It’s hard to evaluate the QBs of the Cleveland Browns.  They started three guys on the O-Line that should have been backups, they didn’t have much of a running game and they didn’t have any good WRs.  It should come as no surprise that 24-year old QB Colt McCoy didn’t improve much in 2011.  He played in 13 games (all starts) for the Browns last year and he completed 265 of 463 passes (57.2%) for 2,733 yards with 14 TD passes and 11 INTs (74.6 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 61 times for 212 yards (3.5 ypc) last year.  The Browns were 4-9 (30.8%) in McCoy’s starts at QB last year.  McCoy has now played in 21 games (all starts) for the Browns in his first two years with the team and he has completed 400 of 685 passes (58.4%) for 4,309 yards with 20 TD passes and 20 INTs (74.5 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 89 times for 348 yards (3.9 ypc) with 1 TD run so far in his NFL career.  Colt McCoy is 6-15 (28.6%) as the starting QB of the Cleveland Browns.

31-year old Seneca Wallace started the last three games of the 2011 season for the Browns and they were 0-3 in those games.  Wallace played in 6 games (3 starts) for the Browns last year and he completed 55 of 107 passes (51.4%) for 567 yards with 2 TD passes and 2 INTs (65.4 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 7 times for 70 yards (10.0 ypc) last year.  Wallace has now played in 62 games (21 starts) so far in his NFL career and he has completed 452 of 764 passes (59.2%) for 4,808 yards with 31 TD passes and 18 INTs (81.5 QB Rating).  Wallace has also carried the ball 68 times for 293 yards (4.3 ypc) with 1 TD run so far in his NFL career.  Wallace is now an identical 6-15 (28.6%) in the NFL as a starting QB, just like Colt McCoy.

The Browns have placed 30-year old TE Ben Watson on the Injured Reserve List due to a concussion.  Watson played in 13 games (11 starts) for the Browns this year and he caught 37 passes for 410 yards (11.1 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  He has played in 29 games (27 starts) in his two years with the Browns and he has caught 105 passes for 1,173 yards (11.2 avg) with 5 TD grabs.  TE will now fall to 26-year old Evan Moore and 29-year old Alex Smith for the Browns.  Evan Moore has an outstanding set of hands and he gets open a lot, so I expect him to play well for the Browns the last three weeks of the year.  Moore has played in 13 games (2 starts) for the Browns so far this year and he has caught 25 passes for 250 yards (10.0 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  He has now played in 30 games (6 starts) in his first three years with the Browns and he has caught 53 passes for 730 yards (13.8 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  I look for Moore to be a big part of the Browns’ passing attack the rest of this year.  Alex Smith will also see a bump in P.T. for the Browns the rest of the year.  Smith has played in 12 games (3 starts) for the Browns this year and he has caught 13 passes for 122 yards (9.4 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He has now played in 15 games (4 starts) in his first two years with the Browns and he has caught 14 passes for 128 yards (9.1 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Smith is also a decent receiver, so he is likely going to help the Browns a lot the last three weeks.

31-year old QB Seneca Wallace is going to likely start against the Cardinals this weekend.  He might get to start the rest of the year as Colt McCoy is suffering from a concussion and he has yet to return to practice.  Wallace has played in 3 games for the Browns so far this year and he has completed both of his pass attempts, good for 17 yards.  He has also caught 1 pass for 21 yards so far this year for the Browns.  Wallace has now played in 11 games (4 starts) in his first two years with the Browns and he has completed 66 of 103 passes (64.1%) for 711 yards with 4 TD passes and 2 INTs (89.1 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 7 times for 9 yards (1.3 ypc) and he has caught 2 passes for 30 yards (15.0 avg) so far this year.  Wallace is a solid QB and I expect him to do a decent job for the Browns going forward.

25-year old WR Mohamed Massaquoi is starting to fall out of favor with the Browns as he has played lousy so far this year.  He has played in 10 games for the Browns so far this year and he has only caught 21 passes for 265 yards (12.6 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Browns’ QBs have only completed 21 of 48 passes (43.8%) passes thrown in Massaquoi’s direction so far this year, and that is awful.  Massaquoi has now played in 41 games in his first 3 years with the Browns and he has caught 91 passes for 1,372 yards (15.1 avg) with 7 TD grabs.  Massaquoi will likely be playing for his future with the Cleveland Browns in the last four games of the 2011 season.

