What Happened to Boobie Gibson?
January 18, 2010While We’re Waiting… Grading the Offense, OSU Recruiting and an Updated 2010 Mock Draft
January 19, 2010
Now that The Big Show Mike Holmgren has shored up his front office roster, it’s time for him–and for us–to look at the team’s roster. We’ve borrowed from the Department of Homeland Security and will be looking at each position group day by day, finishing with a roster upgrade ranking based on need. Check back each day this week for a new position group.
Today, I get the extreme honor to kick off WFNY’s Holmgren Report series with a look at the running back stable. Running back was a position that appeared to be of dire need at one point in the season, and then once Jerome Harrison exploded on the (lower end of the) NFL over the last three weeks of the season, it caused us to wonder if maybe things weren’t as dire as we might have once thought.
In looking at the running backs for 2010, there is one giant x-factor: Jamal Lewis, and Eric Mangini’s apparent love of him as the starting running back. It’s fairly ironic (to me, at least) that had Lewis not gone on IR late in the year, Mangini perhaps wouldn’t have given Harrison the nod in the last three games, we wouldn’t have seen a showcase of Harrison’s ability, and Mangini might not have won those last three games which most likely allowed him to keep his job. And most importantly, Harrison—who is a restricted free agent this off-season—might not have been kept in the team’s longer-term plans at all.
The 2009 Season
Starters – Jamal Lewis (HB), Lawrence Vickers (FB); Also seeing significant time – Jerome Harrison, Chris Jennings, James Davis*, and Josh Cribbs**
*missed most of the year due to injury, but saw a lot of playing time in the pre-season
**I’m including him here because the majority of his Wildcat snaps were running plays
It’s hard to get an accurate reading on what the Browns actually have at RB just looking at the 2009 numbers, but let’s give it a go, shall we?
Jerome Harrison – 194 carries, 862 yards (4.4), 5 TD; 34 catches, 220 yards (6.5), 2 TD
Jamal Lewis – 143 carries, 500 yards (3.5), 0 TD; 8 catches, 88 yards (11.0), 0 TD
Josh Cribbs – 55 carries, 381 yards (6.9), 1 TD; 20 catches, 135 yards (6.8), 1 TD
Chris Jennings – 63 carries, 220 yards (3.5), 1 TD; 9 catches, 56 yards (6.2), 0 TD
James Davis – 9 carries, 15 yards (1.5), 0 TD; 4 catches, 5 yards (1.3), 0 TD
Lawrence Vickers – 0 carries, 0 yards (0.0) 0 TD; 8 catches, 27 yards, 1 TD
It’s pretty easy to say that Jerome Harrison was easily the best player on offense (with apologies to Cribbs, who was probably the best all-around player). Harrison earned 1082 yards on just 228 touches (4.75 yards/touch) and scored 5 TDs, and truthfully was really only a big factor in five or six games (double-digit carries in six games). It’s hard to say that if Harrison had been the featured-back all season that he would have somehow come up with 1700 yards or something, as the defenses he faced the last three weeks when he did the bulk of his damage were clearly toward the bottom of the league. But, it stands to reason that Harrison definitely deserved to be a bigger part of the offense all season, and should be given the chance to build on his last three games into next year.
Jamal Lewis looked finished almost from the outset. He never managed a run longer than 18 yards, and his longest pass reception was for 19 yards. He lacked any kind of burst of speed, and his body is clearly showing the signs of a full career of using it as a battering ram on opposing defenses. I can’t fault Lewis for trying, but Eric Mangini’s insistence on starting him up until his season-ending injury prior to the San Diego game was misguided at least. I understand that Lewis carries a lot of clout in the locker room, and on a 1-10 team you want to keep your veterans with you, but Mangini also showed no qualms about making the “unpopular” decision. I know I’m using a bit of hindsight here in knowing what we know about how Jerome Harrison finished the year, but it’s also important to remember that Lewis missed both the Baltimore and Cincinnati games in weeks 3 and 4, and Harrison was solid those two games as well (45 carries, 173 yards; 3.8 ypc) against two pretty good defenses.
Josh Cribbs proved his overall worth by being a big factor in the Flash (nee, Wildcat) package and as a WR running reverses and such. Cribbs averaged almost seven yards per carry, and gained only 119 fewer yards on the ground than Lewis; the difference is that Cribbs did it in 88 fewer carries. It’s not really fair to include Cribbs in the “running back” review, but given the fact that he was the best “running back” on the team through the first 13 games he deserves the credit.
