Elijah

Moore

Moore saw a few weeks of plus production in the middle of the season while Jameis Winston started under center but otherwise finishes 2024 with pedestrian counting stats. The soon-to-be unrestricted free agent ends the season with 61 catches for 538 yards and one touchdown and is likely to find himself playing for a different franchise in the coming year with the Browns almost assuredly set up for a full rebuild this offseason.

Moore was stuck in the fantasy-unfriendly role of being the only Browns pass catcher to be consistently sent on downfield routes. He (12.5 yards) was the only player to earn an aDOT greater than 7.0 yards and Dorian Thompson-Robinson was simply not ready to meet Moore halfway. Moore cannot be started against the Ravens in Week 18.

This if the warning fantasy managers who were hoping to start Jerry Jeudy and/or Elijah Moore needed to hear. Stefanski said DTR tweaked his calf in the first quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Bengals, but the fact he was able to finish out the game suggests this is a very minor injury. Fantasy managers banking viable weeks from David Njoku and Jerome Ford should get them with DTR under center, but Browns receivers caught a combined four passes for 41 yards in Sunday’s loss to the Bengals, making Moore and Jeudy nearly impossible to trust during fantasy championship week.

Moore and Jerry Jeudy combined for 41 receiving yards on eight targets. They were the only two Browns receivers to catch a pass, as Dorian Thompson-Robinson funneled the majority of his passes to David Njoku (10 targets) or Jerome Ford (5 targets). Moore and Jeudy will be impossible to trust in Week 17 against the Dolphins if DTR makes another start.

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said Monday that he’s hopeful Tillman can return in Week 16 against the Bengals. A limited practice on Wednesday is a step in the right direction but doesn’t guarantee he plays this week. That Tillman, who suffered a brain injury in early December, remains in the concussion protocol is a concerning sign for the second-year wideout. Even if Tillman suits up this week against the Bengals, he won’t hold much fantasy interest with Dorian Thompson-Robinson taking over at QB for Jameis Winston.

So ... not how you would draw it up. Even worse was Jameis Winston’s latest INT-a-thon finally getting him benched. Speaking afterward, coach Kevin Stefanski was noncommittal on whether Winston or Dorian Thompson-Robinson would start against the Bengals in Week 16. If it’s Winston, Moore would have last-gasp WR3 vs. the Bengals’ cellar-dwelling defense. If it’s “DTR,” Moore will struggle to crack the top 50 at wideout.

It’s been a brutal two weeks for Moore, who has managed just 45 receiving yards on 11 catches over that span. Moore and the Browns’ offense struggled for the majority of the first half, but even as things started to click, the fourth-year receiver was well behind David Njoku (13) and Jerry Jeudy (6) in the target pecking order. Moore is just one week removed from a 14-target outing against the Broncos. We’d expect things to look a bit different in Week 15 when he faces the Chiefs.

Moore’s shoulder rehabilitation appears to be going well. He is firmly on track to face the Steelers in Week 14 and could once again see an elevated target share with Cedric Tillman (concussion) sidelined again on Thursday. Moore is a volume-based flex play.

When the injury occurred is unclear but Moore is coming off of a 14-target workload so it stands to reason he may have closed Week 13 a little banged up. Fantasy managers should expect him to suit up for now, though it is possible he picked up the injury in practice today.

Moore’s 14 targets were a product of 58 Jameis Winston pass attempts after the team largely abandoned the run in a back-and-forth affair. Even with passing the century mark, his 111 yards paled in comparison to the 235 from Jerry Jeudy, the latter of whom set an NFL record for the most receiving yards against a former franchise. Moore could find himself busy again in Week 14 when the Browns travel to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers.