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Tag Archives: Taylor Gabriel
ROOKIE IMPACT A KEY TO BROWNS SUCCESS
On “Draft Day” 2014 all the hype and talk in Berea, Ohio was about one rookie selected by the Cleveland Browns, quarterback Johnny Manziel. But after 9 games into the 2014 season he is the least productive rookie to play in his class.
Manziel has thrown one incomplete pass, caught another pass that was nullified by a penalty and done nothing else but serve as Brian Hoyer’s back up, and that’s OK. Manziel hasn’t had to play because Brian Hoyer is playing above average football at the quarterback position by not making mistakes, connecting on timely throws and leading the Browns to a (6-3) record and into playoff contention for the first time since 2007 this late in the season.
While Manziel has had no impact on the Browns success this season, six other rookies either drafted or signed as free agents by G.M. Ray Farmer have made major contributions to the Browns best start since 1994.
Here’s what they’ve done:
1st round pick – CB – Justin Gilbert – Has started a number of games – 23 tackles – 5 passes defended
2nd round pick – LG – Joel Bitonio – Has started all 9 games and solidified the left side of the line.
3rd round pick – RB – Terrance West – Leads the team in rushing through 9 games with 396 yards and 3 touchdowns, plus he’s caught 7 passes for 39 yards and another score.
3rd round pick – LB – Christian Kirksey – 41 tackles – 2 sacks – 1 tackle for loss – 2 passes defended
Undrafted rookie – RB – Isaiah Crowell – 297 yards rushing with a 4.6 yards per carry average that leads the team. He also leads the squad with 5 rushing touchdowns.
Undrafted rookie – WR – Taylor Gabriel – 24 catches for 435 yards and 1 touchdown. He’s averaging 18.1 yards per catch. He also has 1 kickoff return for 30 yards.
When you combine all of the offensive numbers from the rookies, they have accounted for 1,192 yards from scrimmage and 10 touchdowns. On defense, 64 tackles – 2 sacks – 1 tackle for loss – 7 passes defended. Not bad considering “Johnny Football”, the most celebrated rookie of the bunch has added nothing to this team through 9 games.
MONDAY MORNING DUMP
Regardless of how they got here, the Browns are at .500 through 4 games at (2-2). Now what do they do moving forward will give us a better idea if they’re a good team, an improving team, a lucky team or still a bad team. We’ll start to get an answer to that debate starting this Sunday when they host their arch rival, the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have beaten the Browns in 28 of the last 32 games.
Kudos to Chris Tabor’s special teams as they played a big part in the Browns historical comeback win yesterday at Tennessee. Tank Carter’s blocked punt was a momentum changer, and the fact they were perfect on all snaps for punts, field goals and extra points and they made all their kicks is huge. Plus their punt and kick coverage teams were outstanding.
Brian Hoyer is now (5-2) in 7 career starts for the Cleveland Browns. Of those 5 wins, he has led 3 game winning drives in the 4th quarter.
More Hoyer – he’s thrown for 1,008 yards with 6 touchdown passes and only 1 interception so far this season. That’s good for a 97.7 quarterback rating.
The Browns have outscored their opponents so far this season 67-30 in the second half of games.
While it is a victory Monday and as Mike Pettine pointed out in week #1 this is a Pass/Fail business, the Browns head coach can’t be happy with the way his team has started their road games (outscored 54-13 in 1st half), their inability to stop the run, the poor play of Joe Haden, Justin Gilbert and Buster Skrine and the horrendous tackling we’ve seen through 4 games.
The Browns defense, which was supposed to be its strength entering this season, is ranked 30th in run defense in the NFL at (152. Yards per game) and 28th in pass defense at ( 269.3 yards per game).
Having said all that, the Browns are only 1 game out of first in the AFC North.
Taylor Gabriel has been the biggest surprise for me amongst the wide receivers. The undrafted rookie from Abilene Christian has been a big play guy for the offense, averaging 19.4 yards per catch on 10 grabs.
If you’re looking for the strength of this Browns football team, look no further than the offensive line. Joe Thomas, John Greco, Alex Mack, Joel Bitonio and Mitchell Schwartz are the main reason Brian Hoyer has been able to do what he’s done, as well as the running game. The team is averaging over 143 yards per game on the ground with a 4.5 average on every carry regardless of who the running back is.
(4-15), that’s the combined record of the Browns next 4 opponents with 3 of those 4 games at home. No less than 3 wins in the next 4 games is acceptable if this squad wants to be considered a good team and a playoff contender.