Hardesty Officially a Bust?

[mikeyP]

I'm of the variety that would like to see what he can do next year, when the team and system are better integrated into Shurmur's system.

Another off-season of improvements to the roster and time for everything to gel, will remove all excuses for poor play.

He has the POTENTIAL to be a good RB in the NFL. But like Jason said, if he can't stay on the field, he's not going to be much of anything.

[Enigmatic Evil]

Good call, I'd like to see more of Hardesty too before really making the "bust" call... IF he can't stay healthy though, he will earn that title pretty quickly.

Considering he missed his entire rookie season, and he's missed most of this season as well hasn't he? It's just not adding up for him. I think the talent's there though, and I don't think we want to give up on that anytime soon. He's good for depth on our roster, and we don't have a lot of that.

[Flugel]

Originally Posted by jason j

Yeah, that's splitting hairs a bit on my part. But I don't get too charged up about second and third rounders. Don't get me wrong, it's almost impossible to win in this league if you can't draft productive players in the 2nd-3rd-4th rounds. But almost as often as not, you miss.

There are a few immutable truths in football. You can't coach a guy to be bigger, and you can't coach a guy who's not there. I'd rather have a bad player than an injury prone one.

-jj

I'd say the 1 thing the Cleveland Browns have led the NFL in is the highest priced Injured Reserve Units since 1999. I'm not trying to send someone into a state of depression but we've witnessed all of these high priced commitments going to IR (and often more than once in their careers here):

1) Tim Couch
2) Courtney Brown - he was our Yoa Ming with the China bones
3) LeCharles Bentley
4) Kellen Winslow
5) Braylon Edwards
6) William Green
7) Jamir Miller
8) Antwaan Peakabooboo
9) Brandon Jackson
10) Scott Fujita
11) D'Qwell Jackson
12) Shaun Rogers - showed up dunkin basketballs left Dunkin Donuts
13) Eric Steinbach
14) Matt Stewart
15) Errict Rhett
16) Jamal Lewis
17) Daylon McCutcheon (after contract extension)
18) Orheus Roye (after a seemingly well deserved contract extension)
19) Leigh Bodden (after the contract extension)
20) Sean Jones

I'm certain we had alot more than that. Those are just the ones that come off the top of my head.

I liked that statement about can't coaching a guy who's not there. Braylon Edwards wasn't there even when he showed up physically. YES, he had 1 season of playing like a #3 overall pick when football mattered more than barfights or racing a teammate through glass in bare feet. I HOPE Little is coachable; but I think he's going to need the TOUGH LOVE of taking a seat like James Jones received LATE in 2010 from droppping very catchable passes. Mike McCarthy showed him Jordy Nelson would catch the passes he wasn't and it came to fruition. Nelson was the guy we saw scorign a TD on Superbowl Sunday not Jones. Another way to send the message to Jones was to DRAFT Randall Cobb. THIS YEAR, Jones is catching those passes he dropped. Well, guys like Josh Cribbs and Jordan Norwood are doing more during their limited playing time than Little continues to do. I think we're at a point where guys need to justify reps. Little might be one of those guys that appears to be here BUT the repeated mistakes of DROPPING the ball might not mean the coach SUCKS. Cribbs is playing his best ball as a WR as is Norwood.

[BernietheKid]

Cleveland Browns' Montario Hardesty is aching to prove he's not injury-prone

Published: Saturday, December 03, 2011, 4:20 AM Updated: Saturday, December 03, 2011, 4:36 AM

Mary Kay Cabot, The Plain Dealer

BEREA, Ohio — Browns running back Montario Hardesty knows what you're thinking.
He knows you think his latest injury, the torn calf muscle, means he really is injury prone and that he'll never be able to stay healthy.

But he's out to prove you wrong, beginning with Sunday's game against the Baltimore Ravens at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

"I've got five games left this year and then 16 next year and 16 the year after that," Hardesty said. "I know I can stay healthy because I played my last three years in college without missing a game. I've just got to keep fighting through this."

