CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Browns offensive coordinator Norv Turner has coached some of the best running backs in the history of the game, including the NFL's all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith and former MVP LaDainian Tomlinson, and Turner thinks Trent Richardson stacks up.
"Just watching him and seeing him against us when I came here in October and then watching the tape, yeah, he’s that type of runner,'' said Turner. "Obviously he’s the third pick in the draft. I think he has a lot of great days ahead of him. I always have a problem comparing players because each guy has his own unique style, but I think he’s capable of doing great things.”
Turner, who's produced the NFL's rushing champion on five occasions, thinks Richardson will carry the ball 300 times -- even in this pass-happy league. Last season, he rushed 267 times for 950 yards and 11 touchdowns.
"Obviously, the trend in the league is to not do that, but I think it depends on your team and everyone around it,'' Turner said today. "If that player is your best player, then I think it’s probably a good thing to have him in the game and give him the ball. So I would hope Trent would have that many carries. That means he’s playing healthy and playing at a pretty high level.''
Turner said Richardson, who reported last week along with rookies, quarterbacks and players coming off injuries, has already looked good in pre-camp practices and that the club will be smart with him in camp, coming off a muscle strain in his right shin.
"I don’t think he’ll take a beating at all in our training camp practices,'' Turner said. "I think Coach (Rob Chudzinski) and our trainers and our doctors have put together a really good plan for Trent. I think he’s going to get as much work as he needs to get ready and then we’ll make sure he’s fresh and healthy, but he’s going to get his share of the work in this camp like every player. When I started this thing off, you have to put a lot of time in. It takes a lot of work to be ready to play in this league. He needs to go through the same process everyone else does.”
At the same time, he thinks Richardson will be able to overcome the time he missed in the final week of organized team activities and minicamp.
"I think the running back position is a little bit unique,'' Turner said. "Those guys rely so much on their physical skills, their natural ability. He’s sharp. The mental part was no problem. He’ll get his share of reps. The best runners I’ve been around, they start off and stay within the system and they let their natural ability do a lot of the damage. Their natural ability is a lot of reason for their success.”
But the other backs on the roster will also get a good look in camp, and some will get their share of carries during the season. The backfield in spring practices featured plenty of mixing and matching with Montario Hardesty, Chris Ogbonnaya, Dion Lewis and Brandon Jackson.
"I think Rob has done as good a job of that as anybody, being versatile and doing a lot of different things,'' said Turner. "That’s what our system is based on, trying to get as many people involved. I tell our guys in the meeting room, I’d like to have 16 starters on offense. You’d like to have a lot of guys feel when the ball is kicked off on Sunday they’re going to have a chance to help your team win. We want to find out what our guys can do and then give them the chance to do it.”
Will Turner use a traditional fullback in this offense? And will third-year fullback Owen Marecic make the team after being benched much of last season by the guys who drafted him in the fourth round?
"The beauty of this offense is that it's versatile enough that you have success with the players you have,'' he said. "We've used a variety of different styles of fullback and have been very productive and I can go all the way back into the mid-90s where we had a converted tailback playing fullback with the Redskins and Terry Allen rushed for 1,500 yards. We're going to make due. We're going to take the guys that we have and find out what they do best and give them a chance to do that. We will end up, I believe, with a traditional fullback in our offense and how much we'll use him will depend on the style of offense we end up running."
He said Ogbonnaya can play fullback if need be.
"He can do some of it,'' said Turner. "He's similar to the guys I talked about back in Washington."