The Browns toiled in mediocrity for far too long under former head coach Kevin Stefanski. With Stefanski now out and longtime offensive coordinator-turned-head coach Todd Monken in, the Browns are hopeful that this time things will be different. Despite the turnover on the coaching staff, there’s a lot that sounds familiar for the Browns entering this season. There’s still no clear-cut answer at quarterback. The defense is projected to be one of the best in the league, and expectations for the team are low long before training camp kicks off.
▶ 2025 Cleveland Browns Stats (Rank)
- Points per game: 16.4 (31st)
- Total yards per game: 262.1 (30th)
- Plays per game: 60.6 (2nd)
- Dropbacks per game: 40.4 (13th)
- Dropback EPA per play: -0.21 (32nd)
- Designed rush attempts per game: 23.6 (25th)
- Rush EPA per play: -0.11 (26th)
▶ The unending search for a franchise QB in Cleveland
The need for a franchise QB continues to plague a team that hopes to one day retire the famous Browns QB jersey that highlights every signal-caller to start for the team since 1999. With four QBs currently on the roster, the real battle for QB1 will be between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders. While Watson hopes to show he can still lead an offense in the final season of his five-year, $230 million deal, Sanders’ sights are set on proving the doubters wrong after he unexpectedly went in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft and struggled mightily in his rookie campaign. Todd Monken’s future in Cleveland will be directly tied to whom he elects to lead the franchise after this season, whether that’s a player currently on the roster or one drafted next season. While there’s plenty to worry about for 2026, Monken’s year-long evaluation of his quarterback room is easily the biggest task on his plate in his first season at the helm.
▶ Passing Game
QB: Deshaun Watson, Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel
WR: Jerry Jeudy, Cedric Tillman
WR: KC Concepcion, Isaiah Bond
WR: Denzel Boston, Tylan Wallace
TE: Harold Fannin Jr., Jack Stoll
The battle for the Browns’ QB1 job is already underway in Cleveland, and neither Deshaun Watson nor Shedeur Sanders appears to have done enough to get the early nod before training camp. The unfortunate news for Browns fans and fantasy managers is that seven months from now, this “battle” may prove to be an exercise in futility.
Watson is returning from a twice-torn Achilles tendon that he initially suffered in 2024, and has yet to put together a season with the Browns that remotely justifies the record-setting contract he signed in 2022. For Sanders, the second-year signal-caller looked more like a fifth-round QB than a polished first-rounder who unjustifiably fell in the 2025 NFL Draft.
As a believer in negative play rate (sacks+interceptions+fumbles lost ÷ total plays), which I did a deep dive on earlier this offseason, I took a look back at the highest negative play rates for QBs (min. 200 dropbacks) over the last 10 seasons. In 2024, Watson’s 13.9 percent negative play rate tied for the eighth-highest among 363 QBs, while Sanders’ 13.3 percent negative play rate tied for the 13th-highest in the group.
In eight games, Sanders threw for 1,400-7-10 on 255 dropbacks. His 56.6 completion percentage ranked last among 38 QBs (min. 200 dropbacks) last season, and his 69.8 adjusted completion percentage was good for 35th.
Sanders’ willingness to push the ball downfield last season led to more big plays than we saw from Dillon Gabriel during his short stint as the starter. However, his inability to avoid sacks, which plagued him throughout his college career, often put the offense off schedule and led to costly mistakes. His 9.8 percent sack rate was the fourth-highest of all QBs last season, and while some of that can be blamed on a banged-up offensive line, Sanders’ career pressure-to-sack rate of 22.4 percent during his time at Colorado suggested this was a major red flag in his game.
Since 2024, Watson and Sanders have combined to play in 15 games and have just three top-12 fantasy finishes to show for it. While it’s possible Monken can squeeze a little more fantasy production out of his quarterbacks this season, Watson’s recent track record and Sanders’ underwhelming rookie campaign are more cause for concern than confidence. Regardless of who is named the Week 1 starter, the Browns’ QB1 can be left off draft boards in standard 1QB leagues.
The Browns overhauled their receiving corps this offseason, using their first two picks of the draft on receivers to pair with Jerry Jeudy, who is hoping to bounce back from a down 2025 campaign in which he totaled 50 catches for 602 yards and two touchdowns on 106 targets after breaking out for 90-1,229-4 in 2024. Among 44 receivers with at least 80 targets last season, Jeudy ranked 33rd in YAC/REC (3.3), 43rd in YPRR (1.02), and graded as one of the worst receivers in the league in ESPN’s Receiver Scores.
His 2024 breakout came in a season when he saw a career-high 145 targets, but Jeudy’s performance last season mirrored much of what we’d seen from him before his breakout. It’s also worth pointing out that his career year was largely fueled by Jameis Winston, who had Jeudy on pace for an absurd 119-1,909-7 line in the seven games he started that season. It seems highly unlikely that Jeudy will revert to his 2024 form, given his quarterback situation and the young talent around him. The fact that he’s solidified as a starter will give Jeudy a chance at the occasional big game, but he shouldn’t be viewed as anything more than a WR4 for fantasy purposes.
