2014 Player/Team Spotlight -- Cleveland Browns (1 Viewer)

2014 Team & Player Spotlight Series

One of Footballguys best assets is our message board community. The Shark Pool is, in our view, the best place on the internet to discuss, debate and analyze all things fantasy football. In what's become an annual tradition, the Player Spotlight series is a key part of the preseason efforts. We are trying something different this year. We will still publish more than 100 PLAYER SPOTLIGHT articles on the main site. But we are going to solicit discussion on them in these TEAM threads.

Why the change?

NFL success is contingent on the sum of a team's parts. To think that a wide receiver succeeds simply because of himself would be foolhardy. What if a team has three excellent fantasy WR options (e.g., Denver with Demaryius Thomas, Wes Welker and Emmanuel Sanders)? Is a person's enthusiasm for a given player being properly offset against lesser expectations for one of their teammates?

Frankly, there was a lot of redundancy in former Spotlight threads. Asking you all to discuss the Giants new OC Ben McAdoo in threads for Eli Manning, Victor Cruz, Odell Beckham and Rashad Jennings seems inefficient. Now, in this new format, you can factor McAdoo (or any other team change) and it's impact on ALL the relevant skill players.

Thread Topic: Cleveland Browns

The NEW Rules

In order for this thread to provide maximum value, we ask that you follow a few simple guidelines:

• Focus commentary on the fantasy relevant players in question, and your expectations for said players
• Back up your expectations in whatever manner you deem appropriate; avoid posts that simply say "I hate him" or "He's the best"
• Avoid redundancies or things like "good posting" ... this should be about incremental analysis or debate

While not a requirement, we strongly encourage you to provide your own projections for the relevant players on each team. We would note that it's important that your statistics makes sense. For example, projecting two running backs on the same team with 2,000 yards is an obvious gaffe. You might have three WR/TEs projected for 1,000+ yards, but that would be aggressive and a historical rarity. Back it up.

Projections should include:

• For QBs: Attempts, Completions, Passing Yards, Passing TDs, Ints, Rush Attempts, Rush Yards, Rush TDs
• For RBs: Rushes, Rushing Yards, Rush TDs, Receptions, Receiving Yards, Receiving TDs
• For WRs & TEs: Receptions, Receiving Yards, Receiving TDs

Recommended Players to Discuss:

• QB Johnny Manziel
• QB Brian Hoyer
• RB Ben Tate
• RB Terrance West
• WR Josh Gordon
• WR Miles Austin
• WR Andrew Hawkins
• WR Nate Burleson
• TE Jordan Cameron

Each PLAYER SPOTLIGHT article will include:

• Detailed viewpoint from a Footballguys staff member
• Links to thoughtful viewpoints from around the Web, including intriguing pull quotes from this thread
• FBG Projections

Jordan Cameron is dominating like never before in OTAs.

80-1100-10 TDs.

Hi Folks, We've had good comments on many of these threads. But as you can see, we're dying on this one. Can you jump in and let us know what you think?

J

Should I step in, Joe?

Josh Gordon leads the league in receiving yards AND touchdowns this season.

Hoyer keeps the job until a mid season injury. Manziel somehow turs into Brady v2.0

Tate only misses one game.

it's going to be a bit of a mess, fantasy-wise next season.

i'd be happy to take a stab at it tomorrow, Joe.

amnesiac said:

it's going to be a bit of a mess, fantasy-wise next season.

i'd be happy to take a stab at it tomorrow, Joe.

Click to expand...

Thanks.

J

Soulfly3 said:

Should I step in, Joe?

Josh Gordon leads the league in receiving yards AND touchdowns this season.

Hoyer keeps the job until a mid season injury. Manziel somehow turs into Brady v2.0

Tate only misses one game.

Click to expand...

This is not what we're looking for. Put what you really think and go into deep detail on why you think it backing up, supporting and explaining your position.

J

Lol

Joe Bryant said:

Hi Folks, We've had good comments on many of these threads. But as you can see, we're dying on this one. Can you jump in and let us know what you think?

J

Click to expand...

given the purpose of these threads I'm not surprised since everything really depends on Gordon, Manziel, and Hoyer. Everything really depends on those two decisions. I think projections people could probably put something together for the rbs, but that's it.I also think a lot depends on the health of Johnson's knee being ready for camp, but I get that I am probably the minority there.

Writing this at the end of June, realizing that the Browns offense is a very volatile situation to try to predict.

Obviously there is the impending suspension of Josh Gordon which is the single key variable in predicting all other offensive players' production. Not only the other receivers, but also the effect on the quarterback numbers and even the running game. Gordon's presence, or lack thereof has a trickle down effect on every other position. Also, given his injury history, it is likely that free agent signee Ben Tate will miss some time. Finally, it is unknown how long Hoyer will start before the Browns decide to put popular rookie Johnny Manziel on the field. Put it all together, and this offense will likely have a different combination of starters on the field every few games. Therefore, my suggestion is to project the players on a STARTER per game basis, with a multiplier for games played with Josh Gordon on the field.

QBs:

Brian Hoyer: I expect him to be the opening day starter. I liked what I saw of him last year. Nice quick release, and seemed to run the offense smoothly. New offense this year, but I don't believe he will have any problem learning it.

34 Attempts, 21 Completions, 225 Passing Yards, 1.5 Passing TDs, .75 Ints, 3 Rush Attempts, 12 Rush Yards, 0 Rush TDs

Johnny Manziel: Will likely see some playing time either from injury or due to bad record. May have some exciting plays, but I believe the transition to the pro game will be a rough one for him.

29 Attempts, 16 Completions, 155 Passing Yards, 0.9 Passing TD, 1.75 Ints, 6 Rush Attempts, 28 Rush Yards, .25 Rush TDs

RBs:

Ben Tate: Capable back that has a chance to establish himself as a NFL starter. His experience will give him the inside edge to start the year.

17 Rushes, 75 Rush Yards, 0.5 Rush TDs, 1.5 Receptions, 6 Rec. Yards, 0 Rec. TDs

Terrence West: Will likely start a few games. Coaches seem to like him so far. Should be a capable fill in.

15 Rushes, 65 Rush Yards, 0.5 Rush TDs, 1 Reception, 4 Rec. Yards, 0 Rec. TDs

WRs:

Josh Gordon: When he's on the field, he's electric. Not betting on him being able to continue the blistering pace he set last year.

5.5 Rec, 90 Yards, .65 TDs

Miles Austin: Not sure what they're going to get out of him. Should get some good production for a few games, especially with Gordon out, I think he'll be their primary target.

4 Rec, 54 Yards, .45 TDs

Andrew Hawkins: My best bet at WR to play most of the season. Expect him to get better as the year goes on as he gets used to consistent playing time.

4 Rec, 45 Yards, .3 TDs

Nate Burlson:

2.5 Rec, 28 Yards, .2 TDs

TE:

Jordan Cameron: He will continue to build upon his breakout season last year. Will likely be the only consistent fantasy option on the Browns this year.

5.5 Rec, 63 Yards, .625 TDs

I realize none of this adds up, I'm just trying to give a general idea of what I think these players will produce when they are starting. When Gordon is in, I think you can bump everyone up a bit (maybe 5-10%?), save maybe Cameron.