The forgotten 1

Sporting News, The, June 25, 2001 by Steve King

After two lusterless seasons in Cleveland, former top pick Tim Couch is looking to bounce back with a new offensive scheme--but without the help of proven talent

Tim Couch drops back to pass during the third of his team's three minicamps in Berea, Ohio. Feeling the pressure coming quickly from the right as the protection breaks down, he moves to the left. But as the left side begins to collapse, he steps up in the pocket, comes back toward the middle and frantically scans the field for an open receiver.

Nothing developing to his right, or to his far left.

Finally, with several defensive linemen close enough for Couch to smell breath, he spots tight end O.J. moving toward a tiny crease the left side. Rather than take a sack--at least as much as a quarterback can be sacked by teammates wearing shorts and no pads during a no-contact drill--Couch attempts to force the ball through the eye of a needle to Santiago.

Just beyond the line of scrimmage, weakside linebacker Dwayne Rudd deflects the pass, and on the ricochet cornerback Corey Fuller almost intercepts it.

After the ball falls to the grass, Couch angrily unsnaps the chinstrap on his helmet and looks down. Meanwhile, the defensive players are hooting and hollering, because their unit has won--again.

It has become a familiar feeling for Couch since arriving in Cleveland. It wasn't supposed to be this way for the No. 1 overall pick of the 1999 NFL Draft. Couch was the very first pick for the reborn Browns. Confident, goodlooking and well-mannered, this strong-armed Kentucky boy was expected to personify the image of the new Browns.

But troubles on the offensive line, the lack of a running game, a young, inexperienced supporting cast of wide receivers, a scheme that didn't fit Couch's skills and 10 games missed because of injuries during Couch's first two seasons were all factors that have dulled some of the luster on this once-sparkling commodity.

"I feel like the forgotten guy," Couch says while seated on a stool in front of his locker with an ice pack fastened to his shoulder. "That's what happens when you have a tough first year--when you start right away as a rookie--and then you get hurt halfway through your second year.

"Not really to anyone else, but I want to prove to myself that I'm one of the top guys in the league," he says.

Couch is hardly a quote machine. Perhaps to protect himself, he usually offers ordinary answers to questions from reporters. But that is merely a mask to hide the physical and mental pain endured the past two football seasons by this intense competitor.

Toward the end of last season, for the first time in his athletic life, doubts began to grow about Couch's football abilities. And there he was with a broken thumb that made it impossible to fight back and prove his critics wrong.

This is why he speaks with an enthusiasm of a Kentuckian talking about college basketball when he says, "I'm real anxious to get it started."

New coach Butch Davis and offensive coordinator Bruce Arians are just as exalted. Arians has installed a short passing game that, in utilizing a lot of three-step drops, ks not much different than the pitch-and-catch scheme Couch operated prolifically at Kentucky. It is a 180-degree change from the vertical attack preferred by former Browns coach Chris Palmer.

The move delighted Couch, and during the team's second minicamp he declared, "I'm going to have a breakout season."

Hold on there, No. 2. Sure, the Browns have taken some much-needed steps in free agency to improve the offensive line, signing guard Tre Johnson and right tackle Ross Verba. However, the team's receiving corps remains a very youthful bunch, and the Browns, whose offense is built on play-action, still don't have a healthy and proven commodity at running back.

If Couch is going to bust loose, he will have to do much of it on his own. Can he do it? Are these minicamp faux pas just mini woes or are they harbingers of major problems in the coming season?

At least publicly, Davis is not dismayed by Couch's struggles in these minicamps as he learns the offense.

"If you've watched our practices, you've seen that the defense is clearly ahead of the offense at this point," Davis says. "It's the entire offense that's having problems, though. You can't just single out Tim.

"We could go into these practices and have Tim run a bunch of short passing plays to keep moving the sticks. We could have him complete 90 percent of his passes if we wanted," Davis says. "But what we're doing is challenging him. Your primary receiver may be open only 30 percent of the time, so we're asking him to go through his reads and throw the longer passes--the 15-, 18- and 25-yarders downfield--to maybe the second or third receiver.

"In that regard, Tim's doing well. He's getting a good grasp of the offense."

But maybe Davis has to say that. Although he nearly is overhauling this team, Davis knows he has to sink or swim--at least for the moment--with Couch as the quarterback. The Browns have too much money tied up in Couch--$59.4 million, including incentives, over the seven years of his contract--for Davis to do anything but give him every opportunity to succeed.