NFL Free Agency and Draft Winners: Cleveland Browns

Dominick Petrillo breaks down the fantasy football value of the Cleveland Browns' roster after the 2021 NFL Draft and free agency.

The Cleveland Browns, once a punchline, now have one of the best rosters in the NFL and are a legitimate Super Bowl contender. Free agency was great for the Browns. Things only got better in the draft.

The day started off with General Manager Andrew Berry and his wife welcoming a child and ended with some great additions to both sides of the ball. These additions will propel the Browns into the playoffs for a second straight year.

While this is great and all, the important topic is, how will this impact the fantasy value of the roster? For the answers to that question, we will now take a look at the offense and defense and how the additions to both sides will affect their surrounding parts.

Offense

When talking fantasy, the first side of the ball we think of is the offense. This is why we will also talk about it first here.

The Browns did not do much on offense in free agency or the draft. But they did not need to do much either.

With returning star Nick Chubb and his 1,067 rush yards and 12 rush touchdowns, the Browns are clearly a run-first offense. This is buoyed even further when Kareem Hunt is added into the mix.

Behind one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, the forecast for the run game is once again sunny in 2021. The real question for the offense is the passing game.

Baker Mayfield, to this point in his career, has been up and down. A lot of this has to do with the rotating door of coaches in Cleveland. With Kevin Stefanski firmly entrenched, this will not be a factor this season. Getting Odell Beckham Jr. back healthy to partner with Jarvis Landry, Mayfield will have the talent to get things back to where they were his rookie season when he threw for a rookie record 27 scores in just over 12 games.

Another key piece to this pass offense will be second-year wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones. After being a Five-Star recruit in college, he was failed by Michigan when it came to quarterback play. This led to him falling in the draft and finding his way to Cleveland as a sixth-round pick in 2020. Although not a star, at 6’2 and 215 pounds, he was a downfield threat and picked up a lot of slack as Cleveland dealt with not having Beckham Jr. for the majority of the season. 14 receptions and two scores do not sound impressive. And they are not. But those two scores were at important times and his 306 yards and 21.6 y/r average show the deep-play ability he brings to the table for this offense.

The only real addition made in the draft for this team was WR Anthony Schwartz from Auburn. He is a speedy slot receiver who is poised to take the spot of Landry after 2021 should the Browns opt not to re-sign the veteran.

Small at 5’11 and 179 pounds, he is a pure speed guy. Much like Peoples-Jones, Schwartz was thwarted in college by a bad offense. The Auburn offense, run-heavy and with a mediocre QB in Bo Nix, did him no favors. This caused him to fall to the Browns at number 91 in the third round. If he can show his full potential and grow in this offense, he could be a steal in the draft. Although certainly not worthy of a pick in redraft leagues, Schwartz is a worthy late-round flier in dynasty rookie drafts this offseason. As for the rest of the team, you will need to pay up for them.

Beckham Jr. is still dynamic. He still has a lot of people who remember the catch. He will therefore be taken higher than expected in a lot of drafts this offseason. While he and Landry should be closer to each other in drafts in the sixth-round area, OBJ is likely to be a fourth-rounder. Possibly too high for many. But if he hits, you could have a WR1 at the WR2 or WR3 position.

In the run game, both Chubb and Hunt are worth drafting. Chubb is a first-round pick whether the league is standard-scoring or PPR, although he is better in standard. As for Hunt, he has massive PPR value and not so much in standard where he will be nullified by the workload of Chubb. In standard leagues, Hunt is a solid pick in the seventh or eighth round. In PPR formats, he gets pushed up into the fourth or even third round. He is just as talented as Chubb, but Chubb is the lead dog in the dawg pound and needs to be drafted that way.

Baker Mayfield is, like most QBs in most years, one of a pack who will be solid contributors, and you can get them near the back of the draft. He is not going to be in the conversation with Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen, but he is in competition with the likes of Matt Ryan and perhaps Ben Roethlisberger. The eight to 14 range. Solid for your team but do not take them before the eighth or ninth round. Load up on more important positions first and then fill in the QB position later.

Defense

When we talk about the defense in Cleveland, we need to start with the secondary. Myles Garrett and newly added Jadeveon Clowney could wreak havoc, but the secondary could be the best in the NFL after some key offseason moves.

Before the draft, the Browns added two additions in CB Troy Hill and safety John Johnson III from the Los Angeles Rams, who had one of the top defenses in the NFL in 2020. Both of these players will move into starting roles and will provide the beginning of the upgrade mentioned above. One which makes them a legitimate contender for best secondary. Add to these additions the return of both Greedy Williams and Grant Delpit from being injured, and the depth of the unit grows significantly.

Returning starter Denzell Ward will be joined as well by talented but oft-injured rookie Greg Newsome II. A CB from Northwestern who, when on the field, was as good as any CB in this draft. That includes Jaycee Horn and Patrick Surtain II, who both went in the top-10 to Carolina and Denver, respectively.

Only playing in seven games the past two seasons, Newsome was still able to flash enough to be taken as the 26th overall pick for Cleveland. A team clearly looking to upgrade on defense to match up with the likes of Kansas City and Buffalo in the AFC. This was even more evident when, in the second round, they moved up to number 52 to snatch LB/safety hybrid Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah from Notre Dame.

A little slight for an LB and a little big for a safety, the Browns will plan on using the versatile standout as an LB in their defense. Any shortcomings he may have will thereby be covered up by the hopefully dominant front four. This will allow Owusu-Koramoah to stuff the run against division foes like the Ravens and maybe even the Steelers or Bengals if they can find a run game.

Having so much talent on a Cleveland roster, especially on defense, is rare. But this is the new Cleveland. A team who is going to be competing for a playoff berth now instead of the first overall draft pick. It is honestly wonderful to see after so long.

Defenses should never be drafted before the last round of a fantasy draft. To some, they should never have to be drafted. But if you are in a league that uses defenses, the Browns are an elite option this season. Most teams do not repeat a top season on defense. Look at Jacksonville of just a few years ago or even the Bears of the mid-2000s. This means that a likely new team will take over from the Rams as the D/ST1 for fantasy. Why not the team which took two of their best secondary players in Hill and Johnson III?

There is greatness all over the Cleveland Browns team. Unlike two seasons ago when they disappointed, we saw last season what they can do. I do not expect it to change this season, and neither should you. Be confident in your Brownies and take them willingly in your fantasy drafts. You will not be sorry.

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