Redskins Running Back Hightower Ruled Out for Season

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Browns Sign Running Back Ogbonnaya

With running back Peyton Hillis nursing a hamstring injury, the club signed running back Chris Ogbonnaya to their active roster from Houston's practice squad.

The team also waived rookie running back Armond Smith, clearing a roster spot for Ogbonnaya (O-BONN-I-ah), who played in two games for the Texans this season.

Ogbonnaya can give the Browns protection until Hillis gets completely healthy after straining his left hamstring during the first half of Sunday's loss to Oakland.

An MRI taken Monday showed Hillis hurt his leg, debunking speculation he was benched during the game by coach Pat Shurmur.

The NFL's trading deadline passed without the Browns making a deal despite reports the club was taking inquiries about Hillis, who has had a drama-filled second season in Cleveland.

On Monday, Shurmur emphasized that Hillis, who is trying to get a long-term contract extension from the club, was not on the market.

Hillis can be a free agent following the season.

Ogbonnaya was originally drafted in the seventh round by St. Louis in 2009, when Shurmur was the Rams' offensive coordinator. He spent the first 11 weeks of his rookie season on the Rams' practice squad before appearing in two games. He had 11 carries for 50 yards in Shurmur's offense.

The 6-foot, 225-pounder played college ball at Texas, where he was a teammate with Browns quarterback Colt McCoy. As a senior, Ogbonnaya rushed for 597 yards and had 792 yards receiving during his career with the Longhorns.

Perhaps the Browns' fastest player, Smith, who was signed as an undrafted free agent, had three carries for 2 yards.

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Iowa State Running Back Likely Done for Season

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Redefining fantasy running back success, Part II

jasonfsmith1 | Tags: Aaron Rodgers, Alfonso Smith, Beanie Wells, Chris Johnson, Darren McFadden, Drew Brees, Fred Jackson, Kendall Hunter, Philip Rivers, Roy Helu, Tom Brady

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Yesterday, we talked about diminished expectations for RBs this season.  Whereas the old “100 yards and a TD” standard is out the window as a means to judge them, now if you are getting 75 on the ground, 20-30 in receiving yards and maybe a TD, your RB stable is okay.  But how does this affect trades? How does it affect the way you’ll draft in the future?

2011 issue: If you are really unhappy with your RB situation, DON’T GIVE UP THE FARM FOR AN ELITE ONE.  It’s not worth it.  Keep scouring the waiver wire and pick up Kendall Hunter or Roy Helu or Alfonso Smith* and wait to see if one of them hits.  The price for an elite RB is too high. It’s not worth giving up a great WR, a contributing RB and possibly more.  For instance, say you’re hot on Fred Jackson.  Know what the guy who owns Jackson is going to ask for?  Your No. 1 WR and your No. 2 RB.  And either a QB, TE or “D” he can start.  There’s no reason to decimate your team for this, when no one has a monopoly on RBs and is running away with the league.  Stay the course, wait it out and hit the waiver wire hard.

2012 issue: I know we’re still in 2011’s infancy, but no matter what, you’re more than likely drafting a QB first next year.  Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Philip Rivers and Drew Brees should be your first four taken overall.  They’re the best, the guys who will give you 4K and 30 TDs guaranteed.  For the most part, they’re not going to get hurt, unlike RBs who are always one play away from the sideline.  There will be two or three more QBs who explode this season and play their way to the middle-to-late part of the first round next year, then you’ll finish out the round with Darren McFadden, Adrian Peterson and Calvin Johnson.

*Just real quick on Alfonso Smith.  I like him a ton in Arizona.  He’s surpassed Chester Taylor as the No. 2 behind Beanie Wells after Taylor’s lugubrious effort Sunday.  Ken Whisenhunt had glowing things to say about Smith, and considering Wells’ history, it’s worth getting ahead of the curve on Smith right now.

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Re-defining fantasy running back success

A big debate around the NFL Fantasy Live newsroom the last couple of days has been about running backs, and how their grand fantasy era is coming to an end.  So today and tomorrow we’ll examine how you can make sense of your team’s RB situation. Because if you’re like me, you’ve been looking at your RBs and saying “Geez, my guys stink.” Maybe not as much as you thought. Why?

The question really is just what is a good fantasy season by a RB in 2011? Through three weeks, running backs’ values are at an all-time low. If you think your high draft picks aren’t performing, you’re not alone. There’s only five players with more than 300 yards on the ground so far (Darren McFadden, LeSean McCoy, Maurice Jones-Drew, Ben Tate and Fred Jackson).  And only five RB’s have more than 2 TDs total (McCoy, Jackson, Adrian Peterson, McFadden and Ryan Mathews).

