First off, Jerome Ford is not the Cleveland Browns long-term answer in the RB rotation and not a reliable Dynasty Keeper or Flex Option.
Secondly, I’d like to thank the team at BrainyBallers for their time and cooperation in making this partnership a reality. This is the first cross-content from Run The 9, hosted and presented by Brainy Ballers – Where the Fantasy meets the field. … Let’s Run The 9.
Make no mistake, the Cleveland Browns offense is a non-functioning clown show. I describe it as a Four Phase problem.
None of these phases are currently showing the ability to help lift the others out of mediocrity or subpar play.
While there will be future content that will detail the problems with the other 3 areas, the focus of this article will be to highlight Ford himself.
A high day 3 pick out of the University of Cincinnati via Alabama, his build and RAS are not all that dissimilar to Nick Chubb himself. A mold the Browns Front Office clearly saw Ford in, and selected him at #156.
Jerome didn’t see any extended playing time until mid Week 2 after Chubb suffered that awful season-ending injury against Pittsburgh. Going on to start 12 games in the remainder of a 2023 season that saw drastic ups and downs from personnel changes; Ford finished the campaign with 204 carries for 813 yards and 4 TD’s. Toting the rock at a 4YPC tick.
On the surface, that is pretty respectable for a young RB, taking over for a superstar, who ended up playing with multiple QBs and dealing with several offensive line changes in front of him. As the expression goes, familiarity (can) breed(s) contempt. When the finale film was reviewed on the 2023 season, the numbers that you would hope to serve as the spring-board to a greater encore the following season were not backed up by what Ford put on tape.
In place of a decisive, explosive, powerful and consistent runner, the devil in the details revealed a hesitant, inconsistent running style with questionable vision, processing speed, footwork, and decision making. While these things weren’t *as* evident in 2023, for which there are various reasons, the increase in snap count, along with the increase in quality of opponent, from the start of the previous year to this current, has only put these problems front and center.
No, the Browns Oline is not playing well and neither is Deshaun Watson. You won’t see me, a respectable football mind make excuses for either of them. However, what you won’t see is me blaming those two elements for Fords short comings. The game of football is an ecosystem, and, much like Thanos said, “balanced, as all things should be”. When there is imbalance, you depend on other position groups to help make up for that. Good RB’s help to make up for spotty play from then their Oline, generate + Yards Above Expected, properly setup punish 2nd level defenders and help to make life easier on the rest of their offense.
Do not let Fords numbers fool you, he is NOT a good running back capable of helping to elevate those around him. To the opposite, he is becoming a liability that is allowing opposing defenses to play their designs in a manner where the lack of exposing the lapse(s) on furthers the vice grip clamped on the rest of the offense. His greatest enemy is his own vision and processing speed, which is leading to his largest inconsistency issues.
The biggest offensive shift from this team has been the early down transition from basing their staple running concepts, previously under center, to a more Gun based formations.
This poor vision and processing can’t be shown better than in weeks 1 and 3. On the Browns 2nd possession against Dallas, they opened the drive in 11 personnel (11 is represented for TE’s first and RB’s second in the tag. Look at it like 1-1, with the implied remainder as WR’s. So 1 TE, 1 RB and 3 WR’s)
The Browns coaches, attempting to establish early rhythm, staying on schedule and ahead of the chains, dial up a strong-side pin and pull design, bringing out Wyatt Teller from the backside to steal a gap.
While football has common threads from coach to coach and there are some universal guidelines, regardless of the design and philosophy of the run itself, one taught in almost every RB room is “bang, bend, bounce”. I’m sure many of you will watch that clip and say “Well, Ford is just following his blockers”. Another quip among coaches, one that I heard a long time ago, was “Go to Green”. Meaning any immediate void and over pursuit by a LB or Nickel/Dime safety in the Box is to be punished in a similar mold some passing designs “replace” LB’s in the concept.
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Getting back to the above, rarely do you take a front side A gap run (to the left of the center) in this design. There is far too much traffic, and what’s worse, the Weakside LB follows the pull, voiding the backside B gap integrity. This leaves Micah Parsons 1on1 with Dawand Jones, who uses his elite wingspan to lock him out on the edge.
