Cleveland Browns Week 13 Stock Report
The Cleveland Browns are now 2-9 through 11 games after falling to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 12's Monday Night Football contest. The loss—a last-minute heartbreaker—has changed the landscape in Cleveland, with starting quarterback Josh McCown suffering a season-ending collarbone fracture.
So what does this mean for the Browns moving forward? Which players are helping their team, and which are not? Here is the Browns' stock report for Week 13.
Stock Down: Head Coach Mike Pettine
1 of 5
A ninth loss for the Browns means that head coach Mike Pettine's job security is firmly in question at this point in the year. While team owner Jimmy Haslam said in August that he's not planning on "blowing things up" following the conclusion of the 2015 season, the way the season has played out thus far may force him to change direction.
It's been well over a month since the Browns have won a game. The defense—Pettine's specialty—is atrocious, both against the run and the pass. The team cannot run the ball. Only the passing game has been a bright spot this season, and it has lost its biggest star in Josh McCown to injury.
Draft picks haven't panned out, and while general manager Ray Farmer is the man tasked with bringing them aboard, it's Pettine who has had to develop them—and it hasn't happened yet, especially when it comes to the four Round 1 picks over the past two years.
Continuity in Cleveland is something that the Browns desperately need. But sometimes, it's advisable to cut ties with the current men in charge when things are obviously not working. The Pettine administration has not panned out thus far, and even if he does somehow retain his job, he'll be on thin ice.
Stock Up: QB Austin Davis
2 of 5
With Josh McCown out for the rest of the season with a broken collarbone, the Browns needed to name a new starting quarterback. And, at least for Week 13 against the Cincinnati Bengals, it will be Austin Davis.
Davis, whom the Browns signed in September, served as McCown's backup against the Baltimore Ravens and came into the game in the fourth quarter. He threw 10 passes with seven completions for 77 yards and a touchdown and went 6-of-6 passing on his scoring drive.
The Browns promoted Davis to second string after they demoted Johnny Manziel from starter to the No. 3 based on his behavior during the bye week. And now, Davis will get his first start in Cleveland, something that could potentially lead to him being the full-time starter for the 2016 season.
He may not keep the job for more than one week. But this week does give Davis an opportunity that he may thought he'd never get with the Browns. To go from No. 3, to No. 2, to No. 1 is the essence of a player whose stock is—at least for the moment—on the rise.
Stock Down: QB Johnny Manziel
3 of 5
Not only was Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel demoted to third string for his bye-week actions, but he was also skipped over for promotion in Week 13. It may be for the best—never has Manziel looked worse in his brief NFL career than against the Cincinnati Bengals. Still, for him to have been named the uncontested starter just a few weeks back and yet remain unable to get on the field after Josh McCown's season ended early is not a good sign.
But it's not a permanent demotion, if head coach Mike Pettine's comments on Wednesday are any indication. According to Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot, Pettine said that he "talked to the quarterbacks this morning and I said given where we are, what our circumstances are, it's safe to say now that this is a weekly thing. The decision was made, it's Austin for this week and I'm not going to go beyond that."
Pettine also expressed interested in seeing Manziel play again: "These are two players that we both want to see play is the bottom line. I don't want to declare, 'hey, this is what it's going to be here on out.' These are two young quarterbacks that have upside and we want to see what that upside is. So Austin's the guy for this week."
How Davis performs Sunday will likely be the determining factor as to whether the Browns choose to turn back to Manziel in Week 14. But the door is still quite open for Manziel to regain the starting job. It's just not going to happen this week.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Stock Up: DL Jamie Meder
4 of 5
Browns defensive lineman Jamie Meder is seeing more playing time as the season wears on, and Monday night's meeting with the Baltimore Ravens was his heaviest workload yet. According to Pro Football Focus, he played 49.2 percent of the team's defensive snaps. His previous high was 44.4 percent in Week 7.
While Meder had two tackles (and one for a loss) and a lone quarterback hit Monday night, he's clearly turning heads enough to warrant more playing time. Also helping matters was the absence of defensive end Randy Starks, who missed the game with a knee injury.
But Meder has played both end and tackle this year and has been taking more and more snaps away from first-round draft pick Danny Shelton in the process. Meder is a free agent in 2016, but his performance throughout the 2015 season points to him receiving a contract offer from the Browns next season.
Stock Down: The Run Game
5 of 5
Yet again, the Browns were held to less than 100 collective yards rushing. And yet again, the team abandoned all hopes of running the ball in the second half, though it was a close game that could have been won in the final moments.
In the first half against the Ravens, the Browns ran 14 times, netting 49 yards. Duke Johnson had five carries for 24 yards, and Isaiah Crowell had seven carries for seven total yards.
By the end of the game, the Browns had run only four additional times, for a total of 63 yards. One run was a seven-yard scramble by quarterback Austin Davis. Two belonged to Johnson—including a carry for no gain prior to the Browns' attempting a 51-yard field goal that was blocked and returned for the Ravens' game-winning score. Crowell had no further carries in the second half.
Not only can the Browns not run the ball, but they apparently have no interest in trying. They are one-dimensional on purpose. Granted, the passing game has been effective. But that they repeatedly abandon the run in the second half of games this year is still cause for concern.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
