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No offense to the guy, and I hope he proves me wrong, but I can NOT see Jackson being our backup RB. He wasn't even good enough to start at Meechigan how is he going to beat out guys at the NFL level?
The next Willie Parker? ...  At least this kid was a back-up on a good team.. Willie Parker was a back-up on a sucky team and he's doing ok in the NFL... who knows how or why that happens... I'm not saying it's going to happen, the odds are strongly against it... but now and then it does happen.
yebat' Putin
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You know I just had a thought. We cut ties with Moss yesterday...leaving the pickings for Lewis' backup RB spot pretty thin. Personally I think Harrison has the 3rd down back spot locked up so I don't include him in the backup RB talk (though I could be wrong). So the only player we've brought in this year to add to the backup RB mix is Curtis Brown, yet we invited a TON of FB's into mini-camp as tryout players and signed one in Charles Ali even AFTER signing Alan Ricard. These moves seemed odd to me until I thought of this.
What if Phil et al plan on using Lawrence Vickers as our backup RB? Then this all makes sense. We have Alan Ricard as our starting FB and then all these other guys we brought in, now just Charles Ali, were being looked at for the backup FB spot. We didn't need to bring in tons of new guys for backup RB, or waste a draft pick, because they feel they ALREADY have the guy in Vickers.
So our backfield battery would look like Ricard at FB and then Lewis/Vickers/Harrison for our 3 RBs.
Thoughts? Opinions? Am I off my rocker in thinking this is what they have planned?
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Hell, right now your guess is as good as mine.
Why was Ricard brought in after being out of the league for a year? Is he Lewis' Woobie? Is that an indictment against Vickers? Is the least talked about man on the team (RB Wright) in or out?
About the only thing I do know is that Harrison doesn't have it in him to be the #2 guy. That was never supposed to be his role, as he's the '07 version of Jamel White; a guy who can scat-back but can't break tackles and can't block. It's got to be Wright.
I suppose I also know we've got too damned many FB's on this team. What........did we bring Mo back?
***Gordon, I really didn't think you could be this stOOpid, but you exceeded my expectations. Wussy.
Manziel, see Josh Gordon. Dumbass.***
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Is he Lewis' Woobie?
I thought I was wrong once....but I was mistaken...
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![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/hfMNC7T.jpg) "I am undeterred and I am undaunted." --Kevin Stefanski "Big hairy American winning machines." --Baker Mayfield #gmstrong
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Hell, right now your guess is as good as mine.
Why was Ricard brought in after being out of the league for a year? Is he Lewis' Woobie? Is that an indictment against Vickers? Is the least talked about man on the team (RB Wright) in or out?
About the only thing I do know is that Harrison doesn't have it in him to be the #2 guy. That was never supposed to be his role, as he's the '07 version of Jamel White; a guy who can scat-back but can't break tackles and can't block. It's got to be Wright.
I suppose I also know we've got too damned many FB's on this team. What........did we bring Mo back?
I think Lewis will work better with a big powerful blocking FB instead of the smaller quicker type FB that is Vickers. Ricard was available and Jamal likes running behind him so why not? I think the pickup of Ali also shows that the Browns are leaning more toward a FB that is a road grader, additional offensive lineman type player. Which again, excludes Vickers a bit.
I have no clue what the deal is with Wright...or any of our other RB's for that matter, but I HOPE we can come up with an upgrade over Wright. Granted, our backup RB shouldn't be seeing tons of carries but with Lewis he's going to see at least some every game. Ideally, I'd like that guy to be somewhat more explosive than Jason Wright.
I really think Harrison will thrive this year as our 3rd down back. He's elusive with good hands and good speed. It's exactly what we brought him in to do. Just make sure the kid learned how to at least fake a pass block over the course of last season and this off-season and the job is his. If he didn't accomplish that then...I dunno about this spot either.
I don't think we necessarily have too many FB's on the team if they plan on moving Vickers out of that role and into a regular RB position. Which again makes the signings of Ricard and Ali make more sense. Which all brings me back to my original thought! 
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Tyrone Moss might be the next great RB in a Browns uni. Call me idiot, you don't know what you are talking about.
I have a feeling that Tyrone Moss could be a special player.
I AM ALWAYS RIGHT... except when I am wrong.
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The "future" just got cut. Seriously... we can't just bring in any random dude and have him turn into a superstar - Willie Parker is the exception to the rule (and a rare one at that). We will need to address the running game with a LEGITIMATE option some time soon.
