DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum BROWNS place 2nd round tender on RB Crowell

When a RB like Blount is still a FA (last I checked) then I can't think of a reason Crow would be unhappy about this.

Patriots issue rarely used tender on LeGarrette Blount

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000...garrette-blount

I wish we would sign Blount. That guy breaks tackles and gets the tough yards. We need that.

When he hits 1500 yards and 15 TD's then he's a big time RB. Under 1000 and single digit TD's? Meh... no big deal. When he runs like a big time RB then sign him like one. So far? Nothing special. We still need a backup. If Crow goes down we are in big trouble. Blount is a guy that can get the tough yards. Score a lot of TD's.... Be a nice addition.

Blount was also a headcase before he got to NE. I'd love the Patriot version of Blount, I'm just not sure we would get that.

Crowell might have ran for 1,200 or so last season if we had a QB that could threaten a defence, or if we had a defence that didn't put us behind in games.

JC

I think Crowell has ben a decent RB for us. He occasionally goes missing in the game plan, which confuses me. I get that we would trip over a blade of grass, but he puts together some impressive games and has the ability to take it to the house. I think he does better this year with an improved OL as long as he holds on to the ball and keeps his footing.

I love when people only tell the part of the story that supports their opinion while leaving out the rest. lol

He ran for 4.8 yards per carry. That's a great average. Of course Crowell doesn't control how many carries he gets, the coaches do. If you wish to whine about his total yards as a rusher, talk to the coach.

He had 953 yards rushing, yet he also had 319 yards receiving with an average of eight yards per catch.

Crow had 1271 all purpose yards last season.

Great. He's awesome. No need to upgrade. Of course he has NEVER passed 1000 yards rushing and NEVER scored double digit TD's If he really is the next Great back then why the hell isn't that showing? You would think if he is SUCH a great back the many different staffs would have used him as such.... I'll tell you what, when he RUNS like a star and he SCORES like a star I'll call him a star. Until then he's just one of the many not one of the few. I have nothing against him. I'd LOVE to see him show that kind of talent. I'd love to see him get hit and stay up. I'd love to see him grind out those tough yards and score loads of TD's. But it hasn't happened so until it does....

If Crowell is a solid RB, Hue will have no problem calling his number. Being it is late in the game and down Hue did not use him much speaks for itself. All I am saying is if Hue had confidence in a person to gain yards he uses him plain and simple.

Don't get me wrong I like Crowell. People questioning whether Crowell should get paid. I say when it is crunch time who's number is called?

If given the opportunity, he could be the stabelizer to the offense this year. I hope Hue gives him the chance to do such a thing.

Did you miss this?

I think bugs is implying that Hue's words towards Crow didn't match up with Hue's use of Crow - particularly later on in games. At least that's what I took from it.

Yeah, kinda like actions speak louder than words

another ploy to keep us form re-signing our better players, another way for Haslam etal to line their pockets

One thing I've noticed is Hue doesn't speak ill on anyone. Occasionally you will get a "needs to step up remark" but everything is good.

I don't think Crowell is a lock to start. I'd keep a close eye on Darius Jackson. He got buried on Dallas' roster before they waived Jackson to keep another player.

Vers, last year late in games Hue dumped the run game. It can mean Hue got desperate using the pass to catch up, had no confidence in the overall run game, or lacked confidence in both Duke and Crow.

Frankly, I was a little surprised nothing was addressed at the running back position. Was problems all offensive line? I guess we will see. Hue likes the run game. His play calling last year went against. To me, it was odd so I am questioning.

I am going to have to respectfully disagree w/you on what Hue thinks of Crow.

I think Hue likes Crow. I really don't remember Hue benching Crow late in games other than when we were so far behind and we went w/Duke more because he is a better receiver out of the backfield.

I think we have a nice combo w/Crow and Duke and I believe that Hue likes them both.

I just looked up his splits. Crow did have fewer carries in the fourth quarter, but his average was 6.4 in the 4th, which was considerably higher than any other quarter. He also had 14 catches in the 4th, which was more than any other quarter. For example, he only had 8 catches in the first quarter. In the one overtime game, Crow carried the ball 5 times for a 4.4. avg.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/player/splits/_/id/17133/isaiah-crowell


I think the scores of the game may have dictated why Crow had fewer carries than Hue not believing in him. The fact that he had more catches in that quarter reiterates that point.

I think scores and the inconsistency of our OL dictated much of the play calling to be able to run the ball. We had a young team and I think no matter how Hue wanted to paint it to the outside world the play calling seems to have catered a lot more to a young team that was inconsistent and timid in situations that dictated more experience.

