Cleveland Browns

Head Coach: Hue Jackson (1st year)
Offensive Coordinator: Al Saunders (1st year)
Defensive Coordinator: Ray Horton (1st year)

Depth Chart

Quarterback: Robert Griffin III, Josh McCown, Cody Kessler (r)
Running Back: Isaiah Crowell, Duke Johnson Jr., Glen Winston
Wide Receiver: Josh Gordon, Corey Coleman (r), Andrew Hawkins, Rashard Higgins (r), Taylor Gabriel, Terrelle Pryor
Tight End: Gary Barnidge
Kicker: Travis Coons
Defense/Spec Teams: 2015-Finished 27th in yards against and 29th in points against. Finished 28th in sacks and 21st in interceptions.

Coaching Philosophy

Out of all the franchises in the NFL, I think it’s fair to say that the Browns, and possibly the Raiders, have been the most disappointing teams to their fan base over the last 20 years or so. In the 16 years since they relocated back to Cleveland, they have only had three seasons above .500. To help fix that, this year the Browns brought in new head coach, Hue Jackson in hopes of turning things around. Jackson’s big item on his resume was turning Cincinnati into a good offensive team and developing quarterback, Andy Dalton into a very nice NFL quarterback.

Jackson values a few things in his offense. He loves having a vertical threat, wide receiver which he now has with Josh Gordon. He also values a strong left tackle and Joe Thomas fits that bill and is still one of the better tackles in the game. He loves having a smash mouth, running back and that seems like it may be a work in progress with Isaiah Crowell, who is what I would call, “good, not great”. Overall though he has some nice weapons with Gordon, Corey Coleman, Gary Barnidge and Duke Johnson so the cupboard isn’t completely bare for the Browns. He runs some creative plays and I think the Browns will definitely take a step forward offensively this season.

Fantasy Outlook

Browns Quarterbacks

RG3 looks to revitalize his career, and get another paycheck, in Cleveland this season.

I admittedly am not a huge fan of Robert Griffin III. I think he’s selfish, immature and a bit of a diva. That being said, I think he could actually be in for a pretty good year. First, as just mentioned, I think Hue Jackson will be a big upgrade for the career of RG3 than from what he had in his time in Washington. He has done wonders for Andy Dalton and while I don’t think he will turn Griffin into the next Russell Wilson in one season, I think there is reason for optimism.

Secondly, they now have some weapons for him to throw the ball too. As I’m sure everyone has heard by now, Josh Gordon has been reinstated by the NFL and will return to the Browns after he serves a four game suspension. Gordon has proven to be a legitimate WR1 in the NFL and if he can stay out of trouble, can be the best weapon that Griffin has had yet. They also drafted wide receiver, Corey Coleman who was the first wide receiver taken in the draft and the Browns receiving unit is looking legit. Throw in a very nice, tight end in Gary Barnidge and receiving threat out of the backfield, in Duke Johnson and RG3 has no reason other than himself, why he can’t be productive this year.

That brings me to my final point, and that is RG3 himself. Griffin signed a two year, $15 million dollar deal with Cleveland this offseason but essentially, it’s a one year, $6.75 million dollar deal. He can easily be cut after this season with a minimal penalty to the Browns, so in essence, he’s playing for a new contract this season. I know it sounds bad, but I think he’s the type of dude who will light it up this year just to get a big pay day next season. I think he has a shot at 3,500 yards and 20 touchdowns with another 500 rushing yards. He has a bare bottom floor, so I would use him for nothing other than a late round flier or a daily fantasy option as of now, but make sure to see how he’s doing in training camp this season as I feel he could potentially help out your fantasy team this year.

Although I think it will be RG3’s year this season, I think the plan is to eventually replace him with third round draft pick, Cody Kessler. Kessler is a very accurate quarterback that is very good from the pocket, but doesn’t necessarily possess the strongest arm. I don’t think he will be a fantasy option this season, but if you’re in a dynasty league, he’s someone who is worth rostering for the future.

Browns Running Backs

Duke Johnson should catch a lot of balls this year.

The Brown have two main running backs to consider when you are drafting this year, Isaiah Crowell and Duke Johnson. It appears that Crowell will be the early down back, while Johnson appears to be the third down, receiving back. I won’t get into Crowell’s boneheaded, idiotic Instragram post (you can read it here if you’re interested), but instead focus on his production. In his two years in the league, Crowell has averaged a poor 3.9 yards per carry on 333 career rushing attempts. He does have a knack for the end zone however, as he found the end zone 12 times over that span. For this season, I think he has a legitimate shot at 200 rushing attempts and if he holds true to his career stats, that should put him around 800-900 yards with seven or eight touchdowns. Right now on fantasyfootball calculator.com, he’s currently being drafted as roughly the 43rd overall running back off the board, in the ninth or tenth round and that’s’ pretty good value for a guy that you could plug into your flex spot. He won’t likely catch a ton of balls, but he could be a good source of touchdowns for the Browns this season.

