I'm finally giving into the self-pressure, and writing my first NFL post ( I'm sure my 3 or so readers have been anxiously awating this moment ). This post will appeal to the cast aways, the less fortunate, and the fans who are usually looking ahead to the draft by mid November ( and sometimes sooner ). I've got my sights set on three teams that are perenially known as bottom feeders. Since the year 2002, these three teams have a COMBINED 4 playoff appearances ( thats less than a good majority of single teams have over that time span ). Now, that being said, this article will not be your run of the mill, lets bash the bottom feeders' article, it will be more about hope and possibly the smallest hint of light poking out at the end of the tunnel; and even if that light doesn't end up amounting to anything... well.. us bottom feeders will take any glimmer of hope that we can get.
The teams I am talking about, as you may have already guessed, are the Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Oakland Raiders ( this articles popularity level just automatically decreased by about 85 percent ). As crazy as it may sound, but as the title hints at, I believe that this draft may be looked back upon as the first steps of these three teams turning the corner to become relevant again in the NFL, and not just stepping stones and extra exhibition games for Peyton Manning and Co. Brace yourself... here comes the rare praise of the Jackland Braiders ( my weak attempt to mix the names of all three teams ).
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns haven't been relevant for as long as I have been alive ( they actually lost their franchise for a while there ), and the last time they were relevant they had a man with the same last name as their team carrying the load, literally, for them ( if I have to say out his real name then your'e not a real football fan..and please stop visiting my site now.. or I will hunt you down... Jay and Silent Bob Style ). The Browns have been laughed at, booed, and pretty much forgotten about with their patchwork teams, and egregious lack of effort when it comes to building a contender to blame.
They may be on to something though. Last year, the Browns shipped off Trent Richardson to a running back desperate Indianapolis team, this rendered them a second first round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft ( they entered the draft with pick 4 and 26 ). By the time the draft was over, the Browns had added Justin Gilbert, Johnny Football, and another future first rounder from Buffalo, which now gives them two first rounders AGAIN next year ( pending they don't trade one away before then ), and if the Bills don't improve rapidly then that pick might be a lot higher than No. 26.
Cleveland has already built a formidable defense, even with the loss of TJ Ward ( they did acquire Donte Whitner ). The main problem is that their offense has been so bad ( mainly due to lack of QB talent ), that the defense was so winded by the time the 3rd quarter rolled around from lack of sideline time that there wasn't much they could do about it. With an improved offense though, this defense is going to look like a powerhouse in the near future. The secondary consists of Joe Haden, and two new comers in Justin Gilbert( considered to be a top 2 cornerback by many in this draft ) and Donte Whitner, while the defensive front has two young emerging pass rushers in Paul Kruger and Barkevious Mingo. They also have a solid veteran in Karlos Dansby shoring up the linebacking corps. The bottom line is, with some help, this defense could be dangerous.
With the defense being in place, the Browns really needed to do some work on the offensive end.. because they have absolutely nothing going for them there, right? Wrong! The Browns have Joe Thomas, and Alex Mack, who are both at the top of their respective position, shoring up the offensive line ( so whatever QB they choose should have plenty of protection ). Jordan Cameron, and Josh Gordon, a superstar if he can stay on the field, are both considered up and coming, and damn near elite at their positions of TE and WR. With recently acquired Earl Bennett, and Miles Austin ( not huge threats, but great additions if you already have elite pieces in place ), it seems that the main weaknesses of Cleveand are now only QB and RB ( bet this is the first time in... ever that you have heard someone say the Cleveland Browns only have 2 major weaknesses ).
Quarterback might be able to be crossed off that list of weaknesses, and put on the list of positives sooner rather than later. The jury is obviously still out on Johnny Football as he hasn't even taken a preseason snap yet, but by drafting him the Browns may have solved two problems, their lack of relevancy, and their lack of a capable signal caller. If Johnny becomes the player that I think he can be, then the Cleveland Browns could be a force in the not so distant future.. words I never would have pictured myself saying. Going back, I don't want to completely disrespect Ben Tate, so I will admit that they did add him, and if there isn't a whole lot of pressure to perform on Tate, he may be just the serviceable back that they need. At the end of the day, it seems that the Cleveland Browns might be turning a corner, and after the 2015 draft, where they hold 2 more first round picks, football fans in Cleveland may actually have something to cheer about come playoff time in January.
Jacksonville Jaguars
What do the Jackonville Jaguars have in common with the Cold War, Nazi Germany, and the U.S.A. landing on the moon? You've guessed it... it's been a while since any of those things have been relevant. The Jaguars haven't been seriously discussed in a positive light since the Mark Brunell, Jimmy Smith, Fred Taylor era ( they had a brief run in 2007 when they beat the Steelers, and played the Patriots tough... but that's about it ).
Jacksonville has been plagued by bad management, and TERRIBLE first round drafting. Their last 8 first round draft picks before the new regime took over were Justin Blackmon, Blaine Gabbert, Tyson Alualu, Eugene Monroe, Derrick Harvey, Reggie Nelson, Mercedes Lewis, and Matt Jones. Many of these players aren't even in the league anymore, and of the ones that are ( Gabbert, Alualu, Monroe, Lewis, and Nelson ), only Monroe, and arguably Nelson and Lewis are even somewhat relevant. If you miss on 8 straight 1st round picks ( many of them top 10 ), then it will be tough trying to find wins in the NFL.
