Two Indians mentioned as Grantland’s worst contracts
February 6, 2015Making the case for a Mo Gotti return
February 6, 2015Over the last several weeks, I have been reviewing and discussing the performance of the 2014 Cleveland Browns position by position. It was a tough season for the Cleveland Browns, falling in five straight games to end the season at 7-9. The team showed some glimpses of promise and some other areas of concern. So lets get to the final position!
As I noted in earlier position reviews, the return games for the Cleveland Browns were a big struggle, especially for Travis Benjamin. In this final position review, I will review the kicker, punter, and long snapping part of the special teams. This group was not great this season with quite frankly below average play for a lot of the year. Coming into the season, the Browns had the same kicker, punter, and long snapper as the previous year, but their performances all fell off this season. Because of an injury to kicker Billy Cundiff, the team cut ties with him and signed Garrett Hartley for the final two weeks of the season. This part of the game may be overshadowed by the need of a quarterback, but it will be a unit that needs an upgrade this offseason.
So let’s go through the players who made up the 2014 Cleveland Browns’ special teams.
Billy Cundiff
As I noted earlier, the Browns cut kicker Billy Cundiff towards the end of the season, but he played 13 games for the Browns. In 2014, he went 22 of 29 in field goals this season, including 16 of 23 in field goals 30 yards or further. He was graded with a -1.4 overall field goal/extra point grade by ProFootballFocus. He was very inconsistent as a kicker for the Browns, missing big field goals that could have helped the team grab the win. He has a strong leg, but he is very inaccurate. His best quality is his kickoff ability, because of his strong leg. He was tied for fourth in the league with the longest kickoff average. ProFootballFocus graded his kickoff performance with the eighth highest grade (+8.9). But this part of his game could not hide his inconsistent field goal kicking.
Billy Cundiff, released late in the year, is an unrestricted free agent this offseason. It is highly unlikely that the Browns will bring him back next season because of his poor field goal kicking.
2014 Grade: C-
2015 Outlook: UFA; Highly Unlikely to Return
Garrett Hartley
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Garrett Hartley replaced Cundiff at kicker for the final two games of the 2014 season. In the two games, he went 3-of-3 in field goal kicking with all three kicks attempted further then 29 yards. ProFootballFocus gave him a +0.2 grade for his field goal/extra point performance in the final two games. He does not have the strongest leg, causing him to struggle with the farther field goals. His lack of leg hurts him in kickoffs and pinning the opposing team in bad field position. His average kickoff was only 64.4 yards in the five kickoff attempts. He is an average kicker in both of these areas.
Going into next season, Garrett Hartley will compete for the starting kicker job. I believe he is not the favorite for the kicker spot and will most likely not make the team next season.
2014 Grade: C
2015 Outlook: Compete for starting kicker spot; Unlikely to make the team
Spencer Lanning
Punter Spencer Lanning had a solid season, but seemed to take a step back this year. In 16 games, he had 93 punts with an average punt of 44.5 yards and 26 punts inside the 20. ProFootballFocus graded his punting this season with -8.7 grade. Of the 27 punters who played all 16 games, Lanning was 18th in average punt yardage and had the 16th most punts inside the 20-yard line. He was 16th in average net yardage with 39.2 yards per punt. He is a punter with an average leg who relies on being more accurate than far. He does well when he is punting into a short field and the team just needs him to be accurate. When the Browns are in bad field position, he struggles to get a long punt off and does not flip the field position as much as other punters.
Lanning is an unrestricted free agent this offseason. His status with the Browns is up in the air. I believe he is a solid punter, but his accuracy was not as sharp this season as the previous year, so his lack of a strong leg really sticks out more. All in all, I think the Browns will look to re-sign Lanning for next season.
2014 Grade: C
2015 Outlook: UFA; Likely to be re-signed
Christian Yount
Long snapper Christian Yount struggled this season and almost was replaced because of his struggles. In 16 games, he had one fumble, one solo tackle, and three assisted tackles this season. ProFootballFocus graded his season with an -8.5 overall grade. His snapping become erratic midway through the season forcing the Browns to look for possible replacement options.
Yount is in line to be the starting long snapper for the Browns next season. He must show this offseason that his erratic play is behind him and that he is the team’s best long snapper option. I believe he will battle with Charley Hughlett next preseason to see who wins the long snapper job and I believe Yount will win the spot.
2014 Grade: C-
2015 Outlook: Compete for starting long snapper job; Likely to win the job
Other Special Teamers on the roster with too little playing time: Charley Hughlett
Overview and Outlook to 2015
The Browns have a lot of questions to answer this offseason and special teams is definitely one of those questions. The kicker, punter, and long snapper position was average to below average last season. The status for these three positions are up in the air and must be addressed this offseason. The quarterback spot will be the most talked about position this offseason, but the special teams is definitely important to address in the next couple months.
I believe the kicker spot must be addressed and the team must find a long-term kicker rather then an older veteran. In the draft, Justin Manton of Louisiana-Monroe and Sam Ficken of Penn State are two options at kicker. There are possible long-term options in free agency like UFA Stephen Gostkowski of the New England Patriots and RFA Justin Tucker of the Baltimore Ravens. At punter the Browns could re-sign Spencer Lanning, but could look to replace him with a draft prospect like Kyle Loomis of Portland State. Brett Kern of the Tennessee Titans is an unrestricted free agent who could replace Lanning, too. In terms of the long snapper, I believe either Yount or Hughlett are solid options for next year. So as you can see here, the special teams could see a lot of change over the offseason.
All individual player stats and team stats have come from ProFootballFocus.com, except for the individual stats for Christian Yount, which came from pro-football-reference.com.
5 Comments
How about kick coverage analysis. They we some of the best in the NFL
check out his WR coverage. he talks about Marlon Moore in that article:
https://waitingfornextyear.com/2015/01/wfnys-2014-cleveland-browns-position-review-wide-receivers/
Good write-up Joe. Definitely a disappointing year for our Special Team units. However, Spencer Lanning became a favorite of mine, so I do hope that we bring him back (I agree, his leg is obviously not the strongest, but I’m letting my personal fondness for him override it).
I discussed it in the WRs, Safeties, and CBs reviews
KR/PR? We sucked at PR, and KR. Need to put Gilbert back there!