Ian Hartitz provides the team preview and fantasy outlook for the Cleveland Browns heading into the 2025 NFL season.

The Browns were largely expected to be one of the worst teams in football last season … and they were! Sure, the Jameis Winston second-half stretch was a lot of fun and did produce AFC North wins over the Ravens and Steelers; just realize pretty much any teamwide statistic will tell you this was a pretty, pretty, pretty terrible squad.

Cleveland Browns in 2024:

  • Points per game: 15.2 (32nd)
  • EPA per dropback: -0.2 (32nd)
  • EPA per rush: -0.14 (27th)
  • Points per game against: 25.6 (27th)

Fast forward to 2025 and it's honestly tough to be overly optimistic about an overly meaningful bounceback. Sure, the front office added more high-end draft capital to a defense that already had some blue-chip talent in the form of Myles Garrett and Denzel Ward, but QB continues to look like a massive question mark, and it's also not like the skill-position rooms are exactly overflowing with elite playmakers.

This brings us to today's goal: Answering key (mostly fantasy-related) questions about the Browns ahead of their 2025 season.

As always: It's a great day to be great.

Cleveland Browns 2025 Fantasy Football and Team Preview Out

Who will win this sad excuse for a QB competition?

Let's meet the contenders!

Joe Flacco: The 40-year-old veteran didn't quite build on his late-season success in Cleveland with the Colts last year, but Flacco still looks capable of supplying enough Jameis-esque DGAF goodness to at least sometimes produce some quality counting numbers, even if expecting a full season of above-average play is probably unrealistic. He's tentatively the favorite for QB1 duties.

Kenny Pickett: Spent 2024 backing up Jalen Hurts and winning a Super Bowl ring! I wouldn't say Pickett looked overly improved (lol) during his two brief stints under center, although give the ex-Steeler first-rounder credit for ranking sixth in EPA per dropback if you drop the sample size threshold low enough.

Dillon Gabriel: The Oregon product was rather shockingly selected in Round 3 and presumably has the leg up over the Browns' other rookie signal-caller. Give him credit for tying the college football record for career passing TDs (155); he must be doing something right! That said, Gabriel combines short stature (5-foot-11) with below-average speed (4.79 40-yard dash), and subpar arm strength. 

Shedeur Sanders: My pre-draft comps for Shedeur after watching some #film: Jacoby Brissett in a nice way, 35-year-old Russell Wilson, if the best parts of Sam Howell and Gardner Minshew were combined into one person, Sam Darnold with average arm strength, and Courage the Cowardly Dog. Guess what: Each of those archetypes is good enough to be an NFL QB, albeit the lack of overwhelming physical traits makes each not exactly the sort of franchise changer who warrants the benefit of the doubt.

For fantasy purposes, Flacco winning this job seems like the best-case scenario for the offense as a whole. After all, the man led Cleveland to 19, 31, 20, 36, and 37 points while throwing 13 scores in his five regular-season starts back in December 2023. Still, it'd be pretty surprising if the aging veteran is the only man in this QB room to draw a start this season—whoever is still updating that OG Browns Tim Couch QB jersey better get some more room ready.

Browns QB Fantasy Outlook

Bottom line: I recently completed an early-summer 20-round Superflex redraft league draft and picked Flacco … in Round 20. Maybe Joe Cool can tell Father Time to f*ck off for another few months, but even then we're looking at a pocket passer inside an offense not exactly expected to light up scoreboards (read: Vegas believes they'll be the worst group in the league) behind a supporting cast that ranked 31st last season.

As for Sanders: I just have a hard time fully buying into pretty much any young QB without a defining high-end physical trait, especially when work still needs to be done with more mental/processing stuff like doing a better job avoiding sacks and drifting in the pocket. Perhaps this won't matter and Shedeur emerges as the first truly elite Browns QB since … Bernie Kosar? … but I won't be making many (any) bets on that outlier scenario coming to fruition in the fantasy streets.

