Browns wrap up preseason

Yesterdays final tuneup against the Bears generally went well and we have now arrived to the end of a preseason that gave us much to be optimistic about.
Roster cut down time is now upon us. Here is a good article from the Canton Repository's Josh Weir summing up the key roster decisions to be taken by the Browns within this Saturday. One interesting aside is Joel Reinders who has rarely played this pre-season and clearly is not ready for the NFL. The article mentions that Reinders will likely make the taxi squad so the Browns appear to be impressed enough with Reinders athletic skills to invest one year in seeing if his potential can be transformed into playing ability

Here are some roster decisions impacted by the final exhibition game:

Plus
- Colt McCoy was a perfect 13 for 13 passing. Colt has certainly made the active roster as 3rd string QB. Here is hoping that Brett Ratliff does not get cut. He too is an NFL caliber quarterback and it would be a shame to lose him. Perhaps the Browns put Ratliff on the taxi squad instead of cutting him.


- Carlton Mitchell showed enough skills that he might just make the active roster instead of the taxi squad or getting cut

Minus
- Montario Hardesty left the stadium on crutches. That will likely mean a season long trip to the disabled list for Hardesty which saves the roster spot of James Davis.

Hardesty Injures Knee

Browns draft pick Montario Hardesty Injures Knee and will be out for several weeks. The Browns paid a huge price for Hardesty, who not only has a long history of getting hurt, but there are also serious doubts about his skills as a football player. This is a bad sign.

The anti-Spielman: Montario Hardesty

The Browns grabbed Montario Hardesty with their second pick in round 2 of the 2010 NFL Draft.

Montario Hardesty rose in the scouting evaluations thanks to a series of off the chart results in the speed, agility and strength testing at the scouting combine. I remember when Ohio State great Chris Spielman dropped into the second round of the NFL Draft because his combine numbers were less impressive than others. How many times do NFL personnel evaluators forget to ask the question, "can this guy play football"? Worst of all, the Browns paid an extraordinarily high price for Montario, giving up three picks — 71, 134 and 146 — for the 59th overall pick.

If the NFL game were a track meet in which a team gain points for running a fast 40 yard dash, jumping rope, and running without knocking down cones, I would be celebrating the selection of Hardesty. Unfortunately, football is a match of 11 offensive players vs 11 defenders. Have a look at the below youtube "highlights" from Montario's senior year at Tennessee. At the college level this guy got by thanks to his size and strength advantages but there is not a single example in which he stands above the rest of the talent on the field. If anything he looks out of his league.

Hardesty has the size, speed and agility to become an All-Pro but have a look at the highlights, unfortunately, he's not much of a football player. He's only 22 so he can always learn and improve, but do not hold out much hope that Hardesty will actually become a decent player instead of a member of the Willis Adams club, ie...yet another example of how scouting combines only go so far in determining whether or not a player will be a success in the NFL.