Monday, October 13, 2014

The Evolution of US Soccer; how player race and background has changed over the years






Although the United States had qualified for the 1990 in Italy the beginning of the Modern Era in US soccer began on June 18, 1994. When Alexi Lalas and his ginger beard led the denim clad Americans out on the field for a 1-1 draw, a revolution began. The 1990 team featured players still in college and many playing for semi-pro teams. In 1994, over half the team had been playing together for the US Soccer Federation leading up to the cup and zero college kids. That is not the dynamic shift that needs to be talked about. That team that found a way to qualify for the round of 16 featured 7 foreign born players, was 90% white, and whose hometowns had an average median income of $74,737. Jurgen Klinsman’s use of players whose fathers were in the military and had children with Europeans isn’t exactly new to American soccer; 2 players on that 1994 team were born that exact way.
Since that 1994 World Cup the United States Soccer Team has seen a drastic change in who makes up the team. Not only has the team become much more diverse in terms of ethnicities of the players but it also brings in players from parts of the countries that were completely ignored in 1990. As you will see, not only has the level of American soccer improved, but so has their utilization of American citizens. Those latter probably has a lot to do with the first.

Where The Players are From
The usage of foreign players by the United States is an interesting story, in 1994 and 1998, managed by Yugoslavian Bora Milutinovic and American Steve Sampson respectively, the US brought 7 players born outside of the United States. This can be chalked up to the fact that American soccer was very weak at the time and to fill out the roster they needed to find anyone they could to play for the stars and stripes. Bruce Arena managed the United States for the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. When the US made an incredible run to the quarterfinals in 2002 they brought 5 foreign players, 3 of whom had been to the 1998 World Cup. After 2002 however there seemed to be a revolt against foreign players as Bruce Arena announced that Pablo Mastroeni would be the only foreign born player in the 2006 squad. The 2010 team managed by Bob Bradley again only included foreign player, Benny Feilhaber, who was born in Brazil but who grew up in Scarsdale, New York (median income of over $200,000), was not exactly your typical immigrant.
When Jurgen Klinsmann took over the team in 2011 following the US’s embarrassing loss to Mexico in the ’11 Gold Cup Final, he made it a point to find as many players as possible who held US Citizenship. When the US took off for Brazil over a quarter of the team (6 players) was born somewhere other than the United States and many more had parents who were immigrants. This was the highest percentage since the 1998 World Cup.
The book Soccernomics explored how England rejected middle and upper class players from their squads. Only 5 of 34 players that the authors were able to establish an occupation for their fathers from the 1998, 2002, and 2006 World Cups came from middle or upper-middle class families. Soccer in the United States actually tells the complete opposite story as only 1 player on the 1994 roster came from a hometown that had a median income below the national average. That one player was Mike Sorber from St. Louis, Missouri, who went to a catholic high school and then went to private St. Louis University when soccer scholarships were not abundant, so he probably was not very lower class.
As the years went on more and more middle class players were included on the national team but it was not until 2006 that there were players who came from “poor” cities on the team. Both Eddie Johnson and Clint Dempsey come from towns with a median income below $28,000. The inclusion of poorer players caused the average median income for the players to drop below $65,000 for the 2006 and 2014 World Cups. The 2010 team had an average median income of $72,000 but if you would exclude Feilhaber, who as mentioned earlier came from a very ritzy neighborhood, the average also drops below $65,000. This is a stark contrast to the second and third world cup teams of the 90s, who averaged $75,737 in 1994 and $77,561 in 1998.


Who the Players Are
72.4% White
16.4% Hispanic
8.7% White Hispanic
12.2% non-Hispanic Black


Those are the demographics of the United States. The closest the US national team has ever come to representing the actual number of whites in this country was 2006 when 66.6% of the team was white. The 2010 team was exactly half white and both the 2014 World Cup squad and the squads for the first three post world cup have had more minorities than whites.
When the US took the field for the 1994 World Cup Cobi Jones was the only black member of the team. The other nonwhite member of the team was Earnie Stewart, who had one black parent and one white parent. Everyone else on the team was white. 5 members of the team were white Hispanics but the first appearance of someone with indigenous blood did not occur until 2002 when Pablo Mastroeni appeared on the World Cup roster. All indigenous players for the US had come from a Latin American Country until 2014, when Deandre Yedlin (who is a mix of Latvian, Black, and Native American) impressed the world with his performance in Brazil which led to a contract with Tottenham.

