All 26-year old TE Evan Moore does is catch passes.  Browns’ QBs have completed 21 of 29 passes (72.4%) thrown in Moore’s direction this year.  He has played in all 12 games for the Browns this year and he has caught 21 passes for 195 yards (9.3 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  Moore has now played in 29 games in his first three years in the NFL and he has caught 49 passes for 675 yards (13.8 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  Moore is one of the few Browns’ receivers that gets open and catches the ball when it’s thrown to him.  The Browns should just throw Moore the damn ball!  Period!

25-year old WR Jordan Norwood is a little guy who works in the slot when the Browns play him.  All this guy does is make plays for the Browns as he has caught 5 passes for 120 yards (24.0 avg) with 1 TD grab in the last two games.  He has now caught 15 passes for 197 yards (13.1 avg) with 1 TD grab so far this year.  QB Colt McCoy has a lot of confidence when he’s throwing the ball to Norwood as he has completed 15 of 19 passes (78.9%) aimed at him.

22-year old cornerback Joe Haden is becoming a true lockdown corner for the Browns.  He is often matched up against the opposing team’s #1 WR and he is more than holding his own this year.  Haden has played in 8 games for the Browns so far this year and he has 35 tackles, 1 sack, 13 passes defensed and 2 tackles for a loss.  He has now played in 24 games in his first two years with the Browns and he has 99 tackles, 31 passes defensed, 6 interceptions, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 2 tackles for a loss.  Haden also comes up to support the run well as he is a very well rounded player.  I happen to think that Haden is the best defensive player on the Browns right now and he’s only a tad behind OT Joe Thomas, who is the best player on the Browns.

The Cleveland Browns have been getting good starting position for the offense quite a bit this year, thanks to the return men.  Josh Cribbs does most of the heavy lifting here.  He has returned 15 kickoffs for 377 yards (25.1 avg) and he has also returned 19 punts for 206 yards (10.8 avg) so far this year.  Mike Adams (1 return for 30 yards), Buster Skrine (1 return for 23 yards) and Owen Marecic (1 return for 8 yards) also have pitched in on kickoff returns for the Browns.  Jordan Norwood has returned 1 punt for 6 yards this year.  The Browns have returned 18 kickoffs for 438 yards (24.3 avg) and they have also returned 20 punts for 212 yards (10.6 avg) so far this year.

Actually, 22-year old cornerback Joe Haden has been outstanding since the Browns took him in the 2010 NFL Draft.  This year, he’s taking his game to a new level as team’s aren’t even trying to throw on him so far.  Haden has played in all 4 games for the Browns so far this year and he has 13 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss,  8 passes defensed and 1 sack.  Haden has now played in 20 games so far in his NFL career (2 years) and he has 77 tackles, 26 passes defensed, 6 interceptions (101 return yards), 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 1 tackle for a loss.  Haden is going to be a Pro Bowler in the near future, quite possibly in 2011, as he has an unlimited upside.

23-year old rookie Phil Taylor and 25-year old Ahtyba Rubin are giving the Browns outstanding production in the middle of the field.  The DTs combine to weigh 665 pounds and they are very hard for an offensive line to get much push against, even if the double team them.  Taylor has played in 3 games so far for the Browns and he has 18 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 sack and 1 pass defensed.  Rubin has played in all three games for the Browns so far and he has 16 tackles and 2.5 sacks.  Opposing teams are having to run the ball wide because they aren’t going to get much up the middle.  Taylor and Rubin have been collapsing the pocket from the inside, which is causing QBs to panic.

27-year old middle linebacker D’Qwell Jackson has been a tackling machine for the Browns so far this year.  In his first two games for he Browns in 2011, Jackson has 19 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 1 pass defensed.  He has now played in 51 games in his first six years with the Browns and he has 426 tackles, 8 tackles for a loss, 5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, 12 passes defensed and 4 interceptions.  Jackson has benefitted big time from having big DTs Ahtyba Rubin and Phil Taylor taking up blockers in front of him which allows him to chase down RBs and QBs, making plays from sideline to sideline.

28-year old KR/PR/WR Josh Cribbs was very outspoken against the new rule in the NFL having teams kickoff from the 35-yard line.  He then vowed to return every kick that wasn’t kicked out of the end zone, as he’s lived up to that so far.  Cribbs has played in both games for the Browns this year and he has returned 5 kickoffs for 171 yards (34.2 avg) and 8 punts for 110 yards (13.8 avg) .  Cribbs has also caught 4 passes for 54 yards (13.5 avg) this year as he is starting to get more action in the passing game.  The Browns need to Cribbs to keep up the good work as he continues to give the offense good starting field position.

24-year old DT Ahtyba Rubin has played so well that he pushed Shaun Rogers to the bench in 2010.  Rubin has played in 15 games for the Browns so far this year and he has 79 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 passes defensed and 1 interception.  Rubin has now played in 42 games in his first three years with the Browns and he has 128 tackles, 2 passes defensed, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 1 interception.  Rubin has really turned into a good player for the Browns as he was a sixth round pick out of Iowa in 2008.  He has gotten better each season which has the Browns pretty excited about his future.

25-year old OLB Marcus Benard is the Browns’ secret weapon on D.  He has played in 14 games for the Browns so far this year and he has 26 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 7.5 sacks and 2 passes defensed.  Benard has now played in 20 games in his first two years with the Browns and he has 40 tackles, 2 passes defensed and 11 sacks.  Benard is the best pass rusher on the Browns and I think they should play him more.  He could be like Cameron Wake of the Dolphins if they let him play every down.