27-year old Lawrence Vickers and 24-year old Peyton Hillis will likely share the fullback job in 2010.  Vickers is the better blocker.  He played in 16 games (9 starts) for the Browns last season and he caught 8 passes for 27 yards (3.4 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He has now played in 60 games (32 starts) in his career with the Browns and he has carried the ball 28 times for 76 yards (2.7 ypc).  Vickers has also caught 37 passes for 256 yards (6.9 avg) with 3 TD grabs in his career.  Vickers will likely be on the field on most of the Browns running plays as he is a good lead blocker.

Peyton Hillis is a hybrid tailback/fullback.  He will likely get a lot of P.T. on passing downs for the Browns.  Hillis played in 14 games (2 starts) for the Broncos last season and he carried the ball 13 times for 54 yards (4.2 ypc) with 1 TD carry.  He also caught 4 passes for 19 yards (4.8 avg) last season.  Hillis has now played in 26 games (8 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 81 times for 397 yards (4.9 ypc) with 6 TD carries.  He has also caught 18 passes for 198 yards (11.0 avg) with 1 TD grab in his career.  If the Browns have injuries at RB Hillis could help out there as he was the Broncos’ leading rusher in 2008.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE BROWNS FBs in 2010:  A

The Cleveland Browns finally decided to give 27-year old Jerome Harrison his shot as a featured back the last three weeks of the 2009 season and he produced eye popping stats.  Harrison carried the ball 106 times for 561 yards (5.3 ypc) with 5 TD runs and he also caught 4 passes for 32 yards (8.0 avg) in those three starts.  Harrison played in 14 games (7 starts) overall last season in which he carried the ball 194 times for 862 yards (4.4 ypc) with 5 TD runs.  He also caught 34 passes for 220 yards (6.5 avg) with 2 TD grabs last year.  Harrison has not been heavily used in his first four years in the NFL so he has a lot of tread left on the tires.  Harrison has now played in 47 games (8 starts) in his four years with the Browns and he has carried the ball 271 times for 1,310 yards (4.8 ypc) with 6 TD runs.  Harrison has also caught 57 passes for 402 yards (7.1 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  I believe that Harrison can be a featured RB for the Browns but they must think a little different as they traded up for Montario Hardesty in the second round.  Harrison and Hardesty will likely share carries in 2010 as Hardesty is the better power runner while Harrison can break the long ones.

2nd year RBs Chris Jennings and James Davis will battle it out for the #3 RB on the Browns in 2010.  Jennings would appear to have the edge based on his play last season.  Jennings played in 9 games (1 start) for the Browns last season in which he carried the ball 63 times for 220 yards (3.5 ypc) with 1 TD grab.  He also caught 9 passes for 56 yards (6.2 avg) last season.  He has pretty good speed but he lacks the power to run much between the tackles.  James Davis had his rookie year cut short due to a shoulder injury.  He played in 2 games for the Browns as a rookie last season in which he carried the ball 9 times for 15 yards (1.7 ypc).  Davis also caught 4 passes for 5 yards (1.3 avg) last season.  But Davis was really impressive last pre-season and that will likely not be forgotten heading into training camp.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE BROWNS RBs in 2010:  B