2024 Team Previews: Cleveland Browns

Cleveland Browns 2024 Preview

All ADP data is courtesy of Fantasy Pros.

** = target in drafts at this ADP

Top 120

Amari Cooper, WR (ADP: 52, WR25): Cooper’s long had a reputation as a talented receiver who inconsistently arrives at his end of season numbers, and can deliver calamitous bad games at inopportune times. In fairness to Cooper though, that’s most WRs who aren’t the true upper crust of the position, and he’s been dealing with some shoddy QB play since leaving the Cowboys. And whether or not the path to his numbers has bumps, Cooper has become as sure a bet as there is in the NFL to put up 70-80 catches and 1,100+ yards.

Cooper has hit those marks in four of the last five seasons, with his only miss coming in 2021 when he was limited to 15 games. He’s a proven commodity entering his age 30 season, and he actually improved markedly in the 2022 season as a player while dealing with the Jacoby Brissett/Deshaun Watson fiasco under center. Watson should be healthy entering 2024, and it’ll be a make or break season for him as far as whether his days as a top flight QB are firmly behind him. Even if Watson sucks, we generally know what to expect, but when Cooper does get good play from the QB, the results are very exciting. Cooper averaged 4.8 receptions, 83.3 yards and scored five times in 2024; from Weeks 12-16, Cooper’s games with Joe Flacco, those averages jumped to 5.4 receptions and 100.3 yards, with three of the five touchdowns coming in this stretch. The Browns offense has very little buzz, but Cooper is solid as a rock as a WR2, and makes a lot of sense at this ADP.

Nick Chubb, RB (ADP: 84, RB28): This ADP indicates that managers by and large have no clue what to do with Chubb. If you think he’s ready to go Week 1, then he should be much higher than this, and if you think the pre-injury version of Chubb is gone, then even drafting him here makes little sense, because he’ll be a shell of himself. It is possible that Chubb absolutely crushes this ADP if he proves to be a Wolverine-esque freak like Adrian Peterson once was, but he’s turning 29 this year and is coming off the second catastrophic injury to this knee. I absolutely love the player, but I refuse to sign up for the waiting game all summer, followed by the workload limitations and uncertainty after he’s cleared, all in an offense I’m not sure can put up many points. Sad to say, but I’m almost totally out on 2024 Chubb altogether.

David Njoku, TE (ADP: 85, TE10): Njoku is the extremely rare Year 7 breakout, and it’s hard to know whether or not his rise was real, or a Joe Flacco-induced fever dream. Njoku finished with career-highs across the board in receptions (81), yards (882) and touchdowns (6). 36 receptions, 449 yards and four of the touchdowns came in Weeks 12-17 with Flacco at the helm. In Weeks 1-11, Njoku had one game over 70 yards, and once Flacco took over, he had three in five games. Njoku was a much worse fantasy option with Watson running the show, and Flacco is now gone from the team, replaced by Jameis Winston.

Njoku’s receiving grade per PFF was 70.5, a good but not outstanding mark, and up until Flacco went crazy, he was having the same season he always does. Njoku no doubt won people playoff berths and potentially fantasy titles, but I don’t believe the guy at the end of 2023 is here to stay. He’s a worthy season-long guy, but this ADP makes sense, and isn’t a major value.

**Jerome Ford, RB (ADP: 117, RB40): Ford filled in admirably for Nick Chubb after the latter’s gruesome knee injury two games into the year, and while nobody would mistake Ford for Chubb, he put forth a more than respectable 1,132 yards from scrimmage for a low-wattage Browns offense. He isn’t a special runner, but he did catch 44 passes for 319 yards and five receiving touchdowns. Ford has an every-down skill set, and can be more than a specialist for this team, which will surely be reluctant to give Chubb his full workload for quite some time.

No one knows when Chubb will be a full go, but if Chubb begins the season on the PUP, Ford will be a viable RB2 for however long Chubb is shelved. And if Chubb is active for Week 1, Ford will have a healthy role at the outset until the Browns feel comfortable with putting more wear and tear on Chubb’s knee.

Fantasy Relevant (120-150 ADP)

**Deshaun Watson, QB (ADP: 146, QB22): I wrote pretty extensively on the case for Watson as a possible QB1 here, but he’s worth continuing to talk about because his variance is among the highest of any player at any position in fantasy. Since being traded to the Browns, Watson’s played pretty poorly. He’s played in just 12 games since becoming a Brown, throwing for 14 touchdowns and nine interceptions while experiencing severe drops in his yardage per game, completion rate and TD rate since being an elite fantasy QB in 2020. Yes, 2020. It’s been three full seasons since Watson was a relevant fantasy option, but he was so damn good prior that we’re clinging to it.

Cleveland has added to his weaponry, acquiring Jerry Jeudy to deepen the WR corps, and a healthy version of Watson should be willing to run more and add value on the ground. He’s no Lamar Jackson, but he’s a career 5.4-yard per attempt rusher, and 2023, when he battled injuries almost from the jump, is the only time he ran fewer than five times per game. I do not predict an elite season, but that is in the range of outcomes for him, whereas the next three QBs off the board – Aaron Rodgers, Baker Mayfield, Geno Smith – probably can’t hit the same ceiling because they won’t run at all. Watson could be a real game changer for managers who draft him late as a second QB in the event that he pops.

Jerry Jeudy, WR (ADP: 132, WR54): Jeudy is an upgrade on Elijah Moore, but I am not excited about the fantasy prospects even though I do believe he’s an asset for Watson. For a player with a pristine repuation for route running, he was absolutely dreadful vs. zone, 70.3% success, eighth percentile per Reception Perception, and he posted average or below-average success rates on almost every route besides flats, slants, screens and nines. He was better vs. man, checking in at 70.7% success (63rd percentile), and so he could be useful to Watson as a flanker. Ultimately, I view him as a low-upside depth receiver for fantasy managers in deep leagues, and a volume-based FLEX should an injury take out Cooper. At this ADP it’s hard for any player to hurt you, but I could think of better players to spend this pick on.

Favorite Deep Sleeper

Cedric Tillman, WR (ADP: N/A): Tillman is one such player! He played more than you’d think based on his numbers, logging 70% of snaps in eight of his final 10 games, and failed to catch more than four passes in any game of his rookie season. His PFF grades are ugly too, and he came off worse by their scoring than any of the previously mentioned players. But Tillman does have elite size, good speed and contested catch chops that can make him fantasy relevant with enough looks in the end zone. It’s a long shot, but we have seen enough of Jeudy and Elijah Moore to know who they are. The book’s not closed on Tillman yet, and if Watson turns back into a gunslinger, Tillman makes more sense as a weapon than just about any WR on this team besides Cooper.

Deep Cuts (150 & later)

D’Onta Foreman, RB (ADP: 237, RB66): Foreman is pretty good! He’s not great, but he gets the job done when given opportunity. He’s draftable for the early weeks as a clear handcuff to Ford if Chubb is on the PUP, but otherwise, a lot needs to go wrong for him to have enough opportunity to be fantasy relevant.

Elijah Moore, WR (ADP: 296, WR93): Few players have done less with more than Moore. He’s been a guy who film dudes enjoy watching, and say is open, but year after year the results are lacking. In three seasons his best came with the Jets as a rookie when he scored five times, and he wound up demanding a trade from them. He had 12 games with five or more targets, and somehow topped out at 83 yards in 2024, with that game being his only one with more than 61 yards. He also was targeted 12 times in that 83-yard performance, catching just four of those passes. He’s far from old, so maybe it’ll click if Watson actually rediscovers his past form. I’ll miss it, and I won’t beat myself for it either.