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

How the United States' 2014 World Cup compares to 2010

Jurgen Klinsmann has come under fire for the USMNT's performance at the 2014 World Cup. The main reason for the lack of confidence is that the US fared no better during this year's version of the cup than in 2010; both exits in the first stage of knockout rounds in extra time. Those critics don't realize that they are comparing apples to oranges when debating the US performances in both 2010 and 2014. The USMNT faced different schedules each time; "group of death" for 2014 and a relatively easy group in 2010. To see which World Cup was more impressive we will see how international oddsmakers expected them to do in each edition.

As you can see by looking at the above image (plus you know how to read odds; the lower the number, the better the odds are of that event of occurring) the US was expected get 6 points in the 2010 group stage (good enough for second place) and then win their Round of 16 match against Ghana. However, what actually happened was the US won the group (on goal differential against England) with a mere 4 points and were eliminated in extra time by Ghana.
On the other hand, the 2014 Von Trapps overachieved greatly. The oddsmakers expected them to leave Brazil without a single point. Jurgen and the boys were able to pull of the upset against Ghana and were a mere sixty seconds of doing the same to Portugal. All said, the US took second place in the group with 4 points (plus beating Portugal on goal differential). Even in the Round of 16 with their extra time loss to Belgium the US overachieved by pushing the game into extra time.
This concludes that despite the US leaving as early in 2014 as they did in 2010, they had a much better showing in 2014 due to their tougher schedule.

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Analyzing the 2013 NBA Free Agent Market

Determining the worth of a Free Agent since the 1970s when free agency entered the NBA. Obviously since both players and General Managers are human their will be contracts that break away from the market standard. By using basketball-reference.com's Win Share statistic and the per annum salaries of players that signed contracts during the 2013 off season we are able to estimate how many million dollars each win share is worth. Even though we were able to find the average amount of money spent on a win share we found that the correlation between win shares and salary is there but we weak with an r-score of only .729. The approximate value for a win share is $1.28 million.
Players like Chase Budinger (injury), Andrew Bynum (injury), Jon Leur, and Wesley Johnson (that bad) were thrown out of the study.
To get a betterlook of how free agency money is distributed let's break it down by position:


As you can see Point Guards are the most underpaid and Centers are overpaid. Examples of this are DJ Augustin of the Chicago Bulls who signed a deal worth $1.3 mil a year despite having 2.8 win shares during the 2012-13 season for a $/WS ratio of $.46. On the other end of the spectrum Dwight Howard inked for $22 mil a year with the Houston Rockets despite only having 7.6 win shares the season before, making him the second most overpaid player. 

Point Guards
Chris Paul was hands down the best player to ink a deal during the 2013 off season but only signed the second biggest contract at $21.40 mil a year. This is quite a bit of money but still falls short of Howard's contract, a player that had about half as many win shares as Paul. The only point guard to be in the top ten of over paid players is Chauncey Billups, who joins his Detroit teammate Josh Smith in the ranks of most over paid free agents of 2013. But what really defines the point guard position is that 3 of the bottom 10 players  in terms of difference between $/WS and the league average were point guards. This includes Nate Robinson who only makes $2 mil a year despite having 5.9 win shares in 12-13.

Shooting Guards
Shooting Guards along with power forwards were the most accurately paid players in the league with a position $/WS of $1.26 mil. Tyreke Evans of the Pelicans and OJ Mayo were both in the top ten in terms of being over paid. Evans makes $11 mil a year despite only 4.4 Win Shares in his contract year. Monta Ellis joins those to at 11 in terms of being over paid. The biggest steal among shooting guards was Nick Young who is making $1.15 mil a year despite 2.3 Win Shares in his contract year, this is most likely due to him expecting to be Kobe's backup in the upcoming years.

