QB

Jake Delhomme

Seneca Wallace

RB

Jerome Harrison

(+) His quickness and big-play ability compare him favorably to Chris Johnson and Jamaal Charles
(+) Harrison is the biggest threat in an offense that honestly, doesn’t have a lot going for it
(+) The Ghost proved he can handle a full workload and flourish during the last three games of 2009 (106 carries, 561 yards, 5 TDs – Sick!!!)
(+) Put up a 286-yard game in the 15th week of the season (3rd all-time)
(–) Jerome is too small to handle being an every-down back, as evident by the Browns drafting Montario Hardesty in the 2nd round of this year’s draft
(–) The Browns happen to have the second hardest rush schedule in the league this year… and will be playing from behind a ton… ughhh
(–) Even though Harrison has been in the league since 2006, 46% of his career carries took place during the last 6 games of 2009

Montario Hardesty

(+) Jerome Harrison just bought an ice cream cone and asked for sprinkles…
(+) At 6’0”, 225 lbs, he’s the biggest back on the team and is the one most likely to take the starting job
(+) Harrison is too small to handle a full load over the course of the season… and the Browns know it or else they wouldn’t have drafted Hardesty so high (2nd round)
(–) The offense is terrible to begin with and the Browns play in one of the hardest divisions in the NFL against the rush
(–) Cleveland also owns the 2nd toughest rush schedule in the league

James Davis

WR

Mohamed Massaquoi

(+) Decent speed at 4.45 (especially for a 6’2 200 lbs frame) helps Massaquoi get open downfield as a deep threat
(+) Mohamed came up with a decent rookie season, especially when you consider the team he is on (34 for 624 with 3 TDs)
(–) His speedster frame is not built to break tackles and finding ways to get him catches other than deep routes may be a challenge
(–) Cleveland has been awful passing the ball.  They’ve ranked in the bottom two in passing categories for two years now
(–) Instability at the QB position is a major concern, especially after they decided to jettison Brady Quinn and go with Jake Delhomme???
(–) If they weren’t already challenged enough, they have to face a pretty tough pass schedule as well (24th ranked SOS)

Josh Cribbs

Chansi Stuckey

TE

Ben Watson

-  The Cleveland Browns  began the 2009 season with things looking up as they finally handed the keys to the car over to Brady Quinn
-  The Browns started the season 1-11 and switched between QBs multiple times they then went on a 4 game winning streak at the end of the season
-  The Browns finished the season last in the AFC North with a 5-11 record missing the playoffs for yet another year
-  The Browns scored 245 points while allowing 375 points against

2009 Total Points Rank:           29th (69 tot pts)
2009 Average/Game Rank:     21st (6.3 pts/gm)

FR=Fumbles Recoverd, PA=Points Allowed, FP Rank=Fantasy Points Rank, FP/G=Fantasy Points per Game

2010 Browns Defensive Outlook...  

The Browns do a nice job rushing the passer which goes a long way, but they really struggle to stop the run, and when you’re down as much as the Browns are, you’re going to see the run a lot.  Undoubtedly, the 40 sacks they put up last season (8^th in the league) was a huge factor in their overall ability to stop the pass, but they couldn’t turn these chances into turnovers ranking 31^st overall with only 19.  That is not going to get it done from a Fantasy perspective.  To further complicate this matter, they traded away their overall sack leader, Kamerion Wimbley this off season.

Sheldon Brown joins the crew from Philly, and he should add some veteran leadership to the pass d while 1^st round pick Joe Haden grows up. 

Too many questions though for any real draft consideration.  What can we say, it’s the Browns.