That was the bad for Jacksonville... and they pretty much hit the bottom in terms of relevance and competitive play, but they too seem to be following the trend of the Browns and heading in the right direction. New Owner Shad Khan brought in GM David Caldwell from the Atlanta Falcons, who then sought out Gus Bradley from the Seattle Seahawks branch, and those three seem to be major reasons that the Jaguars are seemingly digging themselves out of this mammoth hole they previously dug themselves into.
In the first year of the rebuild, the front office gauged the talent that they had, released many players that shocked the fan base, and preached competition. They spent little in free agency, and picked up a couple solid pieces in the draft in Luke Joeckel, Jonathan Cyprien, Dwayne Gratz, Ace Sanders, Denard Robinson, and Josh Evans ( many of these players are still developing, but all seem to have shown flashes of potential effectiveness on the next level ). After a terrible start to the 2013-2014 season, Jacksonville turned it around and ended up going 4-4 down the stretch. When free agency hit this year, they were much more aggressive being that they now knew what they had on their team already, and thus knowing what they really needed. Zane Beadles was added to help solidify the offensive line, and players such as Red Bryant and Chris Clemons were added ( guys that coach Bradley had previously worked with in Seattle ) to help out the forgettable pass rush. When the draft rolled around, there were still many holes to be filled, but the Jaguars had the necessary ammunition as they entered the draft with 11 picks. With the first surprise of the draft ( I'm still not exactly sure how I feel about the pick ), the Jaguars selected Blake Bortles 3rd overall. They seem to be extremely high on him, and so is a good majority of the talking heads it seems, as Jacksonville is widely being praised for the pick. In the second round they added Marquise Lee of USC ( thought by many to be a potential top 20 player drafted ), and Allen Robinson of Penn State ( a large, red-zone threat receiver ). They then finished out the draft adding a potential starting offensive lineman, and some depth at the linebacker and running back position.
Overall, the Jaguars are still realistically a year behind the Browns in terms of development, but they too seem to be a team on the rise. They have gotten more media attention since last week than they had in the previous 9 years, and they had 6,500 people attend their rookie minicamp, you heard that right, 6,500 people attended a simple rookie minicamp that usually brings in 500-1,500 fans. Things are looking up in Duval County... turns out patience may finally be paying off.
Oakland Raiders
Last... and maybe least too ( just kidding Oakland fans.... kind of ), I will talk about some good moves that the Raiders have made this offseason. The Raiders have been just about equally as terrible as the Browns and Jaguars.... something went seriously wrong after they got crushed in the Super Bowl in 2003, and they have never been the same since. They have gone through many years of mistaking the fastest player in the draft as the best option for the team, picked busts, and have not used free agency to their advantage at all. After trading a good portion of their near future away for Carson Palmer, it seems that the Oakland Raiders may be heading down the right path again, although they might have the deepest hole of all to dig themselves out of.
During free agency, Oakland signed a couple aging, but still productive defensive players that should be able to come in and help out for at least a couple of years in Justin Tuck, Antonio Smith and Lamar Woodley. None of these guys are really the players that their names state they are, but as I said, they will still improve the defense and make them not so terrible ( it is really to bad that they lost Lamarr Houston, that might have made this defensive front a force ). The Raiders also added another speedster, but this time a proven one, in James Jones and picked up Matt Schaub from the Texans hoping he can provide them with a couple more good years.
When draft day rolled around, nobody expected much from the Raiders, they would probably over draft a player based on speed or prior criminal history.... but they threw us a curveball. The Oakland Raiders actually made a good first round draft choice, and drafted Khalil Mack out of Buffalo ( the person who I believed/hoped the Jaguars were going to draft at #3 ). With this addition, the pass rush might be a formidable one on the "other" bay team as most national media outlets have come to know the Raiders. In round 2 the Raiders made what I think was another surprisingly good choice in drafting Derek Carr out of Fresno State. He had a bad rep coming out of college, and it was a situation where it was mainly because of his name ( brother, David, was a HUGE bust about 10 years ago ). Derek Carr was thought by many to be a mid to late first round talent, and some even had him as the second or third best QB available in a somewhat deep QB class.
The Raiders may be at about the same point as the Jacksonville Jaguars, and if some of the veterans that were brought in through free agency can stick around a while giving the young players time to develop, then we might see the Oakland Raiders claw their way back into relevancy in the next few years.
The Afterthought
Now that I have written about 2,000 words on the three least talked about teams in the league, I have probably lost all chances of establishing a good reading audience outside of those three cities ( way to go Jory ). On a serious note though, I truly do believe that these three teams are finally turning the corner. The next step will be about developing the potential that they currently have on their rosters, hoping that the three drafted QBs turn out to be reliable for years to come, and to string a couple more good offseasons together. My bold prediction leaving this article is that 2 out of these 3 teams will be in the playoffs in 2 years, I won't go as far as to say which two as I have probably already said to much. I must get some Z's in now so I can get up in time for my job that is actually paying me. Thank you for reading NoBetterThanMonroe, comment with your ideas as usual and keep hope alive for the bottom feeders.
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