Should fantasy drafters prioritize Quinshon Judkins in the middle rounds?

The Ole Miss/Ohio State product was selected with the 36th overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft to presumably take longtime stud Nick Chubb's place as THE running back, y'all, in Cleveland.

On the one hand, there's a lot to like about Judkins as a prospect. My comp: Gen-Z Marion Barber (RIP), which matches up in terms of athletic profile and (especially) play-style. You do NOT want to be in the 21-year-old's path when he decides to unleash that vicious stiff arm.

On the other hand, Judkins isn't exactly alone in this backfield. Incumbent RB2 Jerome Ford is fresh off an RB5 finish in rush yards over expected per carry (+1.1) and provides plenty of pass-down ability, fourth-rounder Dylan Sampson was thought to be a Day 2 talent by many entering the draft, and hell, Pierre Strong Jr. is at least good enough to have earned 108 touches in this offense during the last two seasons.

Look, nobody is debating Judkins' standing as the lead back here, but the difference in commanding 60% of the backfield's touches vs. 80% could be the difference between upside RB2 production in fantasy land and something closer to FLEX value inside an offense that could very well finish as a bottom-five scoring unit.

There's also the reality that Kevin Stefanski hasn't exactly made a habit of simply featuring one workhorse RB during his time in Cleveland.

Maybe Judkins' workload looks the most like Chubb in 2022, or maybe it could more closely resemble 2023 Ford. Those numbers were also admittedly influenced by injuries, but even accounting for that doesn't paint the rosiest picture. We can see this with Fantasy Life's "Utilization Score," which attempts to supply *one* number to sum up a player's overall workload:

Browns lead back in Utilization score under Kevin Stefanski (min. 300 snaps):

Bottom line: Judkins is by most accounts a very talented rookie RB, but then again, we've seen Nick f*cking Chubb fail to earn a legit RB1-esque workload inside a backfield that has regularly leaned on multiple parties under Stefanski. As was the case with Chubb, Judkins' path to top-12 goodness in fantasy land will be largely reliant on him making the absolute most out of his opportunities, or else we might see the production more closely resemble Ford's RB3-level numbers over the past two seasons.

Ultimately, I've drafted Judkins here and there throughout the offseason, but the hopeful lead back inside what sure looks like a piss-poor offensive environment isn't the sort of archetype that I try to make a habit of overly targeting. My RB25 in half-PPR scoring, I struggle to find an overly good reason why Judkins is going a round earlier than guys like Aaron Jones, Isiah Pacheco, and Brian Robinson, who boast similar touch projections in far better offenses.

Are either Jerry Jeudy or Cedric Tillman reasonable buys in fantasy land?

Jeudy had some pretty stark splits last season:

The man basically put up identical numbers to Puka Nacua during the latter stretch! The 235-yard performance against the Broncos was enough to get some love from Steve Smith for crying out loud.

Many balked at the Browns' willingness to trade for and extend Jeudy last offseason; kudos to the much-maligned ex-Broncos talent for racking up the sixth-most receiving yards in the league at 25 years young despite hardly operating in an ideal offensive environment—and he looked good doing it!

Of course, most of those numbers came with YOLO extraordinaire Jameis Winston under center, and Jeudy also benefited from Cedric Tillman (out Week 12-18) and David Njoku (missed three of final four games) being sidelined for plenty of action down the stretch. This helped lead to four games with 13+ targets during the final six weeks of the season—only Ja'Marr Chase topped that number during the second half of the year!

And then there's Tillman, who ran pretty hot during the offseason considering the Browns' only meaningful addition at the position was professional knucklehead Diontae Johnson. Even if Johnson does manage to put his three-team 2024 escapade in the rear-view mirror, there should still be a spot in three-WR sets for Tillman after the Browns refrained from bringing back Elijah Moore.