Small Forwards
There are three Small Forwards who find themselves to be in the top 10 in terms of overpaidness (it's a new word folks) and they are Andre Iguodala of the Warrior, Earl Clark of the New York Knicks, and Josh Smith of the Pistons (Joe Dumar had a really bad off-season.) Smith actually led the 2013 free agent class in difference between worth and salary. Metta World Peace was the biggest steal for small forwards signing for $1.6 mil a year despite 4.6 win shares the year before. Another New York small forward (although in Brooklyn), Andrei Kirilenko is also in bottom 10 for getting what they are worth.

Power Forwards
Let's just say that no power forward is underpaid (the most underpaid was Carl Landry who was only a measly $.23 mil under the average compared to $.99 mil for Andray Blatche). The average $/WS for the position was $1.25 mil. At the same time that none were underpaid none were drastically overpaid with Jason Maxiell only earning $.11 mil over the league average.

Center
While they are the most overpaid position with Dwight Howard, Chris Kaman, Josh McRoberts, and Zaza Pachulia all showing up in the top 10, their fellow big-man Andray Blatche got the shortest end of the stick during the last off-season.

Now you may have noticed that the most overpaid players tended to be some of the better players in the game; now this got me thinking. Are the third or fourth win share more valuable than the first two. Another group of people in the overpaid category are players with relatively low win shares; this makes me think that league rules regarding veteran salary minimums causes older players to be worth more. First this I'll show a quick graph that shows how different age groups' $/WS compare to the league average.

So it turns out that I was wrong that veterans would be overpaid since the salary floors would cause them to be paid more so than they deserve. These observations are actually easily explainable. The first three groups are players either entering their second or third contract so it can be expected that players might be paid as much for potential as they are for production (Especially the 20-29 year olds.) The veterans are underpaid since their performance can only be expected to decline.

Now what about the idea that win shares become more valuable as the amount a player has increases. This would fit in well with the SuperStar wage theory (where top performers in certain fields earn drastically more than those only slightly less desirable then themselves.) 
Frow what I can tell players with low win shares have exaggerated $/WS because of salary floors. The 8-14 Win Share range is a little odd since only 3 players fell in that range and two of them, Tiago Splitter and David West were in situations where they would have to take discounts to stay with their current team. If you combine them with the 7 to 7.9 range their is sort of a player demand curve to be formulated. But their is still the question of why 6-6.9 are so drastically underpaid. 

So the demand curve looks like a W and this is my theory. Players in the 6-6.9 range are role players on good teams that are willing to take pay cuts to play on contenders. Also, there win shares are probably inflated since they are surrounded by superstars. Players in the 4-5.9 range are role players who have decided to have elevated roles on poorer teams (taking money over wins.) Now if you take the superior end of this demand curve, the 7-14 range you'll see that players are worth about 1.4 mil for each win share. So for elite players like Lebron James and Kevin Durant they are probably worth up towards $30 million in a salary capless league.

Monday, November 25, 2013

The Case of Famous Jameis

Athletes and high profile people can’t do many things in their lives like normal people can.  They can’t go out to the mall without getting mobbed for photos; they can’t save money by buying economy plane tickets because some chatty Cathy will sit next to them and talk their ear off like in the Aaron Rodgers “discount double check commercial.” 
Recently celeb sucking fame seekers have ruined another common area of pleasure for a-listers, the bedroom.  Currently we are dealing with the fall out of just such a case of rape claims.  Jameis Winston, the Florida State freshman quarterback who has taken the country by storm this year and is the front runner to win the Heisman Trophy, has been accused of raping a woman nine months ago. 