We're... we're good?
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our willie parker will be Barclay.. He's going to beat out Harrison I think... my prediction for the RB's of 2007:
Jamal Lewis
Jason Wright
Chris Barclay
Jason Wright has one more year... b/c the Browns will draft RB next year...
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Let's all say this together;
"Training camp fodder"
There will be thousand's of reps between now and cut down day,someone has to be used as a tackling dummy.
Indecision may,or maynot,be my problem
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I don't think that Vickers being the #2 RB is that far fetched at all. He actually reminds me of a poor mans Justin Leanord or even (dare I say it) a Droughns type of RB. Remember, Droughns started out as a FB for the Broncos. Vickers could be seen as a decent fill in for Lewis by this staff. He supposedly has decent hands, is a decent blocker, and can break a tackle or two. While definatley not a break-away threat, I could see a few 20 or 30 yrd, runs out of him. I guess it wouldn't be a bad one, two punch at all. (at least I hope not  ).
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i dont want a slow FB... what is Vickers 40 time? cuz seriously.. i hated watching Droughns see a hole, and then it close b/c he had no burst. I think Vickers is actually is slower than Droughns, well atleast he is on Madden
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During a quick google, I saw as high as 4.82 and as low as 4.75. Not fast by any means.  But I still think he could fill in at RB. He is supposed to be good at breaking tackles and has some size and power. Like I said before, Definately NOT a big play threat, but could be a solid fill in for a 3.5 or 4 yrd ave, with a twenty or thirty yarder thrown in for good measure . Maybe that's just wishfull thinking, but depending for a full season on Lewis just scares the hell out of me and we need someone to step up. Please Lewis, prove me wrong (it's really not that hard of a thing to do  ).
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I don't think that Vickers being the #2 RB is that far fetched at all. He actually reminds me of a poor mans Justin Leanord or even (dare I say it) a Droughns type of RB. Remember, Droughns started out as a FB for the Broncos.
Vickers could be seen as a decent fill in for Lewis by this staff. He supposedly has decent hands, is a decent blocker, and can break a tackle or two. While definatley not a break-away threat, I could see a few 20 or 30 yrd, runs out of him.
I guess it wouldn't be a bad one, two punch at all.
(at least I hope not ).
This is the kind of talk that scares me to death about this year and about Phil's blatant disregard for our running game. Look at our options for splitting carries or taking over for Lewis in case of an injury.
Lawrence Vickers - A backup fullback in his 2nd year that had a whopping 3 carries for 2 yards last year.
Jason Wright - Incredibly, managed to do WORSE than Droughns last year (3.0 YPC). A career journeyman and an average player at best - one that isn't worth of being a #2.
Jerome Harrison - Did just as poorly as Wright (3.0 YPC) and was so bad at blocking that we couldn't even use him as a 3rd down back, which was about all he might've been good for.
or...
An undrafted free agent that wasn't good enough to get taken in the first seven rounds of the draft. UDFA RBs usually have a high failure rate and very rarely will turn into a useful near-every down back.
Let's face it - at this point, Vickers is nothing, Wright is nothing, Harrison is nothing, and any UDFA we bring in is nothing. We're 100% on Jamal Lewis to stay healthy all year round AND dominate. I don't know about you, but our pitiful running depth is very troubling. I don't even want to think about next year when Lewis is a FA.
We're... we're good?
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Given todays news that Moss was cut loose and we kept a guy out of Michigan.. I'm guessing he's not the future here....
#GMSTRONG
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Daniel Patrick Moynahan
"Alternative facts hurt us all. Think before you blindly believe."
Damanshot
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Don't go jumping off the deep end there Spectre . You can't say he TOTALLY disregarded the running game because he did address the O-line which is addressing part of the problem. Also, you can't deny that a healthy Lewis is better than Droughns. Combine the better O-line and a Healthy Lewis and we should be OK. Remember that Lewis is fighting for what is problably going to be his last decent contract after this yr. He wants a good yr. as much as we do. Also, Vickers was used horribley last yr. from what I can remember. Vickers is definatley a between the tackles runner. I seem to remember that when we did give him the ball it was on sweeps or half-back passes . I am with you though, our running game this yr. depends on Lewis at least coming close to his 2005 form. He doesn't need to match it (although I wouldn't complain ), but he needs to at least be comparable. My other worry, like yours, is right now, we seem to have NO depth. If Lewis goes down, we could be in serious trouble no matter how improved our line is.
