RADIO
Remember last season’s offseason drama regarding the Cleveland Browns and their decision to draft Johnny Manziel while simultaneously refusing to commit to a quarterback? Luckily, the hoopla surrounding Manziel in Cleveland has calmed down to somewhat acceptable levels but the team as a whole is still a bit of a mess. Several personnel changes at every offensive position paint a pretty bleak picture for the Cleveland Browns both in real-life football as well as fantasy. As murky as it seems, it’s actually a lot easier to sort out than you might think.
Offseason Acquisitions: WR Dwayne Bowe, WR Brian Hartline, QB Josh McCown, QB/WR Terrelle Pryor, RB Duke Johnson
No Longer on the Roster: TE Jordan Cameron, QB Brian Hoyer, WR Miles Austin
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Quarterbacks
The aforementioned Johnny Manziel has been in the news for all the wrong reasons over the course of his NFL career thus far. Without diving into the specifics, it appears that Manziel is turning the corner with his personal troubles and is refocusing on football. That’s a step in the right direction for such a young and polarizing player like Manziel who wasn’t really given a fair shot in his rookie season.
Manziel’s personal well-being is the most important thing right now, so it’s no surprise that the Browns brought in another QB veteran to run the offense after parting ways with Brian Hoyer. Cleveland signed former Buccaneer and Bear Josh McCown as their presumed starter for the 2015 season. McCown showed flashes of competence filling in for Jay Cutler as a Bear in 2013 but struggled mightily as the starter in Tampa Bay last year. Over the course of eight games in Chicago, McCown totaled 1,829 yards and 13 touchdowns with just one interception. He also boasted a completion percentage of 66.5%, the highest of his career. Compare those numbers to the 11 games he played in Tampa Bay last year and you’ll notice a huge drop in production, particularly when you consider his whopping 14 interceptions. The thing to keep in mind with McCown is that his best year occurred while playing for quarterback guru Marc Trestman in Chicago. That just goes to show you how much good a QB-friendly scheme can do for a journeyman player like McCown.
Both before and since then, McCown has lived up to his status as a backup QB. He’s also 35 so it’s not like there’s any upside to him. The only shot the Browns have at getting any sort of meaningful production from their quarterback is if Manziel suddenly turns into an NFL version of his Texas A&M self during the pre-season. Until that happens, you can ignore Cleveland quarterbacks.
Wide Receivers
For the second year in a row we open this section by mentioning the suspended Josh Gordon. Gordon could have been a superbly reliable fantasy wide receiver by now if he was able to keep himself out of trouble. Instead, he’s been hit with yet another suspension, this time for the entire 2015 season. That’s a huge blow to the Cleveland offense, as they have nothing more than other teams’ leftovers at the position right now.
Veteran Miles Austin didn’t really work out last year so he’s already gone. In his place are longtime players Dwayne Bowe and Brian Hartline. Both of these guys were fantasy relevant once upon a time but have since regressed immensely, especially Bowe. Bowe’s best season was all the way back in 2010 and he hasn’t really been the same since 2011. A lot of that can be attributed to Kansas City quarterback Alex Smith’s reluctance to establish any sort of efficient passing game with his wide receivers, but Bowe’s lack of efficiency can’t be totally ignored. Over the last three years, Bowe hasn’t had an 1,000 yard season or exceeded 60 receptions. Even if you were to combine his touchdowns over that span he’d only end up with eight. Until he proves otherwise, Dwayne Bowe simply isn’t worth a roster spot anymore.
As for Brian Hartline, he’s flirted with WR2 numbers in Miami but has often been outshined by his peers. He isn’t really more than a depth add for the Browns despite being the presumed number two receiver on the team. Unfortunately for Cleveland fans, there isn’t anything to be excited about as far as wide receivers are concerned. It isn’t too early to start hoping Josh Gordon keeps himself out of trouble in 2016.
Running Backs
If you paid any attention to Cleveland’s ground game last year you should be familiar with the names Isaiah Crowell and Terrance West. Both players fought for carries throughout the entirety of the 2014 campaign with neither guy able to break away from the other. The larger problem, however, is that Head Coach Mike Pettine never really committed to either one of them as the actual starter. Instead, he sort of mixed and matched them as he pleased. I could bore you to tears rattling off how inconsistent their respective rushing attempts were but instead we’d be better served to analyze the scheme in place rather than the players involved.
The Browns ranked sixth in the NFL in rushing attempts last season with 477. Compare that to their 502 passing attempts (26th in the NFL), and it’s clear that the Browns utilize a much more conservative offense. Obviously a large chunk of that is due to the shaky quarterback play they’ve had to endure, but either way, the numbers suggest that the starting running back in Cleveland should hold some fantasy value. The expectation is that Crowell will be the starter come week one, but there is no way I’d be confident with him as my RB2 in any sized league. Rather, I’d be much more inclined to stash Crowell on my bench as an RB3 or RB4 and hope he emerges as something more. Besides, there’s still one last running back we should discuss on this roster…
Rookies and Tight Ends
Every year some random rookie running back very few fantasy owners have heard of starts getting talked up as a potential sleeper. One of those players this year is Duke Johnson out of the University of Miami. The Browns selected Johnson in the third round, and he was pretty much ignored by fans and fantasy analysts alike…until now. Recently, tons of reports have emerged that state Duke Johnson has been the most impressive running back on the Cleveland roster. In fact, some of these reports indicate that the competition between Johnson, Crowell, and West isn’t even close, in that Johnson is already that much better than the other two players. Listen, it’s still way too early to take this information with anything more than a grain of salt, but it’s still intriguing. If Johnson were to beat out both guys outright and emerge as the true starter, we could be looking at a legitimate RB2 in fantasy given his expected usage.
On the flip side to that, this could very well just be more OTA gibberish. Besides, need I remind you of one Bishop Sankey? Sankey was talked up as the ultimate running back sleeper in Tennessee but never came anywhere close to being reliable. That said, for every Bishop Sankey there’s an Alfred Morris, yet that’s precisely the point. It’s impossible to accurately predict which unexpected rookies pop and which ones turn out to be nothing more than false hype. It’s not like we’re debating Eddie Lacy or Melvin Gordon here. Johnson was a relatively unknown guy until about two weeks ago. We need to wait to hear more information on Johnson’s ability and usage before he can be regarded as a legitimate sleeper. If you can get him super late, great. Otherwise, don't go crazy trying to draft him just yet.
As far as tight ends are concerned, Jordan Cameron is off to Miami so the Browns decided to select two TEs in the draft. Malcolm Johnson out of Mississippi State and Randall Telfer from USC may compete with a random assortment of veterans for the starting gig, but this is a position you can completely ignore barring a miracle.
If it sounds like I’m pessimistic on the fantasy value of the Cleveland Browns this year, that’s because I am. Josh Gordon could have been a blessing for this team yet instead he’s a lost soul. Jordan Cameron was the only other exciting name on the roster and he’s gone too. Sorting out the running game will be interesting as we inch closer to the pre-season with Crowell, West, and Johnson fighting for the top spot. If we’re talking pure draft strategy here, I’d much rather pass on Crowell entirely and take the lottery ticket on Johnson way later in the draft. Other than that, there’s a pretty good chance the Cleveland Browns won’t possess any sort of fantasy relevance this year.
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