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October 13, 2010Joyner Calls Pryor “Vastly Overrated”
October 13, 2010According to Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer, the Cleveland Browns have agreed to trade running back Jerome Harrison to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for running back Mike Bell.
Bell is a 5-year veteran who began his career in Denver. He has had injury trouble throughout his career, spending two years in New Orleans before joining the Eagles this season.
For his career, he has 1,400 yards and 14 touchdowns. At six-feet, 215 lbs, he’s more of the north-south running back preferred by Eric Mangini. The real story here will be Harrison’s fall from favor with the Browns. More to come, I’m sure.
46 Comments
…I’m speechless.
Hope (preay) Harrison doesn’t become to Mangini what Brandon Phillips became to Wedgie – a symbol of failure to properly manage moody young talent.
pray
sense? this makes none.
They nailed it with Hillis; maybe they’ll surprise us again. Still, sad and strange to see Harrison fall out of favor like this.
Harrison is playing like a cream puff trying not to get injured in his free agency contract year. He brought nothing to the table this year.
Harrison has a lot more upside than Bell, but Bell fits the power running mode that the Browns have been operating in. Hillis clearly supplanted Harrison as the guy for the Browns and Harrison wasn’t getting it done in his limited time on the field. Not saying I agree with the way Mangini and co. mis-used Harrison, but it seemed like he needed a fresh start if he was going to make an impact.
This is a great deal for the Eagles, by the way. Harrison should compliment McCoy really well and provide another back they can swing it to for those short passes out of the backfield they like to run.
I don’t mind the trading of Harrison, just wonder about the timing of it all.
They don’t know for sure how long Hillis will last this weekend, so who will McCoy hand off to? At least Harrison knew the system.
Have the people who think this trade doesn’t make sense seen Harrison play recently? He doesn’t know how to hit a hole. He gets the ball in the backfield, dances and gets tripped up. He can’t break a tackle and plays tentative.
Bell will at least attack the line of scrimmage. Harrison completely over inflated his ego by running over terrible, unmotivated defenses last year
We traded for an injury-prone back whose highest season yardage total is approximately equivalent to the yardage total from Harrison’s last three games of 2009? Good grief.
Why do we always sell low?
@ CLESportsFan – the ‘system’ is to get the ball and hit the hole hard and quick. Not much to learn, but it can be very effective.
Harrison refused to play into the system
Harrison has done absolutely nothing this year. If Bell does anything at all, this is a good trade.
I’d hate to be the guy that has to tell Mangini that Mike Bell isn’t white…
+1 scrappy guy who plays football “the right way”
I don’t care what anyone says this is an awful deal for the Browns. I get that Harrison wasn’t performing up to expectations but to flip him for a sack of oranges and a scratched off lottery ticket (Mike Bell) it laughable. To pull this off without a pick or any sort of sweetener is just crazy to me, and I never even thought that highly of Harrison.
I was really excited what Harrison did for us at the end of the year and then nothing this year. Very bummed about all of it, but I understand. He should be happy in a new situation. We didn’t exactly show much confidence in him…
# Big end of season runs, incl a record.
# Wants new deal.
# H&H trade up to take a kid w/ injury history at RB.
# H&H trade to get Hillis here.
Doesn’t exactly show much confidence in the guy that was here all along.
Fact: they tendered Harrison for a second round pick when his value was at its apex. No one bit. Not even so much as a sniff.
Fact: Harrison has done next to nothing this season.
Fact: Harrison’s in his walk year, and he certainly didn’t appear interested in coming back to Cleveland.
Yeah, this isn’t Quinn-for-Hillis part deux or anything, but to classify this trade as horrible is hardly accurate either. For me it hardly moves the needle.
And I say this knowing full well that Harrison will fit perfectly into the Eagles system and probably put up good numbers as a backup to McCoy. He wasn’t getting carries here anymore, and when he was, he either fumbled or was ripping off a HoF >3 yards per. In fact, take out the Tampa game and Jerome is 22 carries for 39 yards in his last four games. Yep, we just traded that staggering 1.77 yards per carry.
@17 – he was also playing behind Hillis this year. Hard to say what his production would be if he was the #1, like the end of last season.
Might as well get something for Harrison before the end of the season. It would have made more sense to me if Bell had not signed this offseason for 1 year. We werent going to resign Jerome anyways and he isnt doing anything so I dont really have a problem with it…
#Ambivalent
Wow. I always liked The Ghost, a lot actually, but never really knew why he could look spectacularly great in stretches and then just completely disappear for others. Oh well, thanks Jerome, best of luck in Philly, maybe the change of scenery will do him good. Welcome to the Browns family Mike Bell. Work hard, run hard, have a good attitude, and you will be a good fit. Blow suckers up, score TD’s, and win games and you will be adored.
