Is Josh Cribbs Underutilized?

In 2012, Cleveland Browns receiver/kick returner Josh Cribbs will be entering his eighth season in the NFL. It’s no secret that he is one of the most prolific kick returners in the game today. So much so that the Browns opened the bank vault before the 2010 season, and extended his tenure to the tune of 3 years and up to $18.5 million. That’s a lot of cabbage for someone who returns kicks and lines up in the slot position at receiver. Especially with the NFL’s new kickoff rule that, for the most part, negates the kickoff return altogether. The hardest part for the Browns has been trying to figure out where else, besides on special teams plays, they can utilize the dynamic spark that a player like Cribbs provides?

For the most part, they have made an effort to harness Cribbs’s speed by placing him at wide receiver. However, 2011 saw him garner his largest total yards to date in receiving for the season, and it barely eclipsed the 500-yard mark. That’s not exactly $6-mill/year type totals. He also managed to find the end zone a whopping four times! (Feel the sarcasm?)

On the flip side, his kick return yardage was the second-lowest of his career, just missing the 1,000-yard mark. The lowest yardage mark in kick returns for the Kent State grad came last season, just after signing the contract extension that made him one of the highest paid players on the team. Add together the contracts of Browns wide receivers Mohamed Massaquoi, Jordan Norwood, and Carlton Mitchell, and they still wouldn’t equal Cribbs’ money.

So, why waste Cribbs’s talent in an underutilized position? It’s no secret this dynamic superstar possesses diversity. He was a quarterback for his Alma Mater Kent State, made the team as a walk-on free agent special teams player, and has developed into a reliable threat as a slot receiver. But there is one key position where we haven’t seen Cribbs get the shot that he is arguably best suited for – running back.

Let’s take a look at the facts. Running backs in the NFL need size, speed, and courage. Josh Cribbs is 6′-1″ and weighs 215 pounds. That’s bigger than Maurice Jones-Drew (5′-7″, 208 lbs.), Ray Rice (5′-8″, 212 lbs.), and LeSean McCoy (5′-11″, 208 lbs.), three of the top four running backs in total yardage for the 2011 season.

But more size means less speed, right?

Let’s not go there. Anyone who has watched defenders try to catch Cribbs running down the sideline on a breakaway kick return can tell you all about his speed.

What about courage? That may be the greatest asset of an NFL running back.

Again, have you ever seen Cribbs hit the hole on a kick return? Is there any player in the NFL who attacks the unknown realm of “the pile” harder than Josh Cribbs? And most of the time, he’s coming out grinding out tough yards on the other side, or leaving an orange and white streak behind as he hauls the mail to the end zone.

It’s very simple. In all likelihood Peyton Hillis is on his way out of town. Chris Ogbannaya has yet to prove himself, and nobody has seen enough of Brandon Jackson to know how good he is. So why not give Cribbs a shot? He’s already become a non-factor on kick returns; punt returns can be handled very well by either Joe Haden or Jordan Norwood; and, having Jackson and Ogbannaya allows you to still line Cribbs up in the slot receiver position from time to time, truly utilizing his diversity. What do the Browns, who have seemingly gone generations without a successful season, have to lose by this experiment?

The only question that remains is…what’s the hold up?


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