Kokinis on board, but questions remain
Posted January 25th, 2009 by Luke Chandler
George Kokinis is finally the general manager of the Browns. The real story is the mountain of work before him. While a deal took some time to put together, Kokinis comes in behind the eight-ball.
Former Director of player personnel, T.J. McCreight and his staff were the ones putting together initial scouting info at the Senior Bowl this week, before McCreight was fired on Friday. There was some funny business to McCreight and his phone calls, per PFT's Mike Florio. End of story, it wasn't Kokinis' staff at Senior Bowl. That's a tough first step.
The next step is determining what the identity of the Browns is going to be, on the field. There is a lot of speculation, but hardly anything concrete. I'm sure internally there is some idea, but as Terry Pluto writes, the new assistant coaches aren't talking to media. Given the culture of confusion and lack of communication that has followed Mangini in the past, there certainly is some question if internally the Browns know who they are.
With the NFL Draft in high gear, the Browns have only eighteen days till the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. Teams usually lay the ground work at the various all star games for this event, but without a solid staff in place, the initial homework has not been done yet.
On the field, the Browns have holes to fill. The most pressing factor is deciding on a quarterback. It seems that Brady Quinn would be the man for the job, but the Browns have limited options with Derek Anderson. His $5 million roster bonus in March is fully guaranteed. That means that even if he is cut in March, he's getting paid. The only the Browns can get out of the deal is if Anderson is traded. Thanks, Phil Savage!
Elsewhere on the field, the Browns have to possibly re-tool their entire linebacking corps. It's possible only D'Qwell Jackson will return to his regular starting spot in 2009. Kamerion Wimbley may keep his job, but he could face competition from a rookie. If the Browns did draft Wake Forest's Aaron Curry and put him opposite Wimbley, it would seem that the new regime will have taken a page from Savage and Crennel by holding down the development of Alex Hall. One other interesting note: if the Browns do decided to draft Florida State's Everette Brown as competition to Wimbley, the two of them will share an agent. No matter what, the Browns need to do something to revamp this broken unit.
Another quiet issue will be Joshua Cribbs. He's already out-played his six year extension he signed in 2006, and has made quiet rumblings in the past about wanting a new contract. Cribbs plays with the most heart and hustle of anyone on the team. He was slowed by a high ankle sprain this season, but if he repeats his 2007 success this year, he'll be looking for Devin Hester money.
Welcome to Cleveland, Mr. Kokinis. Please get to work.
January 25th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
The Browns as usual are behind, they have to hurry to get things together for the Combine. Will it work, who knows, Browns fans hope so. If it doesnt, Lerner should throw in the towel and sell the team, give someone else a chance to screw up.
January 25th, 2009 at 11:50 pm
do you understand the scouting process? from your blog, its obvious you dont. all of the browns scouts were at the senior bowl. they all did the interviews they were supposed to – and put togethor the transcripts.
they also wrote their scouting reports – as they would have if savage was still here.
now is the time that all of the scouting reports compiled throughout this past college season, and the post-season bowl games are put togethor. an initial board will be put togethor.
they are not behind one iota for the college draft.
where they are behind is in evaluating their own team, and targeting free agents to fit their needs. but kokinos has been evaluating potential free agents all season for the ravens. so they can quickly catch up in that area.
January 26th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Every NFL team is different, and the front office is not set. With a new GM comes new Player Personnel officials, and also different scouts. There is no guarantee that the team of scouts there had any job security, which can impact the quality of work. And different teams scout players in different ways.