Finally, there’s Chris Jennings. Forced into duty after the bye week (he was signed from the practice squad prior to the first Bengals game, but had just one carry for eight yards in that game prior to week 10), Jennings did about all you could ask of him given the offense’s overall ineptness. His 20 carry, 73 yard performance was a big factor in beating the Steelers, and his nine carries for 38 yards (4.2 ypc) in relief of Harrison against the Jaguars were a solid contribution. No one’s going to confuse Jennings for an every-down running back, but he’s definitely a change of pace from Harrison and can spell The Ghost when needed.
Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the solid play of Lawrence Vickers. There’s no way to quantify with stats what he brings to the offense, but we could see Vickers’ worth during the final four game winning streak when the Browns were finally able to run the ball. Vickers didn’t carry the ball at all this year (I couldn’t believe it either, considering in his day Chud almost always did the quick-hand-off to Vickers in short yardage situations), but to me the mark of a good fullback is not his carries; it’s his blocking. Vickers showed me that if the Browns can make a move or two to solidify the right side of their offensive line that he continues to be a solid fullback in this league.
Browns Roster Upgrade Advisory – Guarded
2010 Contract Situations
Josh Cribbs – Seriously? Do you even have to ask?
James Davis – Signed through the 2012 season; 2010: $395,000; 2011: $480,000; 2012: $565,000,
Jerome Harrison – Restricted Free Agent; made $449,920 in 2009
Chris Jennings – Restricted Free Agent; made $310,000 in 2009
Jamal Lewis – Signed through the 2010 season; 2010: $2.4 million + $1.6 million roster bonus in March ($4 million 2010 cap charge)
Lawrence Vickers – Unrestricted Free Agent; made $530,000 in 2009
The nice thing for the Browns is that if Lewis retires, they have almost no money tied up in their RB corps. The problem there is that they also have some guys that could leave. I pinged The OBR’s Barry McBride to get the low-down on Lewis’s contract situation with respect to the salary cap (if it continues to exist this season, of course) as well as what Lewis could do if he dragged his feet, collected his bonuses, and THEN retired; Barry dropped some serious knowledge:
Lewis is under contract, so if he elects not to fulfill that contract, the team isn’t going to owe him most of that. He would have to work something out with the team at some point. Right now, he’s got a 2.4 million base salary, with 1.6 in two roster bonuses and a workout bonus. What’s interesting is that there’s no signing bonus, so the team doesn’t have to worry about dealing with any pro-ration. The only trick is that about $1 million of that salary is “guaranteed”, so I’m not sure how they work that out if he wants to walk away. My guess is that they would re-do the contract allowing him to walk away without any cap hit to the team, but we’d really have to talk to his agent to know how that would be handled. From what I can tell, if he changes his mind, refuses to retire, and the team dumps him, they would be stuck with about a million in “guaranteed” salary that would apply to the cap. Of course, there’s unlikely to be a cap anyway… … My guess is that they’ll work something out that will free him to either retire or go on a victory lap with the Ravens. Since there’s no pro-rated bonus, it shouldn’t be tough… no inside info on that, just sorta guessing on my part.
Given the lack of penalties, it doesn’t seem to hurt the team either way with Lewis. I tend to think Barry’s right that one way or the other Lewis won’t be on the Browns’ roster for the 2010 season. The first two priorities are to: 1) lock up Harrison and Vickers for 2010 and beyond, and 2) to decide if Chris Jennings merits another contract. After that, regardless of whether we assume Jamal Lewis to be retiring or staying, it’s hard to look at the Browns’ current running backs and not think they could use more depth. I would say this is only a “General” upgrade need, however, as there are definitely areas of greater need. The Denver Broncos of the late 90s/early 00s showed that a solid running back/game is easier to create with a good offensive line than the other way around. Personally, I saw enough from Harrison, Jennings, and anticipate a step up from a healthy James Davis to consider that a solid start for the 2010 RB depth chart—assuming, of course, all are on the roster come training camp.
There are some intriguing names out there in free agency, but none that I would consider a total game-changer (someone like Darren Sproles, for instance, wouldn’t have as much impact here as he does in SD because of Josh Cribbs, plus there’s no way the Chargers are letting him walk). Some names of note (listed alphabetically, lest I be accused of advocating…) include:
UFA
Jerious Norwood
Willie Parker
Darren Sproles
Chester Taylor
Leon Washington
LenDale White
Ricky Williams
RFA
Ronnie Brown
Le’Ron McClain
Pierre Thomas
First and foremost, I admittedly don’t know enough about the NFL CBA to know how many of the UFA players are actually RFAs because of the switch to the uncapped year. That said, a few of those guys probably won’t be on the market (Sproles, Washington, Williams, Thomas, Brown), and most of the others would be “meh” kinds of signings in my opinion. With that in mind, it makes more sense to me to look for RB help in the draft. And, since there’s not an Adrian Peterson-type back available at #7, there are other needs at the top of the draft; let’s just say that with everything having been said here, the Browns can realistically get RB help in the mid-to-late rounds of the draft. With that in mind, some names of interest could include:
Dexter McCluster, Mississippi
Ryan Matthews, Fresno St.