Now, normally rape cases should be taken very seriously, but there are some serious issues with this story.  She initially filed the report saying her attacker was between 5’9” and 5’11” tall, Winston is 6’4”.  Being a person of such height I find it highly inconceivable that someone could make that big of a mistake.  I mean if he looks like he’s 5’10” I don’t even want to think about how short girls must think I am when I go out. 
There are some very serious issues like the recent news that Winston’s DNA has been found on her underwear.  I mean normally that would lock up a case.  How can it not be rape if the man’s sperm is found on the inside of her panties?  (On a side note I’m curious to what exactly happened to her panties after the alleged rape happened to preserve his man juice so perfectly.) 
Winston has maintained that the sex he had with the woman was consensual.  When we consider the other cases that have occurred within the last couple years that stance may not be farfetched.  Two other high profile rape cases ended up being false accusations. 
Bernie Fine, the former assistant coach of the Syracuse Orange, was accused of repeatedly raping two ball boys.  He was promptly fired (which was probably smart by Syracuse).  Later on he was found to be innocent of these charges and counter sued the boys on the grounds of defamation and slander. 
Also everyone remembers the Duke lacrosse team fiasco.  If somehow you’ve forgotten a woman accused the whole team of rape, they ended up being punished, were acquitted of the charges and then she killed her boyfriend, classic case of crazy. 
That’s why over the last couple years these rape accusations have become a little more muddied than they have been in the past.
If the accusation of Winston turns out to be false and it costs him the Heisman, it’ll be a damn shame.  He has clearly earned it this far into the season, but with this hanging over his head many voters will be turned off from voting for him.
So I say down with the celeb sucking trash.  Let famous people be famous for being better than you and go about living your life.  If you need to get pregnant to get famous then do it the classy way, have eight children and beg VH1 to give you your own television show.  And that’s all I have to say about that.    

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/24/duke-lacrosse-rape-guilty-murder-boyfriend

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/22/justice/florida-state-university-quarterback-investigation/

