The scout inside Ray Farmer tells him to never stop, never settle, never sit back and appreciate what's been accomplished. There's always a way to be better.
So, when the Browns general manager was asked recently about the positions he felt good about heading into the 2015 season, it should come as little surprise to how the first part of his answer unfolded.
"I would tell you that in totality, I don't feel good about any of them," Farmer said in an interview on 'Inside the Cleveland Browns.' "As a scout, my natural inclination is everybody can be improved and everything can be upgraded. There's no reality in that, but that's the world I live in."
Ultimately, Farmer settled on three areas of the field where the Browns are by no means perfect, but in solid shape as he looks to fill the roster through free agency and the 10 picks Cleveland holds in the 2015 NFL Draft.
Farmer views Cleveland's offensive line -- which features two members of the Pro Football Writers Association's All-AFC team -- its secondary -- which includes two 2015 Pro Bowl players and a Pro Bowl alternate -- and a linebacking corps heavy on productive veterans and young talent as the three in which he can elicit the most optimism.
Why's that? Here's his position-by-position breakdown.
Farmer on the offensive line, which is set to return all five starters, including injured center Alex Mack, for the 2015 season: "I feel good that we've got a good nucleus of offensive linemen right now. How do we expand upon that and drive competition to where we force guys that are currently starters to fight for their spots as well as improve our depth?"
On the secondary, which ranked near the top in most pass defense categories: "I think we've got good young players who have talent and upside. I also think there's a group of veterans and there's a good mixture of young guys to grow that group and sustain it long-term."
On the linebackers, who were productive despite a number of injuries: "I feel good about our linebackers with that same premise. We have old, young and in between that give us a chance to have success today, tomorrow and building toward the culture we want."
Check out the rest of this portion of Farmer's interview with Nathan Zegura by clicking on the video near the top of the page.
