DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Josh Cribbs Production

I'm really disappointed with how Josh Cribbs has been this year. He used to be SUCH a difference maker for this team. Now it feels like he isn't much of a difference maker period.

Return Stats
YEAR TEAM G PR YDS TD FC LNG KR YDS TD FC LNG
2005 CLE 14 1 5 0 0 5 45 1094 1 0 90
2006 CLE 16 6 51 0 3 34 61 1494 1 0 92
2007 CLE 16 30 405 1 10 76 59 1809 2 0 100
2008 CLE 15 28 228 0 7 32 44 1110 1 0 92
2009 CLE 16 38 452 1 3 67 56 1542 3 0 103
2010 CLE 10 14 120 0 5 17 25 528 0 0 36
Career 87 117 1261 2 28 76 290 7577 8 0 103

Receiving Stats
YEAR TEAM G REC YDS AVG LNG TD FD FUM LOST
2005 CLE 14 1 7 7.0 7 0 0 0 0
2006 CLE 16 10 91 9.1 14 0 4 1 1
2007 CLE 16 3 37 12.3 18 0 3 1 0
2008 CLE 15 2 18 9.0 17 1 2 0 0
2009 CLE 16 20 135 6.8 35 1 5 2 2
2010 CLE 10 17 235 13.8 65 1 9 0 0
Career 87 53 523 9.9 65 3 23 4 3

Rushing Stats
YEAR TEAM G ATT YDS AVG LNG TD FD FUM LOST
2005 CLE 14 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0
2006 CLE 16 2 11 5.5 9 0 0 0 0
2007 CLE 16 9 61 6.8 18 0 3 0 0
2008 CLE 15 29 167 5.8 27 1 12 0 0
2009 CLE 16 55 381 6.9 37 1 21 1 0
2010 CLE 10 16 69 4.3 19 0 3 0 0
Career 87 111 689 6.2 37 2 39 1 0

Passing Stats
YEAR TEAM G CMP ATT PCT YDS AVG TD LNG INT FUM RAT
2005 CLE 14 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0.0
2006 CLE 16 0 1 0.0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 39.6
2007 CLE 16 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0.0
2008 CLE 15 1 4 25.0 8 2.0 0 8 0 0 39.6
2009 CLE 16 1 4 25.0 18 4.5 0 18 1 0 6.3
2010 CLE 10 2 2 100.0 19 9.5 0 10 0 1 106.3
Career 87 4 11 36.4 45 4.1 0 18 1 1 11.6

Looking at those stats... and I know he has been a bit banged up this year but man his number are down...

His longest return this year has only been 17 yards... no touchdowns... As far as him being in the wildcat... He threw 4 passes last year and has only thrown 2 this year.. He only has 19 yards rushing this year... It just stinks. I wish we had the old Cribbs still.

Yea, I've noticed that as well. He looks about 10 Ibs heavier and seems to have lost the burst and quickness he use to have. Been like that all year, even before the injuries.

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His longest return this year has only been 17 yards...

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His longest PUNT return has "only" been 17 yards that is.

His long KO return this season is 36 yards.

His average this year on KO returns is 21.1 yards, which is 6.4 yards less than his 2009 average.....which is not out of the ordinary considering that of the 44 KO the Browns have returned in 2010 only 25 of them have been returned by Josh, whether it be due to injury or teams kicking away from him.

If he rattles off 2 long returns before the end of the year his average will be right where it was last season.

You're not gonna get 98 yard KO returns every week when the man has torched the league returning kicks........

Not for nothing, but he's been banged up most of the year.. that has to count for something..

Living the life, doing commercials & shows like "The League". Obviously enjoying the fat wallet & the craft service table a little too much. Big disappointment this year, before the injury. He may be back today, but, pfh... so what?

Cal, you're starting to write like bard.

lol, say it ain't so, lamp! Say it ain't so!

I don't think this should come as any surprise to any of us. If you look at ANY sport, there always seems to be that guy who busts his hump to be the best. Then when the Team rewards the player, it seems the following year the player just happens to have an off year. It is just human nature. How many of you guys bust your butt for your job & the Co. gives you a raise or promotion & then you decide, "Hey, I busted my rear all these years, let someone else work 12-14 hr. days, I earned it?" That's what I think Mr. Cribbs is going thru right now.

I think a lot of people are forgetting that he was on the injury list earlier in the season with an ankle. And we all know that these guys don't get back to 100% before being right back out there running on it. I felt that was the reason he lacked his usual speed and cutting ability for most of the first 8 games.

Now he's dislocated multiple toes on one foot and is still out there returning kicks. They tried to spell him with Haden and the new guy, (who I think is gone already), and were forced to run Josh out there anyway.

