Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson, Trent Richardson
Matt Hasselbeck remembers when Marshawn Lynch joined the Seattle Seahawks from the Buffalo Bills with the 2010 season already in progress.
Hasselbeck, who was the Seahawks' quarterback at the time, remembers Lynch struggling to learn a new blocking scheme. He recalls how it resulted in his colliding with his blockers and didn't allow him to take full advantage of his tremendous power and explosiveness.
Eventually, Lynch figured it out and became, well, the "Beast Mode" back that helped the Seahawks win a Super Bowl.
Now a backup quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts, Hasselbeck sees similarities between Lynch and Trent Richardson, whom the Colts acquired early last season in a trade with the Cleveland Browns. Richardson struggled with the Colts, rushing for only 458 yards and three touchdowns in 14 games while averaging a mere 2.9 yards per carry. Hasselbeck can see Richardson making the same sort of turnaround that Lynch did.
"Marshawn's numbers weren't spectacular, either," Hasselbeck told the Colts' official website. "Everyone in the locker room understood he was doing the best he could and was working really hard. It's very similar to Trent.
"He came in in tough circumstances. We say these OTAs matter and training camp matters and preseason matters. To put unrealistic expectations on him after he missed all that with us (was unfortunate). I would definitely expect his numbers to look better this year."
RUSSELL WILSON: SEAHAWKS HAVE ABUNDANCE OF SPEED AT WIDE RECEIVER
During the past two weeks of OTAs, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson has noticed a trend among the multitude of wide receivers on the team's roster: they're fast. Really fast.
The group includes Percy Harvin, who is healthy after missing most of last season with a hip injury; Doug Baldwin, rookies Paul Richardson and Kevin Norwood, as well as other veterans Jermaine Kearse, Ricardo Lockette and Sidney Rice.
"Our receivers right now are as fast as it gets," Wilson told reporters covering the Seahawks. "You've got Percy Harvin, Doug Baldwin … Jermaine Kearse is extremely fast, too. Then you add Paul Richardson who you saw today went for that deep, deep ball that I threw to him. He's looking exceptional as well. So I think our receiver group is probably one of the faster in the league right now, based on who we have."
STEVE YOUNG'S ADVICE TO COLIN KAEPERNICK: TIE UP LEGS IN CAMP … LITERALLY
When it comes to relying more on his feet than his passing arm, former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young has been there, done that.
Eventually, he became more of a pocket passer than a scrambler, and that went a long way toward allowing him to be selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Young now has some advice for current 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick: Stay in the pocket more often.
Young told ESPN's NFL Live that Kaepernick has a tendency to run when his first throwing option isn't available. Although Kaepernick has made more than his share of big plays with his feet, Young believes he will be a much better player once he relies more on his throwing arm.
And that, according to Young, needs to be the focus of Kaepernick's offseason work.
"That's going to be a very difficult thing for Colin to master," Young said. "He's going to have to tie his legs in training camp. Literally, he should tie his legs, physically, so he can't do anything but throw from the pocket."
CARY WILLIAMS SAYS EAGLES' DEFENSE WILL BE 'NASTY'
Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Cary Williams is encouraged by what he sees from the team's defense during OTAs.
He saw progress from the unit last season, during which the Eagles allowed 26.4 points per game through the first half of the schedule and 21.4 points per game through the second half. In addition, the Eagles surged from an NFL-low 13 takeaways in 2012 to 31 last season, tying them for second in the league.
Williams told the Philadelphia Inquirer opponents can expect the Eagles' defense to be "nasty" this season.
"It's just about being physical at the point of attack," he said. "When you're getting 11 guys to the ball, you're getting guys swarming, getting guys hitting, and you're hearing contact. You're getting guys with no YAC (yards after the catch).
"We have a lot of guys in our locker room who are capable of doing that, and now that we have a year under our belt in this system, you can look forward to us being a lot more physical and a lot more dynamic on defense." >>Be sure to tune in Monday through Friday, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET, for "Cleveland Browns Daily, Driven by Liberty Ford" on ESPN 850 WKNR or catch the live stream right here on ClevelandBrowns.com. We take your questions at 216-578-0850 and via Twitter @Browns_Daily.
