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December 23, 2009NBA Trade Rumors: Is Troy Murphy the Missing Piece?
December 23, 2009I wouldn’t even want to speculate about Jerome’s future with the team. Harrison has found himself in and out of favor with Eric Mangini all season long (mostly out). Even after his record setting performance last week, I do not think Mangini is ready to anoint him the Cleveland Browns feature back. But with Mangini’s future in question, and the uncapped season on the horizon (oh yeah, they don’t mention that much during telecasts do they) let’s take a look at Jerome’s short term future.
Harrison joined rarefied company with his 286-yard outburst. The top four single game rushing performances of all time were turned in by Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson (296 yards) on November 4, 2007; Baltimore’s Jamal Lewis (295 yards) on September 14, 2003; our own Jerome Harrison; and Cincinnati’s Corey Dillon (278 yards) on October 20, 2000. Most Cleveland fans will no doubt remember that Lewis’ record setting performance came at our expense.
It got me thinking about that company. First, we notice that despite the pass happy offenses of today, all of these monumental rushing achievements happened in the last 10 years. No Walter Payton, Jim Brown or Eric Dickerson at the very top of this list.
I don’t think even Harrison would argue that he is the most unlikely to have made the list. Given his total rushing attempts before last week (88), and his one game with over 100 rushing yards, it seemed highly unlikely that such a game was in the cards. Peterson was a top-notch college back with tremendous pre-draft buzz, even with the injury concerns. He has proven to be worth the hype. Jamal Lewis had topped 1,300 yards in his first two seasons before having his 2,000 yard total in ’03 and would top the century mark four more times in his career. Corey Dillon was a workhorse for the Bengals his first three seasons topping 1000 yards. He would finish his time in Cincinnati as the Bengals all-time leading rusher, before moving on to an offensive juggernaut in New England.
Given all these circumstances, what is the outlook for the rest of the season? Could Harrison follow up his 286 yards with a 35-yard dud? I think we all know that is completely possible. There is no guarantee that the Browns will give him any more than the nine carries a game he averages. Certainly the Raiders are doing some serious film study this week. Harrison has carried the ball against the Raiders only three times in his career – he finished with negative-three yards; not exactly a large sample size. Flash forward to the present day, Harrison has topped 35 yards a whopping three times this year including last week.
So what did the other backs on this exclusive list do the week following these great performances? Peterson fared the worst, rushing for 45 yards on 11 carries. It is worth noting that the Vikings were skunked in that game by the Packers and were most likely throwing the ball the entire second half. That 2007 season Peterson finished with six games over 100 yards.
Jamal Lewis followed his Cleveland crushing game with a 132-yard, one touchdown performance. That was par for the course in ’03 for Jamal as he topped the century mark 12 times that season.
Corey Dillon had the pleasure of facing the Browns following his dismantling of Denver. He was good for 137 yards and a touchdown. He finished the year with five games over 100 yards. All three of these backs topped a thousand yards in the year they established these records. Jerome would need to average 207 yards in his final two games to achieve that feat.
What’s next for Harrison? Hopefully he gets his chance to show that he is worth a legitimate shot at the job next season. No matter who is calling the plays or handing the ball to him.
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(Thanks to the OBR for the photo.)
16 Comments
You mean “millennium mark,” right?
Anyway, the PD this morning was talking about how Holmgren likes the West Coast offense where you pass 60% of the time. But we’ve had it drummed into our heads forever that North Coast teams must be able to run the ball, especially late in the year. I really hope that Holmgren can change his offensive philosophy instead of trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
@1. Agreed, especially considering the QB’s we have been trotting out around here. Sheesh.
This “you have to run the ball to be successful if you play in cold weather” thinking is a little antiquated. Holmgren ran the West Coast Offense with great success in the tropical climates of Green Bay and Seattle. New England slings the ball all over the field, Roethlisberger threw for 500 yards in a victory last week. Philly runs a version of the west coast offense. I don’t think we should install an arena league offense, but it is 2009 (2010 by the time this offense gets rolling) not 1957. This is the kind of thinking that results in the Big ten getting stomped against spread offense teams. Throw the ball!!
@ #3 – That theory is all predicated on one common denominator.
