Terrance West, Ben Tate, Isaiah Crowell's Post-Week 9 Fantasy Reaction

Opponents have keyed in on the Cleveland Browns' rushing attack, and no matter who's been in the backfield as of late, it has slowed down after early 2014 success.    

Rookie third-round draft pick Terrance West got the bulk of the workload in the Browns' Week 9 showdown with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, reaching paydirt on a two-yard touchdown reception to make up for a lackluster overall outing.

Player	CAR	YDS	REC	YDS	TD	Fantasy Points
Terrance West	15	48	1	2	1 (rec)	10
Ben Tate	10	3	4	29	0	2

Offseason free-agent arrival Ben Tate continued to struggle on the ground, while talented first-year ball-carrier Isaiah Crowell didn't see any action. Fantasy owners for any of the three players have to be frustrated by the lack of consistency.

Mark Sessler of NFL.com was perplexed by Crowell's lack of usage:

Mike Pettine spoke about the use of his running backs following the game, via David Campbell of Cleveland.com:

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'We talk about the competition that we have, and we want to settle into a two-back rotation. We thought those two had earned it. Terrance had his best week of practice and that merited the number of plays he was in there.'

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This comes a week after Browns coach Mike Pettine said the following when Crowell got two touches in a Week 8 victory over Oakland, via Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot:

The injury to center Alex Mack has had an undeniable impact on the Browns' running game, as it's gone by the wayside since Mack left the lineup after breaking his leg in Week 6.

In the previous two contests, Tate had just 62 yards on 31 carries. West averaged 1.6 yards per carry on 12 total rushing attempts in that span. It is actually Crowell who owns the highest yards per pop on the team, yet he couldn't get on the field Sunday.

Until one of the three backs really takes charge atop the depth chart, the recently parched production, unclear weekly roles and Mack's absence limit the upsides of Tate and West as RB2s or flex plays at best.