Jonathan Taylor a short-sighted and minimal piece to Browns’ run-game woes
Welcome to the bye week for the Cleveland Browns where trade rumors and other discourse take place because there is no actual football to be played. With the Indianapolis Colts opening the window to return from the Physically Unable to Perform list for running back Jonathan Taylor, the traction of his name is going to pick up traction around the league again in these trade conversations. And it already has in Cleveland.
In the newest edition of bye week fodder, Cleveland dot com’s Mary Kay Cabot believes the Browns should look to fix their run game by making a deal for Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor.
For a multitude of reasons, this is not an exceptionally good idea for Cleveland to pursue despite the run game struggles led by second-year back Jerome Ford and veteran Kareem Hunt.
Here we dive into the woes on the ground in Cleveland and what the more appropriate solutions are rather than coughing up assets for a rental of Taylor.
The cost for an 11-week rental isn't logical
The asking price for Jonathan Taylor was a first round pick this summer for the Colts to ship him out. While the price tag has certainly dipped since then, there is little hope the Colts trade him for less than a day-two pick. And that is a steep price for a back who is only under contract for 11 games.
General manager Andrew Berry has never traded for a player who then needed an immediate extension. It would be shocking if a running back of all positions would be the trendbreaker there. Even if the Browns trade for Taylor, they would then likely find themselves in the same position the Los Angeles Chargers did with Austin Ekeler, the Las Vegas Raiders did with Josh Jacobs, and the New York Giants were in with Saquon Barkley:
A holdout until a new deal was agreed to.
Then the conversation would revolve around the money invested in the running back room assuming Nick Chubb would then stay with the team as well. It is either that or coughing up a pricey asset for a rental to let Taylor walk upon Chubb’s return, or having the tough conversation of parting ways with the heart and soul of Cleveland’s offense.
Adding Taylor does not solve the schematic issues
Calling it what it is, the Browns have been a poor run-blocking team this season across the board. There is not one position in the run game to pinpoint as a weak link, all five have not gathered themselves as a collective. This is not something that Taylor will solve for the Browns. The offense as a whole is not clicking, which also impacts the run game.
Around the league, the Cleveland offense ranks 29th in Expected Points Added (EPA) per play. For a team that has always made a living on the ground, it is staggering to see them as a bottom-ten team in the league in Rush EPA.
Much of this has to do with continuing to fall back onto the crutch of outside zone and boot off of outside zone despite the reality that the league has clamped down on it since its dominance in 2020. The Browns must begin to dig new roots as an inside zone team and construct their offense around their current personnel.
All of this in addition to the reality that Jonathan Taylor is not an outside zone scheme fit either.
The answers are in-house, but require some soul-searching
The solution lies in-house.
The Browns have two inside-zone and gap-power-oriented backs they are trying to treat like Nick Chubb. They are now starting a massive 6-foot-8 and 375-pound behemoth in Dawand Jones at right tackle. He does not have the same lateral movement skills as Jack Conklin to reach defenders in outside zone looks.
Chubb and Conklin are no longer with the team this season, and the head coach has to do a better job of molding the run game around the personnel they now have on the field. Ford and Hunt would benefit from the ability to creep their aiming point to the inside foot of the guard rather than the outside foot of the tackle.
Taylor solves very little of the actual issues in the building. Stefanski, offensive line coach Bill Callahan, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, and offensive analyst Bill Musgrave all getting in the building together to revamp the run game scheme from the ground up around their current personnel is the place to start.
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