Cleveland Browns Player Power Rankings

by Chris Pokorny on Oct 20, 2007 1:31 PM EDT in General News

Heading into the ever-so-exciting bye week, fans actually have something to cheer for this weekend still: the Cleveland Indians. I'll be rooting for the Tribe to take down the Boston Red Sox in Game 6 tonight at Fenway Park.

With the bye week here, I felt it was an appropriate time to rank the Browns players this year. The rankings are based on a few variables, including personal preference, this season's performance, and injuries. Let me know which rankings you agree and/or disagree with.

Player Power Rankings
Rank	Player	Comment
1	Braylon Edwards	Edwards has silenced all of his critics, becoming the third overall pick the Browns were expecting.
2	Derek Anderson	After taking over the starting role in Week 2, Anderson has single-handedly convinced fans to want to wait on Brady Quinn.
3	Kellen Winslow	Playing through injuries again, Winslow is again among the league leaders in yardage among tight ends.
4	Eric Steinbach	Shaking off an injury in the preseason, Steinbach's presence can be expressed by the Browns' success and the Bengals' struggles.
5	Joe Thomas	The Browns would have regretted passing up Thomas with the third overall pick. No concerns about the most important position on the line.
6	Joshua Cribbs	His electric kick returns compensate for the defense's constant misfortunes.
7	Kevin Shaffer	Despite having Ryan Tucker cutting into his time, Shaffer's adjustment to right tackle has been fairly unobstructive.
8	Leigh Bodden	The first defensive player to crack the list, most of the plays Bodden gives up stems from a lack of pressure. Leads team with three picks.
9	Joe Jurevicius	Anderson must have studied how the Seattle Seahawks used Jurevicius back in their Super Bowl season.
10	Antwaan Peek	He's tipped balls, pressured quarterbacks, and made open-field tackles. Unfortunately, he can't do it all himself.
11	Hank Fraley	Anchoring the middle of the line, I don't even recall one penalty or blown play by the veteran center this season.
12	Seth McKinney	Although I consider him the "weak link" of the offensive line, that doesn't mean he hasn't held up his position well.
13	Jamal Lewis	Injuries have held him back; a 5.0 average is something to look forward to after the bye.
14	Kamerion Wimbley	He's on pace to get a fair amount of sacks still, but when will he contribute in stopping the run too?
15	Phil Dawson	Consistently making field goals, but don't his kickoffs seem shorter than the first half of last year?
16	D'Qwell Jackson	Leading the team in tackles, Jackson is starting to tackle better over the past few games.
17	Lawrence Vickers	Besides blocking well, his past few short-yardage attempts have resulted in first downs.
18	Robaire Smith	By far our best defensive linemen, but he's meant to make his impact with better linemen around him.
19	Eric Wright	Second on the team in tackles, Wright's coverage has progressively been getting tighter.
20	Jason Wright	We needing a running back to fill in if Lewis got hurt, and Wright did a fundamentally sound job overall.
21	Daven Holly	If the Browns could get pressure, Holly would probably lead our team in interceptions.
22	Willie McGinest	He has only just returned, but McGinest gives the Browns the flexibility of more rotations at outside linebacker.
23	Ryan Tucker	Also just returning, Tucker provides the Browns with one of the better backup guards/tackles in the NFL.
24	Leon Williams	He's been all over the field, but I'm still looking for tackles in the backfield rather than up the field.
25	Dave Zastudil	Barring his last game, we all know what Zastudil is capable of doing.
26	Ryan Pontbriand	Ranking the long snapper is hard to do, so I just slapped him a little below the middle of the pack.
27	Sean Jones	Without question, Jones is my disappointment of the year. He has been overmatched by too many below average tight ends.
28	Brodney Pool	I expected Pool to struggle, which is why I regret Brian Russell being let go and Gary Baxter not being ready to return.
29	Jerome Harrison	After just one game, Harrison showed the production he's capable of to change the pace of the ground game.
30	Tim Carter	He made a few nice grabs against New England, but I won't forget all of his drops prior to that.
31	Andra Davis	Yawn
32	Chaun Thompson	Why the Browns don't bring Thompson in the game to blitz more often is beyond me. I'd like to see him replace Davis inside at times.
33	Darnell Dinkins	Special teams is his game -- notice Ginn almost had a TD return when he wasn't in the game due to injury?
34	Lennie Friedman	After filling in relatively well during the preseason, I'm still confident in him being able to step in if needed.
35	Steve Heiden	This isn't a diss towards Heiden -- he's just not as important to our gameplan as he used to be.
36	Orpheus Roye	Wishing for a healthy Orpheus Roye is like wishing for Joey Harrington to be an NFL quarterback.
37	Shaun Smith	Youth, youth, youth. His hype from training camp really hasn't panned out much.
38	Ethan Kelley	He's started a few games over Ted Washington. I didn't really notice.
39	Ted Washington	He's been benched a few games to start off. Can we please get a nose tackle next year?
40	Simon Fraser	I wouldn't be too surprised if Fraser gets waived at some point to see what Melila Purcell or Chase Pittman can do.
41	Kenny Wright	At least we're not forced to play him as much as we did Ralph Brown last season.
42	Kris Griffin	Another case where it's hard to rank a special teams linebacker.
43	David McMillan	As good as he looks at linebacker in the preseason, we never actually play him during games.
44	Brandon McDonald	I almost forgot he was on the roster. I didn't even know he made his first two tackles of the season this past week.
45	Nat Dorsey	He's only kept around because he's "capable" of playing left tackle if needed.
46	Charles Ali	I haven't heard his name called once, even on special teams.
47	Mike Adams	As bad as Pool and Jones have played, Adams seems to give up a touchdown every time he's in the game.
Non-Ranked Players
Rank	Player	Comment
NA	Brady Quinn	It's not out of the question that Quinn not only sits this year, but the following year.
NA	Ken Dorsey	Having Dorsey on the roster as a mentor is certainly better than keeping Frye around.
NA	Isaac Sowells	He'll remain inactive unless the Browns take some blows at the guard positions.
NA	Travis Wilson	How much longer will the Browns keep him on the sideline? Is Carter really that much better than him?
NA	Gary Baxter	I still anxiously await Baxter's return to the field.
NA	LeCharles Bentley	After what the offensive line has done, I'm not so anxious about Bentley.
NA	Louis Leonard	Mulligan all-around.

