I Want Some Cleveland Browns Stats

As I reviewed the last few days of training camp reports, it occurred to me there is one glaring hole—I have no stats to riff of off.

Statistics are the lifeblood of a sportswriter. They can be used in a variety of ways to prove or disprove a point. They give opinions validation and generally make the writer look better when they’re telling you why Syndric Steptoe needs to quit dropping balls.

Most of the stuff I’ve written over the last few weeks have been stat-free due to the complete lack of football going on, and the fact that when nobody is playing football, it’s awfully hard to come up with stats for that.

Now we’re playing football, or at least we’re practicing at playing football, and hoping a real football team takes the field this year to produce some real stats for sportswriters to plunder.

With players on the field running drills, I’d like to take some stats from the Brady Quinn/Derek Anderson competition and tell you exactly why one quarterback is better than the other.

But I can’t do that.

All we’ve really gotten is, “The competition is pretty even,” and “Both quarterbacks were intercepted today.”

So, without stats, I’ll just state the obvious: Interceptions are bad and both quarterbacks need to quit practicing throwing them.

Of course, I could take the “Glass Half Full” position and crow about how good our defense is performing during this first week of training camp, but I’d need stats for that.

We all know the coaches are keeping numbers, but even the reporters on-site have been light on actual stat reporting.

The Plain Dealer described some of the drills the team went through, simulating situations common at the end of close games, such as being down by four points with a few seconds to go. I have to admit, I got a bit of thrill reading them.

But, once again, no stats.

How am I supposed to draft my fantasy football team with this kind of secrecy?

At least Braylon Edwards is back on the field and looking very healthy. He even caught a touchdown pass.

Sorry to sound snarky, but until he does that in the regular season, why should I care? I do have last year’s stats on Edwards, and I wish I didn’t.

I want to see the stats on D’Qwell Jackson and rookie James Davis. Both names are popping up in reports as having great camps so far.

"He's really good at setting an example,” said Mangini about Jackson on Tuesday. “Whether it's out in the field the way that he finishes plays, the way he runs the football, the way he communicates with the other players. All those things are positive attributes.”

Davis notably broke out for two huge runs on Monday, one for 50 yards that led to a touchdown. (See, stats are wonderful!) His running style has been tagged as “aggressive,” and he’s the current offensive darling of the media.

Mangini also singled him out for praise earlier this week, noting his dedication to getting the work done. “That’s what gets you noticed,” he said.

It’s worth noting here the intense competition going on between the tight ends. With Kellen Winslow gone, the field is wide open for Steve Heiden, Martin Rucker, and Robert Royal. I'd be interested to see the breakdown on how they're blocking and how well they're breaking away from the line on a receiving pattern.

With the first preseason game a little more than a week away, I’m anticipating the long stat dry spell will be over.