Flugel Posted January 7, 2017 Report Share Posted January 7, 2017 After countless bedtime stories about Paul Brown, Otto Graham and Jim Brown as well as all of the Pro Football Championships from 46-64, I began to see what my dad saw in this franchise. In particular, Leroy Kelly was nearing the end of his Hall of Fame career in 1973. So how did we follow that up? Well, here came the guy in my avatar. It was a 5'10" 190 lb RB out of Oklahoma named Greg Pruitt that began his career as an exciting kick off and punt returner with us in 1973. He evolved into one of the strongest guys in the league pound for pound with an acceleration gear to the extent he could score from anywhere on the field. Those 2 assets would become the reason the league would eventually have to do away with tear away jerseys. At the same point in time, my father started to take me and my brother to Cleveland games in the early-mid 70s when Greg Pruitt's career was taking off. I was hooked. Of course, watching Turkey Jones power slam Bradshaw in response to the precedent of Lambert hitting Sipe 10 yards out of bounds (well after the whistle) in our first 4-4.5 hour road trip to Cleveland didn't hurt. As football trends have come and gone, do you know the 1 thing that has never changed in all my years of following this franchise? The Great Lake climate/weather from late October through January. This is probably a gigantic reason the best Head Coach of all time (Paul Brown) always made sure his QB had a strong running game to lean on. From 1946-1955 Cleveland participated in 10 consecutive Pro Football Championships in a row while winning 7 of those before winning it again in 1964. To the subject heading of this thread, the running game reeled me in as a kid with a confident belief that a strong running game and a solid defense could get us back to our winning ways and make the QB position way less impossible. While Greg Pruitt was my favorite RB - he was also a big reason #34 has become my favorite number in Cleveland. Why? RBs like Greg Pruitt, Kevin Mack and Isaiah Crowell seemed like guys nobody saw coming prior to putting up some very efficient stats in spite of it. Needless to say, #34 changes my football wood factor from balsa to sequoia. While #32 is very special, it all took place before I became a fan with the reality nobody will ever wear it again. Not to get lost in the numbers, but the tradition of excellence at RB in Cleveland has shaken out like this: Marion Motley #76 & 36, 1946-1953, 828 att 4720 yds 31 TD 5.7 ypc Bobby Mitchell #49, 1958-1961, 423 att 2297 yds 16 TD 5.4 ypc Jim Brown #32,1957-1965, 2359 att 12,312 yds 106 TD 5.2 ypc Leroy Kelly #44, 1964-1973, 1727 att 7274 yds 74 TD 4.2 ypc Greg Pruitt #34, 1973-1981, 1158 att 5496 yds 25 TD 4.7 ypc Mike Pruitt #43, 1976-1984, 1593 att 6540 yds 47 TD 4.1 ypc Earnest Byner #44 & 21,1984-1988 & 1994-1995, 862 att 3364 yds 27 TD 3.9 ypc Kevin Mack #34, 1985-1993, 1291 att 5123 yds 46 TD 4.0 ypc Leroy Hoard #33, 1990-1995, 550 att 2203 yds 10 TD 4.0 ypc Isaiah Crowell #34, 2014-present, 531 att 2265 yds 19 TD 4.3 ypc They always say in order to know where one is going he must first understand where he has been. A lot of those RBs above were important parts of playoff teams we enjoyed. While the supply of the right QB has yet to meet our demand in Cleveland since after the 80s, we have the ability to strengthen our defense and improve our line and running game in the next draft to the extent winning is doable for whoever starts next at QB here. Looking at our climate and winning tradition, I say run it man! We have another promising RB wearing the #34 today with a lot of opportunity to improve the blocking in front of him. He was a big help to getting us off to a 7-4 start in 2014 and we saw what he did in spite of injuries to our 2016 line. We can also improve the caliber of veteran QB in front of Crow for a better outlook in 2017. Stay tuned... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion Posted January 7, 2017 Report Share Posted January 7, 2017 Well, I grew up watching #32, and Kelly, and the rest. And I grew up here in New England. Ya know what though, It's not the 'old days' any more. Kids grow up now wanting to play defense. (not like in the old days where if you weren't good enough to play offense, you played defense). In TODAY'S NFL, you have to pass the ball. Being able to run is something needed, but if you can't pass the ball, the kids who grew up wanting to play defense will shut your run game right off. Like I said, I live in New England. We're supposed to have a blizzard tomorrow. We get them. Every year. And the Patriots have set passing records in them. The run is secondary in today's NFL. As Joe Banner said, It's Pass & Rush The Passer. (I