Will KC Concepcion And Denzel Boston Lift The Cleveland Browns Passing Attack?
Fantasy

Will KC Concepcion And Denzel Boston Lift The Cleveland Browns Passing Attack?

Ian Hartitz analyzes the Cleveland Browns WR corps, featuring new additions in rookies KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston.

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Before the NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns' wide receiver room looked pretty barren. Then, bang, a pair of rookie wideouts taken in the first two rounds added some serious young talent to the group. Can anyone get them the ball? Ian Hartitz breaks it down as part of his Cleveland Browns Team Preview.

Who is projected to lead this new-look WR room?

Well, Fantasy Life Projections have KC Concepcion leading the way with 104 targets. And hey, why not, they did draft the man in the first round after all, and there's a lot to like about his big-play ability. My three biggest strengths on Concepcion in my pre-draft write-up …

Route-running ability is borderline erotic: This is Concepcion's superpower: He possesses instant acceleration off the line of scrimmage as well as lightning quickness to get in-and-out of breaks and create separation at all areas of the field. The latter trait has led many to pull out Zay Flowers comps. While Concepcion won't necessarily "wow" you with his top-end speed, defensive backs still seemed consistently threatened thanks to this dynamic agility. Now, a lot of KC's production did indeed come out of the slot and around the line of scrimmage, but his quickness off the ball made him a nemesis against any corner brave enough to attempt to press him. Jordyn Tyson is the only other WR in this class I've studied thus far with the same level of twitch in his route running.

 Proved capable of winning against the best corners college football had to offer: Specifically, Concepcion put wins against Notre Dame CB Leonard Moore, LSU CB Mansoor Delane and South Carolina CB Brandon Cisse on tape. Not to suggest that Concepcion beat all three like a drum for 60 minutes, but even getting some one-on-one wins against these future first-rounders is impressive.

Playmaker with the football in his hands: Whether as a receiver, rusher or returner: The First-team All-American "All-purpose" winner consistently proved to be tough to get to the ground once he got the ball. It was particularly impressive to see how often Concepcion fought through contact for an extra few yards throughout his career—this is a rare trait for a sub-200-pound receiver!

There's uncertainty here with the pecking order and QB performance, but at the end of the day: Any first-round receiver who we believe to be especially talented seems worthy of a late-round stab when they're being priced outside the position's top-50 players.

A similar sentiment is true for Denzel Boston, who yes, fell to Round 2, but the 6-foot-4, 212-pounder possesses a pretty damn fun combination of great contested-catch ability and underrated route-running. Now, Boston isn't likely to run past many professional corners, and his lack of an early breakout as well as middling production in big games wasn't ideal. Still: Solid traits, at a cheap cost, in a fairly wide-open passing game. Not the worst package to target.

And yet, it's actually Jerry Jeudy who I can't stop drafting. Here's my three-pronged pitch:

  1. Jeudy is one of just 11 receivers to gain 1,200+ receiving yards in a season since 2024. Nine of those receivers have an ADP inside the position's top-15 players. Brian Thomas Jr. is at WR31. And Jeudy? WR74. Did having Jameis Winston help, sure, but watch some of the tape yourself: This is a good football player!
  2. The man just turned 27 in April and still showed some underlying goodness despite last season's porous counting numbers. Consider: Fantasy Points had Jeudy as the league's 14th-best receiver in separation win rate, and his average separation score (ASS, lol) was 34th—right in line with guys like Chris Olave, Ladd McConkey and Jameson Williams.
  3. Browns GM Andrew Berry said Jeudy was still their bell cow when asked about the decision to draft Concepcion and Boston. The Browns have 58 million reasons to continue keeping this man heavily involved in their offense.

It's pretty rare to find receivers in the middle of their prime *one* season removed from a 1,200-yard season in Round 16, ya know?

Also note: Isaiah Bond flashed as a field-stretcher in his rookie season and could perhaps make the ascensions of Concepcion and Boston a bit tough, but expecting enough volume for him or Cedric Tillman feels like wishful thinking.

Players Mentioned in this Article

  1. KCConcepcion
    WRCLECLE
    Proj
    132.3
  2. DenzelBoston
    WRCLECLE
    Proj
    95.9
  3. Jerry Jeudy
    JerryJeudyQ
    WRCLECLE
    PPG
    5.6
    Proj
    101.7

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