Cleveland Browns head coach Rob Chudzinski indicated Wednesday in his press conference that injured quarterback Brandon Weeden is not a lock to get his starting job back when he is healthy.
Brandon Weeden no guarantee to get starting job back; drop him in fantasy
Browns coach Rob Chudzinski wouldn’t say whether Weeden, Brian Hoyer, or Jason Campbell will have the team’s starting job long-term. We break down the fantasy implications.
Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports
Chudzinski named Brian Hoyer the team's starter for Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings, with Weeden sidelined with a thumb injury. The Browns traded starting running back Trent Richardson to the Indianapolis Colts Wednesday, and removed wide receiver Greg Little from the starting lineup, indicating Chudzinski and the rest of the team's decision-makers certainly aren't above shake-ups.
Fantasy impact: It's an entirely new crew in the front office in Cleveland, and it's starting to look like they want to get their own guys in place. Either way, it seems pretty clear that Weeden is not going to be the quarterback of any eventual contending Browns team (or any team, really, but this is about the Browns). So there's no reason to think Weeden should have any greater claim on a starting role that Hoyer or Jason Campbell.
Hoyer was a bit of a surprise to get the starting gig, since the team went out and added Campbell as the top backup in the offseason. Regardless, it’s a balance between Weeden’s reputation against Hoyer’s performance this Sunday against Campbell’s general Campbellness, and it’s too early to say what wins out. And that’s all before considering that the Browns, also stockpiling a group of extra draft picks in next year, might not actually have “winning as many games as possible” as their primary motivation going forward.
No matter who ends up with the job for the season's last 13 games or so, it's hard to see any of them having much in the way of fantasy value. With Bobby Rainey or Willis McGahee or Chris Ogbonaya the team's top running back now, there's not much there. The only truly viable fantasy options in Cleveland at this point are tight end Jordan Cameron and just-back-from-suspension wide receiver Josh Gordon.
