Joe Soriano
O.J. Lewis11/2011 Team Scope: Cleveland Browns
November 20th 2011 18:09
The Cleveland Browns are clearly the worst team in their division, and their 3-6 record reflects a poor team filled with enormous holes on offense. Although their defense is actually quite good, their offense more than drags down all the good their defense does. You can't win if you can't score, and this truism rings true when examining the Cleveland Browns roster.
Colt McCoy is pretty much as average as you can get at quarterback, and he basically has no help. All of his receivers are below-average, even if the two tight ends on the roster are decent. That's not really enough, and rookie Greg Little just can't get to the ball. When Little does, he makes plays by forcing missed tackles, but the main job of a receiver is to actually make the catch. The numbers below show us a poor receiver overall, and it's pathetic that he's their best receiver on offense.
Greg Little 2011: 10.2 YPR, 5.8 YPT, 56.9% CR that somehow leads players with at least 30 targets on the team.
Say what you want about Montario Hardesty, but Chris Ogbonnaya is a far cry from what Peyton Hillis was able to do last year. Say what you want about the Madden cover guy, but he's far better than one of the least elusive backs in the NFL. Ogbonnaya has been nothing short of atrocious thus far, as his 3.7 YPC, -10.7 EPA, and 28.6% SR will tell you.
The offensive line has been thoroughly unimpressive this year, and only Joe Thomas has been legitimately playing well. He is having a down year by his standards, but he's still played good football this season. Center Alex Mack hasn't been completely healthy and is also having a poor year by his standards, but Mack has still been able to perform at about a league-average rate. Right tackle Tony Pashos has been his usual self; great in pass protection, but league-average overall due to his inability to block for the running back.
No, the problem with the Browns offensive line play lies in their guards. Jason Pinkston has easily been the worst guard in the NFL this season, and his backup Artis Hicks give us a new meaning of the word "inept". Their right guard is a JAG, and I'm just going to leave it at that. When Pashos went down, the Browns were forced to play Oniel Cousins as their starting right tackle. Let's just say that Colt needs to thank Pashos for his return, because the drop off between those two in pass protection is immense; Cousins basically gives up free sacks.
If you stuck around to read through the negative first half of this post, you will soon be rewarded by some good news about the Browns. The draft has already paid dividends for this club, as rookies Phil Taylor and Jabaal Sheard have been hits in the draft.
Although Taylor's play has become stagnant and mediocre since a sizzling start, he has still been solid as a rookie and should continue to develop. Sheard has been better than the man next to him on the line, as he's shown a good mix of pass rushing ability and stout play in run D. Although Sheard has also seen a drop off in production, he was better for longer than Taylor and hasn't had as big of a drop in play quality.
The veteran Ahtyba Rubin is what he is at this point, and that is a very good defensive tackle who is among the league leaders at his position in defensive stops. He also has a surprisingly high number of sacks (four) and should continue his run-stuffing ways after a disappointing 2010 season that followed a breakout 2009 campaign.
D'Qwell Jackson is showing us what the Browns were missing when he went down with an injury, because he is also one of the league leaders in stops at his position. Jackson is one of the best linebackers in the NFL against the run, but he will most likely continue to be one of the more underrated players in the game. The quality of linebackers in his division doesn't exactly help Jackson, and teammates Scott Fujita and Chris Gocong get way too many tabs for being underrated. Both are solid players, but neither of them are quite as good as Jackson and are talked about more often than the middle linebacker.
Although the Browns have two poor safeties with T.J. Ward out, they don't need to worry with the way Joe Haden is playing. Haden was the best rookie corner last year, and he's showing it by continuing to shut down his opponent game after game. His partner, Sheldon Brown, is also a solid corner. While Brown doesn't give up many catches, he does get burned which obviously hurts his value. That's not to say that he isn't good, he certainly is, but Brown isn't going to be recognized as a top 20 corner. The thing is, people don't really realize that he is good; they just think he is another washed up corner who is past his prime.