Thursday, September 5, 2013

AFC North Preview

The AFC North looks to be one of the stronger divisions in the NFL this year with all teams being in the top 17 of my power rankings. This division get lucky with their inter-divisional matchups as they face the AFC East (very weak except for the Patriots) and the NFC Central (Green Bay and Chicago both strong, but beatable). Look for the Bengals to win the division and the Ravens to take second due to tie-breaker rules with the Steelers.
1. Cincinnati Bengals Projected Record  12-4 NFL Rank: 6
Dalton's Favorite Target
Quarterback Andy Dalton is entering his third year in the NFL and while he may not be the most talented quarterback in the league, he is certainly capable of spreading the ball around to his talented receivers. His primary targets will be WRs AJ Green, Mohamed Sanu and Brandon Tate and tiget end Jermaine Gresham. Lining up in the backfield is BenJarvus  Green-Ellis who is still a solid NFL running back even if he is not at his Patriots level anymore. On defense, they look to be one of the top 6 units in the league with the biggest names being James Harrison (from Pittsburgh) and his fellow linebacker Rey Maualuga.
2013 REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE
WKDATEOPPONENTTIME (ET)Result
1Sun, Sep 81:00 PM CBSLoss
2Mon, Sep 168:30 PMWin
3Sun, Sep 221:00 PM FOXWin
4Sun, Sep 291:00 PM CBSLoss
5Sun, Oct 61:00 PM CBSWin
6Sun, Oct 131:00 PM CBSWin
7Sun, Oct 201:00 PM CBSWin
8Sun, Oct 274:05 PM CBSWin
9Thu, Oct 318:25 PM NFLWin
10Sun, Nov 101:00 PM CBSLoss
11Sun, Nov 171:00 PM CBSWin
12BYE WEEK
13Sun, Dec 14:25 PM CBSWin
14Sun, Dec 81:00 PM CBSWin
15Sun, Dec 158:30 PM NBCLoss
16Sun, Dec 221:00 PM FOXWin
17Sun, Dec 291:00 PM CBSWin
PosNoPlayer 1NoPlayer 2NoPlayer 3NoPlayer 4NoPlayer 5
Offense
LWR18Green, AJ 11/119Tate, Brandon W/NE11Sanzenbacher, Dane W/Chi  
RWR12Sanu, Mohamed 12/382Jones, Marvin 12/588Whalen, Ryan 11/6  
LT77WHITWORTH, ANDREW 06/273Collins, Anthony 08/4   
LG65Boling, Clint 11/467Pollak, Mike U/Car   
C64COOK, KYLE SF0766Robinson, Trevor CF12   
RG68Zeitler, Kevin 12/172Hawkinson, Tanner 13/5   
RT71Smith, Andre 09/174ROLAND, DENNIS SF13   
TE84Gresham, Jermaine 10/185Eifert, Tyler 13/181SMITH, ALEX U/Cle  
QB14Dalton, Andy 11/28Johnson, Josh U/Cle   
FB80Charles, Orson 12/4    
RB42Green-Ellis, BenJarvus U/NE25Bernard, Giovani 13/230Peerman, Cedric W/Det33Burkhead, Rex 13/6 
Defense
LDE96Dunlap, Carlos 10/291GEATHERS, ROBERT 09/499Hunt, Margus 13/2  
NT94Peko, Domata 06/498Thompson, Brandon 12/3   
RDT97Atkins, Geno 10/475Still, Devon 12/2   
RDE93Johnson, Michael 09/395Gilberry, Wallace SF12   
SLB92HARRISON, JAMES CC/Pit    
MLB58Maualuga, Rey 09/257Rey, Vincent CF10   
WLB55Burfict, Vontaze CF1254DiManche, Jayson CF13   
LCB23NEWMAN, TERENCE CC/Dal21Ghee, Brandon 10/327Kirkpatrick, Dre 12/1  
SS43Iloka, George 12/526Mays, Taylor T/SF40Williams, Shawn 13/3  
FS20Nelson, Reggie T/Jax45Miles, Jeromy CF10   
RCB29Hall, Leon 07/124Jones, Adam SF10   
Special Teams
P10Huber, Kevin 09/5    
PK2NUGENT, MIKE SF10    
LS46Harris, Clark SF09    
H10Huber, Kevin 09/5    
KO2NUGENT, MIKE SF10    
PR24Jones, Adam SF1019Tate, Brandon W/NE25Bernard, Giovani 13/282Jones, Marvin 12/511Sanzenbacher, Dane W/Chi
KR19Tate, Brandon W/NE24Jones, Adam SF1025Bernard, Giovani 13/282Jones, Marvin 12/5 
Practice Squad
PS79Fragel, Reid OT87Hamilton, Cobi WR34Herron, Dan RB60Johnson, TJ C50Schaffer, JK LB
PS39McCalebb, Onterio CB37Lewis-Harris, Chris CB00McElroy, Greg QB  
Reserves
RES63Black, Larry IR56Porter, Sean IR49Joiner, Brandon IR36Pressley, Chris PUP5Robinson, Zac PUP
RES69Evans, DeQuin SUS/859Lamur, Emmanuel IR28Scott, Bernard PUP16Hawkins, Andrew IR-1 DFR 
2. Baltimore Ravens Projected Record 11-5 NFL Rank: 7
