BEREA – Pardon Browns fans for thinking of Dennis Northcutt when they see a Butterfinger bar on the candy rack.
Northcutt slipped off the wide receiver map during a drop-laden 2006 season.
He took a page from The Drive and The Fumble when he made the drop that cost the Browns a win at Pittsburgh in the 2002 playoffs.
Losing him to Jacksonville hardly forces the Browns to make a dramatic draft move. It does force them to tweak their draft thinking. They need a punt returner. In theory, with an improved defense forcing more punts, they need one more than ever.
Northcutt, who owns the Browns’ record with 2,149 career punt return yards, is still among the league’s elite at that discipline. His 11.1 average in 2006 was his third-best in his seven Cleveland seasons.
With Northcutt missing some time last year, Joshua Cribbs tried his hand fielding punts. He broke off a 43-yarder, but he lost coaches’ confidence when he misjudged a few balls.
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“We have to take a good look at (Cribbs) as a punt returner,” head coach Romeo Crennel said last week. “That might be a position we try to address in the draft. Northcutt was a very good punt returner for us. We have a little void there.”
Another option is Antonio Perkins, a fourth-round pick out of Oklahoma in 2005.
Perkins once had three punt return TDs in a game against UCLA, but he has gotten lost in two years as a pro.
The Browns are closely watching Aaron Ross of Texas, a first-round candidate who could slip to the Browns’ second-round spot, No. 36 overall.
“He didn’t get a ton of playing time until 2006,” Phil Savage said. “Aaron is a gifted athlete. He’s also a punt returner.”
A mid-round prospect to watch is Utah’s Eric Weddle, who caught Savage’s eye at the Senior Bowl.
“He’s capable of playing corner, safety ... returning punts,” Savage said.
Cornerbacks Pacman Jones and Devin Hester ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in NFL punt return yardage last year. Northcutt ranked No. 4.
Savage would love to replace Northcutt with Ohio State’s Ted Ginn Jr.
“He has the great return skills that would interest most any team,” Savage said. Ginn’s last act in a football game was a kick-return touchdown.
Barring a quirky trade-down, Ginn figures to fall between the cracks of where the Browns are picking. NFL.com analyst Pat Kirwan sees the Chiefs taking Ginn at No. 23 overall.
WINSLOW UPDATE
Crennel seems enthused by tight end Kellen Winslow Jr.’s recovery from microfracture knee surgery.
“We expect he will be back and ready to go,” Crennel said. “It might not be until training camp until he’s at full speed. But he’s around, and he’s doing pretty good.”
Crennel said Winslow isn’t running yet, but ...
“He’s lifting. He’s rehabbing his knee. He’s in a good frame of mind.”
RISKY BUSINESS
Big back Michael Bush of Louisville projected as a first-round pick before he broke a leg early in the 2006 season. Complications with healing, including a recent operation, cloud his draft status.
“Most teams don’t know what to do with him,” analyst Mike Mayock said, noting few GMs are secure enough to spend a Day 1 pick on anyone who might not play until 2008. “That probably means the fourth round (for Michael Bush).”
Phil Savage scouted the Kentucky-Louisville game in which Michael Bush broke his leg.
“It was an unfortunate thing,” he said. “You’re in Louisville ... it’s right over there by Churchill Downs. (Now) you’re not so sure.”
EXTRA POINTS
– After a draft briefing, Phil Savage asked a group of beat writers to go on the clock with the No. 3 pick, assuming JaMarcus Russell and Calvin Johnson had been taken at No. 1 and No. 2. Four writers picked Adrian Peterson. Four fingered Brady Quinn. Joe Thomas got the only other vote.
– If Thomas, the Wisconsin left tackle, is the pick, he’ll know his way around Cleveland Browns Stadium. His first game coming off offseason knee surgery was at the stadium, against Bowling Green. Thomas struggled for weeks to get back in the flow, but had a strong second half of the season.
