Reinders saga comes to an end

Regulars to this blog know that that one of the Brown Log's pet peeves is how much importance NFL scouts place on size and speed and how little they seem to care about whether or not somebody knows how to play the game of football.

That stated, even the Brown Log got caught up in the football potential of Joel Reinders. At 6'8" and over 300 pounds, with wonderful athletic ability, it was easy to imagine Reinders dominating the gridiron for years to come.

There was only one small problem along the way that causes optimism and dreams to crash head on with reality. Reinders simply had very few football skills. I myself was surprised that in the end, the Browns decided that Reinders wasn't even worth one years investment on the taxi squad. That means his skills are so scarce, that the team felt Reinders would never come around. Too bad really, but it goes to show that a track meet and a football game are two radically different events.

Look for Reinders to try to catch on in the CFL with the Toronto Argonauts, but honestly, don't look for him to play much. The CFL is major league football, no doubt, and Reinders will need years to develop the football skills needed to make it professionally.

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.

Training camp update: Joel Reinders

According to Coach Mangini, "Joel Reinders is doing well in camp, getting better every day."
It's early and everyone is filled with optimism but Reinders is 6'7" and 310 pounds and a great athlete, there's reason to be optimistic.

Scouting via Youtube?: Joel Reinders

The article in the attached link, claims that the Browns actually discovered Canadian college free agent Joel Reinders (previously profiled on the Brown Log) on Youtube, watching the following video. if true it certainly officially marks the beginning of new era in which the Browns take advantage of every technological means available to assure the best talent in the world is identified by any means necessary. Then again, knowing the fact that the Browns have played in ZERO Super Bowls, maybe youtube scouting simply verifies that the Browns are still the same old cheap second class organization they've been since 1960. Let's hope for the latter and not the former case.............

Browns post draft free agent signings

With only 7 rounds in the modern era NFL draft the import of post draft college free agent signings is magnified.

For example, here are just a few of the players drafted after round 7 back when the NFL draft lasted much longer than 7 rounds

Dwight Clark Round 10 in 1979
Brian Sipe round 13 in 1972
Ernest Byner round 10 in 1984
LC Greenwood round 10 in 1969
Bart Starr round 17 in 1956

Since the end of the draft, the Browns have been very active in free agent signings, and that is yet another great sign that our team finally is being run by professionals. There is much gold to mine from the lists of undrafted players this year.

For a full list of the free agents signed thus far by our Browns, click on this link.

One player I find particularly intriguing, if only for his size, is Canadian college offensive tackle Joel Reinders. Of course, universities in Canada play using Canadian rules, and the game is quite different so a Canadian player starts already at a disadvantage relative to a player from an American university. Worse yet, Reinders has only been playing organized football for 2 years. Still, as an athlete this young man leaps off the page at anyone. For starters, he's 6' 8" tall and weighs 320 pounds and his combine numbers on strength and speed were quite respectable. He's got a VERY LONG way to go to learn how to play football but if he can learn and grow as a player, his potential seems unlimited.



Here is some scouting combine clips of Reinders. It's very clear watching the film that Reinders is not yet a very good football player but at the same time his upside is also easy to envision given his size and strength: