Week Six NFL Game Wrap Up - Raiders 24 Browns 17

Yesterday, I ran through all of the morning games, and this afternoon I've been running through all the late and night games from week six.  Right now, it's time for the Cleveland at Oakland game.  This wrap up itself is going to have both a look back at the game for real life purposes and is going to explain the fantasy implications of each game.....

Daily Links For 3/25/11

Browns Fan Sues NFL Over Lockout - The suit is so small that it's not going to get anything done quicker negotiation wise.  Just mentioning it because I think he's suing the wrong people.  While technically his "contract" of his seat licence is with the NFL... It's the players association's fault that we are in a lock out right now, not the NFL's.

Twitter In The Lockout - Column from Mike Tanier of the New York Times about what has been happening on twitter during the lockout.  Just a round-up of what NFL players have been up to on twitter for the last week or two.  Good read for those who haven't been following on top of every little thing.

Cubs a 2011 Sleeper? - Jay Jaffe over at Baseball Prospectus takes a look at the Cubs chances as a sleeper team this year.  The NL Central is more open as a result of the Wainwright injury but the article doesn't see that as putting the race wide open.  The Cubs are still pretty mediocre on paper and would need some exceptional performances to win the Central.

Carolina Panthers Need a QB - Kerry Byrne in an article on si.com explains the obvious.  That Carolina needs to draft a QB with their first overall pick.  Mocks I've seen have been keeping Carolina away from a quarterback but not providing a good reason for them to be taking players for their already solid defense.  They should draft Blaine Gabbert and not look back.

More QB Needy Teams - Mike Lombardi breaks down the teams that need quarterbacks and how he believes they can go about acquiring one.  Best link in here... You can tell by how little I'm writing about it... Just click through and read it.

Boise State's Mike Coughlin Getting Buzz - Coughlin is the backup quarterback from Boise State but has been generating interest after wowing scouts in Boise yesterday.  QB is one of the hardest positions to find quality players and Coughlin wouldn't be the first backup college QB to be drafted.  Both Tom Brady and Matt Cassel were backups in college.

Cleveland Browns' Five Biggest Player Decisions: Free Agency Starts at Home

Assuming they get a new collective bargaining agreement done, NFL Free Agency is scheduled to begin on March 3, 2011.  I'm going to go through every team between now and then and identify their top five free agents and try to determine what should be done with each player, be it resign them or let them walk.  I've been going team by team in draft order and am at the team with the sixth pick in the draft, the Cleveland Browns.

The Browns had an up and down 2010 season.  They won their last four games at the end of the 2009 season, so expectations were high for a 5-11 team.  Unfortunately, the team didn't improve enough over the off-season and finished with a 5-11 record yet again and head coach Eric Mangini was let go.

Pat Shurmur was hired by team president Mike Holmgren to replace Mangini as head coach.  Shurmur wasn't a big name head coaching candidate when the 2010 season started, but he helped guide the Rams offense and rookie quarterback Sam Bradford to an unexpectedly good season this year.  He was also a long time Eagles assistant and Eagles coach Andy Reid is a former Holmgren disciple, which surely helped in his getting hired.

Shurmur and the Browns should improve moving forwards.  The team added quarterback Colt McCoy and corner back Joe Haden in last year's draft and should continue to draft well with Holmgren at the helm.  They are on the upside of the rebuilding process now and should consider than when they make their decisions about their own free agents.