Plus, as Shep pointed out, teams were kicking away from him early on. Notice they haven't been doing that as much of late. I think it's because they know he's hurt and at an average level instead of his usual Superman level of return ability.

I know it's said that injuries are no excuse, but they can often be the reason a player is not playing up to his usual abilities.

I think also that anyone who has followed his career that the money has had no effect on him. I say that because even when he was getting screwed financially by regime after regime he still played as hard or harder than anyone. He complained but gave his all. That's one of the things we all loved about him. Now, to say he may be letting up because he's got his "big payday" is hardly fair. I don't think he has it in him to be that way.

Anyway, he's been slowed by injury all season. There's your trouble.

... AND since the Browns have so few playmakers at all, teams have been making sure Cribbs doesn't beat them (particularly on punts). I can count (maybe on one hand) the number of punt return opportunities Josh has had this season. Teams are either kicking high and forcing a fair catch, or they are kicking it out-of-bounds (e.g. the 58-yarder the Dolphins punter had late in today's game).

Isn't this the first year that the wedge is illegal on kick-offs? Teams are kicking away and he doesn't have the same blocking as in the past. Just throwing that out there.

Cribbs is still not the same player he was last year though.

Look at some clips of him last year. He would explode on kick returns. He had this ungodly burst from his very first step.

This year he looks more like a glider.

I don't know how else to explain it.

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...He was trying to transition more as a WR while being the same Pro Bowl return guy...

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That too. It's very big.

Also, the rule change that began in 2009 that disallows the "wedge" blocking scheme which was permitted in the past has caused Special Teams to change blocking schemes and players to get acclimated to it.


No wedge means major adjustment for kickoff units


* By Vic Carucci NFL.com

* Published: May 14, 2009 at 12:36 p.m.




Special teams coaches throughout the NFL are having a particularly busy offseason.

Since league owners voted in March to outlaw the use of a blocking wedge involving three or more players on kickoff returns, the men who choreograph the organized chaos that is the kicking game have been working on and teaching alternative tactics to be used during the 2009 season.

"It's a big change," Chicago Bears special teams coach Dave Toub said.

Renowned Buffalo Bills special teams coach Bobby April said the wedge has been "the essence of the kickoff return, the point of attack. So to eliminate that part is really eliminating a big part of that particular play."

But the league's competition committee determined that too many players were being injured, either while colliding with the wedge or from being a part of it, and recommended its banishment for safety reasons. Now, having any more than two blockers within two yards of each other on the same plane in front of a kickoff returner will result in a 15-yard penalty.

The challenge facing Toub, April, and the rest of the NFL's special teams brain trust is figuring out how to do more, or at least as much, with less. Most teams had a minimum of three players closely bunched in front of the return man, forming a human plow blade (or wedge) to clear a path through the first wave of would-be tacklers. Others would use four and, in rare cases, as many as five.

For the Bills, who consistently used a three-man wedge, it wouldn't seem like such a big deal to take away one member of that group. But it is.

"The wedge is like the offensive line," April said. "For us, we have to reduce that line by 33 percent. What would happen if you reduced the offensive line in the running game by 33 percent? Or, in the case of a four-man wedge, what if you reduced it by 50 percent? You'd have a little different running game."

April and several other special-teams coaches in the NFL anticipate that there will be a noticeable decrease in average yards per kickoff return, at least during the 2009 season while clubs become acclimated with the new rule. That's a very big deal for an offensive-challenged team such as the Bills, who rely so heavily on favorable field position. Thanks in large part to strong kick returns, the Bills led the league in average drive start last season.

nfl.com



I think this rule change will continue to have an effect on everyone's kick returns. When you add up this and Cribbs increased role as a WR, teams kicking away from him and then his injuries this season I'm sure it can be understood that he'd have a drop-off in production this season.

You know, I think people overestimate the life of PR and KR guys. You don't get the crap kicked out of you like that week in and week out without it adding up.

I don't have the patience to do near the homework on this type of thing as I used to, but the longest guy I can recall to be a stellar return guy was Billy "White Shoes" Johnson. I think he had an 8-10 year run, but don't recall too many players being that good at it that long.

Time will tell I guess.

jmho

Good point. Hopefully Cribbs is young enough, even in PR/KR years, that he's got a few good years left in him. I could see him being elite for another 3 years.

j/c

When he dropped the fair catch today it was like . Completely lackadaisical back there like he's above it all. It's B.S. and he's stinking up the position. If it's injury related, then he shouldn't be there. If it's attitude, he shouldn't be there. IMO, right now, he shouldn't be there because he's worse than useless, he's detrimental. Love ya Cribbsy, but you suck.

