The Cleveland Browns will face the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 7. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Browns skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 7 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Deshaun Watson, QB
His positional finish has declined in four straight weeks, a hard thing to do when you consider that bye weeks have come into effect. I was excited to see if this struggling offense would be able to solve one of the worst defenses in the league, but with Amari Cooper being moved to Buffalo on Tuesday, this team is a D/ST target more than anything.
Watson again sits outside of my top 20 – hopefully, you have other options in a Superflex setting (but yes, I would start him over a WR3 if pressed).
Jerome Ford, RB
A hamstring yanked Ford off the field early in the losing effort to the Eagles on Sunday, and with Nick Chubb expected to make his season debut, his time as a Flex option has come to an end.
I wouldn’t cut ties with him given Chubb’s uncertainty, but he’s now strictly a handcuff that is highly unlikely to hold stand-alone value in a below-average offense as a secondary back.
Even if the injury results in missed time, I’m holding Ford. I don’t think he’s a special player, but there’s a path to work for him that doesn’t include much to happen and the Browns face the Bengals/Dolphins during the fantasy Super Bowl. Ford is unlikely to get back into my lineup this season, but the small chance that he is the lead back at the perfect time is enough to hold my interest for now.
Nick Chubb, RB
Chubb is expected to take the field on Sunday, 398 days since the last time we had the pleasure of seeing him on the field.
It’s a plus matchup (the Bengals have allowed over 21 fantasy points to an RB three times this season: Tyrone Tracy Jr. last week and both Rhamondre Stevenson and Chuba Hubbard before that), and Jerome Ford is banged up, but after the Amari Cooper trade on Tuesday, it’s clear that this franchise isn’t too focused on 2024.
I have Chubb penciled in to lead this backfield in carries this week, but I’d be shocked if they gave him anything close to a full workload. I’m hopeful that our patience up to this point on Chubb is rewarded with late-season usage, but he’s certainly the type of back for whom I’ll wait to have proof of health instead of trying to get ahead of it.
Jerry Jeudy, WR
Jeudy hasn’t been a top-50 receiver in three of his past four games, and Deshaun Watson is on the short list of worst performers in our QB+ metric over the past decade.
Nick Chubb’s pending return probably results in the pass rate over expectation trending closer to neutral than the top 10 status it has held up to this point, further putting the number of opportunities in question, even after the departure of Amari Cooper on Tuesday afternoon.
A receiver has scored at least 18.5 PPR points against the Bengals five times this season, an upside that is now within the range of outcomes for Jeudy.
Notice how that is worded. “Within the range” is way different than “is projected for.” Upon learning of the Cooper trade, Jeudy moved up 17 spots in my positional ranks and is now in the Flex conversation for deeper leagues.
David Njoku, TE
Few things are viable in Cleveland these days (I like Donovan Mitchell if you’re venturing off into the fantasy hoops world), but Njoku showed signs of being a decent weekly option. Against the Eagles, he was on the field for 73.6% of the snaps and was featured near the line of scrimmage. I’m going to say it a few hundred times this season and maybe a dozen within this article — those boring looks are all we want at tight end.
In high-volume receivers, I want to have access to those splash plays. But at TE, if I can get what Njoku did last week (catch five of seven shallow targets), I’ll happily take my chances.
His “big” play was a fourth-down reception in the second quarter, showing us that Deshaun Watson trusts him as much as any of his options. In a matchup like this, where a ceiling performance from the offense is possible given the opponent, Njoku is a top-10 play for me.
We can discuss his value should Watson be replaced at some point, but as gross as it may feel to invest in this offense, if you have Njoku, you have it better than a few of your league-mates.