian Petereson's talents were squandered time and again - and it always seemed obvious when it was going to be an APeterson play, or not. Like Shurmer with S jackson, he would inexplicably take his best offensive player off the field for 3rd downs.
I want Childress. When he had a QB that was healthy his offense was great. Favre was hurt and old this year, and Favre's favorite target was out this year. The first 2 years of the Childress regime had Tarvaris Jackson as QB. Enough said.
You give Childress a solid O-Line, Bradford, Jackson, a 1st rd draft pick WR, and the Rams offense will be better than it was last season.
My concern about Childress is that he doesn't seem to know how to use a dynamic RB. Some of the ways he utilized Peterson this past season were just baffling. I don't want to see Jackson run up them middle for 2 yards 20 times a game.
Now that it's official about Shurmur's installment in Cleveland, I imagine we should hear pretty soon whether it's Childress or McDaniels. I'm still rooting for mini-hoodie.