The returning Super Bowl champs will most likely be unable to repeat due to heavy lossses on the defensive end. Even though Elvis Dumervil and Terrell Suggs return the retirement of Ray Lewis and the departure of Ed Reed will knock one of the best defense's last year into the second tier this season. On the offensive side of the ball Joe Flacco enters the season on a new contract. He may be an elite game manager but I don't think he has the skills to be in the upper echelon of the NFL. What really helps Flacco is his above average offensive line and one of the bests backfields in the NFL led by Ray Rice with Bernard Pierce backing him up. 
2013 REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE
WKDATEOPPONENTTIME (ET)Result
1Thu, Sep 58:30 PM NBCLoss
2Sun, Sep 151:00 PM CBSWin
3Sun, Sep 221:00 PM CBSWin
4Sun, Sep 291:00 PM CBSWin
5Sun, Oct 61:00 PM CBSWin
6Sun, Oct 131:00 PM FOXWin
7Sun, Oct 204:25 PM CBSLoss
8BYE WEEK
9Sun, Nov 34:25 PM CBSLoss
10Sun, Nov 101:00 PM CBSWin
11Sun, Nov 171:00 PM CBSLoss
12Sun, Nov 241:00 PM CBSWin
13Thu, Nov 288:30 PM NBCWin
14Sun, Dec 81:00 PM FOXWin
15Mon, Dec 168:30 PMWin
16Sun, Dec 228:30 PM NBCWin
17Sun, Dec 291:00 PM CBSLoss
PosNoPlayer 1NoPlayer 2NoPlayer 3NoPlayer 4NoPlayer 5
Offense
LWR82Smith, Torrey 11/280STOKLEY, BRANDON SF1383Thompson, Deonte CF1213Mellette, Aaron 13/7 
RWR12Jones, Jacoby CC/Hou14Brown, Marlon CF13   
LT78MCKINNIE, BRYANT CC/Min71Wagner, Ricky 13/5   
LG72Osemele, Kelechi 12/276Reid, Jah 11/3   
C66Gradkowski, Gino 12/468Shipley, AQ T/Ind77Jensen, Ryan 13/6  
RG73Yanda, Marshal 07/376Reid, Jah 11/3   
RT74Oher, Michael 09/172Osemele, Kelechi 12/2   
TE84Dickson, Ed 10/387CLARK, DALLAS SF1386BAJEMA, BILLY SF13  
QB5Flacco, Joe 08/12Taylor, Tyrod 11/6   
FB44LEACH, VONTA SF1340Juszczyk, Kyle 13/4   
RB27Rice, Ray 08/230Pierce, Bernard 12/3   
Defense
DT97Jones, Arthur 10/598Williams, Brandon 13/3   
NT92Ngata, Haloti 06/162Cody, Terrence 10/2   
DE99CANTY, CHRIS CC/NYG96SPEARS, MARCUS CC/Dal93Tyson, DeAngelo 12/7  
OLB55SUGGS, TERRELL 03/190McPhee, Pernell 11/5   
ILB56Bynes, Josh CF1159Brown, Arthur 13/2   
ILB51SMITH, DARYL SF1350McClellan, Albert CF1095James, Robert W/Atl  
OLB58Dumervil, Elvis CC/Den91Upshaw, Courtney 12/247Simon, John 13/4  
LCB21Webb, Lardarius 09/322Smith, Jimmy 11/1   
SS32Ihedigbo, James SF1226Elam, Matt 13/141Levine, Anthony CF10  
FS29HUFF, MICHAEL CC/Oak28Trawick, Brynden CF13   
RCB24Graham, Corey U/Chi23Brown, Chykie 11/5   
Special Teams
P4KOCH, SAM 06/6    
PK9Tucker, Justin CF12    
LS46Cox, Morgan CF10    
H4KOCH, SAM 06/6    
PR12Jones, Jacoby CC/Hou    
KR12Jones, Jacoby CC/Hou83Thompson, Deonte CF12   
Practice Squad
PS31Brown, Omar FS48Copeland, Brandon LB7Sheppard, Gerrard WR85Furstenburg, Matt TE69Larsen, Cody DT
PS63Unga, Joe OT65Stephens, Reggie C35Gray, Jonas RB  
Reserves
RES88Pitta, Dennis IR-1 DFR54Hamilton, Adrian IR67Lewis-Moore, Kapron NFI53McClain, Jameel PUP49Bryant, DJ IR
RES67Lewis-Moore, Kapron NFI25Jackson, Asa SUS/833Thompson, Christian SUS/415Williams, LaQuan IR
3. Pittsburgh Steelers Projected Record: 11-5 NFL Rank 16
Thanks to an easy out of conference schedule (and overall weakness of AFC, teams 8-14 are all NFC) the Steelers are likely to outperform their skill level. Ben Roethlisberger returns at quarterback and will be throwing to an average receiving group (Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders). He will not receive much help up front as his line is very inexperienced. Issac Redman and Le'veon Bell are their top two running backs in what appears to be rather weak backfield. Lining up at tight end will be Matt Spaeth and David Johnson, one of the best tight end tandems in the NFL. What is really going to carry the Steelers however is there defense led by veterans Ike Taylor, Troy Polamalu, and Lawrence Timmons.
2013 REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE
WKDATEOPPONENTTIME (ET)Result
1Sun, Sep 81:00 PM CBSWin
2Mon, Sep 168:30 PMLoss
3Sun, Sep 228:30 PM NBCWin
4Sun, Sep 291:00 PM CBSWin
5BYE WEEK
6Sun, Oct 131:00 PM CBSWin
7Sun, Oct 204:25 PM CBSWin
8Sun, Oct 274:05 PM CBSWin
9Sun, Nov 34:25 PM CBSLoss
10Sun, Nov 101:00 PM CBSWin
11Sun, Nov 171:00 PM FOXWin
12Sun, Nov 241:00 PM CBSLoss
13Thu, Nov 288:30 PM NBCLoss
14Sun, Dec 81:00 PM CBSWin
15Sun, Dec 158:30 PM NBCWin
16Sun, Dec 224:25 PM CBSLoss
17Sun, Dec 291:00 PM CBSWin
 