loved the two Pruitts) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flugel Posted January 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2017 Well, I grew up watching #32, and Kelly, and the rest. And I grew up here in New England. Ya know what though, It's not the 'old days' any more. Kids grow up now wanting to play defense. (not like in the old days where if you weren't good enough to play offense, you played defense). In TODAY'S NFL, you have to pass the ball. Being able to run is something needed, but if you can't pass the ball, the kids who grew up wanting to play defense will shut your run game right off. Like I said, I live in New England. We're supposed to have a blizzard tomorrow. We get them. Every year. And the Patriots have set passing records in them. The run is secondary in today's NFL. As Joe Banner said, It's Pass & Rush The Passer. (I loved the two Pruitts) When you think about it Orion, you've always had to pass the ball dating back to Otto-matic Graham pioneering the West Coast Offense in the Mid-west. Having said that, the success of it (via playaction roll-out's/bootlegs/Waggle passes) was predicated off the running game or threat of it. Cleveland's climate does not cooperate with the trend to go pass happy in lieu of the running game. As much as everyone continues to overhype Green Bay for it's passing game with Aaron Rodgers - do you know when the only time they won a Superbowl with him was? A year they finished with a as a wild card with 9-7 record which meant they had to win all oftheir playoff games on the road (beginning indoors at ATL). Whenever they've had homefield advantage for their pass happy attack via Aaron Rodgers, they've gagged unless they change that fate this year. My point is we've had a League MVP at QB where windchills well below zero grounded our passing attack as much or more than the Oakland Raiders were capable of doing. I think Dan Fouts ran into similar weather in Cincitucky in another post season where weather buried game plans of the stronger passing attack, I say while the supply of football messiahs at QB aren't cooperating with our demand, why not try to make Cleveland an easier place to play QB behind a stronger running game and a more efficient defense? Our choice looks to be go with what's doable or experience another episode of square pegging a round hole... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tour2ma Posted January 7, 2017 Report Share Posted January 7, 2017 Yup... times have changed, but to win in this league a team still needs to establish an ability to run. Be it to set up PA or control the clock keeping the ball away from stronger opposing Offenses or ice a game... sometimes literally in the cold... you have to be able to run. No better example this year than GB. Starks is out. Lacy goes down. The Pack swoons... even with Aaron The Great double-checking his ass off, they swoon. Then up pops a chunky little WR who emerges through OJT and all is back on track. The only team I can recall thriving through a season averaging under 100 ypg are the Pats. Twice... In 2015 they posted a mere 1400+ yards and went 12-4. And in 2003 they posted 1500+ and went 14-2... and won the SB. But it's just an extreme for a team that I think has only exceeded 2000 yards in team rushing 2 or 3 times in the Brady era. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flugel Posted January 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2017 Yup... times have changed, but to win in this league a team still needs to establish an ability to run. Be it to set up PA or control the clock keeping the ball away from stronger opposing Offenses or ice a game... sometimes literally in the cold... you have to be able to run. No better example this year than GB. Starks is out. Lacy goes down. The Pack swoons... even with Aaron The Great double-checking his ass off, they swoon. Then up pops a chunky little WR who emerges through OJT and all is back on track. The only team I can recall thriving through a season averaging under 100 ypg are the Pats. Twice... In 2015 they posted a mere 1400+ yards and went 12-4. And in 2003 they posted 1500+ and went 14-2... and won the SB. But it's just an extreme for a team that I think has only exceeded 2000 yards in team rushing 2 or 3 times in the Brady era. Well said Tour! What I said about weather never changing throughout all of football's trends has also held true over the years with Dome teams struggling on the road in the post season. Detroit has lost something like 8 playoff games in a row. Drew Brees took his high powered passing game out to face Seattle's 7-9 football team QBed by David Whitehurst in the rain for an embarrassing defeat. Then there was also the Houston Oilers and/or