Jerome Harrison

Harrison entered 2010 looking like the favorite to take over lead back duties in Cleveland, but he ultimately watched Peyton Hillis run away with the job. Harrison was later swapped in a straight up trade for Mike Bell. His play improved after arriving in Philadelphia, but he was nothing more than LeSean McCoy’s backup. Now that the Eagles have signed Ronnie Brown, Harrison's days in Philadelphia are over, which means he'll have to find a new team to be a backup for.

Despite impressing when given the chance, Harrison was once again largely ignored last year in Cleveland even with only an ineffective and injured Jamal Lewis starting. That is, until the final three weeks of the season, when Harrison took over as RB1 and promptly rushed for a whopping 561 yards. Harrison has a 4.8 YPC career mark, and even if he’s not a true 300-carry back, his ability in the passing game gives him good upside even without a full workload. But he received only two goal-line carries last season, and worse yet, Cleveland traded up to select Montario Hardesty in the second round of the draft. There’s a new regime in Cleveland with no ties to Harrison, and Hardesty will at a minimum get a chance to compete for carries and is the immediate favorite for short-yardage work. Harrison has an uphill challenge of sharing touches on a team that once again looks quite poor on paper.

Harrison is an interesting sleeper given his outstanding athletic ability and the decline of starting running back Jamal Lewis. He is not an every-down type of back, but he has shown some flashes of excitement in his limited touches over the last few seasons. Look for him to see an increased role in 2009, although he will not produce consistently enough to prove worthy of a roster spot until Lewis gets hurt or falls off the map entirely.

Will serve as the third back on the depth chart behind starter Jamal Lewis and backup Jason Wright.

Although Harrison enters the season bigger physically and in better shape than previous times, and he will compete for the starting spot, the reality is that he is going to be a third-down RB for the Browns.

He'll most likely see action as a third-down back and as a backup/change-of-pace back. Right now, he's the leading candidate to back up Reuben Droughns.