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Seems to me that I recall a conversation with " Mourg " last season about Vickers .. Mourg was high on the kid coming out of the draft ; and felt like we might see him at the tailback position from time to time ???
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Water, I too liked the pick and feel that he could be a decent RB, but with 4.75 (at best ), he will never be a break-away threat. At best, I see him as a between the tackles, pound the ball RB, with 80 yrd games if he plays a full game. In other words, solid, but nothing special, and that's at best. Let's just hope we don't have to find out and Lewis reverts back to 2004 and 2005 form.
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Don't go jumping off the deep end there Spectre . You can't say he TOTALLY disregarded the running game because he did address the O-line which is addressing part of the problem. Also, you can't deny that a healthy Lewis is better than Droughns. Combine the better O-line and a Healthy Lewis and we should be OK. Remember that Lewis is fighting for what is problably going to be his last decent contract after this yr. He wants a good yr. as much as we do.
Also, Vickers was used horribley last yr. from what I can remember. Vickers is definatley a between the tackles runner. I seem to remember that when we did give him the ball it was on sweeps or half-back passes .
I am with you though, our running game this yr. depends on Lewis at least coming close to his 2005 form. He doesn't need to match it (although I wouldn't complain ), but he needs to at least be comparable.
My other worry, like yours, is right now, we seem to have NO depth. If Lewis goes down, we could be in serious trouble no matter how improved our line is.
He gave the running game a new line (though I suspect the main reason was our horrendous pass protection) and gave us a slight upgrade at RB. I suppose he didn't TOTALLY disregard our running game, but he hasn't even come close to fixing it.
In this league, you simply cannot enter a season with one back capable of carrying a load and expect to succeed. Can it happen? Sure. Is it smart to bet on that side? No way. It just frustrates me because it wouldn't have been all that difficult to add a veteran backup, keep Droughns, or draft a runner capable of contributing (if we wouldn't have traded up for Wright, Pittman would've fallen in our laps). Lewis could use a guy to split carries; Lewis could use a guy who can carry the load should he falter or go down - right now, we have neither. 
I know we can't fill all our needs in one off-season, but if we would've just kept Droughns or used a mid-round pick on a guy, it wouldn't have been as big of a problem as it is currently. This is a scenario that could've easily been avoided and, instead, the hopes of this season lie squarely on Lewis' shoulders. If he goes down, we're done, our pick becomes a Top 10 for sure (which we lose) and all heck breaks loose. IMO, the one thing in this off-season that I find utterly foolish so far is how we've still left our running back corps incredibly depleted, despite bringing a new guy in.
We're... we're good?
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Vickers is a guy that RAC always seems to talk about as someone special,, or at least that's my impression. Maybe he is, but thus far, I haven't seen it. I sure hope they are right...
Harrison is the guy I can't figure out at all.. I mean in the Preseason last year, he looked like he was gonna come on strong, then we hardly saw him. Can't figure out whether he got in someones doghouse or didn't show up in practice.. Just don't know.
Wright got more of a look and frankly, he did some nice things. So, with Harrison, Wright, Vickers and this Barclay kid that's tearing up NFLE, we could have a couple of solid candidates... well, there is also that kid out of Michigan who they just signed also. Darned if I can remember his name!
#GMSTRONG
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Vickers is a guy that RAC always seems to talk about as someone special,, or at least that's my impression. Maybe he is, but thus far, I haven't seen it. I sure hope they are right...
Harrison is the guy I can't figure out at all.. I mean in the Preseason last year, he looked like he was gonna come on strong, then we hardly saw him. Can't figure out whether he got in someones doghouse or didn't show up in practice.. Just don't know.
Wright got more of a look and frankly, he did some nice things. So, with Harrison, Wright, Vickers and this Barclay kid that's tearing up NFLE, we could have a couple of solid candidates... well, there is also that kid out of Michigan who they just signed also. Darned if I can remember his name!
Again though, I feel this is a classic case of Cleveland fans overrating their players. Try looking at it as though they aren't on our team and without any Browns' optimism.
- RAC talking up Vickers means nothing, as it's clear he doesn't have much of a clue on offense. Vickers touched the ball in the single digits last year. With how bad our running game was, if Vickers were good enough to eat carries (let alone carry a load), he would've gotten them.
