Cleveland Browns

The Browns signed quarterback Brian Hoyer to a two-year deal on Friday, and it’s significant because everyone in Cleveland loses it when anything happens that is related to that position. With Brandon Weeden and Jason Campbell on the roster, Hoyer will come in as the third-stringer, with a chance to move up the depth chart. Weeden was surprised by the move but isn’t worried it, choosing instead to focus on himself and the fact that he currently has a lock on the starting spot. Hoyer comes most recently from Arizona and general manager Mike Lombardi has never been shy in his affinity for him. Of course, that doesn’t mean anything if Weeden plays better this season. It never hurts to have options, but a lot is going to have to happen for Hoyer to really get his chance.

Jamir Howerton and Vic Carucci look back at last week's mini camp action

We have now completed half of our new 2013 fantasy football dynasty mock draft. Here are the picks from Round 6: 6.01 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 3): Frank Gore, RB, San Francisco 49ers Although Gore just turned 30 years old (on May 14th), he's coming off back-to-back 1,200-yard seasons. It's possible that he has one more 1,200-yard season in him. Considering Gore's age and the fact that the team drafted Marcus Lattimore, however, Gore owners should see a (potentially significant) drop in production after this season. As the 27th running back off the board, this is a good spot for him. 6.02 - Kevin Hanson (Team 3): Russell Wilson, QB, Seattle Seahawks Along with fellow rookies Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III, Wilson had a fantastic rookie season. While Wilson's rookie season began relatively slowly, he was one of the best fantasy quarterbacks in the second half last year. From Week 9 through Week 17, he posted a league-best 120.3 passer rating and scored 20 touchdowns (16 passing and four rushing) with only two interceptions thrown. By adding one of the league's most dynamic players in Percy Harvin to the team's offense, that only enhances Wilson's fantasy value for 2013 and beyond. 6.03 - Brendan Donahue (Team 3): Mike Wallace, WR, Miami Dolphins Despite setting a career low with an average of 13.1 yards per reception last year, Wallace, who signed a five-year deal with the Dolphins, provides the Dolphins with the explosive, big-play receiver that they lacked. Although he is coming off a down year, Wallace has averaged 1,095 yards and scored a total of 26 touchdowns over the past three seasons. 6.04 - Sean Beazley (Team 3): Tavon Austin, WR, St. Louis Rams The Rams have lost Danny Amendola via free agency, but they traded up in the draft this year to select Austin with the eighth overall pick. Austin has the ability to make huge plays any time he touches the ball whether he is lined up in the slot or backfield and in the return game. Not only is Austin explosive (4.34 forty), he is strong (14 reps of 225 pounds) for his size (174 pounds) and durable (never missed a practice at West Virginia). Last year, Austin had six 100-yard receiving games including 215 yards against Baylor. In addition, he had a 344-yard rushing game (on 21 carries) against Oklahoma on 11/17. 6.05 - Sean Beazley (Team 2): Pierre Garcon, WR, Washington Redskins Garcon's tenure as a Redskin got off to a great start: four receptions for 109 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter of his first game. Unfortunately, he suffered a toe injury on that touchdown that kept him out the rest of that game and six other games. Provided he can stay healthy for a full season, Garcon, who turns 27 in August, should be in store for a career year with the Redskins in 2013. And with one of the best young quarterbacks in the NFL throwing him the ball, the best is yet to come for Garcon. 6.06 - Kevin Hanson (Team 2): Jonathan Stewart, RB, Carolina Panthers Back in 2009, The Daily Show gave fantasy owners a glimpse of what life would like if he were featured in a more prominent role within the offense. That year, he rushed for 1,133 yards and 10 touchdowns on 221 carries. Purely based on talent alone, Stewart would be one of the top 10 or 12 running backs off the board. Unfortunately for his fantasy owners, the opportunity has been less plentiful than desired. In the past three seasons, he has averaged only 10.6 carries per game. With DeAngelo Williams now 30 years old, Stewart should see a larger share of the workload this year and an increasing role going forward. 6.07 - Brendan Donahue (Team 2): Vick Ballard, RB, Indianapolis Colts It will be Ballard, not Donald Brown, as the Colts' featured back in 2013. Although he is far from explosive, the big back (5-10, 220 pounds) was productive as a rookie. From Week 6 to the end of the season, Ballard carried ball 190 times for 772 yards, which was 14th in the league during that span. 6.08 - Dan Y

Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Ray Horton met with the media following the conclusion of the team's first set of organized team activity sessions on Thursday. I have organized the transcript of what he said by topic below: If It's Tough to Figure Out New Personnel For His Scheme (On if it’s hard to know what he has on defense since everything is just coming together)- "It may not be hard, but it’s fun. It’s exciting. The guys are working very, very hard and that’s the most important thing – that they are applying what they are learning. They are doing a great job. They are being diligent in the workouts, not only on the field but also in the class room." (On what the biggest adjustment is for the players switching from a 3-4 to a 4-3)- "It’s a totally different defense so there is a lot of adjustments – terminology, drops, the way I call games, the way I ask them to learn the defense. Right now I am just asking them to trust me and trust the defense and they are doing that. We are pleased with where we are at day three of OTAs." (On how important the tempo of practice is for an aggressive defense)- "The first thing you need to do is know what to do. The tempo of everything, sometimes we slow it down, sometimes we speed it up. To me, you’ve got to know what to do before you can do something fast." Utilizing OLB Barkevious Mingo, and His Skills (On how long it will take for Barkevious Mingo to get into the flow and take a bunch of snaps)- "I don’t know. We are not putting a timetable on anybody. All we are really doing right now in these OTAs is trying to install the defense and trying to get our guys to understand our system and play hard. We aren’t putting a timetable on anybody. We are just trying to get better." (On what he saw from Mingo prior to the draft and what we has seen since he has been here)- "Before, obviously it was all on tape and it was an explosive player. He is a young man that played with his hand in the ground at LSU and now we are asking him to stand up and do different things. He’s got a learning curve and we don’t want to rush him. We don’t want to say this is what we expect day one or day two. We want it to be a growing process. This is not a simple defense. It’s a complicated defense. He’s got a learning curve and we want to make sure that he learns it." (On Mingo’s weight and what type of player they want him to be)- "I want him to be a dominating player. Weight? Some guys are too big, some guys are too small. Some guys aren’t fast enough, some guys aren’t slow enough, but they learn how to play. We want athletic players. He is an athletic football player and that’s what we want him to be." Jabaal Sheard's Transition to OLB (On Jabaal Sheard’s transition to linebacker)- "He’s been doing great. We ask him to do different things. If you would have asked me what I am most excited and happy about is the way the guys have come in and trusted and applied themselves. We’ve had almost 100 percent participation. The guys are attentive and they are doing what we ask them to do. The participation and the trust factor right now has been fantastic." "Jackpot" Defensive Acquisitions, and Paul Kruger (On if he feels he has hit the jackpot with the all of the defensive acquisitions)- "I bought a Powerball ticket last night, I didn’t check it yet (joking). I am very pleased with how Mr. (Joe) Banner, Mr. (Jimmy) Haslam and how coach (Rob) Chud (Chudzinski) have stockpiled the defense. We have got a lot of talent and we are going to try to figure out who fits where best for the Cleveland Browns to play very good defense. Everywhere I go I hear about the Dawg Pound. I meet people and they are in the Dawg Pound third row or this or that and they are excited. We are excited to put a good product on the field

