So what went wrong with Charlie Frye?

In case you've not heard, Mr. Frye has been shipped off to Seattle for a sixth round draft pick. Such is the life of an NFL quarterback.

Frye just wasn't in the right situation. Touted as a quarterback with the ability to grow into a starter when he came out of the University of Akron, Frye got drafted into the wrong situation. The Browns didn't need a hometown kid who wanted to play for his hometown team. I realize that many Browns fans fell victim to delusions of grandeur based on the circumstances and nostagia. After all, didn't Bernie almost take us to the Promised Land. The needed a QB who could lead and asking him to do so wasn't fair to him or this team.

Working behind a patchwork offensive line, he looked horrible last year. Fans thought it would all go away with the additions of Eric Steinbach and first round draft pick, Joe Thomas. Yes, the horrible play continued in last year's 34-7 embarrassment against the Steelers. Frye didn't look comfortable. He wasn't inaccurate. He held the ball for far too long and for much of his limited playing time he looked like a bug fleeing from the light. Most of the five sacks were his fault for some of those very reasons. More importantly, however, you could see that he'd lost the confidence of his teammates.

There's nothing more damning than that. Some of the faces in the Browns locker room were longer than the Mississippi River after the Steelers game. Is there any more blame to be parsed here? Probably.

I once wrote that Phil Savage and Romeo Crennel probably bought themselves another two years with this past spring's draft. I don't think that any longer. As much as the current regime loves to put the blame on past administrations, the fact remains that just a few players remain from the Butch Davis era. Savage and Crennel will live or die with this roster, but they have to know that after this weekend, the tick tocks on that ticking clock are very loud.

With the signing of Dorsey, it looks as if Brady Quinn will get his shot sooner rather than later. Given the memories associated with Tim Couch, the Browns had better hope they are right on this one.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 11th, 2007 at 4:55 pm and is filed under Charlie Frye, Cleveland Browns, Phil Savage, Randy Lerner, Romeo Crennel, football, pro. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.