Depth Chart Battles: Which Browns RB Will Run Away with the Starting Job?

Check out our full Running Back Depth Charts here.

If there's one thing we've learned about the Cleveland Browns over the last few seasons it's that we shouldn't rely too heavily on their offense for fantasy purposes. That being said, it would appear as if enough has changed in Cleveland's backfield where we can have moderate expectations without an absurd amount of risk.

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Aside from the off the field distractions from Josh Gordon and Johnny Manziel, one of the biggest stories surrounding the Cleveland offense last year was the acquisition of running back Ben Tate. Tate left a Houston Texans offense where he played behind back Arian Foster, where he excelled in limited playing time. He was always thought of as a potential starter down the line so the Browns took that chance. Sadly, Tate struggled with both production and health so the team turned to what could most accurately be described as an oddball duo in Terrance West and Isaiah Crowell. West, a third round rookie out of Towson, and Crowell, an undrafted free agent from Alabama State, shared the workload once Tate was released. It wasn't the most spectacular running-back-by-committee, nor was it the most well known, but it was serviceable.

Crowell and West ran for a combined 1,280 yards and 12 touchdowns, numbers that would absolutely flirt with fantasy RB1 status if they came from one singular player. As a comparison, Eddie Lacy finished with 1,139 rushing yards and eight touchdowns and he's a lock for a first round pick in any sized league. If you were to compare Crowell and West's numbers to each other, you'd notice that Crowell was able to crack the 600+ yard mark with 23 fewer carries and had 8 of those 12 touchdowns between them. The advantage for Crowell doesn't end there as he also had a slightly higher yards-per-carry at 4.1 as opposed to 3.9 for West. The numbers might not favor Crowell in a huge capacity but it's clear he was the more productive back last season.

The problem in simply anointing Crowell the starter even with his higher production value is that head coach Mike Pettine is often tight-lipped on revealing who will receive the most touches. Pettine never really committed to either player as the true starter and wouldn't even come out and say they would continue to utilize both players simultaneously. Even if we were to assume Crowell would get the bulk of the workload, it's definitely possible that this team would continue to use both of them in a timeshare, limiting their fantasy upside. And oh, by the way, they also drafted a rookie by the name of Duke Johnson who is beginning to generate a ton of buzz in camp.

Johnson was selected in the third round of the draft out of Miami and has slowly creeped into fantasy relevance as a sleeper. The Browns are already starting to utilize Johnson as a pass catcher, something that would give him an added boost in PPR formats. Johnson is by no means a lock to start out of the backfield but it's not like he's facing stiff competition either. The current depth chart might list Johnson third but I think we've already reached the point where the hype is enough to slot him above Terrance West as far as fantasy value is concerned. Crowell is currently viewed as an RB3 which is fine but I would much rather pass on him entirely and wait until the end of my draft to snag Duke Johnson. As long as he doesn't explode in the pre-season or become overhyped, he could be a steal and possesses little to no risk. He's the type of player you can cut rather quickly if he doesn't pan out in the first few weeks of the season.

So even with Mike Pettine's unwillingness to commit to a true starting running back the Browns might end up netting fantasy owners a relevant one anyway. I would expect this backfield to either start out as a committee and stay that way with Crowell leading the team in touches or Duke Johnson to explode onto the scene and steal the starting gig.

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