Tag: Jerome Ford

Fantasy football outlook: Cleveland Browns running backs

Dissecting all that is Cleveland’s stable of running backs.

Last year’s plan for the Cleveland Browns offense was for Nick Chubb to compete for the NFL rushing title. Coming off a 300-carry, 1,500-yard season in 2022, Chubb was expected to follow that up in a big way.

He lasted 46 seconds into the second quarter of Week 2 when he suffered a catastrophic left knee injury … again.

In 2015 at Georgia, Chubb tore is his left PCL, MCL and LCL and dislocated his knee. Eight years later, he tore his left MCL and meniscus and had a second surgery to repair his left ACL. Chubb has officially run out of left knee ligaments.

The Browns may believe that Chubb won’t be ready for this season. After Chubb’s injury, the team traded for Pierre Strong and signed free agents D’Onta Foreman and Nyheim Hines in the offseason. That stinks of worry.

Browns RB Jerome Ford back at practice with newfound dad strength

Congrats, Jerome!

Running back Jerome Ford hit the practice field for the first time on Monday after missing the first week of training camp. Ford, however, was not hurt or holding out, but missed due to the birth of a child.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski broke the news, saying, “He’s got a little bundle of joy is the good news, but I’ll let him share the details.”

We will have to wait and hear from Ford himself to get more information on the child, but the third-year running back gets nothing but congratulations from us here at Browns Wire.

After starting 15 games a year ago due to the injury to superhuman running back Nick Chubb, Ford will be looking for an uptick in production and efficiency this season while the Browns continue to wait on their star to return to the field.

He now has that patented dad strength, so do not sleep on Ford to put up better numbers than he did a year ago with the right opportunity.

Poll: Who will lead the Browns in rushing yards this season?

Will someone other than Chubb lead Cleveland in rushing yards?

It is unclear when the Cleveland Browns will get Nick Chubb on the field in 2024 after he suffered a gruesome injury against the Steelers last year. This is the second time Chubb has torn that knee, and a timeline for his return hasn’t been given yet.

Even if Chubb starts early in the season, the Browns will likely limit his touches early to let him ease his way back into things and keep him healthy for the playoff push. So there could be a different leading rusher than Chubb this year, and it will likely be last year’s leading rusher, Jerome Ford.

Ford had a solid season last year with 813 rushing yards, averaging four yards per carry. On the other hand, Nyheim Hines and power back D’Onta Foreman, who will compete for carries even when Chubb returns, are the other talented players added.

I believe it will be a running back by committee, and in turn, it’s hard to predict who will lead the team in rushing this year. If I had to choose, I think it would be Jerome Ford again, but Nick Chubb would give him a run for his money late in the season.

Every NFL team’s rushing leader from the 2023 regular season

Here is every team’s leading rusher from the 2023 campaign

A Carolina Panther led the entire NFL in rushing this past season!

Oh, wait . . . our apologies . . .

A former Carolina Panther led the entire NFL in rushing this past season!  So, congratulations to Christian McCaffrey, who is also just days away from playing on the game’s biggest stage.

Now, as we continue to put a bow on the year, let’s look back at each team’s leading rusher from the 2023 regular season.

Studs and Duds: Which Browns players put on a show in primetime vs. the Jets

Joe Flacco and Ronnie Hickman Jr. led the Browns to a win over the Jets. Who else stood out?

The Cleveland Browns secured a playoff berth in a 37-20 thrashing of the New York Jets. The game was a story of two halves. The team was laser-focused heading into the prime-time game.  

The Browns dominated the Jets across the board in the first half. In the second half, the team tried to secure their lead and protect their players from future injuries ahead of the playoffs.

Overall, the Browns played some of their best football on Thursday night. The offense was [anyclip-media thumbnail=”undefined” playlistId=”undefined” content=”dW5kZWZpbmVk”][/anyclip-media]more explosive than ever, generating a lot of big plays for the unit. The defense continued its domination by shutting down the Jets for most of the game. The team is playing its best football of the season right before the playoffs. 

The Browns need to carry this momentum into the playoffs. The teams that win Super Bowls aren’t always the most talented. Sometimes, they’re the teams that play their best at the end of the season. Hopefully, the Browns can find themselves in that latter group as injuries have decimated a talented roster, but haven’t robbed the team of their fighting spirit.

Here are the Studs and Duds in the Browns’ win over the Jets.

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Joe Flacco stays red-hot, finds Jerome Ford again to put Browns up 34-14 vs. Jets in the first half

The Browns are throttling the Jets, thanks to Joe Flacco and Jerome Ford

The rout is on for the second straight week for the Cleveland Browns. Dismantling the New York Jets on primetime television, quarterback Joe Flacco has stayed hot against his former team, again finding running back Jerome Ford for their second connection through the air in the first half.

