Corrections

1: At the time Tom Heckert signed Scott Fujita, he was a pretty good 4-3 OLB with the Superbowl Saints.  At this time, the Browns ran a 3-4, and Fujita projected to be a better fit for that system.  Heckert signed Fujita partly because of the defensive system.

Fujita was also signed for his experience, intelligence, and leadership, to a young team.  His salary was higher than it might have been, because at the time nobody wanted to play in Cleveland.

2: This is Dick Jauron's defense.  In Jauron's ideal defense, the defensive tackles are big and strong, but the rest of the front seven are ideally quick/fast above all. Frostee Rucker is sort of a bonus which Jauron can adapt to, but Benard is a better fit.

ALL of the rookie and second-year linebackers on this team are better fits for THIS  defense than Fujita---who is on his last legs and on this planet probably won't start anymore.

I'm really encouraged by the first two games.  Not because the Browns first team beat the crap out of Green Bay's scrubs, but because of the improvement shown between game one and game two.

Weeden was much better, Gordon was like night and day, and the defense swarmed the run the way it was designed to.

Guys like Sims, the safety, really showed up.  In general, we are just now seeing why it would be idiotic to fire Tom Heckert, as undrafted and practice squad players are beginning to emerge as potential starters.  Anybody can find good players in the first couple rounds, but Heckert finds them everywhere, including in grocery stores.

This game against the Eagles isn't meaningless, obviously.  The fact that both teams will play vanilla is GOOD, because strength, speed, and execution should prevail.  This contest will be an excellent test for these young guys, because it's reduced to physical domination, especially in the trenches.

Blahblah it's only preseason blahblah the Superbowl Colts were 0-4 blahblah but they seem "together" and way ahead of schedule.

The fact that Adam Schein calls this the worst team in football is the most encouraging thing of all.  I had thought 6-10 to 8-8, but maybe I should upgrade that.