Browns Odds and Ends

There is Browns news out there, but you do have to look for it. Of course, since the Tribe's perched in first place in the AL Central and the Cavs are in the NBA Finals, a lot of people might wonder why anyone would bother to look. Hey, what can I say--an obsession is an obsession.

• Let's start this off on a potentially positive note. The Yinzers are implementing a new scheme that won't allow the offense to know the defense's alignment until right before the snap, and they couldn't be prouder of themselves. Remember when the 1999 Browns did that with their "UFO Defense"? It was a desperation move then, and I wonder if a gimmick like this suggests that LeBeau's not exactly brimming with confidence over the state of his Joey Porter-less defense.

• The Sporting News gave the Browns a B+ grade for their off season additions. That was tops in the AFC North, but it still wasn't enough to impress Peter Schrager of FoxSports.com, who put the Browns dead last in the NFL in the first edition of his power rankings that came out last week.

• The Orange and Brown Report has an article by Lane Adkins looking at the changes made to the Browns defensive line.
  

• On the offensive side of the ball, Tony Grossi talks about talks about Seth McKinney, and also notes that Jerome Harrison has managed to put on 17 lbs. of muscle during the offseason.

• Finally, seeing as how tonight's the last episode of The Sopranos, it's probably appropriate to close with this item, which indicates that former Brown Joe DeLamielleure is afraid that Players Union boss Gene Upshaw may have him whacked.