Cleveland Browns Week 12 Stock Report

The Cleveland Browns are coming off of their Week 11 bye preparing for a Monday Night Football contest against the three-win Baltimore Ravens. But just because the Browns had a week off from the football field does not mean it has been an uneventful period for the team. 

With the latest developments in Cleveland in mind, here is the Browns' stock report headed into Week 12. 

Stock Up: QB Johnny Manziel

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The bye week began as a good one for Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel. Coming off of his Week 10 fill-in performance for the injured Josh McCown, he was named the team's starter for the remainder of the season.

While Cleveland scored only nine points in their loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Manziel's 73.3 percent completion rate, 372 passing yards and increased comfort while staying in the pocket was enough to convince head coach Mike Pettine and the Browns' other powers-that-be that switching to Manziel was the move that would prove best for business.

Pettine explained his reasons for starting Manziel last week, saying that, "the performance against Pittsburgh I think validated for us the progress that he's made, the improvement that he's shown and that he deserves this opportunity," and that "I think [Manziel] earned a lot of respect from the guys in that room of how he prepared for the week, how he went out and executed the game plan." 

It was a rare vote of confidence from Pettine, who had spent the previous seven months making it clear that McCown would be the team's starter for the duration of the 2015 season. As long as Manziel didn't do anything to jeopardize his standing with his teammates and coaches during the bye week, the job would be his for the rest of the year.

This would give Manziel six games to prove he was not only worth a Browns' Round 1 draft pick in 2014 but also the franchise quarterback for which the Browns have been searching for nearly two decades. It was his first, best chance to establish himself as a worthy NFL starter. But he squandered it.

Stock Down: QB Johnny Manziel

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It's possible that Mike Pettine is kicking himself for naming Johnny Manziel the Browns' starting quarterback when he did. Because during the team's week off, Manziel appears to be back to his old, party-boy ways, and the fallout from his time in Austin, Texas could cost him the starting job he's worked so hard this season to earn.

Over the weekend, Manziel was caught drinking champagne in Austin with a D.J. friend, with the camera-phone evidence released to gossip site, TMZ. And it's not the drinking itself, per se, that has him back in Pettine's doghouse, but rather Manziel's insistence prior to the bye that staying out of trouble is a top priority, especially now that he's the starter.

Manziel said, point blank, that, "Coach Pettine came in and said he didn't want to micro-manage me or any of the other guys on our time off, but at the same time I let him know that I am not going to do anything that is going to be a distraction to this team or be an embarrassment to the organization. That was the thing he stressed to me as well. He stressed that back... I don't think you have to worry about me this week."

And this perceived hypocrisy from Manziel, his inability to turn "words into actions," as Pettine has stressed this year, has cost Manziel the start against the Ravens on Monday and the chance to be the No. 1 quarterback at any point over the rest of the season.

Pettine made clear his disappointment on Tuesday, saying (via the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Mary Kay Cabot) that, the latest Manziel off-the-field development is "all part of the frustration, the disappointment. When the behavior repeats it's certainly a cause for concern." 

And later on Tuesday, he determined that Manziel's behavior warranted his demotion, not to No. 2 quarterback but to No. 3. Josh McCown will be "the starter going forward," with Austin Davis the backup. Pettine's statement continued: "The improvements from last year to this year have been tremendous but [Manziel] still has to consistently demonstrate that he has gained a good understanding of what it takes to be successful at the quarterback position on this level. It goes well beyond the field."

Manziel's stock was on the upswing when he was named the starter last week, but it's taken a massive hit by this latest video and the disappointment it has caused to his head coach. He may not get another opportunity in Cleveland as a result.

Stock Up: QB Josh McCown

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When Mike Pettine named Johnny Manziel the Browns' starting quarterback last week, he was still quick to praise the former starter, Josh McCown, saying he's "the best backup in the league." And now that top backup has been promoted back to starter following the outcome of the Browns' internal investigation into what Manziel may have been up to during the bye week.

Pettine said on Tuesday that McCown has been completely cleared to practice and play after struggling through rib injuries over the past few weeks. With McCown "good to go," the decision to bench Manziel was doubtlessly easier for Pettine and company to make. If McCown were not healthy, then Austin Davis, who hasn't played a snap for the Browns yet this year, would be the starter.

McCown had been prepared to be a supportive voice in Manziel's corner, saying last week that, "just from a philosophical standpoint, you pick somebody in the first round and they start to play and start to do some good things, I understand it if that's the decision," and adding, "I will support and help [Manziel] get ready, just like I did this week and do everything I can to help him to play the best ball he can to help us win football games."

But McCown's time as a bystander was a brief one. Manziel's bye-week mistakes have given McCown another chance to lead Cleveland's offense this season.

Stock Down: Offensive Line

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Cleveland's offensive line has struggled all season long, for reasons quite hard to decipher. But it is clear that the line is not performing to the level it is capable of, and it's causing major harm to the Browns' offensive output.

Take Week 10's meeting with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Not only were the Browns limited to just 15 collective rushing yards, quarterback Johnny Manziel was sacked six times. On the season, Cleveland's quarterbacks have been sacked a combined 36 times (22 for Josh McCown, 14 for Manziel), while the run game has put up only 756 yards and two touchdowns on 226 attempts.

Assistant Browns offensive line coach George DeLeone said last week that both he and his offensive linemen are willing to shoulder the blame, particularly for the lack of production in the run game, saying, "I think that we'll take the blame for any mistakes that we've made," adding, "It's our job to block the play that's called. It's our job to work on this offense... We have to play better with the plays that are called this year."

Last year's Browns offensive line ranked 25th in run-blocking and 15th in pass protection, according to Football Outsiders, even with the team without center Alex Mack for much of it. Now, the line ranks last in the league at run-blocking and 25th in pass protection, and Mack has been healthy all year.

Regardless of the reasons for the backslide, Cleveland's line has become one of the team's biggest weaknesses on offense, forcing them into being a one-dimensional passing team and exposing their quarterbacks to repeated pressure. 

Stock Up: The Defense (at Least for This Week)

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Defense hasn't quite been the Browns' forte in 2015, but at least for Week 12, it could be given a much-needed break.

This year, the Baltimore Ravens passing offense ranks in the top 10 in both passes attempted and passing yards, with quarterback Joe Flacco throwing 14 touchdowns. The Ravens also have seven rushing scores on the season. While saddled with a 3-7 record, that offense has helped the Ravens prevent blowout losses—they have been outscored by a mere 23 total points so far this year.

But Cleveland's defense—which ranks 26th against the pass and 32nd against the run—could get a reprieve on Monday night. Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco's season ended in Week 11 after suffering a torn ACL and MCL in the final minutes of his team's win over the St. Louis Rams. He was placed on injured reserve on Tuesday.

Further, top Baltimore running back Justin Forsett also had his season ended by injury in Week 11, suffering a broken arm in the first quarter. The team is also without receiver Steve Smith, who is on injured reserve with a torn Achilles' tendon. Now, Matt Schaub will serve as the team's starting quarterback and Buck Allen their lead back. A grab-bag of receivers and tight ends, meanwhile, will be tasked with trying to make Schaub's Ravens debut run smoothly.

With so many backups and unknowns now in control of Baltimore's offensive reins, the Browns defense has a chance to look respectable, even competent. This is an opportunity that Cleveland should be able to take advantage of on Monday.