CLEARED TO PLAY FOOTBALL. It says what it means, and means what it says. One of the formost specialists on the planet--the very Doc who told him he'd never play again just cleared him to play football.
If you were an intilligent specialist, you would comprehend that this is a very, very, expremely good SOURCE. A much better source than even ex-GM's and football players, let alone sportswriters. You would assign THE most weight to this individual's opinion. You would be...well...not optimistic (that's bad)...ok well you would see a realistic PROBABILITY that LeCharles will be in charge of this O-line by game one.
In an earlier post, I dispersed much of the smoke and murk surrounding this situation, and showed you how to penetrate the smog and get at the real important stuff. The normal recovery time for this surgery. The original pre-staph prognosis, and the expected situation this was based on. Finally, how the elimination of the infection changed everything...right back to the original post-injury prognosis.
And that? Well, if this injury had happened on the last game of the season, they would have said the same thing: He should be able to play in '07. This was NOT an ACL DO YOU UNDERSTAND?
Certainly, the Browns doctors, and probably (not maybe) and outside specialist will have to concur. But why didn't you hear me? Don't you know that words mean things? His original surgeon is at the top of his field. HIS opinion is unlikely to be contradicted by anyone else.
He will need to jog, then run, then scamper around in drills. He'll need to avoid contact for five weeks. They won't push him, and clearly he's smart enough not endanger himself. But he should be able to get in on a couple preseason games, and be ready for the season.
Now, what do this mean?
Well, he can play guard (at the same pro-bowl level), and this wouldn't cause as much disruption as replacing Fraley. However, we have a situation at guard where McKinney is a solid veteran, Tucker could displace him, and the dismissal of the three young contenders is massively premature.
Probably, he returns to center. Joe Thomas and his bastard agent are a separate issue, and here I'll just paint it the way it will look at least by midseason, of not sooner:
LT: Joe Thomas LG: Eric Steinbach C: LeCharles Bentley RG: McKinney or Tucker RT: Shaffer or Tucker.
Lane Adkins, who is pretty damn sharp, projects Tucker at RG and Shaffer at RT, but I suspect that he assumes that McKinney isn't actually the best RG candidate, which he very well could be.
Anyway it shakes out, this is a dominating offensive line.
Corrections: Joe Thomas is not here to blow people off the line. He will improve in this area, but for now it's not his strong point. His strong points are protecting quarterbacks from DE's and linebackers, and decking people downfield and in space as well as the best pulling guards in the NFL.
Steinbach is similar--another ex-TE. Steinbach is not that BIG, but uses leverage expertly and excells in space.
Bentley is a bigger, stronger guy who CAN blow people off the ball or stand up to a nose tackle on his own. He projects well at RG as well, because he does have the ability to pull and block in space. While he's not the speedy athlete that Steinbach and Thomas are, he is quite capable of zone-blocking.
There will be disruptions and miscommunications early, but you have to get your best players on the field and working together as soon as you can. The best offensive lines have played together not for weeks, but for YEARS. You have to do this, and take your lumps.
Thanks to Vinnie the Fly, who writes for OBR.com, and some analysis, I now have a clearer picture of the political situation in Berea:
Last season, after mathematical elimination, Savage may have gone to Al Lerner and asked for Romeo's dismissal, and his replacement by Grantham. Because they were losing? No, Savage is not an ingnoramus. The losses couldn't rationally be blamed on Crennel, with the talent and all the injuries.
No, it was for these RATIONAL, SANE reasons:
1: Braylon Edwards needed to get benched or even suspended for some of the things he said, and for all those damn drops. This is one of the reasons Robiski was replaced.
2: Crennell refused to play young guys and get them the experience they needed to grow. Travis Wilson didn't suck. Romeo just played Northcutt because he was a veteran. He insisted on playing a lame Andruzzi over any of the three young guys, simply because he was a veteran. Andruzzi had never been more than a journeyman, and age and injury had reduced him to...well, in point of fact, one of the young guns might indeed have been better players.
Jerome Harrison dropped off the map. They could easily have found ways to use him, despite his inability to pick up blitzers, but they simply wrote him out of the game plans.
Vickers? No chance. There was a veteran...who couldn't catch or run...but a veteran.
This, I believe, maddened Savage. He recruits and drafts these guys, taking them lower than they should have been taken because they lacked experience. When team is in a race for the playoffs, you have to go with your proven players. But when you're out of it, you need to let the young guys play and get accustomed to the real NFL. These guys are the future.
Some of the veterans Romeo insisted on playing at the rookies' expense were not even going to be here. Romeo was a blockhead, and I also think that all of his assistants were chosen because they were his pals, rather than the most qualified people. (NOTABLE EXCEPTION: GRANTHAM).
Northcutt, that Terrell Smith, and Andruzzi are gone now, and those young guys behind them are a couple steps behind in their development. Real smart. Edwards should have been benched, especially when he bashed his own teammate for a perfectly legal hit--and you let Cribbs and Wilson get some reps in his stead--but NOOOO!
Gotta go okbye
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