BEREA - Reuben Droughns needs 132 yards to reach the Browns' equivalent of climbing Mount Everest.But left tackle L.J. Shelton doesn't want to talk about whether Droughns will become the first Browns running back in 20 years to reach 1,000 yards when the Browns visit the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.``Those are the kinds of things you've got to knock on wood and just keep working hard,'' Shelton said. ``Anything can happen. I don't want to get us off course.''Droughns had a season-high 166 yards on 30 carries in last weekend's shutout of the Miami Dolphins. It was his third 100-yard game as a Brown and the ninth of his career, all in the past two seasons. He needs 20 yards to top William Green's 887 yards -- the high of the expansion era -- in 2002. But his sights are set on 1,000, last reached by Kevin Mack and Earnest Byner in 1985.``It means a lot to me. I understand the streak the Browns have been on as far as not getting a 1,000-yard rusher,'' Droughns said. ``I definitely want to give something back to the fans here and hopefully we can do it real soon.''While the Vikings held the Green Bay Packers to 21 yards rushing last weekend, they still rank 21st in the league against the run. Droughns has gotten Vikings coach Mike Tice's attention.``We were going to come out in shorts today, but because of Reuben Droughns I decided to come out in pads,'' Tice said Wednesday. ``This guy runs the ball hard. He has bad intentions when he comes to the line of scrimmage. If you're in his way, if you're not coming up there to do business, you're going to pay the price.''Coming to Cleveland March 30 in a trade with the Denver Nuggets for defensive linemen Ebenezer Ekuban and Michael Myers, Droughns was deemed expendable because the Broncos crank out an endless stream of 1,000-yard rushers. He had 1,240 yards in 2004. This year the Broncos' Mike Anderson (813 yards) and Tatum Bell (640) still have a shot at the magic number.On pace for 1,389 yards, Droughns could join Jim Brown as the only Browns backs to gain more than 1,294 yards in a season. Asked if that number was attainable, Droughns stood on tip-toe to peer over at the offensive linemen's lockers and said, ``With those offensive linemen, I really do believe so.''Shelton said, ``That's a great compliment. I think we're doing a good job running the ball, but we can still do better.''Droughns is popular with the guys up front, especially after ripping off a 75-yard touchdown on the first play against the Dolphins.``He's been running hard. We noticed that the first day in pads,'' right guard Cosey Coleman said. ``Lately we've been getting everything aligned just right. That first play Sunday, 20 years you might not draw it up that good.''Center Jeff Faine said, ``He's got that big-play potential because of the cutback, but he also can run it up in there and get four or five when there's not much there.''
thank god that streak will end.Droughns just needs 22 yards in each of the remaining games to pass 1,000 i just hope he doesnt get injured.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (TOhasBO @ Nov 26 2005, 04:14 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'>thank god that streak will end.Droughns just needs 22 yards in each of the remaining games to pass 1,000 i just hope he doesnt get injured.</div> Droughns is a really good back, I was a little skeptical when you guys traded for him but it looks like it was a smart move. At least Denver backs have proven they can produce outside of Denver (unlike Kansas City backs *cough* Blaylock *cough* )
I miss Droughns in Denver and honestly I didn't think he would produce anywhere else once he left cuz with the running system we got is real good--you can make a bad back look good. I'm glad to see he's doing things elsewhere, even though 1,000 yards isn't a HUGE deal, its still good to see that he is stepping up.
Wow, 20 years! That's a horrible running game. Finally they have a good back to get break that horrendous curse.
It hasn't been 20 years since the Browns had a 1000 yard rusher.It has been 17. The Browns did not field a team from 96-98. Furthermore this article gives a false sense that nobody came close to 1000. Several runners came close to 1000. Leroy Hoard in 1994 had something like 890 yards and William Green recently had 880 some yards.
