Ohio.com - O-line again shaky
excerpt:
CLEVELAND: Offensive lines seem to change in a hurry in Cleveland.
Think back to 1999.
At that point, Dwight Clark did what he could to build a line in a hurry. He drafted Jim Pyne first in the expansion draft, then signed three free agents: center Dave Wohlabaugh and tackles Orlando Brown and Lomas Brown.
His thinking: Starting a team meant starting upfront, so he gave a lot of money to those players.
It didn't work.
Tim Couch got sacked a zillion times as a rookie, and the line has remained unsettled.
As this year's training camp approached, though, things finally seemed to come together.
General Manager Phil Savage brought in two new guards, Eric Steinbach and Seth McKinney, and he drafted tackle Joe Thomas. They would be added to the mix with Ryan Tucker, Kevin Shaffer and Hank Fraley.
It would be a solid group, at least on paper.
The group that starts tonight's preseason opener against the Kansas City Chiefs will not be that group, however. Watching them practice Thursday, they looked like a collection of players who had gone from solid to shaky.
Steinbach was in the training room, apparently working to rehab a sprained knee ligament.
Tucker was working with the backups at right guard, a result of the suspension that will sideline him for the first month of the regular season.
A rookie (Thomas) was at left tackle. A versatile backup (Lennie Friedman) was at left guard. A guy coming off neck surgery (McKinney) was at right guard. And a guy who switched positions (Shaffer) was at right tackle.
It's easy to spout gloom and doom, and it might not be fair. Steinbach, after all, may come back before the season starts, the rookie has great potential, and the Browns can try Kelly Butler as well as Shaffer at right tackle in Tucker's absence.
O-line again shaky
O-line again shaky
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