Everybody — but everybody –/“ is raving about how good the Browns looked in their rookie mini camp over the weekend.
This guy and that guy stood out. This guy and that guy were strong. This guy and that guy apprear as if they can be real contributors.
On and on and on it went. This was a reincarnation of some of the great Browns teams of the past.
The praise was effusive, and the negative seemed to disappear under the bright sunlight.
Former Browns head coach Butch Davis used to laugh and say, “That boy is All-Berea” when someone would shine in a rookie mini camp, or just any mini camp, even the ones including veterans.
No doubt the Browns have improved themselves, but let’s please put the brakes on all this endless positive talk about them and what they did.
Just keep in mind that these guys are running around in shorts, with no pads on. They can’t hit anybody, and no one can hit them. If anyone takes a shot at anyone else, then he’ll likely be on the waiver wire.
So, then, it’s easy to make plays, especially pass receivers on those crossing routes, when you know you’re not going to get lit up by a linebacker or a safety. It’s easier for quarterbacks to makestrong throws down the field when defensive linemen can’t get near them. It’s easier for running back to bb and weave up the middle when no one can touch them, either.
The real test will come later on when the full pads are on and the hitting starts. Not until then, though, will we really know very much about anybody. They may look good, or they may look a little rusty, but things will change both positively and negatively when they’re playing for keeps.
I hope the people who say the Browns looked good at the mini camp are correct, in their assessments, because all of us want to see the Browns do well. But again, let’s just pump the brakes on getting too carried away with this stuff. It’s springtime, and hope springs when eternal.
We want to have that hope heading into the season, and for it to be legitimate.
As for now, it doesn’t really matter much.
Steve King
