Dion Lewis Is Why I Hope the Cleveland Browns Are Still This Bad in a Few Years

With the aging and concussed Jamal Lewis looking to retire, the Cleveland Browns are now feature back-less.

That's unless you consider James Davis, Jerome Harrison, or Chris Jennings a viable option as a feature back—in which case someone is in for a rude awakening.

Davis, the Clemson running back who was drafted in the sixth round of the last draft, has shown little promise. After seemingly showing potential in training camp and the preseason, where has it all gone? Oh yeah, to injured reserve. He was injured after suffering a torn labrum during a practice.

In the two games he has played in, he managed a total of nine attempts for 18 yards. That stat makes him seem a little unpromising. Maybe the four receptions for five yards can help his case.

Harrison was a fifth-round pick in the 2006 draft. Harrison shows a little bit more promise, as he did show a lot of strengths as an All-American during his years at college—pretty good in my opinion. He showed a lot of Browns fans what he could do in 2007 and 2008 when he averaged 6.2 and 7.2 yards per rush (respectively).

In 2007, Harrison had 142 yards on 23 attempts with no touchdowns that year and little contribution to the receiving game. In 2008, Harrison had 34 touches for 246 yards with 12 receptions for 116 yards. Also, he had one rushing and receiving touchdown apiece.

Flash forward to 2009: Harrison has 81 rushing attempts for 292 yards so far this season with no touchdowns and a 3.6 rushing average. Also, Harrison has 28 receptions for 178 yards and two touchdowns. Not much of an improvement, as his averages have gone down drastically and opposing teams have started shutting him down. Harrison doesn't have what it takes right now to be an elite back for an NFL team.

No, the Browns need an actual running back who is worth spending an actual first round pick on, not the later rounds or free agent pickups. Of course, it would probably help if we built up our offensive line a bit more too.

So what are the Cleveland Browns to do? Here's my take: For the next year or two, draft good offensive linemen and make way for drafting a proven back. Draft linemen until freshman Pitt running back Dion Lewis enters the draft.

Lewis is quite possibly going to be the scariest running back to ever enter the National Football League. At Pitt, he has made people forget LeSean McCoy and has already broken many rushing records in Pitt in his freshman season, including single most rushing attempts in a game (47 attempts) and most points by a Pitt freshman (112 this season).

This season so far, Lewis has 1,640 yards on 297 attempts (a 5.5-yard average) and 16 touchdowns. He also has a respectable 190 yards receiving with one touchdown on 24 receptions. He has also had seven consecutive 100-plus-yard games for a total of nine this year.

Lewis was even somewhat considered a Heisman candidate this year and was listed as a semifinalist for the Maxwell and Doak Walker Awards. CBSSports.com even listed Lewis on their second-team All-America list.

Dion Lewis is the sole reason why I hope that the Browns are still this bad in two or three years. The Browns organization needs a back like Dion. More than that, we need to build a line to block for him and whoever happens to be our quarterback.