Cleveland Browns Sign RB Chris Ogbonnaya: What Does He Bring to the Table?

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

HoustonTexans.com

By Daniel Wolf
Senior Writer

In the midst of all the Peyton Hillis drama, the Cleveland Browns went out and signed running back Chris Ogbonnaya off of the Houston Texans practice squad.

Right off the bat, let's clear the air in the proper pronunciation of Ogbonnaya's last name. It's pronounced: oh-bun-EYE-uh, but friends and others call him "Obie," so let's roll with that.

Obie is a 6-foot, 220 pound back, who played with Colt McCoy when they were both playing for the Texas Longhorns. He was drafted in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams.

During his time with the Longhorns he was not used much until his senior year in 2008—since he was mainly backup to Jamaal Charles—and he was third on the team in rushing yards his senior season, with 373. Obie was also third in both receptions (46) and receiving yards (540) for the Longhorns.

A versatile back, who can both run with the ball and catch it.

Perhaps this is a good match for Cleveland's West Coast offense, which needs running back's to be efficient on the ground and in the air.

Undrafted rookie back, Armond Smith, was the causality of the Ogbonnaya signing, but Obie brings experience in the NFL and a much larger body to the depth of the running back position for the Browns.

Speaking of depth, since Hillis is having hamstring issues currently, Obie's addition seems to foreshadow the fact Hillis could miss a couple of weeks with his hammy problem. If this is the case, then Montario Hardesty would need a backup like Obie to give him some breathers in coming weeks and to keep him fresh toward the end of game's too.

The Browns need to get their running game—along with their passing game—more effective this season and hopefully adding a player like Ogbonnaya will only help.


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