The Browns have lost DE Emmanuel Stephens for a while due to a strained pectoral muscle.  This is a bad break for Stephens who was just recently inserted into the starting lineup for the Browns.  He has played in 11 games and he has 17 tackles for the Browns.  The Browns will turn back to 27-year old DE Jayme Mitchell in the starting lineup.  Mitchell has played in 9 games for the Browns so far this year and he has 24 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble and 2 passes defensed.  The Browns need Mitchell to step up.

UPDATE:  The Browns have placed Emmanuel Stephens on the Injured Reserve List, ending his season.

25-year old QB Colt McCoy has been consistently average this year for the Browns.  Out of his 10 starts this year, Colt McCoy has had a QB rating of under 70.0 only 1 time this year….which is good.  But, he also hasn’t had a game with a rating of 100.0 or over so far this year.  McCoy has played in 10 games for the Browns so far this year and he has completed 214 of 359 passes (59.6%) for 2,181 yards with 11 TD passes and 7 INTs (79.2 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 45 times for 147 yards (3.3 ypc) as he isn’t shy about taking off out of the pocket when things break down.  The Browns hope that McCoy steps up the rest of the way as they have to deal with the Bengals, Cardinals, Steelers twice and Ravens twice to finish up the regular season.

The Cleveland Browns have lost 24-year old safety T.J. Ward for the next 4-6 weeks due to a foot injury.  Ward has played in 8 games for the Browns this year and he has 39 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumbles, 2 tackles for a loss and 3 passes defensed.  26-year old Usama Young will take over as the starting strong safety until Ward is ready to return to action.  Young has played in 8 games for the Browns so far this year and he has 26 tackles, 1 interception and 1 pass defensed.  This is going to be a dropoff for the Browns, especially against run as Ward’s specialty is coming up fast and hard on run support.

UPDATE:  (12/22/2011) – The Browns have placed T.J. Ward on I.R., ending his season.

The Cleveland Browns are not looking too good under 46-year old rookie head coach Pat Shurmur so far this year as they are 3-5 on the year.  The combined record of the teams the Browns have beaten so far this year is 3-22!  The Browns were supposed to be a much better offensive team in 2011 as that is Shurmur’s supposed specialty but it hasn’t worked out that way so far this year.  The Browns are only averaging 14.9 points per game so far this year and only 289.0 yards offensively. Shurmur has deep ties with team president Mike Holmgren (his uncle Fritz was his defensive co-ordinator in Green Bay), but if things don’t change soon…..the Browns should force Shurmur to give up his play calling duties offensively.

25-year old RB Chris Ogbonnaya is now the featured back for the Browns with Peyton Hillis and Montario Hardesty on the shelf.  The Browns just signed Ogbonnaya off the Texans’ practice squad (the Browns’ opponent this Sunday) a couple of weeks ago.  Ogbonnaya has played in 2 games for the Browns so far this year and he has carried the ball 14 times for 52 yards (3.7 ypc).  He has also caught 10 passes for 67 yards (6.7 avg) for the Browns.  The Browns hope that Ogbonnaya can handle the workload until one of the other backs come back from injury.

The Cleveland Browns have not had much production out of the WRs so far in 2011.  Mohamed Massaquoi came into this season as the Browns #1 WR.  He has caught 18 passes for 239 yards (13.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs so far this year, but his hands are very inconsistent.  Rookie Greg Little is a player on the rise.  He has caught 25 passes for 234 yards (9.4 avg) without a TD grab so far this year.  He is willing to fight for the extra yard, which really stands out among this bunch.  I look for him to start picking up the pace and improving his yards per catch average as the year goes on.  Josh Cribbs is the #3 WR for the Browns right now.  He has caught 15 passes for 192 yards (12.8 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He is a player the Browns should be targeting more in the passing game as he is a very good runner after the catch.  Jordan Norwood (2 rec, 25 yards) and Brian Robiskie (3 rec, 25 yards) have not played well enough in games or practice to get on the field much.  The Browns need this crew to step up.