The top 10 running backs in fantasy have an average of 53 points per person for the season. The next 10 running backs?  They’re averaging just 33 points per person. To put that in perspective, wide receivers with more than 33 fantasy points (NFL.com standard scoring applying) include Torrey Smith, Denarius Moore and Devery Henderson.

So what does it mean?

It means that judging success is much different than it used to be.  The era of the 100-yard-a-game-with-a-TD back is receding.  So while it looks like players like LeGarrette Blount and Ahmad Bradshaw aren’t performing up to standard, it’s to the contrary.  They’re still doing well, but the barometer has changed.  Now, a “good week” for a running back is 75 yards on the ground, maybe 20-30 receiving and possibly a TD.  If these are the stats you’re getting?  Then you’re OK, keep plugging forward.

However, it’s not like you can make an excuse for every running back.  Shonn Greene, Frank Gore and Rashard Mendenhall, for example, are all hovering around the 50-yards-per-game mark and not catching balls out of the backfield (though Greene did have a good day that way Sunday), that is time for concern.  Getting limited production is okay and expected, but getting nothing is still getting nothing.

So, here are the guys to not worry about outside the elite running backs for now: Michael Turner, Matt Forte, Jahvid Best, Bradshaw, Blount and Peyton Hillis.

And the ones to worry about for now: Tim Hightower, Greene, Gore, Mendenhall, Chris Johnson, BenJarvus Green-Ellis.  And worry as in “I should pick up Kendall Hunter or Roy Helu just in case.”

Tomorrow: How this new strategy will affect trades in 2011 and the 2012 draft.

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Running your way to an SEC title

Florida coach Will Muschamp has never been around a good football team that was mediocre or worse at running the football.

“And I don’t know that I’ve seen one,” Muschamp said.

It’s no coincidence then that Muschamp’s Gators lead the SEC in rushing offense, averaging 259 yards per game, and head into Saturday’s showdown against No. 3-ranked Alabama knowing that they will need to run the ball at least a little bit if they’re going to win.

Nobody’s suggesting that Florida needs to rush for 250-plus yards to win this game.

[+] Enlarge Kim Klement/US PresswireFlorida will probably need some big plays from Chris Rainey and the running game to beat Alabama on Saturday.But if you can’t run the ball at all against this Alabama defense, then history suggests that you’ve got no shot.

Here’s something else history suggests, at least recent SEC history: If you’re going to win a championship in this league, you better be able to run the football.

Seven of the past eight SEC champions have finished in the top three in the league in rushing offense.

The only one that didn’t was Auburn in 2004, and the unbeaten Tigers were fifth that season. Still, they averaged 183.3 yards on the ground and finished 29th nationally in rushing offense. So it wasn’t like running the football wasn’t a big part of their repertoire.

Remember Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown?

Each of the past four SEC champions have averaged at least 214 rushing yards per game, and all four finished in the top 12 nationally in rushing offense.

Over the past decade, there hasn’t been an SEC champion to average fewer than 139 rushing yards per game. Georgia won the SEC title in 2002, averaging 139.6 yards per game and ranking 67th nationally in rushing offense.

The coaches in this league will tell you that running the football successfully is infectious and that it impacts the entire team.

But those teams that run the ball well also make a commitment to doing so.

“It brings a toughness and a want to man up and be physical,” LSU coach Les Miles said. “I think it’s a positive piece and need of offensive football. I think it makes the defense that goes against you all week tougher. It’s a way you can manage the game with the ball in your hands.

“Running the football is a fundamental that must happen on the offensive side.”

Muschamp calls it a “total program deal” that breeds toughness in every phase of the game.

“It’s a matter of being a good football team,” Muschamp said. “The ones I’ve been around that were good … we ran the ball well.”

Sure enough, you look at the four unbeaten teams in the SEC right now, and three of them are ranked in the top four in the league in rushing offense and all three are averaging more than 214 rushing yards per game.

Alabama is right behind Florida at 230.8 yards per game. South Carolina is fourth and averaging 214.5 yards per game.

SEC teams that run the ball tend to win championships.

YearChampRush YPGNat'l RankConf RankSource: ESPN's Stats & InformationLSU is seventh this week, but averaging 171 yards per game. The Tigers have attempted 171 runs, more than everybody else in the league but Mississippi State (179) and Florida (174), and have already scored 11 rushing touchdowns.

