Ryans open to leaning more into passing game

The score was his third trip to paint in the previous two games after Fannin notched his first two touchdowns of the young season in a Week 3 win over the Panthers. Fannin appears to be behind both Denzel Boston and KC Concepcion in the target pecking order in Cleveland, but remains well ahead of veteran Jerry Jeudy as the third target in the offense. Continued fantasy production likely hinges on the play of quarterback Deshaun Watson, but Fannin appears set to return meaningful fantasy value for managers that invested a middle-round pick on his services this summer. Fannin remains a back-end TE1 ahead of a Week 5 meeting with the Jets on the road.

Concepcion continues to operate as the primary slot receiver for a Browns team clearly looking to their youth while phasing out veteran Jerry Jeudy, the latter of whom managed three receptions on three targets for 36 yards. Concepcion has yet to lead the team in receiving while working in a short area role, with this the first game thus far which he has gained more then 43 yards. He’ll be a difficult start in fantasy circles when the Browns take on the Jets in Week 5.

Boston has now led the Browns in receiving in three of the team’s first four games, made more impressive by the fact that those were the first four contests of the youngster’s professional career. The second-round rookie continues to flash big play potential after catching his third pass of 46 yards or longer, this time unable to find the end zone after scoring twice in his first two games. Boston still has room to grow considering he has seen just 22 targets in the first month of the season, and could reward fantasy managers that invested late-round picks in his services handsomely in the second half of his rookie year. He’ll be an upside FLEX option against the Jets in Week 5.

The rushing efficiency remains a big issue for Judkins and the Cleveland ground game, this time overcoming just 3.1 yards per carry with a short touchdown plunge and significant involvement through the air. The end result was the first start-worthy fantasy line for Judkins through four games. The poor performances on the ground don’t appear to be in line for remedy ahead of a Week 5 meeting with the Jets, although Judkins could be headed for another robust workload considering the expected game environment between two teams whose identity is driven by their defense. He’ll be a volume-driven RB2 after seeing 27 of 32 available running back opportunities against the Steelers.

Watson made very few mistakes through the air against a solid Pittsburgh defense, although a third quarter fumble on a scramble attempt and a fourth quarter interception on tipped pass at the line of scrimmage allowed the Steelers the runway to make the game interesting late. Watson also badly missed a wide open Harold Fannin on a third down play that would have allowed the Browns to ice the game, instead giving the ball back to Aaron Rodgers with under four minutes to play while up eight points. Rodgers would work his late-game magic to knot the game at 24 before Watson drove the Browns into field goal range to set up the go-ahead kick with 10 seconds on the clock. Watson had a 20-yard carry wiped from his ledger due to penalty that would have padded his counting stats further. The two turnovers notwithstanding, Watson played a largely clean game that saw the Browns improve to 3-1, currently alone atop the AFC North, pending the outcomes of the Ravens and Bengals games Sunday. The Browns turn the page to a Week 5 meeting with the Jets, where Watson will remain a surprising high-end QB2 in fantasy circles.

Freiermuth found the end zone late in the fourth quarter for his second touchdown of the season, tying fellow tight end Darnell Washington for fourth on the team with five targets. Washington managed to corral just two of his five targets but eclipsed the yardage total of Freiermuth with 27 yards while also adding a touchdown of his own. Both tight ends appear unlikely to contribute viable counting stats considering neither has seen more than five targets in a game during the first month of play.

That makes two consecutive games with two receptions for the veteran X receiver, who continues to be handily outplayed by teammate Roman Wilson. Pittman brings his season total in receptions to seven after missing Week 2 with injury and remains largely confined to the short areas of the field. The Steelers made good on their promise to increase their 12-personnel utilization against the Browns, and it was Pittman who saw his route participation suffer the most. Pittman is quickly bordering drop candidate territory ahead of a Week 5 meeting with the Colts.

Wilson got the scoring started in the first quarter to cap a 17-play opening drive from 12 yards out. He continued to work in a downfield role, padding his stats with 62 additional yards on two more receptions, in addition to drawing an illegal contact penalty earlier on the first drive. Wilson wold briefly depart late in the fourth quarter following his final reception of the game as he appeared to land on the ball awkwardly going out of bounds. Fantasy managers will want to track his practice status closely ahead of a Week 5 meeting with the Colts, where Wilson will carry interesting FLEX appeal in a growing role.

Metcalf managed just three receptions through the first three-plus quarters of play before making two grabs for 50 yards on the team’s penultimate possession, eventually resulting in a tie game with under two minutes to play following a successful two-point conversion. Even though this marks the third game in four tries with nine or more targets, Week 4 was the first game with more than 40 yards for Metcalf as he works to strengthen his connection with Rodgers in a downfield role. In fact, Metcalf more than doubled his year-to-date yardage total from the previous three games against two of the better coverage corners in the league. The individual matchup doesn’t get much easier ahead of a Week 5 meeting with the Colts, who boast another top corner duo in Sauce Gardner and Charvarius Ward. Metcalf remains a wide range of outcomes weekly WR3.

Warren’s six targets combine with his 17 carries to give him his second consecutive game with more than 20 opportunities in the absence of Rico Dowdle, seeing all but two running back opportunities in the process. More impressive was the fact that he once again maintained elite efficiency on the ground through the additional touches, averaging 5.5 yards per attempt against a solid Browns run defense. The veteran back appears likely to revert to a strict timeshare with Dowdle expected back for Week 5 after the long week, bringing him back to the RB3 range for a meeting with the Colts.