Starting a Browns Franchise

[BZito75]

thanks for all the input... fourthreemafia very very insightful. i tried to trade off derek anderson but had no takers, and jamal lewis was only getting me 5th and 6th round picks so i elected to keep them both... ill ride out the season and go after either eric berry (ss), evan royster (rb) or another big time safety. i lost the first game last night to the vikings... peterson owned me. and your right it took quinn forever to get going in the first game.

[MaxB]

Believe I'm in my 3rd year with the Browns. Just finished 8-8.

Quinn's arm is tiny. 83 THP cripples you and I couldn't get things going with him, so I picked up a big armed QB with the 5th overall pick.

Edwards had me blowing my brains out. He drops everything (I'm also using DB's sliders), and I got offered Wes Welker or Eddie Royal for him and chose the latter. Robiskie was really meh for me. He dropped some stuff, never got open and Massaquoi was better than him by the second year.

Lewis was on IR after 1 preseason play in year one. My current RB troupe is J Stewart (trade, who also ended up injured for 6 weeks after 3 pre season plays), Reggie Bush (released by Saints), an okay rookie, Davis. I'm currently scouting for a big time TE.

Move Wimbley to DE, he won't get many sacks but he sheds blocks well, sets the edge and really helps against the run.

Managed to pick up Lawrence Timmons via trade and him and Jackson are monstrous in the middle. I now have two 2010 rookies at OLB.

I used Chris McAlister to tie me over until McDonald and Wright were startable, but then decided to make a big free agency play for Dwight Lowery.

Safety is also a mess, I think I have Chris Horton converted to strongside.

Lawrence Vickers is one of the best FBs for his age, but I don't really use full backs, so... I traded him for Conner Barwin who's tearing it up and just signed the best run blocking FB I could find.

Sign RTs and RGs. I start a pair of rookies at both, but vets like John Runyan (RT moved to guard) tied me over for a year or two.

Buiding a team is sooo much tougher this year and I love it. In previous years I never worried about the salary cap (for the first time ever I've had to cut quality older players to make room for multiple good guys) and CPU teams value players and draftees much better.

[BZito75]

Quote: Originally Posted by MaxB

Believe I'm in my 3rd year with the Browns. Just finished 8-8. Quinn's arm is tiny. 83 THP cripples you and I couldn't get things going with him, so I picked up a big armed QB with the 5th overall pick. Edwards had me blowing my brains out. He drops everything (I'm also using DB's sliders), and I got offered Wes Welker or Eddie Royal for him and chose the latter. Robiskie was really meh for me. He dropped some stuff, never got open and Massaquoi was better than him by the second year. Lewis was on IR after 1 preseason play in year one. My current RB troupe is J Stewart (trade, who also ended up injured for 6 weeks after 3 pre season plays), Reggie Bush (released by Saints), an okay rookie, Davis. I'm currently scouting for a big time TE. Move Wimbley to DE, he won't get many sacks but he sheds blocks well, sets the edge and really helps against the run. Managed to pick up Lawrence Timmons via trade and him and Jackson are monstrous in the middle. I now have two 2010 rookies at OLB. I used Chris McAlister to tie me over until McDonald and Wright were startable, but then decided to make a big free agency play for Dwight Lowery. Safety is also a mess, I think I have Chris Horton converted to strongside. Lawrence Vickers is one of the best FBs for his age, but I don't really use full backs, so... I traded him for Conner Barwin who's tearing it up and just signed the best run blocking FB I could find. Sign RTs and RGs. I start a pair of rookies at both, but vets like John Runyan (RT moved to guard) tied me over for a year or two. Buiding a team is sooo much tougher this year and I love it. In previous years I never worried about the salary cap (for the first time ever I've had to cut quality older players to make room for multiple good guys) and CPU teams value players and draftees much better.

really good stuff. yea usually in other years ill just use the giants and thats it. but this year i find myself wanting to use weaker teams and building them up. yea quinn is really tough to get used to, i havent decided if i wanna keep him or maybe look to a colt mccoy or someone in the draft.... i still have my sights set on eric berry.

[JayInSaratoga]

Quote: Originally Posted by BZito75

really good stuff. yea usually in other years ill just use the giants and thats it. but this year i find myself wanting to use weaker teams and building them up. yea quinn is really tough to get used to, i havent decided if i wanna keep him or maybe look to a colt mccoy or someone in the draft.... i still have my sights set on eric berry.

I see you plan to use NCAA classes. I've always used them myself, but this year I decided to give the Madden classes a try since they did a lot to make them better. I gotta say, they are the way to go. You're really robbing yourself of one of the coolest things about franchise mode this year (Gems/Busts and scouting) by using the NCAA classes.

[marktg30]

I am in week 12 of year 2.

I traded Anderson for Draft Picks.
Used Lewis and Davis as my HBs in first season, moved soley to Davis by week 8.
Traded Lewis, Edwards and Shaun Rogers in Season 2.

Edwards won't be with the Browns next year, Lewis is aging and Rogers is aging as well.

I am still trying to find a happy medium for my Running Game, I either get easy yards or no yards at all.

Brady Quinn is a solid QB, but you may end up wanting to go elsewhere by the time he is in his final year of the contract.

[BZito75]

Quote: Originally Posted by JayInSaratoga

I see you plan to use NCAA classes. I've always used them myself, but this year I decided to give the Madden classes a try since they did a lot to make them better. I gotta say, they are the way to go. You're really robbing yourself of one of the coolest things about franchise mode this year (Gems/Busts and scouting) by using the NCAA classes.

Well what I am doing is only using the draft classes for the first 3 years, then i will be going with the madden generated draft classes. I love college football i had to atleast give them a shot yaknow? but i totally see where your coming from.

[Brooklynbks4]

u guyz really cant get things going with quinn i played some pick up games just 2 get me warmed up for the franchise he does overthrow alot but seems ok imma use preseason 2 make my decision den from there i wil be trading one of those qbs 4 a draft pick den free agency im going 4 de's and saftey help

[Whoman]

looked for threads on the browns and though i´d chime in with a short report. Am new to Madden and actually haven´t touched a football game since some brief sessions at a friends on NFL 2k5. Been following the Browns ever since i´ve been to Cleveland for 2 months on an internship.

So anyway : I didn´t make a ton of moves and then only for draft picks. Picked up a stud WR in the 4th round (6´5, 80 rated) who works really well together with Quinn.
I´m running a west coast style offense and having good success, being 10-4 in the 2nd season and Quinn at a 95 passer rating which is more than fine considering my lack of playing experience. Need an upgrade at RB bad though with Lewis contract running out and Davis performing subpar.
Have allready extended Quinn, figure that in the worst case there will allways be takers for a 85+ QB.

Actually i also have a great athlete as my backup QB drafted last year. Really explosive runner while a decent passer (mid to high 70s on all throwing accuracys) .
Any idea how to utilize both ? Are 2 QB plays in the playbook ?