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The Great Andra Debate

Posted July 14th, 2008 by Luke Chandler

It's inevitable, and every Browns fan has been in this debate.  Andra Davis, a holdover from the Butch Davis regime, has been a starter at left inside linebacker in Romeo's 3-4 defense since 2005.  Before that, Davis had been the starter in Butch's 4-3 defense. 

Typically, Davis is a player fans love to hate.  He's not flashy, is a pure run stopper, and rarely plays on third downs.  Most Browns fans at some point have ripped him to shreds.  At some point every Sunday where Browns games are played, this debate pops up. 

So just how bad is Davis?  Many Clevelanders are ready to build a shrine to Leon Williams (or Beau Bell) and burn Andra at the stake.  Doug Farrar of Football Outsiders posted an article for the OBR Report showing Davis is better than most are giving him credit for

Some of the statistics used to justify this argument are not conventional, but the idea behind it is that Davis is not the scapegoat for the Browns defense that everyone is looking for or maybe as bad as the message boards would have you think.  The article compares him favorably to the Ravens Bart Scott, who gets much more national recognition. 

Davis had a down 2007 year due to a lingering high ankle sprain, and now he faces stiffer competition from the rookie Bell and third year veteran Williams.  After restructuring his contract, this is a make or break year for Davis in Cleveland. 

One Response to “The Great Andra Debate”

  1. barry Says:

    anybody who keeps slamming on andra davis is only showing their ignorance about the 3-4 defense. nobody would have looked good behind the DL the browns fielded last year.

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