LaMarr Woodley Out For Raiders; Big for Browns?
The Cleveland Browns game against the Oakland Raiders was seen as the second of three easy games for the team. Instead the Jacksonville debacle makes it a huge game, and concern for fans. The Raiders will be without LaMarr Woodley, likely for the season, making the Browns job just a little easier:
#Raiders DE LaMarr Woodley suffered a torn bicep in the game Sunday, source says. His season is believed to be over.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 23, 2014
Woodley, the former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker, has been on a downward trend for the past few seasons. Age has caught up to him but he was still a heady smart player.
This year, in his 8th season, Woodley moved over to the Raiders as a free agent. He played in all six of the Raiders games but only had five tackles with no other defensive stats of note. The Raiders had been playing him at defensive end instead of linebacker in their 4-3 defense but Woodley was not able to get pressure needed from that spot.
The Raiders will replace Woodley with youngsters C.J. Wilson and Benson Mayowa. Wilson is going into his fifth season while this is Mayowa’s second. They have combined for 13 tackles and 2 sacks, both Wilson’s, so far this season.
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Yet Woodley’s absence should help the Browns run game. Woodley was still able to anchor the outside and smart enough to not get beat on big plays. His experience will be missed on that side of the defensive line. The Browns have run to the offensive right more often than the left. For the Raiders that is right at the other veteran acquisition Justin Tuck. The Browns could flip a few run plays based on Woodley’s injury.
The Browns will take whatever they can get to beat the Raiders and right the ship. A win this week won’t dispel the doubters but it will get the team on the right side of the .500 mark going into another “winnable” game against Tampa Bay.
How big of an impact could Woodley’s injury have?