For those unfamiliar with Tillman's game: The former third-round pick was thrust into the starting lineup in Week 7 following the decision to trade Amari Cooper to the Bills. While the newfound presence of Winston under center certainly helped matters, Tillman proceeded to make the most out of his opportunities in his only four full games as a starter in 2024 before suffering a season-ending concussion in Week 12:

  • Week 7 vs. Bengals: 8 receptions-81 yards-0 TD (12 targets), PPR WR15
  • Week 8 vs. Ravens: 7-99-2 (9), WR3
  • Week 9 vs. Chargers: 6-75-1 (11), WR11
  • Week 11 at Saints: 3-47-0 (8), WR50

We're talking about the WR8 in PPR points per game during this stretch! Certainly a small sample, but not too shabby of a ceiling considering the lack of overall pass-game competition at hand here ahead of 2025.

Bottom line: Early Fantasy Life Projections have Jeudy (117) and Tillman (107) both racking up triple-digit pass-game opportunities. Hell, those numbers could eventually receive an even bigger boost if Johnson (64) winds up finding his way out of another NFL organization. 

Accordingly, I'm cool with Jeudy's WR39 ADP and especially Tillman's WR67 price tag in early best ball drafts. Both flashed the ability to supply legit WR1 production last year and will be listed as "starts" across the industry whenever Flacco manages to get the starting nod.

Question 4: Why does the fantasy world hate David Njoku?

I don't know! Sure, the Browns' obvious black hole under center doesn't make for the highest upside, but the reality that Njoku is essentially the checkdown option in Stefanski's offense adds some stability here. The veteran TE has been a bit of a target hog ever since former starter/high-priced free agent addition Austin Hooper left town.

 

Note that Browns TEs rank third in screen targets while carrying the fourth-lowest average target depth during this span. Translation: Njoku is being schemed up plenty of easy-hitting targets in the underneath areas of the field—AKA the sort of opportunities that should be a bit easier to come by regardless of who is under center.

Throw in some borderline erotic splits specifically with Flacco under center along with a top-five target projection at the position, and Njoku (again) looks undervalued relative to his current ADP. The one potential red flag is the newfound presence of third-rounder Harold Fannin, although I wouldn't be surprised if he's used as more of a big slot complement as opposed to someone actively stealing Njoku's snaps.

Bottom line: Turning 29 in July, Njoku remains firmly in the age range in which we see plenty of high-end performers at the TE position. God forbid Njoku gets a little bit of help from the injury gods and doesn't have to play through ankle and knee injuries, and we could even be looking at a bigger boom than usual considering the lack of overall target competition relative to past years.

Ultimately, I'm the highest on Njoku (TE6) among all the Fantasy Life rankers and prefer him over older guys who have shown signs of decline like Mark Andrews and Travis Kelce, as well as Jonnu Smith, who I'm less convinced of holding onto a similar role as Njoku in the far more crowded Dolphins passing game.

Just how special is Myles Garrett?

Very!

Garrett pressure rate among all defensive linemen with 300+ snaps:

  • 2024: 18.4% (1st)
  • 2023: 18.3% (2nd)
  • 2022: 16.1% (6th)
  • 2021: 15.5% (6th)
  • 2020: 11.9% (23rd)

Throw in the reality that Garrett has regularly been double-teamed as often as any pass rusher in the league, and it's more than fair to say the league's highest-paid defensive player on a per-year basis ($40 million!) deserves every penny.

Prediction for the Browns 2025 Season

The Browns join the Giants, Titans, Jets, and Saints as the only teams in the league with a win total of just 5.5. And you know what? I'm going to have to go under—the offense's likely status as a bottom-five scoring group could also be complemented by the sort of high turnover number that cancels out a possibly strong season from the other side of the ball.

As for my bold fantasy prediction: David Njoku turns in his third straight top-five finish thanks to racking up more targets at the position than anyone not named Brock Bowers or Trey McBride.