I attributed that to pressing. Not following it in. Getting a peek up hoping for any small advantage he could get. Something to get an edge since he's hurting.

Then again, everyone muffs a punt now and then. It's a tough ball to catch.

In reality, if we try to read too much into it one way or the other, including myself, we can develop a bias, good or bad, based on something that may have nothing to do with it at all.

I'm not going to dispute your post but let me give another train of thought some like might wish to entertain.......

Having never really sustained much of an injury before, could it simply be a little apprehension? The possibility he's not quite 100% yet and that's still on his mind?

I've never seen anything to indicate from Josh Cribbs attitude or play on the field that he doesn't give 100% nor that's he's "stuck on himself" to the point of cashing the check and quitting.

So I'm not so quick to be inclined to your line of thinking.

jmho

Maybe after this disappointing year, he will be motivated to work hard in the off season, and have a crazy good season next year (or whenever the NFL isn't locked out).

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So I'm not so quick to be inclined to your line of thinking.

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Nor should you be. In every year prior to this one he has been stellar, both in play and in attitude. I just don't like what I've seen this year. Maybe it's injury, maybe it's coverage, maybe it's something else entirely, but I don't like it, and want the old Cribbs back. Don't mean to dis the guy, he's been a bright spot when there was little else to cheer for, I honestly just want to see him return to form... or, give up the return duties, and concentrate on WR. I don't pretend to have the answer, I just know that right now, he's not getting the job done, and maybe there's someone out there who can do a better job in that area.

If you don't mean to dis the guy, then why are you saying that he thinks he's above everyone else and telling him that he sucks?

The problems with Cribbs are simple. The guy is trying to do too much, Wildcat, WR, RB, KR, PR.....and alot of the problems is that he was our only threat for such a long time.

I said a while ago that once the talent improves on this team Cribbs will be less and less needed. With the emergence of Hillis, Watson, and to an extent MoMass, and Stuckey we dont need that big play from Cribbs to win games.

They changed the rules on the kickoffs, took away his wedge. Less blockers for him means more people able to get him down before he takes it to the house. Cribbs is still the player he always has been, he is starting to look average because our talent level is improving. And I think with Norwood, and Haden Cribbs will probably transition more to just a WR/Wildcat player.

His type dont last long in the NFL, and by his type Im talking KR/PR. Sorry harsh but the truth, Cribbs has become a WR above anything else. And while still learning that position he has become expendable in the return game. JMO take it for what its worth.

I didnt get to see the game yesterday so I dont know but did Norwood do anything in the return game? I just had a feeling they promoted him for that reason.

Norwood was inactive for yesterday's game.

thanks man... I work in upper PA, almost to New York and didnt get to see the game so I wasnt sure if he did anything.

I like Cribbs, but think his burst is gone! He had a few amazing years back there, but I think he is just a WR at this point in his career

Cribbs used to be 1 step and gone.

This year, even before he got hurt, he was more step, step, step, up to speed.

He just wasn't the same.

Hopefully it's just the small injuries that caught up a bit and he recovers over the off-season to go back to being the impact player he can be.

I'm hoping he snaps out of it and singlehandedly beats Balto and Pitt

Not the same yesterday OR since his injury. Has no explosion in mid-stride he had. Used to kick in afterburners in the crease, did this while cutting. It is not there. Apparently not over the injury or it is gone. These guys can be used up fast. Hope he still has gas to go.

Saying that he "obviously" spends too much time at the craft table is a personal attack, unless you're working for the caterer and scooping food onto his plate. Criticizing him for taking a day to film a five minute spot for a television program in early July, citing it as a reason he's having a down year is a personal attack.

Relax, Skippy, it was a joke reply to someone's observation that he may have put on a few pounds. I didn't realize you were the young man's mother & lawyer. Sue me if you want.

He had 4 dislocated toes!!!!! I wouldnt even be on the field for six weeks if it happened to me. Foot injuries take a long time to heal. He is not 100%
I would think next year he comes back 100%

J/C

I suspect that his problem is due to injuries. He has been listed on the injury report for weeks 3 thru 6 for an ankle injury, listed week 7 for a concussion, and weeks 11 thru 13 for a foot injury. Ankle/Foot injuries can take along time to heal and with him still playing that they won't completely heal till after the season when he can get off his feet.

I think he'll be back. Terry Pluto makes it pretty clear in his new book, "Things I've Learned From Watching the Browns" that he's not only one of the most popular players of the past five years, he's one of the most hardworking:
"Number 16, Joshua Cribbs. Now there’s a jersey that Browns fans can wear proudly. Cribbs could have played for Paul Brown, for Blanton Collier, for Sam Rutigliano or any other Browns coach."