As the Cleveland Browns go through the motions of another dismal season, they have a clear view of their positions of need. They certainly need a wide receiver- more likely two, a guard, and another safety wouldn't hurt either. There really isn't much hope for this franchise at this point, but they are a solid receiving core away from becoming a spoiler in the AFC North.
Colt McCoy is pretty much as average as you can get at quarterback, and he basically has no help. All of his receivers are below-average, even if the two tight ends on the roster are decent. That's not really enough, and rookie Greg Little just can't get to the ball. When Little does, he makes plays by forcing missed tackles, but the main job of a receiver is to actually make the catch. The numbers below show us a poor receiver overall, and it's pathetic that he's their best receiver on offense.
Greg Little 2011: 10.2 YPR, 5.8 YPT, 56.9% CR that somehow leads players with at least 30 targets on the team.
Say what you want about Montario Hardesty, but Chris Ogbonnaya is a far cry from what Peyton Hillis was able to do last year. Say what you want about the Madden cover guy, but he's far better than one of the least elusive backs in the NFL. Ogbonnaya has been nothing short of atrocious thus far, as his 3.7 YPC, -10.7 EPA, and 28.6% SR will tell you.
The offensive line has been thoroughly unimpressive this year, and only Joe Thomas has been legitimately playing well. He is having a down year by his standards, but he's still played good football this season. Center Alex Mack hasn't been completely healthy and is also having a poor year by his standards, but Mack has still been able to perform at about a league-average rate. Right tackle Tony Pashos has been his usual self; great in pass protection, but league-average overall due to his inability to block for the running back.
No, the problem with the Browns offensive line play lies in their guards. Jason Pinkston has easily been the worst guard in the NFL this season, and his backup Artis Hicks give us a new meaning of the word "inept". Their right guard is a JAG, and I'm just going to leave it at that. When Pashos went down, the Browns were forced to play Oniel Cousins as their starting right tackle. Let's just say that Colt needs to thank Pashos for his return, because the drop off between those two in pass protection is immense; Cousins basically gives up free sacks.
If you stuck around to read through the negative first half of this post, you will soon be rewarded by some good news about the Browns. The draft has already paid dividends for this club, as rookies Phil Taylor and Jabaal Sheard have been hits in the draft.
Although Taylor's play has become stagnant and mediocre since a sizzling start, he has still been solid as a rookie and should continue to develop. Sheard has been better than the man next to him on the line, as he's shown a good mix of pass rushing ability and stout play in run D. Although Sheard has also seen a drop off in production, he was better for longer than Taylor and hasn't had as big of a drop in play quality.
The veteran Ahtyba Rubin is what he is at this point, and that is a very good defensive tackle who is among the league leaders at his position in defensive stops. He also has a surprisingly high number of sacks (four) and should continue his run-stuffing ways after a disappointing 2010 season that followed a breakout 2009 campaign.
D'Qwell Jackson is showing us what the Browns were missing when he went down with an injury, because he is also one of the league leaders in stops at his position. Jackson is one of the best linebackers in the NFL against the run, but he will most likely continue to be one of the more underrated players in the game. The quality of linebackers in his division doesn't exactly help Jackson, and teammates Scott Fujita and Chris Gocong get way too many tabs for being underrated. Both are solid players, but neither of them are quite as good as Jackson and are talked about more often than the middle linebacker.
Although the Browns have two poor safeties with T.J. Ward out, they don't need to worry with the way Joe Haden is playing. Haden was the best rookie corner last year, and he's showing it by continuing to shut down his opponent game after game. His partner, Sheldon Brown, is also a solid corner. While Brown doesn't give up many catches, he does get burned which obviously hurts his value. That's not to say that he isn't good, he certainly is, but Brown isn't going to be recognized as a top 20 corner. The thing is, people don't really realize that he is good; they just think he is another washed up corner who is past his prime.
As the Cleveland Browns go through the motions of another dismal season, they have a clear view of their positions of need. They certainly need a wide receiver- more likely two, a guard, and another safety wouldn't hurt either. There really isn't much hope for this franchise at this point, but they are a solid receiving core away from becoming a spoiler in the AFC North.
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