He likely won’t be involved in the passing game much, because that role will likely belong to second year, running back Duke Johnson. Despite rushing for only 379 yards last season and not scoring a rushing touchdown, Johnson still finished as the RB23 in PPR leagues and showed he can be a force in the passing game. Beat reporters for the Browns have stated that they think Hue Jackson believes he could be a workhorse back, so we will have to see how training camp goes. He’s not likely to repeat his zero touchdown effort from last year, so if he does get even a little bit more of an opportunity in the rushing game, he could be a steal on draft day. He’s being drafted currently as the 21st running back off the board in PPR leagues, and I feel like he has a decent opportunity to outperform that draft position.

Browns Wide Receivers

This is the look that Josh Gordon makes when he tries to refrain from smoking the weed…

Josh Gordon is back!!! Well, after he serves his four game suspension he will be back, that is. Gordon didn’t play a snap in 2014 and only played in five games in 2013, so I am going to guess there may be a little “hangover” period for him to get back into gear in 2015. Let’s take a look back to 2013 though to see just how good Gordon can be. In 14 games, he managed 87 catches for 1,646 yards and nine touchdowns, with pedestrian quarterback play. He had four or more catches in 11 of his 14 games and had over 100 yards receiving in seven contests. That also includes two games where he had 237 yards receiving against the Steelers and a crazy 261 yards receiving against the Jaguars. This guy is a big play waiting to happen. It’s hard to predict what exactly he will do this season however and I don’t know if there will be a player as polarizing on draft day as Gordon will be. Right now he’s currently being drafted in the early 7th round on fantasyfootballcalculator.com as the 35th wide receiver off the board. He’s gone as early as the third round in their mocks and as low as the tenth round so he’s been all over the board. Here’s my take on him. No one remembers who finishes third or who finishes tenth in fantasy football leagues. People remember who wins the championship and who wins the money. I am all for “going for broke” and taking chances, and Gordon could be that guy to win you a championship. He could also fall flat and be a dud, but for a seventh round pick, it’s not like if he fails, you don’t have a chance at recovering. If he starts moving up to the fourth or fifth round, I’m not sure I’m willing to take that chance, but in the sixth or seventh round…sign me up and I’m going to swing for the fences!

Along with Josh Gordon, the Browns also selected, Corey Coleman as the first wide receiver off the board in this year’s NFL draft. Coleman is a talented guy who excels at getting separation from defenders, has amazing cutting ability and has the speed to outrun corners. One main drawback is that he has sometimes has a bad case of the drops as he dropped 10 of 84 catchable balls last year and seven of 71 in 2014. With RG3 not being the most accurate quarterback, that could carry over to his NFL career, but I still feel that with Josh Gordon making the defense focus on him, Coleman could be in for a decent year. He’s currently being drafted as the 45th wide receiver off the board in the ninth round and I would love to have someone with the upside of Coleman on my team this year as my fourth wide receiver.

The battle for the third wide receiver duties is up in the air right now as veteran Andrew Hawkins should battle it out with rookie, Rashard Higgins and even Terrelle Pryor for the job. Hawkins has a history with coach Hue Jackson, from their days in Cincinnati together, but they have gone on record saying they want to create some plays for Pryor to get the ball. Higgins was a highly regarded prospect as well, but with the likes of Gordon, Coleman, Duke Johnson and Gary Barnidge, I don’t think that any of them will hold much fantasy value this season.

Browns Tight Ends

Gary Barnidge came out of nowhere last season to post some incredible numbers. Before last year, Barnidge had never caught more than 242 yards in a season and then last year he caught 79 balls for 1,043 yards and nine touchdowns. I doubt even Barnidge saw that coming. The big question is whether or not the 30 year old, tight end who never had any success close to this before, can replicate it this year. I think we will see some regression, but not enough to knock him out of the top ten fantasy tight ends. He has no history of this production, he has a new head coach and a new quarterback, and now has some legitimate threats for targets with Josh Gordon and Corey Coleman. I don’t think it’s fair to assume he will finish as the fourth highest scoring tight end again like he did last season. I still see him getting 60-70 catches for 900 or so yards and six to eight touchdowns, but that puts him closer to a lower end, TE1 rather than a top five tight end.

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