Ben Tate, Auburn
Joique Bell, Wayne State (MI)
Monterio Hardesty, Tennessee
Chris Brown, Oklahoma
The Browns would be foolish not to do *anything* with their RB corps this off-season. It is my opinion, however, that the need here isn’t as dire as it is at other positions.
41 Comments
Isn’t Thomas Jones a FA?
Well done. Love the chart. I assume where we find Holmgren’s face, that’s the rating/need for that position?
Good run-down. I’m glad we have a real GM. Does anyone think that with Mangini in charge of personnel we would NOT sign Leon Washington, despite the fact that we already have two Leon Washingtons in Harrison and Cribbs?
Typo about Harrison, he scored 7 TDs. It’s still amazing to me that Jamal scored a grand total of zero TDs in all those carries. With someone else pulling the strings I find it inconceivable that he’ll be the starter next year.
As a stauch believer in bpa (within reason) when your team sucks, I would have no issue takin Spiller at #7.
DP – I don’t think claims about playing Harrison were hindsight bias at all. I’ve long noticed that most knowledgeable Browns fans have been beating the Harrison drum since his rookie pre-season.
I would love to let a small sample of rabid fans vote to make player personnel decisions (similar to how articles are elevated on digg.com by total votes). You wonder if the collective wisdom of Browns fans would trump the decisions of individual decision-makers within an organizational structure?
Hehe… I’m going to enjoy the “Browns Roster Upgrade Advisory System” banners.
This is a critical position if we’re going to be running some semblance of a west coast offense. Lots of dump off passes and the RB has to be able to catch the ball on the run and fall forward for those 4-7 yard gains, maybe even occasionally break a tackle.
Free agents with mediocre hands won’t do us much good. Didn’t see either Harrison or Davis thrown to enough to know. Holmgren/Heckert must be watching the tapes for that.
Dexter McCluster = Chris Johnson. PLEASE draft this guy in the 3rd or 4th round. Ben Tate would be a nice late round option as well. Both of those guys are better than Chris Jennings is right now.
Actually Harv, I would disagree. If we go WCO then I think we’d be in a good situation, esp. if they move Cribbs to RB (like i think we should have done 2 years ago). Good assessment in general about the RBs. Id be interested in seeing Harrison as the #1 with Davis, Cribbs and possibly a rookie.
BTW- I doubt Mangini would be on board with this, but LeGarrete Blount would be an interesting look as a rookie. Has similar characteristics to a younger J Lew.
Ya, im not a huge fan of Jennings either and think a rookie would be a better option.
TSR3000… I think that adding a RT or front 7 defender would improve the the team more than drafting a RB in the first round. RB is the easist position to get value in the later rounds while elite big men are few and far between. The one possible exception i would make is Haden, at a position of extreme need, if he slipped to 7.
SDUB… If we draft McCluster, do we go without a big back next year, or are Jennings AND Davis gone to make room for a FA in that scenario?
Had a chance to watch Ole Miss play a few times this year and agree with S-Dub that McLuster is the real deal. However, being as that he is a pretty short guy, he is probably closer to a Ray Rice type back. Which I like . . .
Ray Rice: 210 lbs
Dexter McCluster: 170 lbs
If Vickers is not signed, move that meter to Severe.
If your worried about a big back I could argue Cribbs is a physical guy who could go short yardage situations. I know he doesnt go up against Ray Lewis on special teams, but he does break a lot of tackles and a pro with Cribbs is the break away speed after a borken tackle.
I think Monterio Hardesty could turn out to be a tremendous value pick.
In case anyone needed something to watch since there is no football on, I found this guy’s youtube channel with a huge amount of old-school Browns games. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/user/diz2001
In case anyone needed something to watch since there is no football on, I found this guy’s youtube channel with a huge amount of old-school Browns games that he uploaded. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/user/diz2001
I like it all, except the Chris Jennings part. He dances too much before hitting the hole. Yes, he’s young, but I would take him as a #3. I like the idea of Davis as the #2 change of pace back.
Anyone who things Thomas Jones would look good in Orange/Brown needs to jump off a cliff. That guys YPC is HORRID!!! THey have a better running game than we do and he still cant get it done.
Between Harrison, Davis, and Cribbs I think we have that “big back” to power run.
