Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns actually looked…exciting…. I never thought I would say that this year, but with a fake field goal play scoring for a touchdown, a big tight end hauling in three touchdown catches, and six sacks, one interception, and three forced fumbles by Cleveland’s defense, the Brown’s looked like they were playing for this year.
After backing up Tom Brady from 2009-2012, Brian Hoyer received his first opportunity to start for the Browns. One of the things I liked about Hoyer was his quick release. He can play the game at a much higher speed than Brandon Weeden, and Hoyer is not afraid to let the ball loose. With that being said, he did finish the day with three interceptions. His first interception looked like he thought he was playing quarterback for the Vikings and actively seeking someone in a purple jersey to throw to. After his interceptions, Hoyer did look timid at times, and he would under throw his receivers hoping to not make another mistake. He finished the day with a respectable 18 fantasy points in ESPN standard scoring leagues, so it will be interesting to see how Hoyer performs against a tough Cincinnati defense in week 4.
Jordan Cameron had a monster game and if you own him in any fantasy leagues, you are licking your chops right now. Not only will the 6’5, 254 pound Cameron out muscle his opponents; he also has surprisingly quick bursts that will make him a mismatch against anyone covering him. The only concern for Josh Gordon going into the contest was how Hoyer would fare with his first starting game for a new team. Gordon is owned in 91.1% of ESPN leagues, so the majority of fantasy players were well aware of Gordon’s talents. What I really took note of when I watched this game was wide receiver Davone Bess. Anytime Hoyer had to move the chains, it always seemed like the announcers were calling Davone’s name for a first down reception. Bess received 10 targets and seven receptions for 67 yards, and he finished the game with one less target than Jordan Cameron. Bess is looking like a sneaky pick up in PPR leagues, so keep an eye on him going forward.
The Cleveland running game was not the focal point of the offense, and the most impressive rushing play was an end around from Josh Gordon that went for 22 yards. McGahee received the most touches with 8, but Bobby Rainey looked the most explosive on his four rushes, averaging 4.3 yards a carry. Hopefully everyone was realistic with McGahee for his first week back in the NFL and will give him some time to get adjusted to a new team. If you aren’t in desperate need of a running back and McGahee isn’t producing in the next three to four games, let him loose.
Vikings
I didn’t have many notes for the Vikings for this game. Adrian Peterson is the offense. If you own Kyle Rudoplh, have fun with that. He is too much of a headache, and even though he tied for the most targets, he is too touchdown dependent on a team that isn’t going to throw many touchdowns. Matthew Berry mentioned on his podcast show that Cordarrelle Patterson is someone that you should pick up and that you will thank him later, and talent wise, I definitely agree. He had an unbelievable catch in the game that made me wish he was playing for New England. He had the most receiving yards for the Vikings, even though he ended up with fewer targets than Adrian Peterson, Jerome Simpson, Greg Jennings, and Kyle Rudolph. Christian Ponder did rush for two touchdowns since his arm wasn’t doing much of anything, but I wouldn’t expect that to become a common occurrence.
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