@18 – I tend to agree with you. Harrison didn’t see much field time for (fill in the blank) reasons. They never really tried to get him going. I guess his attitude must have been bad enough they didn’t even want to give him a shot.
@DP – Mike Bell is 16 carries for 28 friggin yards. 1.8 per. Equally has horrible, with zero upside. Sorry but that is a horrible trade.
uhm, did i miss the 200 or even 100 yard rushing games Harrison had this season?
This guy has a fluke 3 games at the end of a lost season and you are broken up about it like we just traded Lebron James for Ryan Hollins…..oh, nevermind.
Seriously though…Hillis came out of nowhere and proven he can run consistently, no way they are giving up on Hardesty as high as they drafted him and James Davis still has a high ceiling.
Getting kinda crowded back there don’t ya think?
I’m bothered because Harrison never seemed to get a chance, and when he finally did last year he went nuts. He didn’t do much with his opportunities this year, so hopefully the end of last season was a fluke.
Someone else said it right: I hope this isn’t the Browns version of Brandon Phillips, though, Harrison never struck me as a primadonna.
harrison is is trash. his 15 minutes last year have more to due with vickers. of course bell is just as bad. so maybe they got some other RB trade in the works too? is this official?
I suppose my first reaction was knee jerk. When you compare career numbers for Harrison and Bell they’re eerily similar. I still don’t like the trade simply based on the body of work Harrison managed over a short span, and the small sample we’ve seen out of him this year. I supposed I’ll have to trust the Walrus on this one.
Does it really matter?
@stin4u: no way I’m saying this trade is “great”. I guess what I meant by it barely moves the needle for me is that I don’t really see what difference it makes. I was basically saying that Harrison clearly wasn’t in the team’s long term plans. Mike Bell probably isn’t either, and I agree that that part of the deal is a head-scratcher.
But my main point is that Harrison wasn’t contributing–AT ALL–in the last four games. At whose feet that falls, I can’t say. But it’s a fact. And it’s most likely a fact that he wasn’t re-signing here after this season even if Mangini all of a sudden made him the feature back, so what’s the point of getting upset that he was traded? That’s where I was coming from.
@DP – I hear you. Totally valid argument. I guess my thought process was who would I rather have running if Hillis can’t go:
a. Harrison: who has the potential to blow up like he did for that stretch last year. Especially if he is coming in with a chip on his shoulder about the Hillis thing.
b. Mike Bell: who hasn’t produced on the level Harrison did in any stretch of his career.
Just based on that I was a bit perplexed but after stepping back to look at this I get your point completely.
Harrison’s record-breaking game in Week 15 caused people to overvalue his performances in Week 16 and 17. While he rushed for 275 total yards in those games, he averaged just 3.8 yards per carry – hardly hall-of-fame worthy.
For whatever reason, Harrison has not been productive in his time as a Brown.
That said, the timing of the move and Mangini’s complete inability to get positive contributions out of skill players is a major sign of weakness in the Browns management side.
Blah one backup for another it’s like going from Anderson/Quinn to Delhomme/Wallace. One positive is I can’t remember the last time the Browns made a trade during the season.
Here’s another possible explanation: Harrison sat under both Romeo and Mangini while they griped about his failure to block/pick up blitzes. Maybe with Hillis hurt, 2 qbs out and Harrison pouting they want Bell just to try to keep Colt from getting killed the next few weeks.
Harrison may be doing the clubhouse cancer thing, but if Davis goes down he’s back in by default. Maybe H and H think: he’s flipping the bird to the program, he’s gone next year, we know Bell will block, we have to get a body to protect the rookie, we know Bell and he can block a little.
That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it, for a few minutes anyway.
Harrison has one huge game to hang his hat on, other than last December against KC hes never been anything special.
I dont think the Browns will regret this trade, but thats just me.
2010 Maybe more James Davis.
2011 = Montario HArdesty
Both years have Hillis and Bell for the goaline.
Harrison is mediocre at best. Trade will probably benefit Eagles, but doubt it has much impact either way. Still have no impact players on offense outside Hillis who probably won’t stay healthy. 2011 draft needs offense, offense, offense. Draft a QB,WR, or RB (Hardesty will NEVER play in the regular season).
boogeyman – I believe we traded BE mid-season last year. After he punched #6’s leech…er…friend.
