Its week two of the fantasy season and hopefully your teams ended up with a win. The Cleveland Browns ended up with a tie against the Pittsburgh Steelers However, they had multiple fantasy players with good numbers in week one. This week the Browns will be going up against the New Orleans Saints who just got torched by Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The good news is this will likely be a shoot out so the Browns offensive players will need to be good to win this game.
Quarterback: Tyrod Taylor – Start
NFL play wise Tyrod Taylor did not have a great game for fantasy. However, he finished as a top six option in week one. Taylor finished the week with 24.6 points. Most of those via his legs and a rushing touchdown. In the passing game, Taylor was 15/40 for 197 yards, one touchdown and an interception. His 77-yards rushing and rushing touchdown counted for over half of his points. While Cleveland had some miserable conditions for him in the rain and wind, he will be in a dome this weekend. He will have to throw it better this week to keep them in the game and I think he will. Taylor will likely finish around 12 this week.
Running backs: Carlos Hyde – Sit, Duke Johnson Jr. – Start, Nick Chubb – Sit
Carlos Hyde only had 15 percent of the touches last week and looked mediocre in those carries. Cleveland will likely be down for most of the game, so going with the passing game or executing the hurry up offense hurts his chances of being on the field.
Duke Johnson played 44 percent of the snaps last week, but was only able to catch one of his six targets. If Taylor can hit him with more accurate passes, Johnson will be able to do some work. Plus the Browns will likely be behind so he’ll be on the field more.
Nick Chubb will likely get a few carries here and there, but won’t see enough work unless Hyde gets hurt.
Wide receivers: Jarvis Landry – Start, Josh Gordon – Sit, Antonio Callaway – Sit, Rashad Higgins – Sit
Jarvis Landry had a poor catch rate last week, finishing under 50 percent. The upside with Landry is that he got 15 targets and volume is king in fantasy. Landry will be targeted heavily again this week.
Josh Gordon played more than many of us thought last week, getting 78 percent of the snaps. He also had his first touchdown catch of the season with a beautiful catch and toe tap close to the sideline in the end zone. Gordon will likely be a top red zone option.
Saturday Update: Gordon has been ruled out due to a hamstring injury.
Rashard Higgins was in the mix last week with four targets and was on the field for over 50 percent of the snaps. Higgins is still a long shot this week.
Antonio Callaway will likely be the fourth option in this passing game. Chances are he does little to nothing again for fantasy this week.
Tight ends: David Njoku – Start
If Taylor doesn’t under throw him in overtime last week, David Njoku likely has a walk off touchdown win for the Browns. In additon, Njoku’s stats would have looked much better. He played 80 percent of the snaps and targeted seven times. He’s a must start this week.
Defense – Sit
Cleveland’s defense was on fire last week. They had three interceptions, two of them by Denzel Ward, and three fumble recoveries. I don’t see them getting six takeaways again this week. However, if they can show up and play like last week they may become a top streamer for multiple weeks in a row.
For more Browns new and fantasy advice stay locked in to Full Press Coverage. If you have any more questions on the Browns or Fantasy always fee free to hit me up on twitter @SportsfanaticMB
