The League, Friendship Preservation, and Fantasy Football
September 10, 2015Browns to wear brown-on-orange Kardiac Kids look Sunday
September 10, 2015In a surprise move, wide receiver Terrelle Pryor has been waived by the Cleveland Browns in order to make room for running back Robert Turbin, formerly of the Seattle Seahawks, just three days shy of the Browns season opener against the New York Jets.
The Terrelle Pryor experiment won't make it to Week One http://t.co/rRHuXzWXP3
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) September 10, 2015
Pryor was the most talked-about Browns player throughout the summer despite playing in just one preseason game. He struggled with a hamstring injury during training camp and finished that one game with no catches, though he did have two carries out of a Wildcat formation. He survived the last round of preseason cuts less than a week ago.
When asked about being waived, Pryor said of the Browns, “This will be a mistake by them.”
Turbin suffered a high ankle sprain during Seattle’s third preseason game. Following that injury, the defending NFC champs signed former Buffalo Bills running back Fred Jackson and placed Turbin on injured reserve. The team then waived him off the IR, which allowed the running back to leave Seattle and become a free agent.
The 5-foot-10, 220-pound Turbin has had mild success since being drafted by the Seahawks in 2012. Over three seasons, Turbin has averaged four yards per rushing attempt, and has also played fullback in Seattle. He has also shown some ability catching passes out of the backfield, having totaled 16 receptions for 186 yards and two touchdowns in 2014.
Entering his fourth season in the NFL, Turbin was drafted by the Seahawks in the fourth round (106th overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft. The Utah State graduate has played in 48 games — all 16 in each of his first three seasons — including three starts in 2014. In those 48 games, he has accumulated 231 carries for 928 yards, 43 receptions for 427 yards, and two touchdowns, both of which have come through the air.
Still dealing with that ankle sprain, Turbin will not be ready to play for a few weeks.
44 Comments
This is the freakin’ best! A veteran power play by Kuharich, sizing up the sitch and sidling up to Pettine while Farmer is in witness protection. Rookie mistake, Ray: a leader of a third world country should never, ever bring rivals into the palace and never, ever never leave the country until all potential successors are dead. How do you not know this after seeing Lombardi and Banner on a pike barely two years ago?
Sshhh, Ray, squirming just tightens the gag.
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I don’t know if I’d compare cutting the 53rd man on the roster to a banana-republic-style power play, but that’s just me.
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I TOTALLY support this move! FINALLY, something responsible from the front office. Whether he pans out, or not, it shows they are trying to do something positive. GO BROWNS!!
not for me. i think Pryor has upside that Turbin doesn’t. And I just don’t see where Turbin gets reliable playing time. he’s a stopgap (and third-stringer) for 2-3 weeks. I don’t like this move. Pryor is too good of an athlete. He was Braxton Miller before Braxton Miller.
Every year people assume the bottom 5-6 guys on the roster are all gonna be from the Browns training camp and they almost never are. But let’s pretend this is a matter unique to this year.
I will say this, Pettine said they need production from all 53 guys. This from the team that gave Desir a de facto red shirt for the overwhelming majority of 2014.
But those guys didn’t go to OSU!
This team is going nowhere. Eventually it will need play makers. Pryor had the potential to be a play maker. IMO cutting him for a guy who is injured is foolish. They should have cut a rookie they could have put on the practice squad.
Don’t get it. Fred Jackson, Jonas Gray, Christine Michael all seem to have more ability to contribute than Turbin. Turbin seems like a pounder, but he’s never shown real explosiveness or the ability to be a playmaker… Heck – even West seems to have more upside!
Maybe they wanted a bruiser to fill out the RB variety pack? My first reaction was to think “so we pass on Jackson, then Seattle takes him and lets go of this guy, and that’s who we want?” But it looks like they let Turbin go because he won’t be able to contribute for a month to six weeks. Maybe the Browns were just that high on him? It’s gonna suck if Pryor catches on with another team and proves to be a quality receiver, though.
I’m not sure what to really make of this move. Time will tell, but I have a strong feeling Pryor will make an impact in this league as a WR and us Browns fans are going to get that sinking feeling in our stomachs when we start thinking of what could of been. Hopefully Turbin will justify the means. But this move is dissappointing to say the least.
and Manziel, too. and what kind of production will they be getting from McCown? Or Mingo, for that matter? Good point.
Is there one player/position on this entire team you’d want in fantasy football? None for me. That says a lot.
Turbin is also reportedly injured and may not be available for 4-5 weeks. So they let Pryor hang around through the entire preseason then waive him three days before the regular season for a guy who could be out until possibly week 6. Makes perfect sense…for the Browns.
This guy did manage to play on a team that went to 2 consecutive Super Bowls. I’ll take that over a guy who managed to practice 6 times all summer.
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In my IDP league, yeah.
