May 19, 2013

Browns should “franchise” Reggie Hodges, per PFT

February 18, 2013 by 23 Comments

With Phil Dawson extremely unlikely to be the recipient of his third-straght franchise tag, Mike Florio of NBC’s Pro Football Talk believes that the team should utilize this season’s tag on a fellow special teamer in punter Reggie Hodges.

Per Florio:

Kicker Phil Dawson was tagged in 2011 and 2012.  Using it a third time would entitle him to quarterback money.  So if it’s used, it won’t be used on him.  Punter Reggie Hodges is hitting the market after three years with the team.  Though his performance doesn’t cry out “franchise tag,” it could be cheaper to squat on him for a year than to sign a replacement on the open market; that’s why so many punters and kickers have been tagged in recent years.

Hodges missed the entire 2011 season following an Achilles tear and left a lot to be desired in terms of net punt yardage in 2012. While he will live in infamy due to his fake punt-turned-huge run against the New Orleans Saints, and was the team’s most recent recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award,

In 2012, he recorded 72 punts with an average of 42.0 yards and a net average of 36.9. He has landed 24 punts inside the 20 yard line, which was tied for the sixth-most in the NFL while being a part of the league’s third-best special teams unit per Football Outsiders.

The Browns recently signed punter Spencer Lanning, rendering the “market” analysis moot.

[Related: WFNY Podcast –  SteelersDepot talking Browns and the rest of the AFC North]

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NFL News: Browns’ Hodges receives Ed Block Courage Award

December 7, 2012 by 1 Comment

Cleveland Browns Punter Reggie Hodges has been chosen by his teammates as the 2012 recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award, the team announced on Friday. He is the first punter in team history to win the award.

After missing all of last season with a ruptured Achilles tendon, Hodges has returned to form this season. He has recorded 72 punts with an average of 42.0 yards and a net average of 36.9. He has landed 24 punts inside the 20 yard line, which is tied for the sixth-most in the NFL this season. 

During the offseason, Hodges, along with teammates Mohamed Massaquoi and Benjamin Watson, went on a mission trip to Jamaica, where they provided shoes and supplies for kids. Hodges has also been very active in the Cleveland community, volunteering his time for events at the City Mission and Providence House. Hodges and his wife, Arin, also participated in the Browns Adopt-A-Family program through The Littlest Heroes, an organization that works with kids diagnosed with cancer and their families.

The Ed Block Courage Award is an annual recognition given to a member of each of the 32 NFL teams who exemplifies the qualities of Ed Block, the former Head Athletic Trainer of the Baltimore Colts. The qualities of courage, compassion, commitment and community serve as the criteria. All 32 winners will be honored at an event in March 2013 in Baltimore.

[Related: Joe Thomas’ Peyton Hillis comments just felt like the truth]

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POLL: Who are the Best Browns Players Since 1999? Special Teams

January 31, 2012 by 18 Comments

Whew. That exercise yesterday was difficult to say the least. I know for some of you it was just downright depressing. Well, today things get a lot easier. This is a walk in the park compared to yesterday. I figure the only really difficult question is who is the best punter and second place for pretty much every other category.

So have fun. Enjoy today’s poll. Tomorrow is going to be considerably more difficult with defense.

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Browns Practice Notes: It’s Slow Going for Offense Early, Reggie Hodges Out For Season

August 2, 2011 by 27 Comments

Coach Shurmur wouldn’t give a percentage when asked how much of the offensive playbook has been installed so far.  Rather than look at it from the 10,000 foot level, Shurmur seemed to prefer to think of it as a day-by-day process without constantly obsessing on the finish line.  Given how rough the offense is looking at times during practice, it is probably important to keep concentrating on walking before this team attempts to sprint into the regular season on September 11th against the Cincinnati Bengals.

You don’t want to look too much into the play-by-play of a single practice because it really doesn’t mean a whole heck of a lot.  Even still, it is important to point out just how difficult it was for the Browns to find any rhythm in the passing game.  D’Qwell Jackson and Buster Skrine were able to jump routes on Colt McCoy and his receivers for interceptions.  Skrine’s would have almost assuredly been a pick-6.  Even on the completions, separation was not at a premium.  Greg Little dropped at least three passes that I saw on a pretty tough day for the second round draft choice.  That’s why they invented practice, though.  He was working the jugs machine a little bit after.  No word on if it was an “opportunity drill.” [Read more...]

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The Holmgren Report: Special Teams

February 16, 2011 by 7 Comments

Last year we thought we’d introduce ourselves to Mike Holmgren by offering a report of each position group. The reports contained a ‘Roster Upgrade Advisory System’ not unlike that of Homeland Security. This year, even though the big show has been around for a year and has Tom Heckert in house, we thought we’d give the reports another shot.  Previous reports: OL, DB

If there is a group that has been the rock of this franchise for the last several years, its been the Special Teams unit. Seemingly year after year, they have gotten All-Pro performances for their Kicker, Long-Snapper, Punter, Return Man, and gunners. This may be one of those situations where we never really appreciated how good we had it until it was gone.

