25-year old cornerback Eric Wright has really sucked for the Browns so far this year.  He has played in all 6 games for the Browns so far this year and he has 25 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and 6 passes defensed.  Wright has been getting toasted weekly and he is a poor tackler all of a sudden.  It’s time for the Browns to reward first round pick Joe Haden for his solid play on D and on special teams by starting him over Wright.  Haden has played in six games for the Browns so far this year and he has 18 tackles, 4 passes defensed and 1 interception (he returned it 62 yards against the Steelers last Sunday).  Haden has also returned 2 kickoffs for 45 yards (22.5 avg) so far this year.  It’s time to put Haden in the starting lineup and bench Eric Wright.

Opposing teams have finally gotten smart as they just aren’t kicking the ball to Josh Cribbs this year.  Cribbs has played in all six games for the Browns this year and he has returned 15 kickoffs for 309 yards (20.6 avg) and he has returned 6 punts for 37 yards (6.2 avg) so far.  The Browns are trying to get the ball into Cribbs’ hands more on offense to try to make up for his lack of return yardage.  Cribbs has carried the ball 13 times for 53 yards (4.1 ypc) and he has caught 13 passes for 175 yards (13.5 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Cribbs has also completed both of his pass attempts good for 19 yards.  All told, Cribbs has touched the ball 49 times for 593 yards (12.1 avg. per touch) so far this year and it’s just not enough.  The Browns need to get Cribbs more involved in the offense, period.

Last year against the Chiefs, Josh Cribbs returned two kickoffs for TDs (100 and 103 yarders).  They will likely be trying to kick the ball away from him like the Bucs did last weekend.  Cribbs returned 3 punts for 29 yards (9.7 avg) and he had 3 kickoff returns for 46 yards (15.3 avg) last year.  Cribbs also completed his only pass attempt (9-yarder to Seneca Wallace), he rushed for 11 yards on 3 carries (3.7 ypc) and he caught 2 passes for 11 yards (5.5 avg).  Cribbs accounted for 106 total yards on 12 touches last week but the Browns expect much more out of him this weekend.

I think the Cleveland Browns will definitely make some changes at QB in 2010.  25-year old Brady Quinn has seen his season end two years in a row due to injury and despite having a couple of good games his numbers were not impressive overall.  Quinn played in 10 games for the Browns this season and he completed 136 of 256 passes (53.1%) for 1,339 yards with 8 TD passes and 7 INTs (67.2 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 20 times for 98 yards (4.9 ypc) with a TD run this year.  Quinn has now played in 14 games in his NFL career and he has completed 184 of 353 passes (52.1%) for 1,902 yards with 10 TD passes and 9 INTs (66.8 QB Rating).  Quinn has also carried the ball 25 times for 119 yards (4.8 ypc) with 1 TD run in his career.  Quinn is the best QB on the Browns’ roster right now but that is not saying much.  It doesn’t seem like the Browns are ready to commit to Quinn as the QB of the future so look for them to either trade him or bring in a legit veteran to battle him for the starting job in 2010.

26-year old Derek Anderson is as good as gone for the Browns as he is in line for a huge bonus that he will never see this March.  Anderson played in 7 games for the Browns this season and he completed 81 of 182 passes (44.5%) for 888 yards with 3 TD passes and 10 INTs (42.1 QB Rating).  Anderson also carried the ball 10 times for 8 yards (0.8 ypc) with 2 TD runs this season.  Anderson has now played in 39 games in his NFL career and he has completed 587 of 1,109 passes (52.9%) for 7,083 yards with 46 TD passes and 45 INTs (69.7 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 71 times for 180 yards (2.5 ypc) with 5 TD runs in his career.  Anderson has the best arm of the Browns’ QBs but he just is too careless with the football and I would be willing to bet the pink slip to my car that he won’t be a Cleveland Brown in 2010.

24-year old Brett Ratliff will likely be back in 2010 as he is one of Eric Mangini’s boys.  He came to the Browns in the Mark Sanchez trade on Draft Day.  He hasn’t played in a regular season game in his career and it says a lot about him (not good) that he couldn’t get on the field at some point this season for the Browns.

28-year old safety Abram Elam has played in all 15 games for the Browns this season and he has 85 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 sack and 1 pass defensed.  But, Elam has not really been a impact player for the Browns.  He was the player that head coach Eric Mangini really wanted in the draft day trade that sent Mark Sanchez to the Jets.  If Elam can start adding some big plays to the tackles he has been making then the Browns will be happy with him.

Derek Anderson will be back behind the center the last two weeks of the season for the Cleveland Browns.  It will likely be a audition for the rest of the NFL as I don’t see any way in hell he’s still with the Browns in 2010.  Anderson has played in 6 games for the Browns this season and he has completed 66 of 154 passes (42.9%) for 681 yards with 2 TD passes and 9 INTs (36.2 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 8 times for 7 yards (0.9 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  In Anderson’s four years with the Browns he has played in 37 games in which he has completed 572 of 1,081 passes (52.9%) for 6,876 yards with 45 TD passes and 44 INTs (69.6 QB Rating).  Anderson has also carried the ball 69 times for 179 yards (2.6 ypc) with 5 TD runs in his career.  I’m thinking that Anderson will get cut after the season no matter what he does the next two weeks.

The Browns are taking a look at the youngsters on the roster the rest of the year but most of the reason for that is the rash of injuries that have infected the team.  It was nice to see Brian Robiskie, Evan Moore and Jerome Harrison get a lot of P.T. last week and lo and behold the Browns put 23 points on the scoreboard.  That will be tougher to achieve tonight against the Steelers at Cleveland Browns Stadium because the weather is expected to be nasty.  Still, it will be interesting to see how the young players of the Browns respond to the challenge in front of them tonight.  They will be branded heroes if they can pull a big upset tonight and essentially end the Steelers’ season.

With Jamal Lewis done for the season the Browns will turn to 23-year old Chris Jennings and 26-year old Jerome Harrison to take over the heavy lifting in the running game.  Jennings will likely get the first shot to replace Lewis.  He has played in 4 games this season for the Browns and he has carried the ball 20 times for 67 yards (3.4 ypc) and he has also caught 8 passes for 54 yards (6.8 avg).  Jerome Harrison got into the Eric Mangini Dog House because of problems picking up the blitz but he will be out of it now.  Harrison has played in 9 games this season for the Browns and he has carried the ball 71 times for 257 yards (3.6 ypc) and he has also caught 21 passes for 116 yards (5.5 avg).  The Browns will probably use a time share at RB the rest of the way because it’s doubtful that Jennings or Harrison could handle a full workload.

Brandon McDonald will get another chance to start at CB for the Cleveland Browns with Brodney Pool out of commission. McDonald has played in 11 games for the Browns this season and he has 43 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble and he has defensed 7 passes. Michael Adams will return to strong safety to replace Pool. Adams has played in 11 games this season and he has 41 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss and 5 passes defensed. The defense will likely suffer some without Pool unless McDonald steps up.

With Shaun Rogers out of action for the rest of the season it will be up to 23-year old Ahtyba Rubin to replace him.  He is a big guy at 6’2″, 330 pounds but he hasn’t shown much to this point in his career.  Rubin has played in 11 games this season for the Browns and he has 24 tackles and 1 forced fumble.  He has now played in 22 games in his NFL career and he has 35 tackles and he has forced 1 fumble.  Rogers’ injury does not bode well for the Browns’ D.