I'm in Cleveland and I've always been a Jerome Harrison fan who has patiently been waiting for him to get his chance... My only hesitation with him as a dynasty prospect is the fact that not ONE, but TWO coaching staffs have hesitated to use him as the primary back even when there seemed to be every reason in the world to plug him in.
So before I can allow myself to get excited about his dynasty prospects, I decided to take a moment and look through his career so far... Here's what I've got, apologies for any inaccuracies:
In 2005 the Browns roster consisted of these RBs: William Green, Reuben Droughns, Lee Suggs and Jason Wright... William Green spent most of 2005 injured and if I remember correctly Reuben Droughns ended up as the primary back. In 2006 Jerome Harrison gets drafted in the 5th round (approximately right around where he was projected to go) - Phil Savage was the GM at the time and Romeo Crennel was the head coach. William Green was still on the roster when they drafted him, so Harrison seemed to be more of an insurance policy pick than an 'heir apparent' type pick I think.
At the end of training camp in 2006 Savage and Crennel released William Green for a number of reasons, and they entered the season with Reuben Droughns as the primary back plus Jason Wright and Jerome Harrison as backups. Harrison made some appearances in his rookie season but aside from 1 spot start, didn't really get an opportunity to become 'the guy'. The Browns finished 4-12. Looking back, this would've been a good opportunity for the team to see what they had in the young player, but at the same time - considering that he was a rookie, who knows where Harrison was in his development and there may have been very legit reasons for him not getting on the field more.
Moving on - In 2007 the Browns signed Jamal Lewis as a free agent to solidify their weak RB corp. So at this point, going into his 2nd year Harrison shares backup duties to Jamal along with Jason Wright. Jamal revives his career and has a pretty decent season in 2007. Both Wright and Harrison actually shine in limited opportunities throughout 2007 as well and the Browns end up having a pretty competitive season finishing 10-6 and just missing the playoffs by 1 game if I remember correctly.
So going into 2008 (Jerome's 3rd year), the Browns front office of Savage and Crennel must have felt like the RB situation was under control. They go into the season the same way they did 2007: with Jamal Lewis as the primary back and Wright and Harrison sharing backup duties. The Browns regress and have another 4-12 season... Jamal stays pretty much healthy for all 16 games, thus limiting the opportunities for Harrison to get on the field.
Fans here in Cleveland were mumbling here and there throughout 2006 and 2007 that Harrison should be getting more playing time, but it was during that 2008 season that I remember the sentiment really becoming the majority opinion. Harrison continued to shine in the limited chances that he got and the fanbase was of the opinion that he was a weapon that the team should be using more. Whether that meant as the primary ball carrier or even just as more of a shared workload/RBBC - the fans just wanted him on the field more.
After the 2008 season Savage and Crennel are let go by the Browns and the new front office of Kokinis and Mangini are brought into the organization. A lot of speculation pops up in Cleveland regarding how the new staff will utilize Jerome, but then the new front office proceeds to draft "their guy" in James Davis - who gets plenty of opportunities in the preseason and looks to be the future 'heir apparent' to Jamal. Harrison remains a backup/change of pace back going into 2009.
We all know how 2009 played out, with the new rookie Davis ending up on IR, Jamal being ineffective and ending up on IR himself, and then the coaching staff seemingly going back and forth between favoring Chris Jennings or Jerome Harrison on any given week.
So at this point, after yesterday's game and after taking a second look at the sequence of the events so far --- I'm of the opinion that the fact that two front offices have shrugged off using Harrison as their primary back is actually a moot point. The Savage/Crennel team never drafted him to be 'the guy', and they opted to bring in Jamal Lewis in 2007 instead of relying on a 2nd year, 5th round draft pick to pan out into a starter. I don't think that decision reflects poorly on Harrison's ability or his standing with the coaching staff much at all since it was made following his rookie season.
Once Jamal was in place though, that limited the reasons for them to use Harrison more so his role through 2007-2008 remains minimal. Going into 2009 though, when new front office of Mangini/Kokinis decided not to feature Jerome more - this originally struck me as a big red flag for him. Looking back though, those two clowns are obviously clowns and I sincerely doubt that they gave him much of a shot.
SOOO, my long-winded point is simply that I can't speak to whether or not his abilities would translate to a feature back role - if his size/running style would hold up over the course of an entire season, etc... But I AM pretty confident in saying that him being virtually ignored by two regimes should probably not be too much of a factor to anyone gauging his dynasty worth. Personally, I think he's a hold and am interested to see if he'll be playing in Cleveland or not next year, and if so - will Mangini be gone or not. If he gets signed by another team to be their feature back, or if a new coach comes into Cleveland and commits to Harrison as the primary back... Then, IMO he definitely has to potential to be another Michael Turner type backup who gets a starting role and becomes a top FF RB.
Agree with this strategy 100%. Additionally, late season quality performances from RB's like Harrison and that KC running back are always really big unknowns for the long haul of dyanasty. Sometimes you get a Pierre Thomas (respectable dynasty back after replacing Bush in the mid season last year) and sometimes you get the Sam Gado's. You never know, but usually I think there is more bust potential than stud, so shop around and take the high bidders as mentioned above.
Sell on the hype, as he will never see a game like this one again and a new administration is taking over next year that will bring in their guys.Washington once had a RB who had a phenominal game in the Superbowl who did very little for his career after that game...
Nothing to add.
Nothing to add.
