5 Browns on Thin Ice at the Midway Point of Season
By Randy Gurzi
1. Jerome Ford, RB
On the year, Jerome Ford has been putting up decent numbers — and he still has a legitimate shot of making it to the 1,000-yard mark. Having said that, he hasn't exactly been carrying the offense the way Nick Chubb could.
Of course, no one expected him to be Chubb — no one could. That guy is simply irreplaceable. But they did expect Ford to prove they were right when they decided to roll the dice with him as the primary backup going into the season.
After eight games, Ford has 425 yards with two touchdowns and is averaging 4.0 yards per carry. However, that average is rather misleading. Ford has seen his overall numbers boosted by a couple of long runs — which came in Week 2 against the Steelers and Week 7 against the Colts. Outside of those runs, Ford has been indecisive and has spent far too much time dancing in the backfield.
He's also currently the fourth-least effective runner in the league according to Next Gen Stats, who adds that he averages 3.15 seconds behind the line of scrimmage.
According to NFL @NextGenStats, Jerome Ford is the 4th-least efficient running back in the NFL (4.74 EFF). Ford also has the highest average time behind the line of scrimmage at 3.15 seconds. This is why he can carry the ball 20 times and only net 44 yards. Ford lacks the vision… pic.twitter.com/qhK9c2NTSY
— The Dawgs - A Cleveland Browns Podcast (@thedawgspodcast) November 7, 2023
This past weekend, he had a rough outing on the ground with 44 yards on 20 rushing attempts. That 2.2 yards per carry average was his second lowest on the year and he's now had four games where he was under four-yards per attempt — and all of those saw him average fewer than three yards per rush.
For whatever reason, Ford continues to play over Pierre Strong but at some point, the Browns really need to think about making a move.
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