I can't believe this is even a debate. Of course his carries went down in second halves of many games..... We were usually trailing by two or more scores.

After reading the last three remarks, I reread my post and see I'm being a little to harsh.

My main object here was I am not satisfied with the run game last year. From what happen in FA and the draft, it appears the inconsistency was blamed on the OL. I thought I point out Crowell's lack of playing time in the fourth quarter and questioned whether this is area of concern.

I was unsure what Crowell was doing after he signed his tender and not show for voluntary participation. I thought that was odd. I don't think Crowell is guaranteed a starting job. I wouldn't take Darius Jackson lightly.

I believe the Browns must consistently run the football this year. Otherwise, they will experience another long hard season.

Isaiah Crowell - RB - Browns

Isaiah Crowell could skip voluntary OTAs.

Crowell signed his RFA tender but may wait until minicamp to report after not getting an extension. It's a non-concern with the Browns returning the same offense under Hue Jackson. Crowell will make $2.75 million in 2017.

Source: ESPN May 13 - 3:11 PM

I just don't feel Hue had a huge amount of confidence in his OL last season. I don't think it has anything to do with Hue losing faith in Crow's abilitys as a runner. There was so much turnover I just have the opinion that the run game was abandoned in favor of the pass that had more athletic play makers in theory....Pryor/Barnidge/Johnson out of backfield, however, that didn't matter much either because we couldn't seem to cover the blocks very well on blitzes but the idea of being able to exploit was greater through the pass than run.

I would expect that given Kessler has a full season under his belt and is able to slow it down and make more throws based on timing we can begin to open up the run game around a beefed up OL.

I realize Kessler isn't the top of people's lists but if he has grown into the playbook and he can anticipate clearly this season then his arm strength wont matter thus allowing the run game to flourish. They have to go hand in hand.


The OL issues have been addressed at least on paper. That will help and cause Crow to be utilized more but competent QB play is the key to Crow being used all game against defense's. Just my silly 2 cents.

We all have our opinions and I'll state mine. I think the running game suffered for two main reasons:

1. Kessler's inability to challenge defense vertically [I am not talking about bombs] allowed teams to concentrate on taking the running game away, which was tops in the league early on. People don't wanna hear that and that's fine, but Hue addressed that issue himself and there was an article about it. It all started in the NE game. If Kessler is our qb this year, look for more disappointing numbers from the run game.

2. We were behind in almost every game and had to pass a lot.

Is this from Crow, his agent, or the Browns? Or is it a reporter speculating and using words like "could skip..." and "may wait until minicamp...?"

I hope he is at OTA's.

I understand your point. A couple things to note Kessler did not play all 16 games. We were not so far behind every game to kick the run game to the curb.

Good discussion.

It is a good discussion. We kinda disagree, but it's all cool.

Our defense was absolutely abysmal last year. I had hoped that they would have gotten better as the year progressed, but they never really did.

I also had absolutely no confidencein Ray Horton as DC. I could not believe it when we brought himn back for a 2nd tour.

We gave up 452 points last year. That is a staggering 28 PPG. I have hope that we will improve this year .... but I don't know how much. Frankly, I would be thrilled if we get down to 21 or so allowed per game .... but that's a huge ask.

If the defense can get its act tiogether, and we can play ball control, then I think we might win a few games this year. However, asking any of our QBs to put up 25+PG is a huge ask.

I am interested to see how Kessler looks in training camp. I expect a sizable improvement.

6-10 would've been conceivable with a decent D, IMHO (five games lost by a TD or less). As bad as we were, there was actually hope in some of those games until the defense took the field in the second half. With a stouter middle on the O-line, a better Kessler (being able to go deep once in a while) and a much improved D, I believe Crow's numbers improve, and our win total could hover around 6 games. I just hope he runs with the anger and determination he showed last year.

quote above by Y:

"I am interested to see how Kessler looks in training camp. I expect a sizable improvement."

This is a very good likelihood. For two reasons:

1) Kessler has a year of experience and maturity under his belt (that alone has got to make him better), and
2) The Browns offensive line is going to be much better.

That's a really good formula for marked improvement.

He's going to have to demonstrate a bigger arm, he has to improve arm strength.

I didn't like the fact that he was up in the booth and it seems every tv shot they showed him turning around and making a check mark on the wall after every play the defense had. It seems he ran the D on a check list and as far as he was concerned if they checked the marks all was good. I don't think he had an emotional bone in his body. We need some fire.