The roster changes continue to come for the Cleveland Browns as they try and figure out how to turn the season around with four straight losses and just two wins on the year. Head coach Mike Pettine is currently determining who to start between Johnny Manziel and Josh McCown while the role players quarterback continue to change. After waiving Terrance West in the running back rotation, the Browns are now dumping Robert Turbin.
According to Marc Sessler of NFL.com, the Browns have waived Turbin after claiming the running back from the Seattle Seahawks. Turbin was once viewed as the future of the run game for the Browns. They were struggling to get yards in the rushing attack and brought on Turbin who was dealing with an ankle injury at the time. However, he failed to make any really impact on the field once he returned from the injury and now the Browns are moving on from him.
Cleveland currently has the fifth-worst rushing attack in the NFL. The idea of that Turbin could not help in some way is baffling. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the running back fell out of favor with the franchise and they decided to part ways. With that, Duke Johnson and Isaiah Crowell will take over as the main rotation for the Browns. While Johnson has had a solid rookie campaign as a dual-threat player, he has not done enough to help get wins. The same can be said for Crowell.
The Browns need any kind of spark they can potentially get right now. Dwayne Bowe provided some kind of hope after leading the team in receiving following being a healthy scratch for several games. He and Brian Hartline could move into the starting rotation with Travis Benjamin in order to try and find some kind of momentum. Johnson might be the best thing the Browns have going right now as a number of NFL analysts call for him to get the ball more.
"Duke is a guy who has showed he can do some damage with the football," Pettine said, via Scout.com. "I think that is on us as a staff to find more creative ways to get him the football, whether that is in the run game or whether that's in the pass game. He is showing to be the guy we thought he was."
If the Browns can get some improvement from the role players, the quarterback play will follow. However, it has yet to be decided who is going to be starting against the Pittsburgh Steelers this week. McCown is healing from a shoulder injury while Manziel has not fully impressed in the role just yet. According to Pat McManamon of ESPN.com, the Browns could opt to start Manziel for the remainder of the year in order to see what they truly have in the quarterback. McCown is not the long-term option for the franchise and Cleveland might be better off trying to see if Manziel really is or if they need to go in a different direction come next year.