Romeo, O Romeo...

Given that we're a mere 60 days from the kick-off of everyone's favorite season, it's time for the 2007 NFL season previews to get going in the media. And, as part of that, it's time for the annual teeth-kicking that Browns fans have become accustomed to when preparing, mentally, for the fall campaign.

The estimable Peter King, the finest coffee critic ever to opine on professional football, has released his '07 rankings, and much as some earlier, less established sources have, he has little in the way of respect for our beloved Dawgs:

32. Cleveland: The Browns are beginning to draft their way out of the abyss. But it's a pretty deep abyss.

The 32 you see next to "Cleveland" indicates Peter's ranking, in descending order, and, as a refresher, there are 32 teams in the NFL. So we're last. Which is sweet. Granted, we didn't expect to pop into the top-15 on the strength of Joe T and Brady Quinn, but we are surprised that the Browns drop from the 3rd worst team (tied) at the draft, to dead last in the rankings. Why are the Raiders better than the Browns? We mean, they suck balls. Tampa's gonna be terrible (Jeff Garcia?), Green Bay is atrocious, and is Houston really better with no receivers, no offensive line and a QB with 2 pro starts under his belt? As we say, we didn't expect to get past 27 or so, nor do we really think it makes a big difference in July...we're just saying.

A slightly rosier outlook comes out of Yahoo!, though, where they see at least the possibility of a .500 season for the Browns. We have to discount the entire piece, though, as a result of the assessment that Willie McGinest was the team's best LB last year. Where the hell did that come from? He's 108 years old and has no chance of making it through 16 games this season. He is certainly valuable as an instructor to the younger guys, but that's about it.

We're ready for the barrage of last place prognostications, though. Let's just say we would think the drafting of Thomas and Wright, who will both be impact players this year, the signing of Steinbach, J Lewis, Peek, and the brothers Smith, along with another year of seasoning in the 3-4 would get us into the top-30. Is that so much to ask?