Cleveland Browns: Montario Hardesty & Jerome Harrison Committee (RBBC)

No one should be surprised that the Cleveland Browns selected a physical running back in the early rounds of the 2010 draft to go with speedster Jerome Harrison. With the second round selection of Montario Hardesty the Browns now have a physical presence to fill the void that was left by veteran Jamal Lewis.

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While I wasn’t surprised to hear that Hardesty would be active in the offense this season, I was a little concerned to hear speculation that the Browns may, “ride the hot hand” between the two runners. Truthfully, I don’t usually read much into speculation unless it’s coming from the team itself but with Cleveland you just never know, they might be crazy enough to do it.

I say crazy because one would have to believe Harrison has earned the right to receive the greater workload every week after what he accomplished last season.

Then again, Eric Mangini and the Browns don’t always go with what would seem like a common sense approach to how they call a game so one never knows what will happen. This uncertainty is exactly what drives fantasy owners crazy as you always look for a solid, reliable situation for the players on your team to have success.

Early 2010 Fantasy Projections For the Browns Running Game

As long as Harrison is healthy coming into the season, I would expect him to see the majority of the workload in the Browns’ offense. Hardesty will provide a physical presence, but he’s not the true big play runner, this offense or any offense needs to thrive in the NFL.

While it’s not likely these two runners will be in a 50/50 committee, I do believe Hardesty is a major threat to Harrison when it comes to scoring touchdowns around the goal line. Throughout the history of football, almost every team strives to have a physical, pound it out runner to hammer in the ball over the goal line for those curtail points.

If Harrison gets an opportunity to score around the goal line early in the season, he had best convert or Hardesty will take over with fresh legs to punch in the scores.

With so much uncertainty on just how the Browns will or won’t use Harrison this season, I caution fantasy owners to select Harrison as nothing more than a flex play running back. The last thing you want is uncertainty in your No.1 and 2 runners on your team every week.

Add in the fact that the Browns will probably be one of the ten worst teams in the NFL again this year and Harrison has much to overcome. As for Hardesty, he is more of a waiver wire pickup if Harrison should get dinged up (remember Harrison had knee issues last year) throughout the season.

NFL fantasy football player rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com

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