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Comments

Re: Cleveland Browns Player Power Rankings

I think Eric Wright should be ranked much closer to Leigh Bodden somewhere maybe near the 11/12 slot. Seems like the subpar safety play might be factoring against him but this kid is the real deal. He has great cover skills and is toward the top of the team in tackles; he is one of those guys that seems to be in every play. I also seem to remember him covering Randy Moss pretty well.

by vegasbrown on Oct 21, 2007 11:22 AM EDT reply actions

Re: Cleveland Browns Player Power Rankings

He's definitely started to play better over the past few weeks. I suppose the thing I'm waiting for is the "big play".

Example: Bodden had a big interception this past week against the Dolphins because it was early, setting the offense up with a quick score. Sure, the defense ended up giving up most of the lead at first, but the cushion was huge.

Wright also had an interception in the game, and although it was still important, it really wasn't as significant as Bodden's.

I the end, due to his progression, I should have ranked him about four spots higher probably.

by Chris Pokorny on Oct 22, 2007 5:32 PM EDT up reply actions

Re: Cleveland Browns Player Power Rankings

I miss Punty McOneBar.

by Zorgon on Oct 21, 2007 9:06 PM EDT reply actions

Re: Cleveland Browns Player Power Rankings

I'd have Peek higher and Carter lower, but other than that I pretty much agree overall.

Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.

by BringBackKosar on Oct 21, 2007 9:15 PM EDT reply actions

Re: Cleveland Browns Player Power Rankings

Must say, these rankings are somewhat impossible to do--- just don't know how you rank the 3rd string tailback vs. the punter. Anyways, after looking at it by position, I have some thoughts:

Bodden is getting a pass from a lot of people, I think, because of past success. He has gone from top tier in the league to average, in my opinion. So, I'd rank him lower.

Jones and Pool are probably to blame for a lot of the defense's struggles, without a real alternative (I agree that Adams looks bad in small doses) I don't know what else to constructively suggest unless its just prayer for Baxter's fast healing.

I don't think the defensive line is as bad as you make it out sometimes. Washington is good at what he does, but he is a waste if there is any chance that the offense will pass the ball. D Lineman in a 3-4 are just not going that much visible impact. Roye is a good player, but old and hurt, the Smiths are solid and I like Fraser. But, they all just have to occupy lineman...

So the linebackers can make plays. This area is very disappointing to me. Peek and Wimbley do an alright job of pressure, but the schemes should let them shine more than they are. Wimbley has one move that is so good it might get us 10 sacks again this year, but if he could complement that with some stunts, spins, moving him to the other side, etc. we could be looking at a pro bowler. McGinist is good for depth, but doesn't have the athleticism to be a true pass rusher anymore. Jackson and Davis, and even Williams look very small and get run over too often. They look like a Division 6 high school team playing a Division 1 school, lucky to stop someone after hanging on their ankles for 5 yards. ick. Undersized.

On offense, I agree with most of what you said. Still think Wright is closer to Lewis than you might realize. On the line, I'd have Fraley ahead of Shaffer. Dorsey's existence is odd- sure he "can play" left tackle, but if Thomas went down for a play or two, wouldn't it be more likely to move Shaffer over tehre and put Tucker at right tackle? Anyways...

GO BROWNS>

by Ryan Kelsey on Oct 22, 2007 4:24 PM EDT reply actions

Re: Cleveland Browns Player Power Rankings

Yep, the complications with player rankings are much more difficult to deal with than doing just regular team power rankings. As you stated: how could I logically decide where to rank a third-string running back who didn't receive more playing time in comparison to a punter, who is also important but not necessarily a guy who makes or breaks your team?

Bodden hasn't had his greatest year, but I've continued to attribute that to instances where the defensive line gives the opposing quarterback way too much time.

The problem with our defensive line is that we have too many individual players that are "ok". We have guys who would be solid "if" the rest of the line was above average. I want above average guys, and I'm sure that's reflected in my rankings towards the D-line.

by Chris Pokorny on Oct 22, 2007 5:37 PM EDT up reply actions