Sunday, January 03, 2010

Top 10 Browns of the Decade (1-4)
As promised.... from the responses I received, as well as personal power.

1. Josh Cribbs- After the Chiefs game, I concluded Josh Cribbs was not only the best player since Cleveland returned to the NFL in 1999, but he's one of the best Browns period.

My reasoning is rather simple: If you pick any Browns win from the last five seasons, it's likely the former Kent State QB was in the middle of it. The Browns have a very rich history, but I can see Cribbs reaching the top 15 all time.

Plus, this season he became the team's undisputed MVP, doing whatever was asked of him and playing hard regardless of his team's record.

2. Phil Dawson- He's the only player who has been here all 11 seasons since the re-birth. But Dawson's run is remarkable considering he's a cold weather kicker, and he appears to be improving as he gets older.

Like Cribbs, he's all over whatever Browns highlights there have been in recent years; it's amazing to me that he has never made the Pro Bowl.

3. Joe Thomas- Three seasons, three Pro Bowls. He plays the game quietly, but despite all the Browns problems since he arrived, you rarely hear that he missed a block or he was beat.

Thomas has been a great pick for this franchise, and hopefully he'll get some help on the other side of the line.

4. Jamir Miller- To this day, I wonder two things about Miller, who played in only two seasons of this past decade for the Browns:

1. How did Dwight Clark get him?

2. How might Butch Davis' tenure in Cleveland been different had Miller's career not ended in a 2002 preseason game?

Miller was a monster on the field in 2001. He had 13 sacks and made the Pro Bowl. He had five sacks in 2000, under Chris Palmer.

It just seemed that in 2001, the Browns defense was aggressive and tough. In 2002, it seemed the defense regressed. Miller was the major piece missing in 2002.

Miller was a type of energy on the field, the type of impact player the Browns defense didn't have again until Shaun Rogers arrived in 2008.

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