Isaiah Bond clears concussion protocol

Bond suffered a concussion last week and has been sidelined ever since. On Monday, however, the second-year receiver was spotted at practice and participating in team drills. Bond is currently stuck behind Jerry Jeudy, KC Concepcion, and Denzel Boston on the depth chart after totaling 18 receptions for 338 scoreless yards as a rookie last season. He doesn’t have any fantasy value at this time.

Browns head coach Todd Monken told reporters earlier in the week that Bond had cleared the league’s concussion protocol. It’s possible additional symptoms cropped up after he was cleared. With his return to play not going as expected, Bond could miss Cleveland’s opener versus the Jags. Fantasy managers can safely assume Jerry Jeudy, KC Concepcion, and Denzel Boston will be the team’s starting receiver trio in Week 1.

Bond departed in the first half and was listed as questionable to return at the break, with the team confirming he was being evaluated for a concussion. The second-year receiver was reportedly pushing veteran Jerry Jeudy for a claim on a starting role after an impressive camp. He was quickly cleared early in the second half, meaning he can resume his push towards a starting spot for the regular season in a few short weeks.

Bond was also singled out by head coach Todd Monken earlier this spring as one of the team’s most improved players, but fantasy managers should temper expectations here. Jerry Jeudy remains on the roster, and the Browns just used the 24th and 39th overall picks in this year’s draft on receivers KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston. Bond played on the third-most snaps (467) of any Browns receiver last season and ran the second-most routes (343). The result over a 16-game span was 44 targets which he converted into 18 catches for 338 scoreless yards. Bond’s 17.1 air yards per target led all Browns receivers, but speaks to the role he played as the team’s primary field stretcher. The spring news on Bond has been encouraging, but will likely settle somewhere as the Browns’ WR4 or WR5 if the team breaks camp with all of its top receivers healthy.

Unless Bond can make a real move on Jerry Jeudy, we imagine he’ll probably split reps with Denzel Boston and KC Concepcion early in the season, leaving him as more of a deep-league stash. Still, after he went undrafted last year due to a sexual assault accusation, it appears the Browns think pretty highly of him and he’ll likely finish training camp as someone with an easy roster spot.

Legal trouble dropped Bond from a Day Two hopeful heading into the NFL Draft to a UDFA. The Browns took a flyer on him and installed the former Longhorn as a part-time field-stretcher. He made the most of his limited role with 18 catches for 338 yards. He averaged an impressive 18.8 yards per catch and added five carries for 29 yards on the ground. Bond needs to round out his route tree to be more than just a burner, but this goes down as a successful rookie season, given the low expectations for an undrafted player. He should be rostered in all dynasty formats, though he won’t have much appeal in redraft leagues next year.

Interesting, Bond did have 21 receiving yards on the day after he took a lateral pass from Malachi Corley upfield on the game’s opening drive for a chunk gain. Bond has gone for 29 or fewer receiving yards in all but three games this season. He can be avoided in Week 17 against the Steelers.

The speedster struck twice against the Bears: one catch went for 47 yards while the other managed 42. Bond is certainly a useful piece of the offense when Shedeur Sanders decides he just needs to find somebody down there somewhere. He’s just a deep league FLEX option at best in Week 15 against the Bills.

Bond followed up his impressive Week 12 performance — two catches for 58 yards — with something of a dud, though no one put up great numbers in the lifeless Cleveland offense. Bond ran a route on just 13 of the Browns’ 30 drop backs. He’ll be a deep league flex option in Week 14 against the Titans.

Bond was on the receiving end of Shedeur Sanders’ big highlight of the day. He sped past the Vegas secondary and Sanders launched a deep ball at him while on the run, resulting in a 52-yard gain. Bond came up just feet short of the end zone, but Quinshon Judkins punched in a short touchdown shortly after. Bond’s profile is too boom/bust for fantasy managers to care about in redraft leagues. He is, however, a worthwhile stash in dynasty formats.