Dynasty Capsule: Cleveland Browns
As part of the premium content package, we’re again unveiling dynasty capsules for every team in the NFL leading up to free agency and the NFL Draft. This year, we’re again going to do a follow-up on all the teams after all the free agency and NFL Draft movement to assess the impact of any players teams have gained or lost. Since these capsules are always done as a simple snapshot in time, we figured that was the best way to tackle the off-season and provide ultimate value for our subscribers. All in all, we’ll have close to 500 player profiles found in these capsules over the off-season.
We continue our path through the NFL with the Cleveland Browns.
Quarterbacks
Josh McCown
On February 28th, the Cleveland Browns reminded everyone they have no clue how to find a decent quarterback when they signed Josh McCown to an awful three year, $14 million deal. The deal includes $6.25 million guaranteed in the first year which pretty much confirms Brian Hoyer won’t be back in 2015. McCown is an absolutely awful NFL quarterback who is best served as a clipboard holding backup who can make the occasional spot start. If it wasn’t for the second half surge to end 2013 in Chicago, he would undoubtedly be out of the league…again. With a tandem of Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery, he put up an impressive 1,827 yards, 13 touchdowns and only one interception that season and turned it into the starting gig in Tampa Bay last year. With the Bucs, he had another strong tandem of wide receivers with Vincent Jackson and rookie Mike Evans. Without Marc Trestman as offensive coordinator, or anyone as offensive coordinator as a matter of fact, he face planted and only started 11 games before being benched.
Now he arguably has the worst supporting cast in all of football and a high profile second year player behind him in Johnny Manziel. Brian Hoyer will never be confused for an elite quarterback, but he played within himself enough to win ball games. He might not win you a lot of games but he would rarely be the reason you lost – the same can’t be said about McCown. From a fantasy perspective, he should never leave the waiver wire. Ever.
Johnny Manziel
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Not to beat a dead horse here, but Josh McCown is awful. As far as Johnny Manziel’s chances to regain the starting job go, this was probably best case scenario for him. You can look at this off-season two ways, on one hand the first round quarterback is in rehab and looks to be the next Browns quarterback bust. On the other hand, the troubled 22-year old realized he had a very real problem and asked for help. At this point, you hope it’s the latter.
Manziel’s rookie season left a lot to be desired. He only started two games and couldn’t finish the second due to a hamstring injury. He has yet to throw his first touchdown as a pro and admitted to not taking the job seriously. We’ve all seen the party photos, the questionable bathroom images where it looks like he was doing drugs and remember him throwing a huge party the Friday before week 17 and missing treatment. This was the same party Josh Gordon and fellow first round bust Justin Gilbert attended and subsequently missed the game walkthrough before eventually being suspended.
He now finds himself at a fork in the road very early in his career. How he handles this offseason will tell us a lot about how serious he takes his future in the NFL. The signing of McCown tells me the Browns still want to give “Johnny Football” a chance.
Connor Shaw
Shaw made the week 17 start for the Browns and didn’t play awful but you could tell the Browns were protecting him from the Ravens defense. He projects as a long term backup and should stick around in the NFL for a decent career but he’s not the answer.
Running Backs
Terrance West
If you were able to crack the code of who was starting each week for Cleveland, you would have had a decent running back last year. When given the featured opportunity, West performed well for a rookie. He had three games of at least 90 yards and scored a total of five touchdowns. Ironically, West performed better when facing tougher competition but only received 15+ carries six times. He finished with 673 yards on 171 carries.
With the return of Alex Mack at center, the Browns’ running game will again be the asked to carry the offense. If West can win this job he will have major upside as a strong RB2. He has already stated his intentions to lose weight in order to be quicker. He’s also expected to be more involved in the passing game. With the huge dark cloud hanging over this entire franchise, you can probably get him for pennies on the dollar from his current owner.
Isaiah Crowell
The eternal thorn in Terrance West’s side, and vice versa, Crowell would unexpectedly get the starting nod throughout the season but only received 15+ carries twice. He only broke 80 yards rushing once but scored eight touchdowns on 148 carries on his way to 607 rushing yards. He should give Terrance West a run for his money this off-season as the team’s starting tailback, but the most likely scenario is these two splitting the job again. They are the lone bright spots on this offense.
Glenn Winston
Winston isn’t anything special but offers decent depth behind West and Crowell. He’ll undoubtedly face competition this off-season for his roster spot and isn’t worthy of fantasy consideration.
Wide Receivers
Josh Gordon
Stop me if you’ve heard this one, Josh Gordon failed a drug test and faces a suspension. He was lucky enough to get his yearlong ban trimmed to 12 games last year failed to produce at his All-pro pace of 2013. This latest suspension is result of violating terms of his alcohol related probation. He was banned from any alcohol consumption but reportedly drank on the team plane. That’s confusing on so many levels. At this point, it’s fair to wonder if we’ll ever see him on an NFL field again.
Andrew Hawkins
Hawkins set career highs in receptions (63) and receiving yards (824) in his first season in Cleveland while also leading the team in both categories. Even though he’s incredibly undersized at 5’7”, his skill set worked really well with Brian Hoyer. He is the best wide receiver on this team, but is in no way an NFL WR1. He would benefit greatly if the team can add some outside talent so he can work his magic from the slot. He’ll remain a fair WR3 in PPR leagues for 2015.
Taylor Gabriel
Gabriel is another undersized wide receiver at 5’8” and 167 pounds but produced some big time numbers out of nowhere in 2014. He was used as a situational deep threat and collected 37 catches for 629 yards and one touchdown. He wasn’t fantasy relevant unless you had him in a best ball league because he was incredibly inconsistent. Gabriel could remain in the Browns’ plans for 2015 but they absolutely have to add a big body on the outside to complement Hawkins and Gabriel. They sorely lack a reliable intermediate option.
Travis Benjamin
Yet another sub-six footer, Benjamin will be entering his fourth season with the Browns in 2015 and has never caught more than 18 passes. He remains off the fantasy radar.
Tight Ends
Gary Barnidge
With Jordan Cameron entering free agency and not expected back with the team, Barnidge inexplicably finds himself sitting atop the depth chart. He’s entering his seventh season and has never caught more than 13 passes. He’s strictly a blocking tight end with three career touchdowns. He’s not a fantasy option.
Jim Dray
When Jim Dray is considered the superior pass catching option at tight end on your team it adequately sums up the state of the franchise. He’s only caught double digit passes twice in his five career but never more than 26. The Browns should be guaranteed to add a pass catcher through free agency or the draft, but this is the Browns and you can expect the unexpected.
Follow me on Twitter @OlingerIDP.
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- Dynasty IDP Waiver Wire: Week Seven - October 24, 2018
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- Dynasty IDP Waiver Wire: Week Five - October 10, 2018