Green Bay -Favre
Seattle- Hasselbeck (Who is much better than anyone in Cleveland)
New England – Brady
Pittsburgh – Roethlisberger
Philly – McNabb
Currently the team is halfway to being built to run the ball, are we going to spend another first round pick on a QB and throw him out there to sling? I hope not.
I’d love to see an article about how the 2010 uncapped year will affect the Browns. Gotta say i’m pretty much in the dark about the whole thing.
Harrison is a free agent next season right? And there’s no salary cap? Lerner could use all the cash he saved with Quinn not hitting his incentive bonus to pay Harrison.
“It’s a passing league.” – Ron Jaworski
“This “you have to run the ball to be successful if you play in cold weather” thinking is a little antiquated.”
Agreed. You have a system, you just need to players to do it. I think the ‘square peg, round hole’ can be said for the 3-4 transition for the Browns due to the players that are here. It isn’t that the 3-4 doesn’t work. Same can be said for the WCO – get the right players in place (you know, WRs and TEs that can catch the ball) and any offense can work up here.
@3
Eric, in addition to having good QBs, Green Bay, New England, Pittspuke, and Philadelphia also had a good running game.
And so did Seattle.
@MrCleaveland
Good observation. In fact, Seattle had the league-MVP one year, and he was a running back. I think Holmgren knows the value of a solid running game at this point.
And I’d also like to point out that Harrison is exactly the type of back who would benefit from a West Coast type of offense; he’s not big enough to pound it between the tackles on a regular basis, but the WCO is designed for backs to hit the edges and/or catch the ball in space, which are two thinks Jerome does very well.
er, “thinks” should read “things.” Woops.
@8 I agree about the QB thing, but I still think with a good group of receivers that can get open Brady could be comparable with Hasselbeck. As for the RBs, Pittsburgh does not have a great running game this year, and I wouldn’t qualify the Pats as having a good running game the past few years. Westbrook is a good RB (so is McCoy) but Philly throws the ball 60% of the time at least. Alexander was a great rb but struggled behind a weaker line, and the old GB teams with Levens and Green and Edgar Bennet were good running teams, but we’re not exactly talking about Barry Sanders out there.
I think we all know what’s coming. Jennings will receive a majority of the carries this week. Obviously.
Note the lack of caps.
Keeping Harrison is a must IMHO. We re-sign him and Cribbs and then have Jennings and dont forget James Davis next year. There are no great RB’s in the draft. None of these guys are a lock to go buck wild but Harrison needs an opportunity to get the bulk of carries.
That we we concentrate on our biggest needs in the draft:
1. Secondary
2. Right Side of Line
3. Linebackers to play with Jackson
I know the team has holes abound but with 11 picks (and counting), we can always take a shot on a Henne-esque QB in round 6 or even another James Davis type if we want to load upon offense in the late rounds.
I know this sounds crazy but we all read that article that we are a better run team when Rubin is in the middle. How about trading Rogers (by the time we are good he will be old), and getting even more picks (per TD his contract is not friendly so that will be tough).
I would not take a shot in the dark on a RB or WR late in the draft. I want to see Harrison for the rest of the year, and on into next year (and thats IF he will resign with us given how badly he has been mis-managed since being drafted) so I dont think we should draft RB at all. I would look at Dez Bryant if Berry and Suh are gone by our pick. He is about the only WR that will give us a much improved player then what we have (draft wise).
Also, who would be our Lbs in a 4-3? I know we lack enough playmakers in the LB core, but do we really have any outside lbs in the 4-3? Wimbley would go to DE maybe, I guess Bowens would be outside, but he’ll be about as good as Willie was. Then we also have a surplus of DL with Rogers, Williams, Rubin, Coleman, Smith, Mosely and possibly Wimbley, Roth, Hall, Veikune, Suh(?). Our personnel, though lacks in ideal skill, fits the 3-4 right now. I hope with Rubin’s performance as NT he could continue to develop and Rogers could bounce to DE which would in turn help that OLB rushing. I know that got off track but im sick of hearing the ’square peg, round hole’ argument.
Unless they franchise Harrison, he will leave for a better team. He is going to be 27. This is his last chance. The way they planted him on the bench for three full seasons has I’m sure pissed him off. He will leave. Wouldn’t be shocked to see him end up in Seattle, Pittsburgh, Arizona, etc.