Heading into halftime, Flacco has already racked up 296 yards and three touchdowns through the air against his former team. He does have an interception that turned into a touchdown the other way, however. Other than that singular mistake though, Flacco is playing a spotless football game.

Ford is having his best game of the season as well, as he already sits with 116 total yards (59 on the ground, 57 as a receiver) and two touchdowns in the first half of this game.

With the chance to clinch a spot in the playoffs and the fifth seed in the AFC with a win, the Browns look energized and dominant in this one. They hold a 34-17 lead at halftime over the 6-9 Jets.

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Browns jump out in front as Joe Flacco connects with Jerome Ford for 6 vs. Jets

The Browns are out to a motivated start as Joe Flacco finds Jerome Ford for a touchdown on the opening drive against the Jets.

The Cleveland Browns strike first against the New York Jets! As running back Nick Chubb got the stadium ignited, quarterback Joe Flacco then led a touchdown drive on the opening drive of the game, capping it off with a toss to running back Jerome Ford.

On the drive, Flacco stayed hot as he connected on three-of-four through the air for 71 yards. He found tight end David Njoku twice, who the Browns will need to step up with Amari Cooper out, for 64 yards on the opening drive.

Ford had a nice opening drive as well, rushing for 14 yards on three carries, then capping his drive off with that touchdown catch. Without Cooper, the Browns will need their running game, which has been non-existent over recent weeks, to kick it up a notch.

Ford seems up to the challenge in this one.

Looking to clinch their first playoff berth in three years, the Browns appear ready in this one.

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Jingle Bells ring: Jerome Ford finds the endzone to put Browns up early vs. Texans

The Browns have an early lead on the Texans as Jerome Ford finds the endzone on the opening drive of the game.

Fresh off of a deep ball from quarterback Joe Flacco to wide receiver Amari Cooper for a massive 53-yard gain, the Cleveland Browns wasted no time taking a 7-0 start over the Houston Texans. Just three plays later, running back Jerome Ford was able to take a direct snap out wide behind right tackle James Hudson III for a touchdown.

The Browns have found success pitching the ball back to their quarterback out of these wildcat looks this season, and this time they faked the pitch, leaving Ford a clear path to the endzone. The Browns ran the ball twice on the drive, both times coming out of wildcat looks as they looked to jumpstart a subpar run game.

The defense forced a Houston punt, so Flacco and company will look to continue to drive the ball down the throat of the Texans. Can the Browns all but punch their ticket to the playoffs with a win today?

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Fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em: Week 15

Check out these starts and sits for fantasy football in Week 15.

The fantasy football playoffs commenced Thursday night in the majority of leagues. Hopefully, you didn’t have to play against the Las Vegas Raiders defense.

The Week 15 slate offers some intriguing matchups with a handful of games bringing some worry as the playoffs begin. Finding the sweet spot between trusting the process and avoiding overreaction is the key over the next three weeks.

Now, it’s time to take a look at how we can help you get the fantasy playoffs started on the right foot.

Doing start/sit articles can be a little challenging. The players featured on the list below should not be taken as “must starts” or “must sits.” Instead, these are more suggestions on what we believe managers should do with fringe players heading into the weekend. The choice is ultimately up to the manager.

Just because a player is listed as a “start” doesn’t mean he should be put in the lineup over the secure, bona fide studs. Vice versa for the “sits.” If there’s no better option on the waiver wire or the bench, a manager shouldn’t automatically sit the player. That’s why these can be tricky waters to navigate.

Feel free to ask any specific start/sit questions via X, formerly Twitter, (@KevinHickey11), or check out our start/bench list for Week 15:

Browns RB Jerome Ford has been both explosive and inconsistent at the same time

Ford has had several big plays and several negative plays

It is crazy to think about how long ago running back Nick Chubb was lost to the season for the Cleveland Browns. Second-year running back Jerome Ford has been thrust into the starting role and at times has shown some major promise. He also seems to have gotten better as the year went down and you can not question rather Ford runs hard. And the analytics community has backed that up.

According to running back efficiency data from SumerSports Ford has one of the best explosive play rates but also one of the highest negative run rates as well. That has been the story of the Browns’ running game since Nick Chubb went down.

It seems like with Ford it’s routinely a 10-yard or more run or a run of two yards or less, it’s something you just don’t see very often. Ford lacks the vision to see cutback lanes consistently but if he can get that fixed he can be a solid running back starter.

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