2022 Cleveland Browns Fantasy Preview

Notable Players- Deshaun Watson & Baker Mayfield

***THE BELOW ANALYSIS IS FANTASY RELATED ONLY***

The QB situation in Cleveland is truly up in the air. The allegations against Deshaun Watson are growing, and at some point the league is going to react with some size of ban. Until that is passed, it’s hard to really fully analyze the QB position. Despite that, the analysis below will be based on each player being the full-season starter.

If Watson is able to suit up for the Browns, then he is going to be a fantasy force. This group collectively is the best group he has played with, and gives him the best offensive line. With his ability to move the ball through the air, and run the ball, he is a true dual-threat. He will need to learn the offense, but he has everything around him to be successful. Watson figures to be a QB1 if he plays.

Now, if Mayfield is confirmed to be the starter, it’s going to be much of the same from his previous seasons. He is most likely to finish as a QB2, given the way the offense moves the ball on the ground first.

**UPDATE- Baker Mayfield’s Departure**

Mayfield departing doesn’t really change the situation for the team as it relates to Watson. What it does do is push Jacoby Brissett into contention to start. As a result, I think the only pass catchers that I’m going to be in on in a strong way are going to be Amari Cooper and David Njoku as a flier. In the two seasons he was the starter with the Colts he failed to have a single player reach 1,000 yards on the season and only threw 31 TDs across the two seasons. Brissett is only worth considering in SF leagues as a backup, given the number of rushing attempts in the offense.

Notable Players- Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt & D’Ernest Johnson

The offense in Cleveland works through its groundgame. Nick Chubb is the leadback for the team, which gives him immediate fantasy value. He has been given the majority of touches out of the backfield for the past four seasons, and there is little reason to think that will change. The sticking point for why he isn’t spoken about in the upper tier of RBs is that he isn’t involved in the passing game heavily. As a result, for me, he is an RB2 (high end).

Kareem Hunt is the pass-catcher out of the backfield, and gets a decent number of touches out of the backfield too. That involvement in the passing game makes him a flex option most weeks, with upside if Chubb goes down.

Johnson is a player to keep your eye on. The reason being that the team, despite having the options out of the backfield, signed him to a new deal. There have also been rumours surrounding Hunt’s future on the team, which could give Johnson value immediately.

Notable Players- Amari Cooper, Donovan Peoples-Jones & David Bell

The 2022 Cleveland Browns Fantasy Preview for the receivers is going to be dependent on who the QB ends up being.

Cooper has been brought into the offense after being traded from the Cowboys. With no top receiver already on the roster, he is the alpha receiver. There is no dispute that Cooper is a talented receiver, and should get the volume to be effective in the offense. The question mark around him will be which QB is throwing the ball? If it’s Watson, he is a WR2/3. If it’s Mayfield, a mid-to-low WR3.

Peoples-Jones looks like he is starting to feel comfortable in the league. After being a real bit-part player in 2020, he saw the field more in 2021. He had some mixed performances, with some week winning weeks (Week 6 v ARI 4/101/2) and some big duds (Week 15 @GB 1/5/0). Now the depth chart has been cleared out a little, he should have more opportunity to be on the field. On a run-first offense though I’m not crazy about drafting him, outside of deep leagues.

David Bell steps into a team that is in need for a slot receiver. Whether they allow him to opperate there consistently remains to be seen, as the team have just handed a big contract to David Njoku. Not worth drafting.

Notable Players- David Njoku & Harrison Bryant

This has to be the season that Njoku has his breakout doesn’t it? The team tagged him, before signing him to a deal and allowed Austin Hooper to leave.

The offense has moved on from Landry too, who operated in the middle of the field. All of this is putting Njoku in the best situation he has been in for fantasy success.

Bryant is going to have some value in the odd-game, but he isn’t worth drafting. You’ll have him in some DFS lineups at points in the season, but not on your season-long roster unless something major changes.