- Harrison did a great job of tearing up 2nd and 3rd stringers in the Pre-Season, but that means nothing. When he's faced starting level competition, he hasn't looked good at all. The fact that he's a horrendous blocker just makes it worse for him. It's not bias that keeps him on the sidelines. Romeo isn't biased against rookies, he's biased against rookies that aren't ready.
- Wright's "nice things" might look good to Browns' fans, because we saw so many of Reuben's "not so nice things", but in the end, he actually did worse than Droughns. Outside of a few runs where he was able to break one into the 2nd level (something that Droughns couldn't do), he was pretty lousy. 3.0 YPC is embarassing in a carry split. You put him on another team with a decent running game, and he's probably a #3.
- Barclay is tearing up NFL Europe like you said, but therein lies the problem - he's tearing up NFL Europe. Teams don't send NFL ready players to NFL Europe. They don't even send solid backups most of the time. The guys you see in NFL Europe are there because they're developmental players that could use the extra PT.
- The guy from Michigan was something like a 3rd-4th stringer on that team. He went undrafted and his combine numbers were miserable. He probably won't even be with the team in a few weeks.
It's great that we have guys who can beat up on 2nd/3rd stringers and NFL Europe, but I want guys who can do something against competition that will actually see the field come this season. Right now, we only have one back capable and if he goes down, our season spirals down the toilet.
I'll trade all those guys and a bag of chips for a real option.
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At the risk of being negative ( and I don't want to be , Savage finally has me pumped ) I have and will continue to question RAC . and his choice of personal on the field at any given time of the game ?/? Maybe with a real " OC " things will change , for the better this season ! 
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I think Phil has put a lot of faith and hope in Lewis this year (obviously). I bet he's also thinking that if Lewis gets back to form this year that we're just going to resign him for his final 3-4 year contract and he'll retire a Cleveland Brown. So there, in a nutshell, is our plan A) for the RB position. For now AND the future. As far as our plan B) backup and 3rd down RB's. I still contend that we're banking on Jerome Harrison and Lawrence Vickers. They were both rookies last year. Neither of them saw much PT as they weren't ready. Both were highly touted by the coaching staff and front office. Don't you think those praises and high hopes are founded on them at least THINKING they are going to produce in the not so distant future? Spectre, I'm not so sure how you can just completely discount these two based on their whopping workload of 6 COMBINED carries last season? IF Vickers can't make the transition to RB from FB and IF Jerome Harrison hasn't learned how to block, then yeah we can start to worry. As of now I have faith that they've been working with these guys since last year on accomplishing those two things for this upcoming year. I really really think that's our thinking. That's not a Super Bowl caliber backfield but we aren't going there this year anyway. Option C) obviously means Lewis got hurt or didn't produce and/or Harrison and Vickers didn't pan out like they hoped. In this event I think they place the hope of our running game THIS year on an improved OLine. It won't get us in the playoffs but it can't be worse than last year. And then, in this scenario we go find ourselves a new RB next season either via FA or the draft. What's sooo terrible with this? Unless you honestly thought we were gonna win 12 games this year and go deep in the playoffs. In which case, pass some of that stuff over
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Harrison can't block or break tackles. He won't be an option for an every down back. Vickers is a multi purpose back but I don't see him being an every down back either.
Option 1 seems to be the one Savage is planning on to me. I hope Lewis returns to form and doesn't get hurt. Unless we pick up a vet later on we might be in for a long year.
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Harrison can't block or break tackles. He won't be an option for an every down back. Vickers is a multi purpose back but I don't see him being an every down back either.
Option 1 seems to be the one Savage is planning on to me. I hope Lewis returns to form and doesn't get hurt. Unless we pick up a vet later on we might be in for a long year.
I agree with all of that. However, Harrison as our 3rd down back is an option...but not as an every down back. Vickers as our backup RB to Lewis is an option...but not as an every down back. Lewis IS our every down back this year. If he goes down with an injury then I see us splitting carries between Harrison/Vickers/person brought up from practice squad (Jason Wright or Curtis Brown). Let's hope we don't have to worry about that last part .
I still see Lewis/Vickers/Harrison as our 3 RB's we start the season with. Now I never said I agreed that this was a GOOD idea . Just what I think they are planning to do IMO. No inside sources, just thinking out loud.
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