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December 1, 2010LeBron Will “Probably” Toss Chalk
December 1, 2010
Throughout the NFL season the little roster moves are plentiful. More times than not, we just skip them altogether and don’t talk about them. For whatever reason though, a few of them this time caught my eye.
Larry Asante is now a Tampa Bay Buccaneer. The Browns’ fifth rounder from Nebraska is headed south to replace Tampa’s injured rookie Cody Grimm. A lot of us were excited by the prospects of Larry Asante and his big hitting presence at safety. On an Eric Mangini team, though, before you are ready to start in the NFL, you better be ready to play lights out on special teams. Larry Asante presumably was given the opportunity to compete for slots on special teams with the likes of Nick Sorenson and Ray Ventrone and couldn’t beat them out.
Speaking of special teams, the Browns also waived former Pro Bowl returner Clifton Smith who fumbled in the Carolina game after replacing Josh Cribbs in the second half. If you are keeping score for the annals of Browns history, Smith ends his run with the Browns with five kick returns for 92 yards including a long one of 26 yards.
The corresponding move to waiving Clifton Smith is the signing off the practice squad of Jordan Norwood. Norwood is a wide receiver from Penn State. I am not sure exactly what the Browns expect Norwood to do now that he has been promoted from the practice squad. I checked the old Penn State stats and Norwood never returned any kickoffs. Still, maybe he is going to be returning while Josh Cribbs continues to heal. As far as receiver, Carlton Mitchell has dressed for a couple of games in the last few weeks, but he hasn’t exactly had a lot of opportunities other than an end-around. So at this point talking about Jordan Norwood is probably a waste of breath other than potentially in the return game.
Obviously the thing that everyone wants to talk about are the draft picks. Larry Asante is now gone, but I wouldn’t lose too much sleep over it. He was a fifth rounder. He might have been able to develop into a player if he was able to stick around long enough. If it is true that he wasn’t able to contribute on Sundays on the active roster then why should we worry so much about it?
Clifton Geathers was snatched up by Miami just before the season and a lot of people bemoaned the loss of this athletic freak who is raw but has tons of potential on the defensive line. I still feel that way about Geathers, but the way NFL rosters work, you just can’t worry about it. If you search the headlines for Geathers today, you will find that he was waived and snatched up yet again by Seattle where they are talking about his “freakish athletic ability” while still being a raw football player.
Losing two drafted players may seem bad, but keep in mind that the Browns still have Joe Haden, T.J. Ward, Shawn Lauvau, Carlton Mitchell, Montario Hardesty and of course Colt McCoy around from this year’s draft. So, all in all, it is tough to think that Asante and Geathers will submarine the draft in the history books.
18 Comments
for the hue and cry about our thin defensive secondary, it bothers me that two browns DB draft choices in the last two years are good enough to make the active roster of two playoff teams… but couldnt play for us. (don carey, jax and now asante.)
this is just a general ‘wth’ on a wednesday morning.
@jimkanicki…
The Don Carey thing was a debacle through and through. That NEVER should have happened.
I truly believe that this Larry Asante situation is different. He has been here since rookie camps and if he could contribute on Sundays, he would have been on the active roster. I guess there is always a chance that he goes on to Tampa and thrives, but there is no reason to believe that he is actually ready to take the field for them.
We’ll see, but not the same as Don Carey who should still be with the Browns.
I wouldn’t read too much into the move. The guy was a fifth rounder, and many roster moves are made simply because you need to make room for another needed position. Otherwise, teams would just stockpile talent like teams did in college before the scholarship rules changed.
Who knows? Maybe the Clifton Smith move is a sign that Cribbs is almost all the way back to being healthy.
I’m just really looking forward to this week’s game.
We should all know by now that the draft is a crap shoot and to presumably hit on Haden/Ward/Hardesty?/Colt? is a lights out draft….we can handle losing guys like this. As stated if he could make an impact he’d have been on the side lines in some capacity. Good luck Larry.
What happened to Haden in the return game? I guess it makes sense with the thing secondary they don’t want to get him hurt?
A practice squad WR? We’re saved!
But seriously… does anyone know how long Cribbs should be out? I was under the impression that dislocated bones were typically treated by popping them back in the socket and saying “there you go”. Perhaps a lollipop if you were a good boy.
@ Stin…Yeah, I hope they keep Haden out of the return game to keep him healthy. He’s starting to really show some promise on defense.
If we’re being realistic, kick returners are a dime-a-dozen in the NFL. That’s why it’s usually someone that doesn’t contribute in a very meaningful way besides the kick game (Think Donte “X-Factor” Hall from the Chiefs a few years back).
Once they show promise in the return game, they are moved to a more meaningful position, and a new guy is brought in to return kicks. At this point, it might be time to forget using Cribbs on kick returns. He’s too valuable as an offensive player.
Another reason you see no-namers on kick returns is because kickoffs and punts have the highest occurrence of injury since the players are basically running into each other at top speed. Let’s get Cribbs out of there and let him be a WR/RB full time.
i know craig. the carey thing is like the veikune draft pick; bad moves, but it adds little to the convo to keep bringing it up. cant help it sometimes. 🙂
Truthfully, I like Coye Francies better anyways. Glad to see him back on the PS.
It just shows the lack of talented depth. It’ll take at least one more draft netting at least three producing players before actual wins appear.
As far as Hardesty goes he was a risk and so far it’s backfired. Any time a rebuilding team moves up to draft an injury risked player you roll the dice. Other then this I’d stand by what the Walrus has done.
I also thing it’s incredibly naieve to think Holmgren doesn’t know he needs a WR. Hopefully if they can’t sign a real one they’ll draft a young guy to go along with McCoy.
As Scott just mentioned the Browns signed Coye Francies after I pubbed this article. Didn’t Francies return some kicks in pre-season games along the way?
Just hate to see picks go unused and to another team.
i am happy francies is back. when can we just put Wright on IR and give insert francies into the nickel packages? just give the kid a chance, and if he’s as good as advertised (he supposedly slipped to the late rounds due to some off-field issues), then you have some insurance for next year. If he’s bad, really bad, he’s STILL not as bad as Wright has been this year.
@9
because the games against the Bengals, Saints, Patriots and Panthers were played in the land of make believe and do not count as “actual wins”.
@ Christopher…I’m with you on #9’s comments.
Cherry-picking the stats and results that fit your argument is fun!
@ Cbus
Exactly, in fact let me try… Because the Celtics lost the first game against the Cavaliers and found themselves down early in the first quarter of last night’s contest it must be due to their complete lack of preparation, focus and overall will to win. Therefore the Celtics must draft players that want to win against the Cavaliers, then actual wins against the Cavalies
will begin.
*against the Cavaliers.
I really don’t have a problem with letting these late round picks go if they aren’t producing or aren’t getting a chance to produce. The best of all possible roster moves thus far in 2010 made by the Browns was getting rid of the maniac known as Derek Anderson. This video made my week.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jErsW7rgHBs&feature=related
HaHa!
Update: Schefter is reporting we claimed Sabby Piscitelli off waivers from the Bucs.
So, we traded Asante for Piscitelli. I loved Asante at draft-time, but if he couldn’t find playing time with our DB injuries, the odds are we got the better end of this deal (Pisci is a SS from Oregon State who has started 20 games in 4 years for the Bucs)