@35 Oh yea that OTHER great trade. I probabaly forgot because that was more of a giveaway.
I agree that neither player will stay with the Browns long term, but I still agree with Stin4u. I don’t understand the point of trading for a less productive, more frequently injured player. Maybe he is a better blocker…?
I think I would be happier with this trade if he had received a late round pick or something useful as compensation. At least we could use a late-round pick during draft-day trades.
It is really interesting that people think Harrison’s performance during the last three games of the year were some type of fluke. How does that happen? I know we handed him the ball over and over again against bad teams, but if it were that easy then why aren’t there more players with 286 rushing yard performances? Why don’t we hear about other “flukes” who rack up 561 yards in three games? All I know is that when we hand Harrison the ball 20+ times, he runs for over 100 yards. Obviously the guy has some talent and we aren’t using him properly. There is no other way to explain his bursts of productivity.
@37 – I agree. He was simply not used much at all this season with Hillis bursting onto the scene. While I’ve never played pro football, I imagine you like to get into a rhythm in the game and he was never given a shot at that this season.
I don’t think it’s fair to call Harrison a fluke after breaking Jim Brown’s record… come on… That was a big deal.
For whatever reason(s) he was not given a real shot this year at the #1. Hillis, Hardesty, no contract extension and I’m sure he was a bit ticked off as well. Unfortunately it was just not a good fit right now for us.
I had Bell on a fantasy team last year and was glad to have him. I think Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush were both injured for a few games and Bell became the Saints featured back for awhile.
Bell ran for 143 yards in one game and had a 5+ yard per carry average for several games until Bush and Thomas came back.
You can bet the Saints wish he was back on the team with their injuries this year.
I don’t know what Bell’s deal was with the Eagles, but obviously they weren’t using him much. Kinda like that RB on the Broncos we traded for.
@Pat18970
Totally agree with the point about him being underutilized. This is someone the Browns really wanted in the off-season and I believe we offered him a contract but he took the Eagles deal instead. The management who made this deal are the same ones who got us some of our favorite players such as Hillis and Ward.
He got his chance against KC, he had 16 carries for what just over 30 yards? Harrison is not a power back, which is the offense Mangini likes to run, look at Thomas Jones. Bell is here so when they put him in the game for The Pain Train he gets past the line of scrimmage, something Harrison failed to do…often.
Bell signed a $1.7mil 1 year deal with Philly. Harrison was pretty much on the same deal with the Browns. Wash contract wise.
all should reread #17 again. sums everything up well.
except: this trade solidifies Jerome Harrison as the 2009 version of Lee Suggs (sigh)
Funny, the guy I split my tix with was just comparing Harrison to Suggs.
In Harrison’s career, he’s only once averaged 5 yards per carry in a game with 10 or more rushes (7 games). Mike Bell has done it 7 times (20 games).
In Harrison’s career, he’s only twice averaged 4 yards per carry in a game with 10 or more rushes (7 games). Mike Bell has done it 10 times (20 games).
If Harrison was walking in 3 months, they’re clearly planning for next year, and you want a bigger back who fits the scheme better along with someone who will make sure your rookie QB doesn’t get killed – isn’t Mike Bell a much better fit?
It’s a decent trade. A lot of what Harrison did last year was the result of the “22” formation. That was the two TE, FB, RB and Josh Cribbs at WR set. It was a thing of beauty, as the defense had to stay stretched out for a possible reverse, while all sorts of manpower was clearing lanes for Harrison. Just about any quick RB in the league could have done it.
Harrison can’t block, and he’s not even good at catching out of the backfield. I know some people think he’s a good “change of pace” back, but that’s just not what they need him for. The “change of pace” back for this team is Josh Cribbs or Seneca Wallace (when healthy). They need a guy to go out and spell Hillis. They need a guy that will get yardage if handed off to, or block or be able to catch it out of the backfield. Harrison hasn’t shown he can do any of these things.
Harrison will probably just get 6 yards on 6 carries for the Eagles this sunday. At least I hope that’s what it turns out to be.
Seems like the Eagles and Browns just swapped some backup RB’s. No big deal to me.
i can tell you that because of philly’s pass-happy offense the RB’s need to be good pass protectors. that is why people thought LeSean McCoy may not succeed there. But LeSean came to camp this year with an increased knowledge of their system and he has flourished.
What i am trying to say is that Bell should be a nice extra blocker for McCoy et al in the backfield for the rest of the year. I think boogey alluded to something similar.