“There are going to be times in every football game where you must run the football,” Miles said.

Every coach talks about the need to be balanced on offense, but the first thing any defense tries to take away from a team is the run.

Granted, the game is continually changing, and the advent of the spread offenses has expanded the quarterback’s role in the running game.

But even when Steve Spurrier was pitching it around the ballpark with his Fun ‘n’ Gun attack at Florida in the 1990s, his offenses could always run the football.

The Gators won four straight SEC championships from 1993-96 and never averaged fewer than 137 rushing yards per game. In fact, they were fourth in the SEC in rushing in both 1995 and 1996, averaging 170 yards or more on the ground both seasons.

What’s been so impressive about Florida’s running game this season, other than the game-breaking speed that both Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps possess, is how the Gators have been able to mix it up.

Neither Rainey or Demps weighs 200 pounds, but the Gators have still had success between the tackles.

“The perimeter run game has been really good, but we’ve also run the ball well inside, and that’s something we’re committed to doing regardless of the size of our backs,” Muschamp said. “If you do one thing too much, the defenses watch film, too.

“So we still run the inside zone, still run the power off-tackle and utilize a lot of the same run game with Jeff and Chris both in there.”

The ultimate test comes Saturday against an Alabama defense that’s been a brick wall against the run. The Crimson Tide are ranked No. 3 nationally in rushing defense, allowing 45.8 yards per game. Opponents are averaging just 1.8 yards per rushing attempt against Alabama, and the Tide have given up just one rushing touchdown this season.

Over its past 51 games, Alabama has allowed just one 100-yard rusher (Tennessee’s Tauren Poole last season), and during that stretch, only two teams (LSU in 2008 and 2010) have rushed for 200 yards against the Crimson Tide.

Obviously, the Gators have their work cut out, but they’re not going to be hard-headed, either.

“Being a defensive coordinator, when you’re one-dimensional, you make it easy on the defense,” Muschamp said. “They prepare for one thing and get into a certain mindset of how they’re going to play. But when you’re multiple and balanced in what you do, now you get them uncomfortable, and generally when defenses are uncomfortable or unsure, that’s when they don’t play very well, even if it’s good players.”

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Broncos Work Out Running Backs Thomas Clayton and Jalen Parmele

The Broncos auditioned former Patriots running back Thomas Clayton and former Ravens running back Jalen Parmele on Monday, this according to a league source.

Clayton originally was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the sixth round of the 2007 draft out of Kansas State. After spending all of 2007 on the San Francisco practice squad, Clayton spent the first 14 weeks of 2008 as part of that unit until being signed to the active roster for the final two games of the season.

Parmele is a former Miami Dolphins and Ravens reserve regarded highly for his special-teams work. He was cut during the Ravens’ final major roster cutdown as they retained seventh-round rookie running back Anthony Allen instead of him.

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Oklahoma State hires running backs coach

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Fixing the Jets, starting with their running game

Many are wondering how the New York Jets can pull out of a two-game slide heading into Pittsburgh. Where exactly do you start fixing the Jets?

I’d start with the running game, because the Jets look like a dysfunctional running team right now.

The identity of the Jets, going back to last season with Thomas Jones and Shonn Greene which we saw re-emphasized on “Hard Knocks” throughout the offseason, was as a “ground and pound” team. That’s great when it’s working. You can control the clock, take pressure off Mark Sanchez, take care of the football and play into the team’s strength of great defense.

Except it’s not working, and the Jets can’t ground it and pound it right now.

This hasn’t just been a problem the last few weeks, it’s been an issue for the Jets over the last two months. Over the last eight games, LaDainian Tomlinson is averaging 3.4 yards per carry, and Greene is averaging 3.7 yards per carry. Tomlinson, who looked explosive early, isn’t playing the way he was earlier this season.

The problems aren’t limited to the ball carriers, either. It’s been poor blocking up front. When five guys are blocking well, one guy misses a block. The receivers miss blocks. The running backs are missing holes. It’s not just one thing.

When the Jets brought in the Wildcat gimmick with Brad Smith against the Dolphins last week, as soon as the inside linebackers recognized it, they waved the safeties closer to the line of scrimmage. It’s ineffective, because the Jets are no threat to throw the ball.

I think the Jets are in a downward spiral right now, and it’s not because of Sanchez. The Jets aren’t doing what they say they want to do, and it’s not going to get any easier heading into Pittsburgh.

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