Cleveland Browns head coach Rob Chudzinski met with the media following the conclusion of the team's first set of organized team activity sessions on Thursday. Some of the information he discussed was covered in our post about the team's depth chart last night, but I've organized the transcript of what he said by topic, nonetheless: Opening Statement - What They Worked On (Opening statement)- "Thanks for coming. We had a really productive week. I am really pleased with the tempo that the guys have practiced with. Their approach, again, has been outstanding. We got a lot done this week. As far as the OTAs themselves, the structure of it has been that we bring them in, they have a lift session. We get a chance to meet with them for an extended period of time where we will correct the previous tape as well as install for a particular day. Then we have a chance to come out here and practice. The past three days we have done that. We’ve had a chance, situation primarily, where we have been working on our first and second down packages, offensively, defensively and then really getting into some third downs. We got into some shorter third downs the first day of the week. There have been some medium third downs and some longer third downs. We are in process of installing those situations. It’s been a good week for us. It’s been good to get a chance to go out on the field against each other and see guy’s execution. That’s been the focus and really what we are trying to work on and see the execution level after being in phase two, which is basically working on air, for the past three weeks." Mixing it Up at Offensive Guard (On why Shawn Lauvao is playing left guard and if that change is permanent)- "We are moving guys around at the guard position. (Jason) Pinkston has been back. Just this week is his first week back so he is not getting the normal amount of reps. We will slowly work him into it. We are working all the guards at all the different spots." (On if the guards need to get outside a lot in the run game)- "They need to be able to block inside, pass block and be able to get outside as pullers as well." (On if they did a lot of pulling with the guards)- "We did. That’s part of what the install was this particular day, the plays where you saw those guys getting outside a lot." Brandon Weeden's Learning Curve (On how Brandon Weeden has been able to translate from the classroom to the field)- "I think he’s done a good job with that. It starts, really with those guys with calling the play. Getting in the huddle and being able to go through that process. We had a play clock, I don’t know if you guy’s noticed. We’ve had a play clock out here on them to really try to really work on that tempo because that’s the difference. Guys can learn it indoors in the classroom and the application out here is what we are looking for. Part of that is the process of having to do it when there is a time constraint going on. That’s a big part of it." (On how much more he knows know about Weeden than he did in January)- "You get to know about him. How he picks things up. How he translates and that’s what we want to see is how he is translating to decision making on the field. That’s what we are looking at right now at this step. Obviously, things are slowed down up front a little bit so you are not getting the total pass rush. It’s not completely 100 percent guys going against each other." (On if it’s different world for a quarterback during his second year in the league)- "Every year is a different world for a quarterback. The minute they get comfortable – you can’t do that at that position. It will help, that experience under his belt of what it’s like to be in a game. It’s obviously a brand new system so there are a lot of things where it will be like a first-year g

More details came in today about quarterback Brian Hoyer, who officially signed his two-year deal. According to Adam Caplan, Hoyer's contract from the Cleveland Browns includes $250,000 in guaranteed money: $250 K guaranteed area. RT @ruiterwrongfan: Bryan Hoyer signed his 2-year contract w/ #Browns today — Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) May 17, 2013 That's not an amount that makes him impossible to release by any stretch, but it might be more incentive to keep him on the roster as a third quarterback over a Thaddeus Lewis. Browns head coach Rob Chudzinski was asked about the signing of Hoyer, to which he commented, "Brian brings experience and a solid reputation to our squad. We are looking forward to getting him out on the field." Both quarterbacks were grilled about their thoughts on the signing of Hoyer at a Charity Golf Outing (what a buzzkill, eh?). Mary Kay Cabot from the Plain Dealer had a lot of quotes from Brandon Weeden and a couple from Jason Campbell; here is a highlight from each of them: "I was surprised, but that's the nature of the beast," Weeden said. "It's part of this business and if you start worrying about it, that's too much to worry about. That's my mentality going forward." "You usually go into training camp with four quarterbacks," said Campbell. "You knew somewhere along that it would probably happen." To make room for Hoyer, the Browns released undrafted free agent fullback Garrett Hoskins. That is one less fullback in camp for Owen Marecic to worry about. The Browns will have to release another player once running back Brandon Jackson officially signs his contract.

After letting go most, if not all, of the members of their scouting department following the NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns are now getting set to rebuild it. According to reports, at least one name has been brought on board: Confirmed #Browns have hired Florida director of on-campus recruiting Brendan Donovan. Role yet to be determined. @coachingsearch had first. — Keith Britton (@KeithBritton86) May 17, 2013 In a roundabout way, Donovan's reign at Florida had something to do with the state of Ohio. When Mark Pantoni, the former director of administration and recruiting for Florida State, left to join Urban Meyer at Ohio State, he was replaced by Donovan. Early reports indicate that Donovan will be the Browns' College Scouting Administrator: According to the Facebook page of Donovan’s high school football team and 247Sports’ Luke Stampini, who first reported the news, Donovan has been named the College Scouting Administrator of the Cleveland Browns. Donovan declined to comment when reached by phone and calls to a UF spokesman were not returned.

Jamir Howerton reports from Westwood Country Club where the Browns held their 14th annual charity golf tournament.

Includes a wide range of male and female sports. Included are Jim Thorpe, who's considered by some as the greatest athlete ever and played pro football for Canton and Cleveland teams, and Dave Winfield, who closed his career with the 1995 Indians.

Brandon Weeden praises Brian Hoyer, but says he's focused on his own work in the off-season.