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The Cleveland Browns won just one more game than the did a season ago. The team was sold the first day of training camp and once again went in to the season with a new quarterback at the helm. The season was full of ups and downs for the Dawg Pound fans and was highlighted by a three game winning streak. So, just who deserves the team MVP?
Now there are many opinions on the player I’m about to mention. Some experts and fans are just about ready to call him a bust. These are the same type of people that think rushing for 1,000 yards against the world’s best players is nothing. Not every running back in the NFL is Adrian Peterson. Some of these people think that all-purpose yards are overrated as well.
Despite playing the most of the season with broken ribs and missing all of the exhibition games before the season, Trent Richardson is my MVP of the season. Without Richardson, the Browns may have won only one game.
Now I completely understand that 3.6 yards per carry is a very pedestrian figure. But, Browns fans and other fans need to look at the bigger picture. In Pat Shurmur‘s poor excuse of an offense, Richardson was barely used efficiently. It may have been because of his ribs, but a running back like Richardson derserves more than 17-18 carries a game.
When it was all said and done, the third pick overall rushed for 950 yards on 267 attempts. Richardson scored 12 of the Browns’ 28 offensive touchdowns, that’s 43%. Richardson added another 51 receptions for 367 yards. That brings his total all-purpose yards to 1,317.
I guess what upsets me about people expecting more and finding TRich’s season unacceptable is; under the circumstances, what more did or could you expect from him? I totally understand that he was the number three overall pick, but come on, it’s not like he didn’t produce. The only real question left to ask Browns fans is; would you of rather had Thomas Clayton or Chris Ogbonnaya as the starter this past season? In case you forgot, that’s what you had by the end of 2011.
If by the end of the 2013 season, TRich puts up the same numbers or less, then we can start talk of him being a bust. In a new offense, I would put money on it that it will be the exact opposite though.
Ryan Ruiz – Cleveland Browns Writer
Please Follow Me on Twitter @ryanpruiz24
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