5.) Duke is the Only Back
Duke Johnson to me is the only back that should be back on this roster next season. Crowell has not produced like he did since Mack went down with an injury early last season. His vision does not seem to be there by running into areas where the hole isn’t. The Browns also cleared room for an injured Turbin and let him waste a roster spot for weeks just to have him come in and have fumble problems and be released after only playing in a few games. Johnson has been the only guy with some threat out of the backfield and that’s mostly due to his ability to catch the ball and perform well in space. He currently ranks third in the team in receiving. The Browns will need to look for a power back to compliment him next year but Duke has shown signs that he can be a bright spot for them next year. The Browns have been plagued by the lack of a running game.
The Browns are only ahead of the Lions in terms of rushing yards per game. The sadder statistic is the amount of times a QB has led the team in rushing. Week one Manziel led the team with 35 yards, McCown second with 23 (he only played one drive), and Johnson was the high RB with 22. Week 8 McCown led the team with 18 yards. Crowell had 10 carries for 14 yards that week. This past week Manziel led the team with 17 yards. Crowell had six for -5 yards. That’s now three times in ten weeks where a Browns QB has led the team and they are not putting up Russell Wilson or Cam Newton like rushing numbers where its ok that they lead the team. While both of the backs are just barely averaging 3.0 YPC behind a poor line, Johnson does have the 39 receptions for 387 (9.9 AVG) and two touchdowns. Duke is going to be your best answer looking forward.
6.) Would You Like a Small Fry?
I’m not sure why Farmer hates wide receivers so much or why the ones he does like are tiny. The Browns top three reception leaders from the receiver position are Travis Benjamin 5’10” 175 pounds, Andrew Hawkins 5’7” 180 pounds, and Taylor Gabriel 5’8” 167 pounds. These guys are tiny. I’ve never been a fan of tiny receivers. I have no problem if you want to keep maybe one guy like that as a mismatch in the slot but when these are your guys on the outside than that’s a problem. Cornerbacks should not be bigger than your number one and two receivers. I’m sure this also has to do with the sack rate that the Browns have too. I mean the line has been poor but there are a lot of times McCown or Manziel have had to hold the ball because they don’t separate from coverage. Part of that could be a lack of skill and route running ability because that is important in the NFL.
The other reason could be size. When you don’t have a size advantage the quarterback can’t just throw it up and hope you come down with it such as what Barnidge has done routinely this year for us or what Mike Evans did for Manziel at A&M. It’s also a trend in the NFL. Currently Benjamin ranks 12th in the NFL in receiving yards. Among the 11 in front of him, only two are under 6’1”. Antonio Brown is 5’10” and Odell Beckham is 5’11”. Beckham does not play like 5’11” though and I’m sure most people would think he’s bigger. Likewise those are the only two under 200 pounds with Brown at 180 and Beckham at 198. Eight of those eleven check in at 6’3” or higher including Calvin Johnson at 6’5” and Rob Gronkowski at 6’6”. We could even expand this list to include Alshon Jeffery and Dez Bryant who both likely would be ahead of him if it wasn’t for injury. Both of them check in at least 6’2” at 215 pounds. The Browns do have the athleticism with Josh Gordon at 6’3” 225 pounds but he needs to prove he can pass a drug test and put in the effort they need. Hopefully the Browns learn this strategy is not working and look to add some size and athleticism at the position in the offseason.
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