Hardesty will return against the Ravens after missing four games because of an injured calf muscle, which he hurt early in the San Francisco game Oct. 30. The injury came on the heels of Hardesty's return from the torn left anterior cruciate ligament that kept him out all last season.

"I know what it seems like, but this is football," he said. "I've had some big injuries, but a lot of people have, including a lot of running backs. I've played 40 to 50 games in a row, and I know I can do it. I just have to take care of my body and hope that these things don't come up anymore."

Hardesty, who also tore the ACL in his right knee as a freshman at Tennessee, is aware that secondary injuries often occur after major knee surgeries. The calf injury is
to the right leg, opposite last year's ACL.

"Sometimes they say you overcompensate and do things with the other leg you
normally wouldn't do," he said. "I don't know if that was the case."

"I just have to make sure I'm ready."

That's why Hardesty determined last week during warm-ups in Cincinnati that the calf wasn't ready.

"It felt good all week, but I didn't really get to that point where I was really just bursting and exploding like I have to in a game," he said. "I was staying around the 80, 85 percent mark. I really wanted to play."

This week, Hardesty sat out drills until Thursday and then was limited for his two days of work. But resting early in the week seemed to do the trick.

"On Friday of last week going into the game, I was a little sore, but now I feel great," he said. "I felt good running around, and I had burst and all of that stuff."
Hardesty is listed as questionable for the game but fully expects to play.

"Yeah, I'm ready," he said. "I'm confident and excited to get back out there. I've got five games left, and I plan on going out there and having my best five games."
Hardesty said he thinks he can handle a full load if called upon.

"When I'm in there, I'll be ready to play," he said.

Coach Pat Shurmur was impressed with how good Hardesty looked cutting and running in team drills Friday.

"He did a little more than we thought, so we're hopeful that he'll be more of a factor than he would've been last week," Shurmur said.

Hardesty will join fellow backs Peyton Hillis and Chris Ogbonnaya, giving the Browns a full complement of healthy backs for the first time in eight games (Oct. 2 against the Titans). Hillis returned from his pulled hamstring last week against the Bengals and looked a lot like the 2010 Hillis, with 65 yards on 19 carries. Hardesty and Hillis have appeared in only three full games together this season.

"It's going to be fun," said Hardesty, who most likely will receive a limited amount of reps. "I know Peyton was very excited about getting back out there last week, and I'm just as excited about getting out there this week. In our room with me, Peyton and Ogbonnaya, we all want to play well, and we all want to win, so it's like a mini-competition amongst ourselves. You want to do well and you want everyone else to do well. It's going to be fun just getting everybody back out there in the same game."

Hardesty will make his return against the league's third-ranked run defense (91.5 yards per game). The Ravens are No. 1 in the NFL in allowing 3.4 yards per rush, and limited Frank Gore of the 49ers to 39 yards on 14 carries (2.8 average) in the Ravens' 16-6 victory on Thanksgiving Day. The Browns have averaged 4.6 yards per carry the past three games after averaging 3.2 the first eight games.

"We just have to be ready to face the challenge and go out there and play ball," Hardesty said. "We have to match the intensity of the Ravens. I think it's kind of fun to come back and play against a team that's so good against the run. Coming out, we can't let them dictate the game, we've got to dictate our own game and just let our run game go that way."

Hardesty was just starting to round back into shape when he felt the twinge in his calf on a pivot route in San Francisco. The week before, he plugged away for 95 yards on 33 carries in a victory over the Seahawks, and for one game he was the workhorse back the Browns envisioned when they drafted him in the second round in 2010.

"Before I got hurt, I was starting to fit into the offense," he said. "Hopefully I'll have my five best games and we'll get five wins. I really want to finish strong."

Cleveland Browns' Montario Hardesty is aching to prove he's not injury-prone | cleveland.com