Chansi Stuckey

[SJ_Browns]

http://www.ohio.com/sports/browns/101627193.html

 

BEREA: The Browns' corps of wide receivers has been dissected time and again during the past few months.

 

It's been said how Brian Robiskie has improved, how Mohamed Massaquoi has benefited from a year of NFL experience and how Josh Cribbs has learned to run better routes.

 

Somewhere in the background, Chansi Stuckey has been catching passes and fighting for extra yardage, too. In fact, he led the Browns with 51 receiving yards this past weekend in the Browns' 19-17 preseason loss to the St. Louis Rams. And on two of his three catches, Stuckey turned short passes into first downs with gains of 28 and 18 yards.

 

''Yards after catch is always a plus,'' said Stuckey, a fourth-year pro out of Clemson University. ''Sometimes, it's third-and-8, they call a 5-yard route, you've got to get those extra 3 yards. Anytime you can get yards after catches, it's something that the defense has to adjust to.

 

''It's something you've been doing all your life. You just go out there and have fun. You just make it difficult for guys to try to get a hand on you, and it always works in your team's favor.''

 

In Stuckey's case, his two big plays against the Rams led to quarterback Jake Delhomme's 6-yard touchdown pass to tight end Benjamin Watson and kicker Phil Dawson's 38-yard field goal. Stuckey, who plays slot receiver, now hopes to help the Browns' offense continue to evolve in a preseason game Saturday night against the Detroit Lions.

 

''He is very bright. He can play any of the positions,'' Browns coach Eric Mangini said. ''In the slot, he has very good short-area quickness and a very good feel for getting open versus man and zone coverage. I think he has got excellent hands, and like a lot of players that play in the slot, he can create some problems based on his ability to separate from a defender.''

 

Mangini knows Stuckey well from his coaching days with the New York Jets. In the 2007 NFL Draft, the Jets selected Stuckey in the seventh round (235th overall). Last season, Stuckey started three of the four games in which he played for the Jets. In October, they traded him to the Browns as part of the deal involving wide receiver Braylon Edwards.

 

 

 

At first, Stuckey wasn't happy about leaving the team with which he started his pro career.

 

''It was very difficult,'' Stuckey said of coming to Cleveland. ''It's not something that's gonna be easy. I fought through it, I'm comfortable now and I think that's the most important part. Not only [is] the football aspect of coming in, joining a whole bunch of new guys and trying to get accepted [difficult], but just off-the-field stuff. Where you're gonna live, getting your family here and a lot of things behind the scenes adds to the move as well.

 

''It's a business. Stuff like that happens. You just have to take it in stride. It's God's plan, so you can't question it. I trust God enough that he put me here for a reason. I just go out, accept it and work hard.''

 

This summer has been a bit different, though. Stuckey feels like he belongs.

 

''I think it's a great group of guys, a great locker room,'' he said. ''I think during camp this year everyone really came together, and it really started to feel like we're family.''

 

Delhomme is one of the players whom Stuckey is getting to know. A former high school quarterback in Georgia, Stuckey said he often understands what Delhomme and backup quarterback Seneca Wallace are thinking. It's still a work in progress, but their relationship is growing.

 

''He's very good,'' Delhomme said of Stuckey. ''Watching film from last year, it was a third-and-long, he caught it about 3 or 4 yards [short], made somebody miss, got a first down. The catch-and-run is huge in this game, especially when guys can do that, especially when you have pressure. If you can have a catch-and-run, that's always nice.''

 

As for those other storylines surrounding Robiskie, Massaquoi and Cribbs, Stuckey likes what he has seen this summer from the Browns' receivers as a whole.

 

''We have a lot of potential,'' he said. ''We just need to turn that into production this year. Everyone brings a different aspect to the table, and I think if we blend all those together, we'll really open some eyes this season.''

 

The Browns ranked last in the league in total offense and passing in 2009. Can their receivers really help turn it around?

 

''We're in the NFL for a reason,'' Stuckey said. ''We all can play. We all have confidence in ourselves. As long as we believe in ourselves, which is the key point, things will come together when the season starts.''

 

[SJ_Browns]

chansi is starting to make some nice catches for the browns. i notice he gets some good tds after catches , to. if he could do a little something that would be huge for our wr corp. i'm sure jake would appreciate it.