The Cleveland Browns have hired 55-year old Brad Childress to serve as the new offensive coordinator.  He coached 7 years with the Eagles (4 as the offensive coordinator) and he was the Minnesota Vikings’ head coach for five years.  Childress compiled a 39-35 (52.7%) record during the regular season and he was 1-2 (33.3%) in the post-season.  The crazy thing about this hiring is that head coach Pat Shurmur still wants to call the plays and he was awful at it last season.  The Browns averaged 95.7 yards rushing (3.7 ypc), 193.1 yards passing (72.8 QB Rating) and 13.6 points per game last year with Shurmur calling the shots.  The Browns only scored more points than the Chiefs and Rams last year.  Childress is a much better offensive coach than Pat Shurmur is, so the Browns should force the issue and tell the head coach that the offensive coordinator is going to call the plays.

The Cleveland Browns had an outstanding draft last April.  The Browns wound up with five starting players in 2011 out of this draft class and all 8 of the picks could be starting for them at some point down the road.  Here is a look at the rookies and how they played in 2011:

23-year old DT Phil Taylor was the Browns’ first round pick after they traded down with the Falcons.  Taylor played in all 16 games for the Browns last year and he had 59 tackles, 4 sacks, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 forced fumble and he defensed 1 pass.  Taylor will continue to team with Ahtyba Rubin, giving the Browns a very solid set of DTs for the forseeable future.

22-year old DE Jabaal Sheard came to the Browns in the second round and he was a beast as a rookie.  Sheard played in all 16 games for the Browns last year and he had 55 tackles, 8.5 sacks, 7 tackles for a loss, 5 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery and 2 passes defensed.  The sky is the limit for Sheard, who led the Browns in sacks as a rookie in 2011.

22-year old WR Earl Little came to the Browns in the second round of the NFL Draft and he caught the most passes on the team in 2011.  Little played in all 16 games for the Browns last year and he caught 61 passes for 709 yards (11.6 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  He also carried the ball 3 times for 15 yards (5.0 ypc) for the Browns in 2011.  Little could have a breakout year in 2012 if he gets a little more consistent in actually catching the football.

23-year old TE Jordan Cameron was one of the Browns’ 4th round picks.  He played in 8 games for the Browns last year and he caught 6 passes for 33 yards (5.5 avg).  He still showed enough near the end of last season to lead the Browns to believe that he can be a productive player down the road.

23-year old fullback Owen Marecic came to the Browns in the 4th round last April.  He played in 14 games for the Browns last year and he carried the ball 4 times for 8 yards (2.0 ypc).  He also caught 5 passes for 31 yards (6.2 avg) last year.  Marecic also helped the team on special teams.  He returned 4 kickoffs for 46 yards (11.5 avg) and he made 3 tackles.  Marecic does the little things well, so he will be busy again in 2012 and beyond.

22-year old CB Buster Skrine came to the Browns in the 5th round and he is a player with a nice upside.  He played in all 16 games for the Browns last year and he had 18 tackles, 1 interception and he defensed 2 passes.  He also returned 3 kickoffs for 72 yards (24.0 avg) as he was a good special teams player for the Browns.

24-year old OG Jason Pinkston came to the Browns in the 6th round.  He played in 16 games (all starts) for the Browns as the starting left guard.  He did a solid job and he will certainly head into the 2012 season as the starting left guard of the Cleveland Browns.

22-year old safety Eric Hagg was a 7th round pick of the Browns.  He played in 10 games as a rookie for the Browns last year and he had 11 tackles, 1 fumble recovery and 1 pass defensed.  Hagg did most of his work on special teams early in the year, but he got to play D late in the year.

GRADE FOR 2011:  A-

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  A+

It’s hard to evaluate the QBs of the Cleveland Browns.  They started three guys on the O-Line that should have been backups, they didn’t have much of a running game and they didn’t have any good WRs.  It should come as no surprise that 24-year old QB Colt McCoy didn’t improve much in 2011.  He played in 13 games (all starts) for the Browns last year and he completed 265 of 463 passes (57.2%) for 2,733 yards with 14 TD passes and 11 INTs (74.6 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 61 times for 212 yards (3.5 ypc) last year.  The Browns were 4-9 (30.8%) in McCoy’s starts at QB last year.  McCoy has now played in 21 games (all starts) for the Browns in his first two years with the team and he has completed 400 of 685 passes (58.4%) for 4,309 yards with 20 TD passes and 20 INTs (74.5 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 89 times for 348 yards (3.9 ypc) with 1 TD run so far in his NFL career.  Colt McCoy is 6-15 (28.6%) as the starting QB of the Cleveland Browns.

31-year old Seneca Wallace started the last three games of the 2011 season for the Browns and they were 0-3 in those games.  Wallace played in 6 games (3 starts) for the Browns last year and he completed 55 of 107 passes (51.4%) for 567 yards with 2 TD passes and 2 INTs (65.4 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 7 times for 70 yards (10.0 ypc) last year.  Wallace has now played in 62 games (21 starts) so far in his NFL career and he has completed 452 of 764 passes (59.2%) for 4,808 yards with 31 TD passes and 18 INTs (81.5 QB Rating).  Wallace has also carried the ball 68 times for 293 yards (4.3 ypc) with 1 TD run so far in his NFL career.  Wallace is now an identical 6-15 (28.6%) in the NFL as a starting QB, just like Colt McCoy.

The Cleveland Browns left it all on the field last Sunday against the Steelers and they fell just a tad short.  Seneca Wallace only completed 16 of 41 passes for 177 yards with 0 TD passes and 1 INT.  He also carried the ball 3 times for 44 yards (14.7 ypc) in this game.  Peyton Hillis only carried the ball 10 times for 30 yards (3.0 ypc) in this contest.  WR Josh Cribbs (7 rec, 91 yards) and TE Evan Moore (4 rec, 39 yards) led the way in the passing game for the Browns.  The Browns finished up with 72 yards rushing on 15 carries (4.8 ypc) and they also completed 16 of 41 passes (39%) for 168 yards as they had possession of the ball for 20:49.

The defense was bending but no breaking for the Browns last Sunday.  LB D’Qwell Jackson (13 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss), DT Ahtyba Rubin (9 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 QB hit) and DE Jabaal Sheard (6 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack and 1 QB hit) led the way for the Browns’ D in this game.  CB Joe Haden (4 tackles, 1 fumble recovery) and safety Eric Hagg (3 tackles, 1 fumble recovery) also made huge plays in this game for the Browns.  The Steelers finished up with 161 yards rushing on 36 carries (4.5 ypc) and they also completed 23 of 40 passes (57.5%) for 199 yards in this game.  The Browns finished the 2011 season with a 4-12 record.