Tate and Hawkins

I don't know where this "Benjamin will never be much of a reciever" crap started, but it's not accurate.  Benji hadn't been used much in college, and needed some polishing on his routes.  But he has the agility and the hands to become a better reciever.

I use the word "better" deliberately, because he's already a decent reciever.

He hasn't been tried much in the slot yet, and many feel this is where he belongs.  Trouble is, his injury takes over eighteen months to fully heal.  He can play well ahead of that, but won't be 100% for awhile longer.

Unlike Hoyer, who is a quarterback, Benji must make hard cuts and drive out of them, so ok, because of the injury, they can't use him a whole lot at reciever for awhile longer.

Enter Hawkins, who is very similar to Benjamin, only more experienced, refined, and healthy.

The Bengals are pretty loaded at wide reciever, which, along with his injury, is why Baby Hawk wasn't used that much.  On this roster, the slot position is all his to lose.

This is no possession guy, but one who can take it home from anywhere at any time.  I'm sure Pettine loves that.  Of course, some will still say that the Browns offense doesn't have enough playmakers.  They'll keep saying that til somebody hits them with a two by four and resets them.

While I myself talked up Benjamin and Josh Cooper, I love this signing as a big upgrade.  Kyle won't have to wait for him to develop, and the slot need not be limited to a checkdown chain-mover.  Hawkins gets open, has good hands, AND can take it to the house.  The Browns' offense just got more explosive.

Ben Tate isn't a big-play guy, but will move the chains and gash defenses.

Some, including Terry Pluto, say that the Browns still need more running backs.  They may well draft one lower down, but they don't need one.  You'll see that next season whenever Tate takes a breather or gets hurt, and is replaced by one of the guys already here.

I'm so far disappointed that more guys weren't signed, but I understand it's a two-way street.  You can be sure that Farmer invited a bunch more players to come and negotiate than were written about.

I don't take the whole Bridgewater Pro Day thing that seriously, as the Browns may already have their minds made up about quarterback, it could still be Bridgewater, and they could be masking it to discourage somebody else from trading ahead of them to get him.

And his bad pro day doesn't negate what he did throughout his college career.  Sharp analysts have taken a comment about his mechanics by Mike Mayock, and linked it to comments by Shanahan about "base" (ie the QB generating power from his hips), and all but discarded Teddy as a candidate.

Not at all.  Bridgewater has fewer mechanical issues than any QB in this draft, and those which showed up in his Pro Day are easily corrected.  What they can't do so much about is intelligence, accuracy, and heart.  These, he has.

But then I more and more think that they actually do think they're smarter than almost everybody else, and are willing to take a risk with Hoyer--at least for a season.

With ten draft picks--especially if they do another Julio Jones trade and add a second rounder and more to it, Hoyer will be up to his eyeballs in targets, bodyguards, second and shorts, field position, and leads so that he won't have to be as good as the guy who showed him the ropes (Tom Brady).

...Ok and maybe Carr, Murray, or whatever too.