-  Abram Elam led the team with 91 tackles, David Bowens had 71
-  The Browns had 40 sacks last season
-  Leading sacker was Kameron Wimbley with 6.5
-  How can the Browns be more effective on defense and make strides to be a playoff contender
-  Brodney Pool and Eric Wright led the team with 4 INTs each
-  Team forced 11 fumbles
-  Team forced a total of 21 turnovers

Team PYRO is hyper about Offensive Lines!  Understanding who will be blocking for the players on your roster is vital to your teams Fantasy success.  We take many factors into account when we rank these units, including weight, height, starts together as a unit, starts per year played, rushing average, sacks allowed, draft position, contact situation, pro bowl/all pro honors, Adjusted Line Yardage (ALY) and Adjusted Sack Rate (stats found at the link below).  O-Line Rank is one more piece of the puzzle that directs us towards delivering you a Fantasy Football Championship. 

Here is another great resource for looking at O-Lines…    http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol

RZ Touches (Position Rank) = The first number you see is Red Zone Touches (a pass attempt, a carry, or a target inside the 20 yard line).  The number in the parentheses is where this player ranks amongst the rest of the NFL at that position.

% of Teams RZ Touches (Position Rank) = The first number is the players percentage of touches cut out against the total number of the Teams Red Zone plays called.  The number in the parentheses is where this player ranks amongst the rest of the NFL at that position.  So, if Thomas Jones received a touch in 45 percent of the Jets Red Zone calls last year, and Knowshon Moreno received a touch in 38 percent of all the Broncos plays last year, Jones would be ranked higher at his position than Moreno would be.

RZ TD Success Rate (Position Rank) = The first number is the percentage of which an individual player was able to score a TD against his total number of touches.   The number in the parentheses is where this player ranks amongst the rest of the NFL at that position.

Why Should I look at this Chart?

We couldn’t possibly take up a whole minute of your valuable fantasy football research time babbling about the importance of Attempts for your team and then leave out Red Zone Tendencies.

Yep, same drill with these charts, only a lot more important if scoring TD’s is what you’re leagues about.  The PYRO Red Zone Tendencies chart delivers a touchdown focused microcosm of the Offensive Scheme section.

To score a TD, your player needs a touch (pass att, carry, or target), and when they get a touch inside the 20, great things can happen for your Fantasy teams total points line.

It’s really easy, touches are King and converting a touch in the red is Fantasy Gold.

PYRO 2010 Bronco Leaders in the Red Zone... 

1. Jerome Harrison
2. Montario Hardesty
3. James Davis
4. Mohamed Massaquoi
5. Josh Cribbs

Grade* = Team PYRO took this number directly from NFL.COM - not a number devised here by us, you know, your friends who don’t sleep?  In other words, proceed with caution knowing the source, but we thought it was at least a worthy effort and could help you gauge just how solid the teams draft was.  We hope it helps, we think it will.

Draft Bits...

RB Hardesty has a chance to win the starting job, but an early knee injury isn’t helping.  If he can win the starting gig, he could definitely make a Fantasy splash as a sleeper down the stretch.  Jerome Harrison has a monster stretch in ’09 and will be right in the mix.

QB Colt McCoy would be in trouble if he did hit the field.  He’s a future consideration at best.  But on this squad, you'll probably see him, he'll suck, they'll force him down our throats next year, he'll suck again, and then they'll trade him to a team where he'll likely turn into a decent starter.  Sorry Browns fans, You're probably in Sports Hibernation altogether after that bullshit LeBron pulled, but we just can't give you any better news. Here, we'll try...  GO JEROME HARRISON!  Wow, get ready for another losing season Cleveland.

Team PYRO considers our Strength of Schedule data an essential part of building you a Fantasy Championship.  This data is integral in helping us rank our players each year.  So far, so good.  We go to GREAT lengths to deliver you this PYRO nugget and we know nobody else in the industry is putting forth this type of effort, which puts you at a great advantage if you have been using us as your fantasy football research outlet.  Our SoS considers three factors when determining rankings for schedules for the upcoming year:

1) 75% weight is applied to the strength of defense from the previous season.  This is determine by fantasy points given up (run and pass).  Easy right? Here's where Team Pyro goes deep: before we get to that number, we factor in the quality of teams that these defenses had to face (essentially, a strength-of-schedule for the prior season).

