Midweek Browns Thoughts: Ratliff and Crabtree?

Did I get your attention?

Good, because I’ll get to Michael Crabtree in a minute.

The Plain Dealer is making a big hullabaloo about third string quarterback Brett Ratliff taking reps with the first team on Tuesday. The hint is being thrown out that if neither Brady Quinn nor Derek Anderson impresses head coach Eric Mangini, he’ll just give the job to Ratliff.

My first reaction to that reaction is: Mmmmm, not so fast.

But then I thought about it for a minute and realized this idea could have some merit. Let me be perfectly clear, though, I would be flat on my back if Brett Ratliff got named the starting quarterback for Week One and both Quinn and Anderson weren’t laying in traction.

But since it’s Wednesday, let’s entertain ourselves.

Mangini is from the moldy Bill Belichick coaching tree. I call it moldy because I have yet to be impressed by any coach to spring from it, and Romeo Crennel is quite possibly one of the worst head coaches in the history of the game.

But, the connection is there, so let’s look at it. Belichick is known to have little to no loyalty toward ANY of his players, especially if he didn’t draft them or develop them.

Look at 1993. Belichick cut Bernie Kosar, arguably one of the most popular Cleveland sports figures, while the team was in first place. He cut Kosar for being insubordinate during a game.

Ignoring the fact that Kosar’s insubordination resulted in a game-winning touchdown, there was nothing wrong with cutting a player for being insubordinate. However, that incident was the final move in a huge clash of egos and showed Belichick did not care what anyone thought, or how much money was involved.

Belichick was the boss, and that was that.

Fast forward to 2009. Mangini is evaluating two quarterbacks he didn’t know prior to January, and has brought in a quarterback he found and developed to increase depth at the position.

Given Mangini’s coaching style, is it really too far fetched to believe if Mangini isn’t impressed with either quarterback he’ll just scrap both of them and go with Ratliff?

I don’t think it is.

That being said, I believe Mangini will ultimately choose Quinn and trade Anderson. He’ll trade Anderson prior to naming Quinn the starting quarterback to maximize the trade value because once Quinn is named starter, Anderson’s value drops.

If he chooses Anderson, the same thing will happen, just switch the names. Once this is done, Ratliff becomes your default No. 2 quarterback. After that, all bets are off if the starter falters early.

For example, if the Browns get off to a 2-4 start, or worse, and quarterback play can be blamed for a good portion of that record, Ratliff will be your starting quarterback.

Mangini found him and developed him. Ratliff was going to compete for the starters’ job in New York prior to the trade. These dots are easy to connect, the only variable in this equation is whether or not the pencil is out to connect them.

I don’t doubt Mangini put Ratliff in with the first team on Tuesday just to get him some experience with the guys, but I’m not dumb. Mangini knows Ratliff may need that experience down the road if the two guys in front of him bust or break down.

Right now, reading any more into this non-story may be just frantic speculation by a jaded fanbase, but as a Browns fan, I’ve come to suspect the worst, especially if Belichick is even remotely involved.

Michael Crabtree

You may be wondering why I put Crabtree’s name in the title. It’s not because I think he’s going to be wearing Brown and Orange.

I’m hoping he lives up to his threat to hold out for the season and re-enter the draft if he doesn’t get paid whatever it is he thinks he deserves. I want to see the look on his face next April when he not only isn’t drafted in the first round, but the second round goes by without his name being called.

Crabtree is trying to send a message to ownership that he’s more important than the team, and ownership needs to send the same message Mangini sent to new Detroit Lions linebacker Shaun Smith, “Nobody is more important than the team.”

Given I’m experiencing my third layoff, I can’t say I’ll feel sorry for the guy if he ends up losing out on millions of dollars. The “Diva” wide receiver mentality needs to be stamped out. If Crabtree ends up being the example for everyone else, so be it.

A note on Syndric Steptoe

My favorite wide receiver has torn his labrum and is out for the year. This makes me extremely sad as he probably will be cut after the season. Steptoe wasn’t high on Mangini’s depth chart from all the reports I read, and I doubt he was going to make the team anyway.

(UPDATE: Apparently, Steptoe has been waived.)

So I will bid adieu to my favorite wide receiver with this haiku:

Syndric Steptoe rocks

Your name made me giggle

Catching balls is good