A familiarity with Cowboys fans and Parsons struggles against the run at times. On Ford’s third step from the handoff mesh, his eye trail should have taken him from the backside B gap, sinking his leverage and exploding through this hole for a big gain. Instead, he misses his read, has his shoulders parallel to the line of scrimmage and continues his attempt to flow laterally where, even with his last block setup to potentially attack and carry the edge, forcing the defender to shed and attempt the tackle, Ford remains indecisive, chops his steps and is tackle for a loss.
I’ll also call to attention the fact that this is a ‘light’ box count for the Browns. For those not familiar, that means the Browns blockers outnumber the Cowboys tacklers in the box, with the 3rd level defenders having to come from depth and the seventh 2nd level defender playing the overhang between the #2 WR and the RT. In short, this is a play that should have gone for an explosive gain. Instead, it was a tackle for a loss and the Cowboys defensive coaches gained valuable battle information.
These two key pieces of information meant the Cowboys defensive coaches could continue to call lighter box counts, and their 2nd level defenders could be aggressive following pulling lineman to find playside runs. And they could continue to do this until the Browns offense and RB’s could properly counter their calls in the running game and force their hand to change.
If you watched the game, the replay, or even the highlights, it was a continued shit-show of ugly that did not improve.
The Browns coaching staff clearly having a week of film review turned to D’Onta Foreman as their starter. Taking early and opening carries as the Browns went away from their traditional outside zone calls to a more vertical zone based game from under center. Enter a bounce back opportunity week 2 against a struggling Jacksonville defense.
Even in that win, no stone can go unturned and no crack can go unaccounted for.
Unlike the first clip against the Cowboys, the Browns are in a more familiar spot – being under center. However, much like the first clip, the Browns are back in 11 personnel, only with reduced splits from the strong side receivers.
And just like that first clip, the Browns are facing an Over Front (3 tech to the strength of the formation)
Even without the pull, you still have to account for 2nd level defenders, and like that previous play shown against Dallas, Ford fails to properly read, setup and sync his footwork to properly attack the frontside C gap on a Duo block.
You’ve heard the phrase “press the hole”. That means forcing the 2nd level into an issue with gap integrity by angling yourself at an initial crease away from the hole. It’s possibly the most underrated skill set a RB can have, that helps to clear LB traffic and, in a sense to draw a parallel to the NBA, helps to create your own shot. Instead of setting up Andre Cisco, at the strong side C gap run fit, then getting skinny in the hole, Ford again displays a penchant for false steps, poor timing and an inability to anticipate when to get skinny and fight for even positive yardage. The result being a run for no gain.
When you are not a volume shooter, you have to be a high percentage shot maker in that backup role. (For that reason, and completely an aside, I’ve loved Chase Brown’s game in Cincy since his time at Illinois. He is a great example of a complementary RB).
No, this is is not to absolve the Browns offensive line of their struggles. They have, are, and will continue to be a subpar unit all season. Circling back around to my initial point, when you’re presented with the opportunity to help elevate the position groups around you, and to bring balance to the football ecosystem, Ford routinely fails to capitalize on those attempts in both the explosive, and the more efficient, routine runs that help to keep offenses on schedule and ahead of chains.
Jerome Ford isn’t a leading role actor, and if his performance against Jacksonville is any indication, he isn’t even in line to be counted on in a supporting role.
As of this article, Ford has scored above all of his weekly projected totals. But much like the Browns winning a string of games last season with Joe Flacco under center, it’s a formula that does not offer long term success. The Browns, under Andrew Berry, have a methodical dedication to roster turnover at the bottom of the numbers. This helps to insure the constant flux of cheaper and potentially better talent from the ground up, especially in areas where playable depth is of a serious concern.
For the Fantasy Football devotee, I cannot recommend, outside of deeper formats and emergency plays, Ford as a Flex option or RB3 as the season progresses. Especially against defenses with quality DVOA against the run. Heading into week 4, the Browns are now dealing with injuries at RT, Wyatt Teller heading to IR, Jed Wills back to his struggling ways, and a mess of a play-calling and execution errors that has banished this offense to the depths of being arguably the worst in the NFL. More importantly, from the perspective of someone who appreciates the fundamentals and nuances of the game of football as much as anyone, Jerome Ford is an absolute eye sore to the running back position.
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