NFL PREVIEW: CLEVELAND BROWNS

by WCT, The Ship of Fools

As the old football saying goes, the most popular guy in town is the back-up quarterback. There is nowhere where that adage is more fitting than in Cleveland. A large percentage of Browns fans are very skeptical of starting QB Derek Anderson's stellar 2007 season, and are in favor of giving the job to 2007 first-round pick Brady Quinn.

You never quite know what you are going to get with Anderson. By and large, he was great in 2007, ending the season with over 3,700 yards and a QB rating over 82. How-evah, in December his rating was around 66, and he had more INTs than TDs. His rough final month culminated with a horrific 4 INT performance, in the biggest game of the year, a week 16 loss at Cincinnati with a playoff berth at stake. This is the game that Quinn-lovers point to when backing their guy.

To be fair, you don't really know what you are going to get with Quinn either, since he has thrown eight passes in his entire NFL career. That being said, the Browns traded their 2008 1st round pick to the Cowboys in order to draft Quinn, who has looked good in his limited time and in preseason games. He is going to be a starter somewhere, sometime.

The entire 2008 Browns team is one big question mark. They were 10-6 in '07, barely missing the playoffs, but they only played four games against playoff teams, and went 1-3 in those games (and the win was against Seattle, so it really shouldn't count). This year the Browns play seven games against teams from the '07 playoffs.

Defense was clearly the weakness last season, so they went out and signed Shaun Rogers to bolster the D-line. It remains to be seen if the Browns lack of secondary depth hurts them, as it did in the first exhibition game against the Jets, when somebody named David Clowney torched them for 163 receiving yards. The offense was already potent, and they signed WR Donte' Stallworth to be the #2 guy opposite Pro Bowl stud Braylon Edwards.

This year, everything is set up for Anderson. He has his offensive weapons, he has a brand new three-year contract, he has an improved defense, and he has the peace of mind knowing that he has the starting QB job going into the season. He also has expectations. Last August we Browns fans just wanted the team to not embarrass themselves, and they surprised us and went 10-6. This year, we're expecting a trip to the playoffs.

Its all set up for you DA, don't screw it up! Or Cleveland will turn on you and in favor of Quinn so fast it will make your head spin!