Monday, August 1st was a busy day for many people. Lawyers, team owners, coaches, the irate (rightfully so), and fantasy football managers finally heard Sue Robinson’s decision for Deshaun Watson and his 2022 season. I won’t get into the legal aspect and off-the-field side of this issue right now. However, I will focus your attention on the Browns’ offense, like Jacoby Brissett.

For those with shares of Browns’ players, especially Watson, you are probably still wondering how to go about his new 11-game suspension. On the one hand, the Browns’ schedule to start the season is not all that scary, as they are facing the Panthers, Jets, Steelers, Falcons, Chargers, and Patriots. After that, it starts to get a little dicey as they face the Ravens, Bengals, Dolphins, Bills, and Buccaneers before he returns for Week 13 to face his former team, the Houston Texans.

Deshaun Watson and Jacoby Brissett

Despite what you may think about Watson and this situation as a whole, he will still put up solid numbers for fantasy in the back third of the season. Six games is not a lot to play as a QB, but it may be just enough upside to help push your team into the playoffs. I can somewhat justify grabbing Watson late in drafts after drafting a higher-end QB with upside, like Russell Wilson or Trey Lance, and then trading one of them for a decent haul. Otherwise, you could pair Watson with a QB like Kirk Cousins or Derek Carr and keep both for insurance reasons. While the WR core is decent, he can make them something they aren’t, just like he did in Houston. He finished as the QB5 three seasons in a row from 2018-2020.

Jacoby Brissett will not help the WRs too much, in my opinion, but may do well with TE David Njoku. On the Colts, Brissett helped TE Jack Doyle finish second in team targets two seasons in a row. Also, on the Colts, Brissett often checked it down to RB Nyheim Hines and occasionally RB Marlon Mack. However, Brissett is not worth rostering, even in deeper two-QB leagues

Nick Chubb

My viewpoint on Nick Chubb does not drastically change from my original article on the Browns. As long as he does not miss more than three games, I see him getting upwards of 300 carries for approximately 1,100-1,300 rushing yards and around seven or eight TDs. He will be the focal point of the offense and should continue to be drafted as an RB1-RB2. I currently have him as my RB14.

Kareem Hunt

Kareem Hunt is being massively underrated. In seasons and games where he has been healthy, he has been a top 10 fantasy RB along with his teammate Nick Chubb. Hunt has weekly flex stand-alone value and is currently being drafted as the RB33. That is way too low. I think his receiving work increases a slight tick with Jacoby Brissett. As mentioned above, Brissett loves to check it down to his pass-catching RBs. If you are doing a zero RB strategy, I highly suggest actively targeting Hunt in your draft.

Amari Cooper

I never really have been a huge fan of Amari Cooper, but I am certainly not for 2022. Having Watson be the starting QB for an entire season most certainly would have changed my viewpoint on his fantasy outlook for 2022, but with Brissett, I am all out. To put it into perspective a little bit, let’s talk about what T.Y. Hilton did with Brissett in 2017 and in 2019.

In 2017 he finished as the WR27 and was wildly inconsistent. He had huge boom games, usually with a TD, and then other games where he would catch only two passes. In 2019, Hilton started out hot, got banged up, was terrible for fantasy, and then got injured to basically end his season and, in reality, his fantasy relevance for the rest of his career. I can see this same thing happen with Cooper because he is the same age (28) as Hilton when he was a weekly boom/bust player. A must steer clear for me as he is my WR37.

Donovan Peoples-Jones

Deep ball threat ability = alright, consistency = meh, and overall worth for fantasy football = N/A. If I am five spots lower than the consensus on the Browns’ WR1, there is no chance I have interest in their WR2. Donovan Peoples-Jones has had his opportunity to be the team’s WR1 in prior games but hasn’t stepped up to the occasion. Do not even consider drafting him.

David Njoku

While he got paid this offseason, David Njoku isn’t turning heads for fantasy this year, even with Brissett at QB. He finished in the top ten once and has not cracked the top 24 since. However, I will give Njoku the slightest boost simply to Brissett’s QB read/progression history. In most leagues, he will be a streaming TE…or at least he should be. Currently, I have him ranked as the TE22 while the consensus is regarding him highly as the TE17.

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