2010 Cleveland Browns Preview

You'll have to excuse me if I stumble from point to point during this particular piece. I've found that the only way to properly prepare myself for writing about the Cleveland Browns is to have a small drink or two beforehand. Ironically, getting nice and toasted also makes watching the Browns a more enjoyable experience. How can you get emotionally distraught about that which you cannot remember?

The Cleveland Browns enter the 2010 NFL regular season with only remnants remaining from the Romeo Crennel era. Nobody in his right mind is picking the Browns to compete with the Baltimore Ravens or Cincinnati Bengals for AFC North supremacy, let alone sniff a playoff berth. The Browns will need to answer the five questions listed below (and several others) in order to really compete during the 2010 NFL season.

2010 Cleveland Browns questions #1: Quarterbacks

If this was 2009, I would have already used the "in the time it's taken you to read this sentence, Jake Delhomme has thrown an interception" joke. I refuse to believe that Delhomme can possibly play worse than he did last season, but that does not in anyway infer I expect him to be much better. That leaves Seneca Wallace, Brett Ratliff and the possibly cut Colt McCoy on the depth chart. At this point, Browns' fans just need to hope Delhomme is more consistent than the likes of Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson. Asking for any more is probably asking for far too much.

2010 Cleveland Browns questions #2: Name that WR

Here's a fun game to play at parties; close your eyes and name the 2010 Cleveland Browns wide receivers in ten seconds or less. Go.

Five bucks says you didn't get Mohamed Massaquoi, Brian Robiskie, Josh Cribbs, Chansi Stuckey, Syndric Steptoe and (maybe) Bobby Engram. Not one of these guys is a number one wide receiver in the NFL leading into September 2010. Could Massaquoi develop into one? Possibly, but it's not a stretch to say the young WR has a ways to go.

Shaky quarterbacks and unproven wide receivers; I may need another drink before going on.

2010 Cleveland Browns questions #3: When does Josh Cribbs pass out?

As of the writing of this piece, Josh Cribbs is likely to play the following positions:

Kick returner

Punt returner

Kick coverage

Punt coverage

Wide receiver

Wildcat QB/option

Option QB/RB/WR

Cribbs is an extraordinary athlete, the best player currently on the Browns roster. The odds of any NFL player getting injured increase each time that athlete participates in a play. Where will the Browns draw the line with Cribbs in 2010 in order to preserve him for future games this season and beyond?

2010 Cleveland Browns questions #4: D'Qwell Jackson

The Browns most consistent tackler, linebacker D'Qwell Jackson, missed the entire 2010 preseason due to a partially torn pectoral muscle. He is hoping to return for week 1 of the regular season but nothing has been confirmed yet. A similar but worse injury sidelined Jackson just six weeks into the 2009 campaign. The Browns aren't crippled at linebacker with Jackson on the sidelines, but the team's run defense is much better with him on the field. Will he be 100 percent, free of both injuries and rust, come September 12?

2010 Cleveland Browns questions #5: When does Eric Mangini get the hook?

Cleveland Browns team president Mike Holmgren has given a vote of confidence to head coach Eric Mangini over and over...and over again. The Browns start the 2010 NFL regular season against Tampa Bay and Kansas City. Cleveland then gets to face Baltimore, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Pittsburgh and New Orleans. Should the Browns lose their first two games of the season, it's not unlikely the team will be 0-7 going into the bye week. Would that be enough for Holmgren to step in and take the reins? Would he do so sooner?

No pressure, coach Mangini. No pressure.

More from Associated Content: Cleveland Browns QB mistakes continue (here), Breaking down the 2010 Cleveland Browns schedule (here) & I Believe in Eric Mangini (here)

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