The Browns Offense

The Last preseason game for the Browns is tonight against the Chicago Bears. The regular season will start next Sunday against the Tampa Bay Bucs. Many people in Cleveland are probably wondering about the Browns and how they will do this year.

This offseason showed many changes as the Cleveland fans grow more and more weary of losing seasons. The biggest headline changes were Phil Savage being replaced by Mike Holmgren and the trading away of both Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson and their replacements Jake Delomme and Senaca Wallace. Were these the changes the Browns needed to win? Were these the two areas we were struggling with the most?

Of course we needed to figure something out in the passing game, being ranked 32nd in the NFL with less pass yards than rush yards is unacceptable! Even if Delomme doesn't work out, it can't get any worse than last year. This next year can only be positive with no quarterback "Battle" and a new unit on offense.

 Last year, the team's lead passer was Brady Quinn with 1,339 passing yards and 8 touchdowns. Their leading runner was Jerome Harrison with 862 yards (4.4 yards per carry) and 5 touchdowns. Overall the Browns had 2,076 yards passing with 11 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. Jake Delhomme had 2,015 yards with 8 touchdowns and 18 interceptions in 11 games. This was Jake's worst season ever that he has played more than 5 games in.

Your first reaction to those stats was that Jake had the same amount of interceptions as the Browns and 2 more interceptions. While he would've thrown more touchdowns and interceptions if he played the remaining 5 games of the season, he would've also gotten more then 50 yards. The biggest problem with the Browns offense in the past few years is the lack of yards. They have not moved the ball, and when they do, they throw an interception.

So, was Delhomme a good choice at quarterback? If not, there's always the college superstar Colt Mccoy. Although he has a an extremely lackluster preseason, he's only a rookie. Is Jake supposed to be Colt's Brett Favre, as if he were Aaron Rodgers? Only Holmgren can answer that question.

In the rushing game, Lewis retired, and we kept all of our other runnning/full backs. We also acquired Peyton Hillis and Montario Hardesty. As far as the rushing game goes, towards the end of the season, Harrison showed a lot of potential, with the addition of Hardesty, these two could become a duo much like Tomlinson and Sproles, Barber and Choice, Johnson and White, or even Peterson and Taylor.

The only serious concern is Hardesty and his knee. He has injured it twice in his college career, and it seems to be a weak spot keeping him from being a top running back in the NFL.