Cleveland Browns by the Numbers: Get TE Evan Moore the Ball More

The Cleveland Browns are the talk of the NFL after defeating two top-tier teams in two straight games against the New Orleans Saints and the New England Patriots.

They have done this with a combination of trickery, a solid running game behind Peyton Hillis and consistent quarterback play by Colt McCoy.

One thing that still stands out is their passing game.

Tight end Benjamin Watson leads the team in receptions and yards followed closely by Hillis in second.

Their top wide receiver is not even a starter in Chansi Stuckey.

Consistent quarterback play by McCoy should help the receivers develop throughout the remainder of this season, but as of right now the Browns only have one deep threat at receiver and that is backup tight end Evan Moore.

Moore is a converted college receiver due to his size at 6'6" and 247-pound frame.

Receivers are not traditionally that big, but Moore's size poses a heavy advantage over the average height of defensive backs, which is 5'11".

McCoy can literally just throw the ball up in the year and let Moore use his height to his advantage as was seen on Moore's lone reception in the victory over the Patriots where he went up for a sideline pass and came down with it inside the opposing 5-yard line.

Currently, Moore has 10 receptions for 219 yards and one touchdown.

That is a blistering 21.9 yard per catch average which ranks second in the NFL among all other receivers who have 10 catches or more.

Also, of his 10 receptions, eight of those have gone for over 20-plus yards which means that 80 percent of his catches have stretched the football field vertically.

The Browns do not have much of a vertical threat on offense right now, but Moore is their best weapon in that department and that should be utilized more often in order to keep the defense honest and to not stack the box trying to prevent Hillis from running the ball.

With what seems to be a consistent quarterback, in McCoy, in place perhaps receivers like Mohamed Massaquoi and Josh Cribbs (who was just announced to be starting opposite of Massaquoi now) can further develop their games.

In the meantime, Moore should be placed on the outside as a receiver to give the Browns a vertical threat mismatch for the last half of the NFL season.

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(Also posted on Dawg Scooper: THE Cleveland Browns Blog)