Ranking NFL Offenses: Cleveland Browns No. 31
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In the 2025 NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns executed an excellent game plan to help their team become better over the next few seasons. Unfortunately, their quarterback position has a wide range of outcomes on who will start. Based on Deshaun Watson expected to miss the season with an Achilles injury, Kenny Pickett draws the QB1 ranking out of the gate, thus setting a low bar for all passing options.
Cleveland Browns Starting Lineup
QB Kenny Pickett
RB1 Quinshon Judkins
RB2 Jerome Ford
WR1 Jerry Jeudy
WR2 Cedrick Tillman
WR3 Diontae Johnson
TE1 David Njoku
TE2 Harold Fannin
31. Cleveland Browns Fantasy Outlook
Based on recent pedigree (20th overall selection in the 2022 NFL Draft), Pickett still has a chance to be a better NFL quarterback. In his final season at Pittsburgh, he gained 4,552 combined yards with 47 touchdowns and five interceptions. The big stage of the NFL has led to 15 passing touchdowns and 14 interceptions while averaging 191 passing yards. On the positive side, Pickett has a winning record (15-10).
Cleveland resigned Joe Flacco before the draft, but they didn’t know they could upgrade twice at quarterback by adding Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. The Browns’ passing attack averaged 37 passes with him behind center, compared to 39.9 without him.
Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders are wild cards until more information about their play comes from training camp.
"Let's get ready to go to work and prove everyone who passed on you wrong"
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) April 30, 2025
the moment the phone rang for @ShedeurSanders was one to remember 📞 pic.twitter.com/7ZPXQadnwO
Last year, Cleveland wanted to throw the ball, suggesting a better offensive ranking, but they still finished last in points scored (258) and 28th in offensive yards.
The Browns upgraded their early down options at running back by drafting Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson. In essence, Judkins becomes their new Nick Chubb with a chance to be more active catching the ball. He hits their desire to play well defensively, and control the clock with the run game.
Sampson falls more into the handcuff mode for Judkins unless Cleveland decides to use their new star running back more often in the run game. Jerome Ford assumes the pass-catching role for now.
If the Browns get competitive quarterback play, Judkins has top-15 running back upside in the fantasy market.
A high volume passing offense (661 attempts) helped Jerry Jeudy set career highs in catches (90), receiving yards (1,229), and targets (145) in his fifth year in the NFL. Unfortunately, he must build new chemistry with whoever starts this year. The return of Kevin Stefanski suggests a repeated WR2 opportunity.
For three games last season, Cedric Tillman was a waiver wire darling (8/81, 7/99/2, and 6/75/1). After two dull showings (3/47 and 2/28), the remainder of his season (six games) was lost to a concussion issue. Tillman should build on last year's success but may only reach a WR3 ceiling in the fantasy market.
I don’t know what happened to Diontae Johnson over the past two seasons, but he landed on the doormat of the NFL in 2025. His last competitive season came in 2022 (86/882). At best, a WR4 in PPR formats, but he has much to prove this year.
The #Browns new WR room #DawgPound @jerryjeudy x @Juiceup__3 x @Ctillman04 pic.twitter.com/hwhUsatLcm
— SleeperBrowns (@SleeperBrowns) April 30, 2025
After a career season (81/882/6), David Njoku missed six games in 2024 due to ankle and knee issues. His stats (64/505/5) projected over 17 games come to 99 catches for 780 yards and eight touchdowns, or a top 5 tight end opportunity. I don’t expect incoming rookie Harold Fannin to be a significant factor this year, but he is coming off a tremendous season (117/1555/10) at Bowling Green. In a way, he could be the Isaiah Likely to Mark Andrews in the Browns’ offense.
Cleveland has the players to be much better offensively this year, but I need to know who's driving the offensive bus before ranking this team higher. I see multiple offensive players of value, suggesting their starting quarterback could potentially deliver QB2 stats in 2025.
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With 20+ years of experience in the high-stakes fantasy market, I aim to research and compete at the highest level in baseball and football each season. I've contributed as a writer/analyst for Sports Draft Daily, ScoutPro, Scout Fantasy, Fulltime Fantasy, FFToolbox, and Sports Illustrated Fantasy. I'm honored to be in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship Hall of Fame. My drafting philosophy is risk-averse yet open to betting on potential game-changers. I approach player selection with a neutral perspective, acknowledging that fantasy sports are inherently unpredictable due to injuries, performance dips, and managerial decisions. My work focuses on these main areas: - Season-long fantasy baseball and football - BestBall Baseball and Football Events - Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS): DraftKings, FanDuel, and Underdog - Long Shot Player Prop Parlays for NFL I participate in various leagues and contests, including NFBC, NFFC, RTSports, FFPC, DraftKings, Underdog Fantasy, FanDuel, and FFWC, with the goal of leveraging my extensive experience and research for success in each game format. A fantasy follower can expect in-depth profiles of NFL and MLB players, along with season-long and weekly projections for each fantasy football season. In addition, I have many strategy articles to help develop fantasy players' learning curves.
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