Denny Green's high powered indoor passing game in Minnesota with quick post season exits. Changing from dry footballs and field surfaces indoors to wet, cold and slippery outdoors can be drastic enough before adding wind off a Great Lake front. Could explain part of the reason the only SB Aaron Rodgers won followed a 9-7 record where they had to go on the road to get to the SB as opposed to doing it in unfavorable frigid conditions that don't favor leaning on the passing game. Another example that comes to mind about the importance of a running game is the TN Titans improving to 9-7 in 2016 from the worst record in the NFL with only 2 wins in 2015. If anyone remembers the TN team we beat in 2015, our defense sacked Mariota something like 7 or 8 times without any worries about defending a running game. So, what changed specifically? TN traded for RB DeMarco Murray. Then, they traded back in round 1 and selected Right Tackle Jack Conklin out of Michigan State before drafting RB Derrick Henry in round 2. Aside from improving the right side of a running game, Jack Conklin also prevented sacks off the edge from well respected edge rushers in Denver and KC. I just heard on the radio yesterday that he was named All Pro as a rookie. In the process, Mariota was able to improve his TD-INT ratio of 19 TDs to 10 INTs in 2015 to 26 TDs to 9 INTs in 2016. That's how you help a young/lesser experienced QB morph from game manager to something more. It's also how you can equip him with playaction perks throughout the period he's waiting for the NFL game to slow down to his comfort level. The last time we won 10 games was in 2007 when we had the Baltimore pronounced dead legs of Jamal Lewis rushing for 1304 yards at 4.4 yards per carry (including 9 rushing TDs) which also marked the only time Derek Anderson looked the part of a starting QB with 29 TD passes in 15 starts. Even though DA's Cinderella story had an early midnight - rookie LT Joe Thomas and savvy veteran FA Guard Eric Steinbach upgraded the blind side of QB from Kevin Shaffer and Joe Andruzzi. Perhaps the biggest pleasant surprise that year came via the acquisition of Center Hank Fraley, who was 2 years removed from starting in Philly. This guy not only brought experience, intelligence and leadership; but he was one of few Centers I've seen sporting the ability to pull and lead sweeps (especially in his early-mid 30s). It was a fun season here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flugel Posted January 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2017 Topic relevance? Why not control what we can control by making this an easier place to play QB. For example, we can start by addressing improving our defense in round 1 so we're not always down 7-0 about 2-3 minutes after the coin toss every week. We also have 2 OGs with very serious foot injuries with an unpredictable prognosis ahead. I think we can land a good one anywhere from round 2-3 as well as bringing in an experienced vet FA like Chance Warmack who hasn't played up to snuff due to nagging injuries preventing him from doing so. He finally had surgery to correct an injury that has frustrated him so he could be tempting with an agenda to prove why he was once drafted as high as he was. No reason we can't set things up like we did back in 2007. Only this time we'll commit early to defensive impact to keep scoreboard doable for whoever plays QB here in 2017. Not to come of sounding like Seymore Crack - but if we have a little more luck with injuries, we're not as far from doable football as the 2016 season looked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tour2ma Posted January 7, 2017 Report Share Posted January 7, 2017 Agree on the injury impact on both the 2016 season and it creating the need for an insurance policy for the OL. Don't think I ever did a write up on Warmack, but I remember only being impressed with his run blocking. Just did not seem to have the feet for PassPro. That was years ago, however... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion Posted January 7, 2017 Report Share Posted January 7, 2017 I say while the supply of football messiahs at QB aren't cooperating with our demand, why not try to make Cleveland an easier place to play QB behind a stronger running game and a more efficient defense? Our choice looks to be go with what's doable or experience another episode of square pegging a round hole... Roger that. If we just can't get the QB now, then bolster the D, OL, running game, etc. I just am not big on building a team around cataclysmic weather...when severe conditions affect us (Browns, Patriots, etc.) on game afternoon so rarely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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