Dynasty fantasy football managers always want offensive-minded coaches in positions of power, and that is certainly the case with the Cleveland Browns hiring Todd Monken to be their head coach.
This is a team that has just eight wins total over the past two seasons and has more losses than wins in 16 of their past 18. Success has been hard to come by, but the offensive weapons are young and now have a creative mind at the top of the coaching tree.
Todd Monken’s Impact on Fantasy Statistics
Monken, a collegiate quarterback in his playing days, was the offensive coordinator for Eastern Michigan back in 1998 and has been involved on that side of the ball in a coaching sense ever since.
At the NFL level, his first stint was with the Buccaneers (2016–18) and the Browns (2019) before returning to the college ranks for three years with Georgia. In 2023, he returned to the pro game as the offensive coordinator with the Ravens, a position he held until this offseason.
- Three Years Pre-Monken: 5.6 yards/play (11th), 56.6% red zone (19th), 2.13 points per drive (15th)
- Three Years With Monken: 6.2 yards/play (1st), 61.7% red zone (6th), 2.49 points per drive (3rd)
Of course, there are some serious moving pieces to consider. How much credit does Monken deserve for Lamar Jackson showing significant signs of growth from Years 3–5 to Years 6–8? That Derrick Henry guy was added to the mix during Monken’s tenure, something that would improve the offense no matter who was calling the plays.
That said, the deeper you dive, Monken’s fingerprints can be seen in the passing profile of Jackson. From 2020–22, he posted a 102.7 passer rating and averaged 8.3 yards per attempt in play-action situations, numbers that soared to 134.5 and 10.4 in the past three seasons.
He also saw his deep passing improve. Under Monken, he completed 47.9% of his deep passes with a 1.4% interception rate (three seasons prior: 41.5% and 4.6%).
The Henry factor cannot be separated from the Monken data, but it is worth noting that Baltimore averaged 10.3% more yards per first-down play with him than the three years prior, a nod to some of his creativity and/or scheming to put his offense in position to succeed.
Dynasty Rankings for Shedeur Sanders, Quinshon Judkins, and Harold Fannin Jr.
The Browns hit a home run with Carson Schwesinger on the defensive side of the ball last April, and while we don’t yet know what the offensive pieces will be (Judkins in the second round, Fannin in the third, and Sanders in the fifth), there’s at least something of a blank canvas to work with for a first-time head coach.
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Sanders is going to be a project if he’s the guy at all. I’m open to the idea of last season being a write-off and just a way to get him low-pressure reps. Monken’s ability to see the forest through the throwing trees of Jackson demands our attention, but at best, this is a patience play.
48 NFL quarterbacks qualified for PFSN’s QB Impact metric in 2025.
Shedeur Sanders ranked 46th, with a 56.9 grade. 🤔 https://t.co/6FfjfekyY0 pic.twitter.com/VsBVvbQlDS
— PFSN (@PFSN365) January 26, 2026
Sanders can safely be stashed. He showed more upside than Dillon Gabriel for our purposes, and that likely gets him the first crack in 2026, but savvy dynasty managers are well aware that he’s a dart throw, not a building block, even in Superflex setups.
Judkins Remains a Strong RB2 Option Despite Injury
Judkins was also given the chance to get his feet wet at the professional level last season, and while efficiency was a concern, he did rank seventh of 21 running backs with 200-plus carries in terms of yards per carry gained after contact.
I had him labeled as an unquestioned bellcow for 2026 until he suffered a devastating injury in Week 16. Judkins not only fractured his fibula, but he also dislocated his ankle. While there is some serious rehab, this isn’t the first injury of its kind, and we are looking at an absence in the five-month range, something that would allow him to prepare for the upcoming season without much concern.
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He’s not going to give this offense what Henry brought to Monken’s Ravens, but he can handle volume, and that puts him in position to put up fantasy numbers should the environment around him improve.
The problem here is the position. Running backs are usually accent pieces, not foundational ones, to a successful dynasty team. I’m confident that Judkins can handle the role of a lead back, and that opens him up to return RB2 value this season, but this isn’t an overall profile that I’m overextending for.
Fannin Projects as a Tier 2 Dynasty Tight End
Fannin is the piece that fantasy managers of every kind are excited about, and bringing in a coach that spent the previous three seasons with productive tight end rooms is only going to fuel that optimism.
The rookie ranked third at the position in targets per game last season (6.7, trailing only Trey McBride and Kyle Pitts), and with a 25-plus-yard catch in four of his final seven games in 2025, his ability to combine a high floor (role) with a high ceiling (rare athleticism) was apparent.
Tight end is turning into a position of strength across the NFL, and with Fannin, you allow yourself to keep pace. Travis Kelce and Mark Andrews may be aging out of favor, but McBride and Brock Bowers aren’t going anywhere while Colston Loveland, Tyler Warren, and Sam LaPorta have plenty of upside to buy.
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Add to that up-and-comers like Theo Johnson, Mason Taylor, and Oronde Gadsden, and it’s not hard to think that we are entering a run of strong production at an often-frustrating position.
Could Fannin be the top Tier 2 tight end as soon as this season?
I think so, and if Monken got him the 11 touchdowns he got Mark Andrews in 2024, I wouldn’t blink. McBride and Bowers are the future of this position and are largely regarded as such, but the hiring of Monken makes me even more confident in the present and future of Fannin.