Coaching. Eric Mangini’s firing also led Special Teams guru Brad Seely – the team’s best position coach by a mile – to leave for the greener pastures of San Francisco. The Browns tried everything they could to keep him, but Seely felt it was time to go. Who could blame him really. The thing is his schemes seemed to always work and his unit was always better than his opponents. [Read more...]

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Which Browns Team Shows Up This Week?

December 22, 2010 by 21 Comments

The Cleveland Browns have two games left against the class of the AFC North.  I know we hate to say it because we despise the Ravens and the Steelers so much, but they are. There’s just no denying it.  The Browns are also coming off a tough stretch of games for them.  The Browns went from surprising the class of the league against New Orleans, New England and to an extent even in losing to the Jets.

They followed that up by placing their coach on a considerably warmer seat (real or imagined) in the media and on the Internet.  There is no mistaking that the Browns are banged up and have some excuses.  How many teams would expect to even win five games and be so close in so many others with three separate starting quarterbacks?  And yet, we have no idea what to expect this week against Baltimore. [Read more...]

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Browns Yield in Battle of Ohio

December 19, 2010 by 43 Comments

The Browns started the Bengals’ streak, so I guess it was somewhat cosmically fitting that they would end it too. It was not fitting in any way for a Browns fan base that was elated to see Colt McCoy back under center and hopeful for a late-season explosion like the Browns did a year ago. The Browns just couldn’t seem to get anything consistently going on this day in Cincinnati. They lost the game in all three phases. The Bengals ran all over the Browns with Cedric Benson getting off for 150 yards and a touchdown. Carson Palmer wasn’t pressured into any mistakes. The Browns mustered offense in very rare spurts via Colt McCoy and Peyton Hillis, but it wasn’t nearly enough except to make it look respectable on the scoreboard. [Read more...]

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Mid-Week Browns Update

December 9, 2010 by 15 Comments

The Browns head into Buffalo this week, and it feels like a bit of a trap game for me as a fan.  

Deep in my heart, I don’t believe that this Browns team in its current iteration is capable of succumbing to a trap game.  They seem to play just as hard in otherwise “meaningless” types of games.  Still, as a fan, I have no fear really as the Browns go up against stiffer competition like New Orleans and New England.  If the Browns lose those games, they were “supposed” to lose them.  Even though the Browns are currently listed as one point underdogs on the road against Buffalo, this certainly projects as a game that the Browns could and should win.  

I know in the Browns locker room the team is considering this to be a game they should be able to win a week after beating Miami on the road.  Still, to call this an automatic win would be silly.  The Browns go on the road, in Buffalo, in December, against a Bills team that took both Pittsburgh and Baltimore to overtime.

Anyway, on with the news… [Read more...]

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Assessing the Second Half of the Season for the Cleveland Browns

October 30, 2010 by 9 Comments

The Cleveland Browns have now defeated the defending Super Bowl champions in three consecutive seasons. From an evening thrashing of the NY Giants in 2008 to the emotional Pittsburgh victory last season and the Saints win a week ago, there have been some pretty impressive positive swings for the franchise at times during these past few years.

Looking forward however, after the team continued that mostly irrelevant streak, it is intriguing to estimate where the team will end up by the end of the season. Currently slated to play four teams with at least five wins currently projected to make the playoffs, it won’t be too easy and the team will have to capitalize on easy opportunities.

So let’s take an overall look at where the team might end up by late December this season, and figure out how that could change for the better. For starters, here is the remaining schedule for the Browns in 2010:
[Read more...]

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David Bowens Named AFC Defensive Player of the Week

October 27, 2010 by 11 Comments

Anyone who would have bet on David Bowens for player of the week honors any time this season would have been committed for insanity.  The old vet, Bowens, was once thought to be on the bubble of making the Browns’ roster.  Now the 33 year-old has won this week’s honor after doubling his career interception total by adding two this week at the expense of Drew Brees of all people.  For Bowens it also adds two touchdowns to his resume that used to have none.

The real ripoff is that Reggie Hodges didn’t earn the special teams nod from the league.  Steelers’ returner Emmanuel Sanders gets it after amassing 144 yards on kickoffs.  He had two long returns of 37 and 48 yards.  Seems impressive right?  Wrong.  Reggie Hodges ran once for 68 yards.  68 is a bigger number than either 37 or 48 in case you didn’t know.  In addition to that heroic run, Hodges averaged 42 yards per punt with two inside the 20 and a long of 53 yards.  What was Emmanuel Sanders’ longest punt last Sunday?  He didn’t kick the ball even once, you say?  I rest my case. [Read more...]

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