PosNoPlayer 1NoPlayer 2NoPlayer 3NoPlayer 4NoPlayer 5
Offense
LWR88Sanders, Emmanuel 10/311Wheaton, Markus 13/3   
RWR84Brown, Antonio 10/689COTCHERY, JERRICHO CC/NYJ14Moye, Derek SF12  
LT76Adams, Mike 12/2    
LG73Foster, Ramon CF0961WHIMPER, GUY CC/Jax   
C53Pouncey, Maurkice 10/172Wallace, Cody SF13   
RG66DeCastro, David 12/1    
RT77Gilbert, Marcus 11/268Beachum, Kelvin 12/7   
TE87Spaeth, Matt 07/385Johnson, David 09/781Paulson, David 12/749Palmer, Michael W/Sea83MILLER, HEATH 05/1
QB7ROETHLISBERGER, BEN 04/15GRADKOWSKI, BRUCE U/Cin3Jones, Landry 13/4  
FB46Johnson, Will CF1285Johnson, David 09/7   
RB33Redman, Isaac CF0926Bell, Le'Veon 13/234Stephens-Howling, LaRod U/Arz23Jones, Felix T/Phi 
Defense
LDE96Hood, Ziggy 09/165Woods, Al SF10   
NT90McLendon, Steve CF0992Fangupo, Loni W/Sea   
RDE99KEISEL, BRETT 02/797Heyward, Cameron 11/1   
LOLB56Woodley, Lamarr 07/254Carter, Chris 11/5   
LILB50FOOTE, LARRY 02/444Williams, Vince 13/6   
RILB94Timmons, Lawrence 07/148Wilson, Kion SF13   
ROLB93Worilds, Jason 10/295Jones, Jarvis 13/1   
LCB28Allen, Cortez 11/431Brown, Curtis 11/3   
SS43POLAMALU, TROY 03/142Cromartie-Smith, Damon CF1029Thomas, Shamarko 13/4  
FS25CLARK, RYAN U/Was21Golden, Robert CF1230Blake, Antwon W/Jax  
RCB24TAYLOR, IKE 03/422Gay, William 07/5   
Special Teams
P14Mesko, Zoltan SF13    
PK6SUISHAM, SHAUN CF05    
LS60WARREN, GREG CF05    
H14Mesko, Zoltan SF13    
PR84Brown, Antonio 10/611Wheaton, Markus 13/3   
KR34Stephens-Howling, LaRod U/Arz23Jones, Felix T/Phi   
Practice Squad
PS39Alexander, Alvester RB69Arnfelt, Brian DE45Baxter, Alan ILB15Brown, Justin WR49Garvin, Terence OLB
PS74Hubbard, Chris OG79Long, Joe OT39Green, Isaiah FS  
Reserves
RES61Embernate, Nik IR80BURRESS, PLAXICO IR51Spence, Sean PUP91Williams, Nicholas IR72Cheadle, Justin IR
4. Cleveland Browns Projected Record: 10-6 NFL Rank 17
Thomas: One of the best
Brandon Weeden enters his second year as a a starter and it looks as if his job will safe since the Browns have not signed a competitive back up. In the backfield the Browns hope that Trent Richardson can avoid injury and perform as he did at Alabama. He will likely see a heavy workload as his backups are no namers Bobby Rainey and Dennis Johnson. Lining up out wide are Greg Little and Davone Bess. The Browns strength is their offensive line, former first rounder pick LT Joe Thomas, LG John Greco, C Alex Mack, RG Shawn Lauvao, and RT Mitchell Schwartz. Lastly, their defense is about average.
2013 REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE
WKDATEOPPONENTTIME (ET)Result
1Sun, Sep 81:00 PM CBSWin
2Sun, Sep 151:00 PM CBSLoss
3Sun, Sep 221:00 PM CBSLoss
4Sun, Sep 291:00 PM CBSWin
5Thu, Oct 38:25 PM NFLWin
6Sun, Oct 131:00 PM FOXWin
7Sun, Oct 204:25 PM CBSLoss
8Sun, Oct 271:00 PM CBSLoss
9Sun, Nov 34:25 PM CBSWin
10BYE WEEK
11Sun, Nov 171:00 PM CBSLoss
12Sun, Nov 241:00 PM CBSWin
13Sun, Dec 11:00 PM CBSWin
14Sun, Dec 81:00 PM CBSLoss
15Sun, Dec 151:00 PM FOXWin
16Sun, Dec 221:00 PM CBSWin
17Sun, Dec 291:00 PM CBSLoss
PosNoPlayer 1NoPlayer 2NoPlayer 3NoPlayer 4NoPlayer 5
Offense
LWR15Bess, Davone T/Mia80Benjamin, Travis 12/4   
RWR18Little, Greg 11/288Cooper, Josh CF12   
LT73Thomas, Joe 07/179BUTLER, RASHAD U/Hou   
LG77Greco, John T/SL65Gilkey, Garrett 13/7   
C55Mack, Alex 09/160Lewis, Patrick W/GB   
RG66Lauvao, Shawn 10/362Pinkston, Jason 11/575Cousins, Oniel W/Bal65Gilkey, Garrett 13/7 
RT72Schwartz, Mitchell 12/275Cousins, Oniel W/Bal   
TE84Cameron, Jordan 11/482Barnidge, Gary U/Car47Gray, MarQueis W/SF83Milton, Keavon W/NO 
QB3Weeden, Brandon 12/117CAMPBELL, JASON U/Chi6Hoyer, Brian CC/Arz  
FB25Ogbonnaya, Chris P/Hou    
RB33Richardson, Trent 12/134Rainey, Bobby W/Bal26Johnson, Dennis W/Hou  
Defense
LDE71Rubin, Ahtyba 08/693Hughes, John 12/3   
NT98Taylor, Phil 11/167Kitchen, Ishmaa'ily W/Bal   
RDE92Bryant, Desmond U/Oak90Winn, Billy 12/695Bryant, Armonty 13/7  
LOLB99Kruger, Paul U/Bal54Groves, Quentin U/Arz56Martin, Eric W/NO  
LILB53Robertson, Craig CF1159Carder, Tank W/Buf   
RILB52Jackson, D'Qwell 06/258Magee, Brandon W/Dal   
ROLB97Sheard, Jabaal 11/251Mingo, Barkevious 13/196Hazel, Paul W/JAX  
LCB23Haden, Joe 10/129McFadden, Leon 13/3   
SS43Ward, TJ 10/237Aubrey, Josh CF13   
FS39Gipson, Tashaun CF1224Bademosi, Johnson CF12   
RCB22Skrine, Buster 11/521Owens, Chris U/Atl   
Special Teams
P5Lanning, Spencer W/Jax    
PK00CUNDIFF, BILLY SF13    
LS57Yount, Christian SF1190Winn, Billy 12/682Barnidge, Gary U/Car  
H5Lanning, Spencer W/Jax    
PR80Benjamin, Travis 12/415Bess, Davone T/Mia88Cooper, Josh CF12  
KR24Bademosi, Johnson CF1234Rainey, Bobby W/Bal26Johnson, Dennis W/Hou  
Practice Squad
PS85Collins, Jasper WR31Edwards, Kip CB49Eubanks, Darius SS36Frederick, Terrence CB9Gurley, Tori WR
PS38Posey, Julian CB30Slaughter, Jamoris SS61Hauptmann, Caylin OG  
Reserves
RES28Lewis, Dion IR70Faulk, Chris NFI20Hardesty, Montario IR8Bogotay, Brandon IR12Gordon, Josh SUS/2
     
NFL Standings - Updated: Jan 1,
AFC NORTHWLT
Cincinnati Bengals1240
Baltimore Ravens1150
Pittsburgh Steelers (Lose on Tiebreaker)1150
Cleveland Browns1060