 
2) 20% weight is applied to Free-Agent, Trade, and Injury Returns that will help or hurt the team for the current year.  We rank each players impact to their former team (2008), sum it all up, and then rank each team accordingly.

3) 5% weight is applied to the NFL drafincoming rookie impact.  It's a challenge to successfully gauge a rookie's effectiveness (too many Jamarcus Russells out there) which is why we valued it so low.  Some teams not only drafted highly touted defensemen this year, but will be immediately filling deficient positions from '09 with rookies, and usually, anything is an upgrade when you are starting a rookie.

Chart Key =

Ranking:  1=easiest  32=toughest

QB's, WR's, and TE's

(INDY) Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, and Dallas Clark have the EASIEST passing schedule in 2010

(BALT) Joe Flacco, Anquan Boldin, and Todd Heap have the HARDEST passing schedule in 2010

RB's

(SF) Frank Gore has the EASIEST rushing schedule in 2010

(MIA) Ronnie Brown has the HARDEST rushing schedule in 2010

July 23, 2010 

Signed QB Colt McCoy to a multiyear contract.

July 19, 2010

Signed TE Joel Gamble.

July 17, 2010

Signed DB Larry Asante to a multiyear contract.

July 14, 2010

Waived DL Keith Grennan and TE Greg Estandia.

July 9, 2010

Signed WR Carlton Mitchell to multiyear contract.

July 8, 2010

Signed WR Bobby Engram.

June 28, 2010

Signed DL Clifton Geathers to a multiyear contract.

June 17, 2010

Waived DB John Bowie, DB Benjamin Burney, DB Ramzee Robinson, RB Thomas Brown, OL Jason Capizzi, LB Auston English and WR James Robinson. Terminated the contract of K Shaun Suisham.

June 15, 2010

Waived RB Jed Collins, DB Matt Harris, DL Jonathan Lewis, DL Martin Tevaseu and TE Ryan Moya.

June 14, 2010

Signed RB Jerome Harrison, LB D'Qwell Jackson, LB Matt Roth, S Abram Elam and FB Lawrence Vickers to one-year contracts.

June 3, 2010

Announced the retirement of senior adviser to the general manager Paul Warfield. Signed WR James Robinson. Waived WR Dion Morton.

May 18, 2010

Signed K Shaun Suisham. Waived K Leigh Tiffin.

May 17, 2010

Signed DL Kwaku Danso, DB Matthew Harris, TE Ryan Moya, DL Brian Sanford, DL Martin Tavaseu and PK Leigh Tiffin.

May 5, 2010

Signed TE Alex Smith. Waived WR Aaron Valentin and TE Troy Wagner.

May 4, 2010

Signed TE Alex Smith. Waived WR Aaron Valentin and TE Troy Wagner.

May 1, 2010

Signed DB Benjamin Burney, DB Chris Chancellor, WR Jonathan Haggerty, WR Dion Morton, WR Aaron Valentin, OL Casey Bender, OL Joel Reinders, LB Auston English, DL Swanson Miller and TE Troy Wagner.

April 29, 2010           

Claimed DB DeAngelo Smith off waivers from Detroit. Waived DB Matterral Richardson.

April 8, 2010

Signed OL Eric Ghiaciuc.

March 17, 2010

Re-signed LB Marcus Benard, LB Blake Costanzo and RB Chris Jennings. Named Jim Ross as senior vice president-business development.

March 16, 2010

Re-signed TE Greg Estandia and DB Ray Ventrone.

March 13, 2010

Agreed to terms with QB Jake Delhomme on a two-year contract.

March 9, 2010

Released QB Derek Anderson.

March 7, 2010

Signed LB Scott Fujita and OL Tony Pashos to multiyear contracts.

February 17, 2010

Released RB Jamal Lewis.

February 12, 2010

Named Tom Headlee pro scout. Signed DB John Bowie.

February 8, 2010

Released WR Donte' Stallworth.

February 1, 2010

Named Matt Thomas vice president of football administration.

January 27, 2010

Named Mark Schiefelbein as vice president football operations and Kent Johnston head strength and conditioning coach.