Cleveland Browns: 3 things that might make us mad despite solid win

So where was D’Ernest Johnson versus the Arizona Cardinals?

He was riding the bench, that’s where he was.

The readers of Dawg Pound Daily had been assured that despite Nick Chubb’s injury and despite Kareem Hunt being less than 100 percent healthy, the Browns had this awesome third-string running back named D’Ernest Johnson who was going to get some carries, and Demetric Felton was going to get his firsr NFL carries also. Your humble correspondent wrote all this up in a tidy article in Dawg Pound Daily.

This article extolled the virtues of both Johnson and Felton. Johnson came into Thursday Night’s game, with a small data sample, but nevertheless had a lifetime rushing average of over five yards per carry. That should have been more than enough to justify a few carries, especially when the big dawg — Kareem Hunt in this case — was not at100 percent.

Boy, this fan looked really dumb for writing that article, as DEJ received no carries at all until Hunt’s injured calf muscle was severely aggravated during garbage time. Felton didn’t get a chance even at that point.

Well, why not? What would have been so terrible about letting D’Ernest have some carries and taking some of the load away from Hunt? Did DEJ have a tummy ache or something? If that was the case, what was the issue with Felton? Why have these players on the roster if the team was so afraid to use them versus Arizona?

Johnson — and Felton, for that matter — proved that he’s worthy of carrying the football against Denver, but too late for Arizona. We should be okay with 6.64 yards per carry from a running back. One of the stats this fan likes to use is total yards from scrimmage per total snaps (TYPS).

If you figure there are five position players and a mediocre team averages around 350 total yards per game and 70 snaps per game, then 1.00 TYPS is a decent average for an NFL player.
Felton had 13 rushing yards and 21 receiving yards in 22 snaps, or 1.33 TYPS. That’s very acceptable for a change-of-pace back.

Johnson had 146 rushing yards and 22 receiving yards for 166 total yards from scrimmage (TYFS). He appeared in 49 snaps out of 71 total offensive plays on Thursday night. His figure-of-merit is thus 3.38 TYPS. That is the level that Nick Chubb plays at; i.e., a one-man wrecking crew, at least, for one game.

If the Browns would have allowed Johnson and Felton to have some meaningful carries versus Arizona, is it too far of a stretch to suggest that perhaps Hunt might not have aggravated that calf muscle pull?

This is not second-guessing or 20-20 hindsight. To emphasize the point, the article in question was published before the Arizona game, not after.

So yeah, that was rather maddening, especially after the Arizona article told all about how good D’Ernest Johnson is, and how Felton deserved a few carries. A rookie situational running back is a much more viable proposition than a rookie every-down player. This is a perfect role for Felton.

Why not use him?

Finally, in desperation, coach Stefanski and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt must have read Dawg Pound Daily and found out that they had these good players on the roster. Hey! Why not use these players against the Broncos, especially Johnson?

The same DPD article also discussed fullback Johnny Stanton in detail. At the risk of being immodest, here is the exact quotation:

"“We may also see some additional plays involving new fullback Johnny Stanton to give an additional boost to the running game. All season long, Andy Janovich has struggled to get playing time because the tight ends have been so good it has been difficult to get one off the field in favor of a fullback…It’s possible that the Browns will use Stanton differently than they used Janovich, based on the perception that Stanton is more dangerous as a receiver. Let’s keep an eye on this situation as it unfolds during the game.” — Cleveland Browns: D’Ernest Johnson, Demetric Felton ready to carry the ball vs Arizona, DPD October 16, 2021."

Boy, did we nail that, in all honesty. Johnny Stanton, of course, caught a touchdown pass for the Browns against Denver and four touches for a modest 12 yards. Janovich has two touches for the year for zero net yards and one score but is a strong blocker.

The Browns evidently figured out that they screwed up. This time, they even brought up Johnny Kelly, the fifth-string tailback, and got him a few carries. He did fine, also.

However, something else that upset this observer is the apparent lack of success with receiving fundamentals by the top receiver on the team.