The Browns used the No. 24 overall pick on Texas A&M receiver KC Concepcion, who has drawn comparisons to Deebo Samuel for his versatility as a playmaker and to create after the catch. Much like Samuel, Concepcion has some rushing element to his game and boasts a career rushing line of 70-431-3. He boasts ample experience both outside and in the slot, which should help Monken create matchup nightmares for opposing defenses. Concepcion’s ability to create plays from all over the field gives him the inside edge to be the most productive receiver in the Browns’ offense, making him a worthwhile stash while we see how things pan out.
Fellow rookie, Denzel Boston, figures to see plenty of work on the outside this season. The 6-foot-4, 212-pound pass-catcher totaled 62 catches for 881 yards and 11 touchdowns in his final season at Washington and made a name for himself as a player who can win any contested target thrown his way. He will make for a valuable target in the red zone and down near the goal-line, but could have a chance to develop into a solid possession receiver in the near future. Like Concepcion, Boston is another intriguing stash in an offense with a lot of questions. Both rookies have already begun working with the first-team offense, which is a good sign for their early snap counts, but concerns at QB make it difficult to forecast their rookie-year expectations.
The safest bet in the Browns’ passing game is Harold Fannin Jr. The second-year tight end wasted little time making an impact in his rookie season, catching 7-of-9 targets for 63 yards in his first game. Fannin finished as a top-12 TE in 50 of his games played last season and closed out the year as the TE8 in fantasy points per game (11.8) and as the TE6 in expected fantasy points (174.9). Even a marginally improved passing game could work wonders for Fannin next season. His 107 targets were good for the fifth-most among tight ends last season, but there could be room for more in Monken’s offense, which is known for deploying multiple tight ends.
Fannin quickly made a name for himself as one of the top young tight ends in the league last season. In addition to the overall volume and receiving line (72-731-6), Fannin was legitimately dominant. Among tight ends with 50-plus targets, his 0.247 targets per route run narrowly edged out Trey McBride for the highest TPRR at the position. He also ranked eighth in YPRR (1.68) and YAC/REC (4.9) while forcing a missed tackle on 30.6 percent of his receptions; an impressive mark that led all tight ends by a wide margin. In an offense with multiple question marks, Fannin projects as a potential top-five fantasy tight end this season after he thrived as a rookie in a tough quarterback environment.
▶ Running Game
RB: Quinshon Judkins, Dylan Sampson, Raheim Sanders
OL (L-R): Spencer Fano, Zion Johnson, Elgton Jenkins, Teven Jenkins, Tytus Howard
The Browns’ backfield is led by Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson, two players who were rookies in 2025. Judkins is working his way back from a brutal leg/ankle injury that ended his rookie season in Week 16, but the former second-rounder is already participating in drills at OTAs and minicamp and appears to be on track for Week 1.
Judkins made his living between the tackles last season for the Browns, handling 54.6 percent of the team’s rush attempts, with 206 of his 230 carries coming on first or second down. He also handled 11 of the team’s 22 carries inside the opponent’s five-yard line and converted eight of those touches for scores. He profiles as a strong volume-based RB2 for fantasy managers with a chance for plenty of big weeks thanks to his role near the goal-line.
Judkins’ battery mate, Dylan Sampson, showed plenty of flashes as a rookie. Sampson handled the majority of the workload in Week 1 of last season and turned 20 touches into 93 yards from scrimmage, and made most of his plays in the passing game. The former Tennessee Vol led the Browns’ backfield in targets (40), receptions (33), and receiving yards (271), but should see some added work on third down with Jerome Ford now in Washington. Ford led the Browns on third-down snaps (113) and routes run (169) last season, but his absence should raise the floor for Sampson’s fantasy outlook this season.
| Player | TGTs | RECs | reYDs | reTDs | Routes | 3D% |
| Jerome Ford | 32 | 26 | 103 | 0 | 169 | 48.7% |
| Dylan Sampson | 40 | 33 | 271 | 2 | 143 | 19% |
Sampson, earning the majority of third-down snaps and targets in the passing game, could turn him into a viable FLEX option in PPR leagues, making him another solid stash in the late round of drafts.
▶ 2026 Cleveland Browns Win Total
DraftKings Over/Under: 5.5
Pick: Under (+120)
Is this really a better team than the squad that won five games last year? In addition to the questions at quarterback, the Browns also lost the 2025 Defensive Player of the Year and the single-season sacks record holder, Myles Garrett, who was traded to the Rams for Jared Verse and draft picks. Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, whose defense allowed the fourth fewest yards per game last season, also left after he was passed over for the head coaching gig in favor of Monken. The Browns have the fourth-easiest schedule in the league based on projected Vegas win totals, per Sharp Football Analysis, but there’s a lot to figure out here, and the Browns continue to face an uphill battle just to compete within their own division. If Monken and the offense can surprise the league in his first season, the over has a chance to hit, but I’m not sold on any of the current signal-callers on the Browns’ depth chart.
Note: All fantasy numbers are based on full-PPR scoring. Stats and information courtesy of PFF.com, RotoViz.com, ProFootballReference.com, NextGenStats.NFL.com, 4For4.com, FantasyPoints.com and RBSDM.com.
