Cleveland Browns: 4 things to do during the bye week
By Thomas Moore
Nov 5, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Marvin Jones (82) avoids a tackle from Cleveland Browns strong safety Ibraheim Campbell (30) in the second half at Paul Brown Stadium. The Bengals won 31-10. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Johnny Manziel is not the only player that should see increased playing time the rest of the season.
As long as his hamstring is healed, Ibraheim Campbell should be the starting safety next to Tashaun Gipson. If he needs a break, then Donte Whitner can be the backup, but we don’t need to see Jordan Poyer anymore at the safety position.
“If you look back to the preseason and going into this year, the two groups we thought were going to be anchors for us were the offensive line and the secondary, and both have underperformed for a variety of reasons up to this point.” – Head coach Mike Pettine
If Joe Haden continues to have problems with injuries, or if Tramon Williams should go down, then the cornerback rotation should be selected from Pierre Desir, Charles Gaines and Justin Gilbert. There is simply no reason that Johnson Bademosi should ever be on the field outside of special teams.
Along the front seven, figure out a way to get Xavier Cooper and Nate Orchard on the field as much as possible. In the case of Cooper, if that means Randy Starks has to see more time on the sidelines, everyone can probably live with that.
After all, the defense is currently ranked No. 29 in the league in yards allowed per game, fourth in points allowed per game, has given up 35 pass plays of 20-plus yards (tied for sixth-most in the league), and has given up 11 runs of 20-plus yards (tied for the most in the NFL).
Even if things got worse by playing so many inexperienced players, would anyone be able to notice?
On offense, outside of Manziel, let’s see E.J. Bibb instead of Jim Dray, who is bringing nothing to the field. It’s nice that Dray is on the team for his blocking, but when the Browns are only running for 3.3 yards per carry, how much of a difference will it make if Bibbs is on the field instead of Dray?
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