Now I know Harrison is a small guy but he can still get significant yardage.
Davis is a mauler at RB and runs with power to be that true big back.
Cribbs can also run with power.
Jennings should be gone or practice squad.
I think adding a guy like McCluster to that mix would give us a good mix of size and speed to go 4 deep at any team. But, he is something like 160Lbs soaking wet. I think he’ll put more weight on in the pros though.
#16 – I agree. I have been impressed with Monterio Hardesty. I think he will suprise some people in the NFL.
If Jonathon Dwyer somehow drops to us in the 2nd round (or if we manage to trade down and have multiple picks in the 20th-30th pick range), I would grab him. At 6 foot and 235 lbs, he is a load with good speed and a very good straight arm. The guy runs like Jamal Lewis did at Tennessee. Ensuring our running game and ball control could also be viewed as helping our defense.
Browns need a big back. Take Toby Gerhart in the 3rd round. Spiller would be a game changer but I don’t see the Browns having the balls to take him with the 7th pick. If they did, they would have to trade Cribbs which would be fine with me. Haden will probably be the choice because Berry will be gone. If Bradford is still there, don’t be surprised if the browns take him. McCluster is the fashionable pick but he can’t block but would also replace Cribbs.
How is McCluster the fashionable pick in the 4th-5th round?
No rb in the top 2 rounds please. They have enough. I agree with S-Dub on his breakdown. We have much bigger needs then a RB when we were avg over 150 rushing ypg in our last 4 wins. RT, CB, S, TE, LB and perhaps even QB (depending on FAs or trades) should all be picked above HB.
I can’t believe no one’s throwing LaDainian Tomlinson’s name out there. Rumors out of the SD are that he’s not going to be on the roster next year. (I have a good friend in SD that was talking to me about it, and there is also a story on Yahoo.) I don’t think I’d be too opposed to LT coming to Cleveland. Or Darren Sproles for that matter. Sproles is a good running back with pretty decent hands catching the ball. I’m just not convinced that Harrison ccan get it done in 16 games like he did in the last 4.
[…] minds think alike: “The Browns had a rough year running the ball until the last three games of the season. […]
LT? LOL. Guy has been washed up longer than J Lewis, not to mention he’s always been “injured” (read: scared) of playing in meaningful games.
Pass on LT. Just like Butch did. I agree with MattC: LT’s best days are behind him. If he can’t get 1,000 behind the Chargers’ line, he’s not going to do well here in a harsher climate.
Please no LT. We don’t need another Jamal situation where we overpay a RB past his prime and then keep him on the books for an extra few years.
Although if we got LT, I’d be able to do the LT slide, which is amazing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CA2B47_l9kg
Couldn’t agree more with DP’s… I mean Holmgren’s review. RB is a low need and when your offensive line can create holes, that makes even crappy running backs look good (read: Thomas Jones). We have enough potential in Harrison and Davis, and like everyone else I think Cribbs has a better future at RB than WR.
Dexter McCluster fan right here too I was hoping this guy would remain somewhat of a secret and maybe the Browns could get him. I don’t know if he’s the next Chris Johnson or not but his abilities seem to be a pretty close clone of Johnson. Another guy I was hoping might be a sleeper would be Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett. I thought maybe the Browns could snag him with one of their extra draft picks.
The Browns definitely need to resign Harrison otherwise their RB depth won’t amount to a hill of beans. Even if Harrison is resigned I still don’t think you know what you have or how good he is don’t forget the teams who he racked up all those yards against were and also the weather conditions at the time.
Btw I pass on LT too…just a few years to late.
Mallet could be had next year when he comes out for the draft. He’s going back to Arkansas.
[…] Now that The Big Show Mike Holmgren has shored up his front office roster, it’s time for him–and for us–to look at the team’s roster. We’ve borrowed from the Department of Homeland Security and will be looking at each position group day by day, finishing with a roster upgrade ranking based on need. Check back each day this week for a new position group. Previous Reports: RB […]
[…] ranking based on need. Check back each day this week for a new position group. Previous reports: RB, […]
I’ve been impressed with Chester Taylor. He not only runs well but he is a good receiver out of the backfield.
[…] ranking based on need. Check back each day this week for a new position group. Previous reports: RB, OL, […]
[…] ranking based on need. Check back each day this week for a new position group. Previous Reports: RB, OL, WR/TE, QB, […]
[…] ranking based on need. Check back each day this week for a new position group. Previous Reports: RB, OL, WR/TE, QB, […]
[…] ranking based on need. Check back each day this week for a new position group. Previous Reports: RB, OL, WR/TE, QB, ST, […]