… i have crowell on a couple of my teams in deep leagues & their D/ST should also do well.
hi ATARI … turbin played behind one of the best RB’s in the nfl. the man has the ability & showed it when he had the opportunity … and i would take him over the 3 you mentioned above.
… and west is a problem child. that’s why he’s gone.
hi SAGGY … turbin can play. let’s see what he does. i like pryor , but realistically , how often is he going to actually be on the field ?
what would the people on this page be saying if they would’ve cut pryor for montee ball ?? … would that have been a good move ?
turbin is a fine player & time will bear that out . we shouldn’t even be talking a 3rd string WR project … yes , i like pryor , but we could have julio jones and/or sammy watkins as our WR’s right now … but we don’t. i am a ray farmer supporter , but the man has to get a franchise QB & a stud WR.
I definitely wanted to see what Pryor can do in an actual game setting, but I agree that this move really doesn’t mean much for the success of the Browns. What is strange is that they cut Pryor to pick up a mediocre backup running back who is going to be injured for another 3-5 weeks. I would have been much happier seeing the Browns pick up Montee Ball because he’s someone who can contribute right away. We’re going to need 3 RBs because none of us should trust Duke Johnson to stay healthy.
Seattle cut him in favor of the oldest active running back in the NFL… they can’t have thought much of Turbin. He averaged 4.0 yards per carry for the Seahawks, but they’ve had the best rushing attack in the NFL over the past several years. I have questions about whether he will look anywhere near as good as a member of the Browns.
I disagree with your optimism TB 🙂 I don’t think much of Turbin at all. He’s Just Another Guy for me… played on a team with a great rushing offense that inflated his stats. From a pure talent perspective, I’d take Crow or Duke over him any day.
I love this comment simply because you mentioned Kuharich. I’m shocked (although really I shouldn’t be) over the number of Browns fans who seem to think that either a) Mike Pettine or b) no one has taken on the role of GM while Farmer is suspended.
the browns needed RB depth … turbin fits-the-bill. maybe not in the short term , but he will fill a need. I am wondering what they’re doing about the immediate RB depth.
the only RB’s on the current roster are crowell , d.johnson , turbin & FB m.johnson … and draughn is on the practice squad.
Right, but what’s the difference between Turbin and Ball or one of the 50 other backs who are still out there? The Browns jumped on Turbin to stow away for a month as if someone had just cut Marshawn Lynch. The Browns need a RB for depth for RIGHT NOW. They’re going to have to cut another player to bring up Draughn from the practice squad or else add another free agent.
If the 3rd string WR project hadn’t played collegiate football at 411 Woody Hayes Dr. nobody would care.
“I’m in charge here”
– Alexander Haig
I can’t speak for everyone else, but I’m somewhere between ambivalent towards Ohio State and full-on h8r (especially after knocking out my team’s starting QB on Monday). I really wanted the Browns to give Pryor a chance to show what he can do on the field… he’s really big, really fast, and really agile. Get him the ball a handful of times in the first game and if he doesn’t perform well, cut him after that. But I agree with the folks who are saying that the Browns lack playmakers (i.e. guys who make defenders miss in the open field). That list sorely lacks size as it currently consists of Duke Johnson and Travis Benjamin.
“the Browns needed RB depth”…..yeah, because they have two injured RB’s, so who did they go and acquire?
another injured running back.
It’s hilarious that to build their RB depth they took the dude Seattle threw away because he’s injured and they got the healthy back.
Its like living in a permanent episode of The Twilight Zone.
EXACTLY. Picking up Robert Turbin and dropping Terrelle Pryor is fine. Picking up an injured running back when your team already has zero depth at RB is why the Browns FO looks like chumps today.
I think people wouldn’t be scratching their heads as much. It just seems odd to cut someone for someone who can’t play. RB depth is definitely an issue, but this doesn’t do anything to correct the issue in the short term.
yeah, the idea is that Turbin was one of the better backup RBs and was only available due to him being currently injured. we tried that last year with Michael Bowie and it hasn’t quite panned out. it could this time, time will tell.
I’m all in favor of comparing *everything* to a banana-republic-style power play.
But he’s hurt. High ankle sprains don’t heal in 4-6 weeks. They take MONTHS to truly heal right. Seattle had no problem bumping him to IR and then cutting him. He’s barely going to be able to contribute for the first half of the season, and he’s not going to be truly 100% all season.
i understand … the browns obviously wanted him. it comes down to turbin or pryor … and how much playing time would pryor truly even get ? he is behind hawkins , hartline, benjamin , bowe & gabriel.
also … seattle will be in a heap of trouble if lynch goes down. they got rid of christine michael as well & all they have after lynch is fred jackson. they are cutting it close at RB … just like us.
I have a feeling he pushed for the buyout and release because he knows he can play this year and didn’t want to go on the IR. Wilbert seems to really like him too. Could be a nice move come mid-season when Duke gets dinged again in week 6. Ah well, we’ll see.