Who To Watch: Duke Johnson Jr.
(Cleveland Browns, Running Back)
Week 6
The game of fantasy football has drastically developed and grown in the past few years. Standard, PPR (Points Per Reception), and DFS (Daily Fantasy Sports), are only a few different types of leagues available for fantasy players to play fantasy football. Fantasy owners are getting smarter in the way they strategize their roster throughout the season. We no longer choose our players based off their popularity, their previous seasons, or position on a team's depth chart. In standard leagues, points are mostly made on yards and touchdowns. In daily fantasy, we choose players based on projected stats, whether that be receptions, yards, or touchdowns. The most entertaining is PPR leagues. Being able to get points off receptions allows more players to be productive in fantasy. In many PPR leagues, we see many rosters starting players, like Lance Dunbar, over more popular players, like CJ Anderson. Yes, CJ is the starter of the Broncos, but his production has been poor this season. Like Lance Dunbar, another player that has been very productive in PPR leagues is Cleveland Browns running back, Duke Johnson Jr.
Johnson has always been known for his agility and speed. During high school, he was a top prospect in football, as well as, track and field. His college career began in 2012 at the University of Miami (FL). The lightening back exhibited his God-given talent during his freshman year in the Hurricane offense and special teams. Duke rushed for 947 yards and 10 touchdowns on only 139 attempts. He also had 27 receptions for 221 receiving yards and 1 TD. With these very impressive stats in his freshman year, Duke was awarded ACC Rookie of the Year. In fact, in his first two seasons with Miami, he was named on the 2nd-Team All-ACC 2012 & 2013.
In only 3 seasons as a Hurricane, Duke Johnson Jr. had excellent numbers as an all-around back with 3,519 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns on 526 touches. As a receiver in the backfield, he totaled 69 receptions for 719 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns. As to note, Duke ran 2 kick returns for touchdowns. In a short college career, he was able to draw a ton of attention of his talents by many NFL teams. A running back that can, both, run and catch the ball will be every affective on any NFL offense.
At the NFL Rookie Combine, Duke impressed many pro scouts with his vision, speed, and receiving ability. At the combine, Johnson ran a 4.5 second 40-yd dash, 4.16 short shuffle, and a 6.88 3-cone speed test. Being able to run fast is a great ability to have, but what set him apart from all the other fast players in the combine was his quickness, vision, hands, and ability to avoid tackles. The 5'9", 207 lb running back was taken in the third round, 77th overall pick, by the Cleveland Browns. With the Browns' recent struggles in the backfield, they knew that they could use a multitalented back.
Impressing Cleveland's coaching staff during the offseason, Duke was able to win the job as the "go to" back by out touching Isaiah Crowell in the first team offense. Sadly, the talented half-back suffered a hamstring injury before the Browns began their preseason. The Browns turned to their veteran running back, Isaiah Crowell. Duke came back from his injury during the preseason but was taken out due to a concussion. In the start of the season, the rookie back went overlooked and undrafted in many leagues. Many of us drafted the Browns' veteran, Isaiah Crowell, in our leagues in hopes that he'd be a solid running back.
In the first two games of the season, Crowell performed very well. He was looking like the smart choice for many fantasy owners, putting up a total of 92 yards on 27 touches but only 1 touchdown. Johnson had only 19 carries for 65 rushing yards. Although his numbers were low running the ball, Cleveland was excited to see how he'd do catching the ball out of the backfield. In weeks 3,4, and 5, he only had 21 carries for 56 yards but had a strong 25 targets, 21 receptions for 172 receiving yards as a receiving back. While still sharing the carries with Crowell, Johnson played more snaps as he was out on the field during almost all pass plays. He has defined himself in the Browns' offense.
In this past week, the Browns running backs shared all the carries pretty evenly. Each back got 15 carries each. Now, at the end of the game in week 5, it was Duke in the goal line backfield, not Isaiah Crowell. It is very important to see that Duke's role for the Browns has dramatically changed for the better. To me, Duke Johnson Jr. has surpassed Isaiah Crowell as the lead back for Cleveland. It took 5 weeks, but he has become the special back that the Browns wanted for their offense - a halfback that can run and receiver. Only owned in 50% of standard leagues, Johnson is a player to add now before his popularity increases over the weekend.
The Browns go up against an elite Denver Broncos run defense. Cleveland will need to throw the ball more than usual. With the consistency of Josh McCown's accuracy, Duke will have the best opportunity to score big in this matchup. Like at I said at the beginning of the article, each league is different. In standard scoring leagues, Duke Johnson Jr. is a possible FLEX and a RB3 for teams in deeper standard leagues. In Daily Fantasy, Duke is priced at $4,500, which makes him an affordable FLEX with upside. Where the rookie back is most affective is in PPR leagues. Since he is not only getting more touches, his number of targets out of the backfield are what set him apart from other RB3 RBs. Duke Johnson Jr. is an add for this week and streamer for the coming weeks in all leagues, especially in PPR.
-Who Else to Watch in Week 6-
Willie Snead (NO • WR) - Around 69% owned in most standard leagues, Snead has proved himself as the second option for Drew Brees in an up and coming Saints offense. Targeted 11 times, the young receiver went 141 yards on 6 receptions in last week's matchup against a solid Philadelphia defense. We can safely rely on Snead's production to continue to rack up targets in this week's Thursday Night Football matchup against Atlanta. His DFS price coming into the early game is $3,300, which makes Willie Snead a safe and affordable WR3 with a ton of upside.
Allen Hurns (JAX • WR) - Surpisingly, Hurns is only owned in 73% of standard leagues coming into week 6. With the young, Jaguars' offense on the rise, Blake Bortles has directly the majority of his passes toward Hurns, alongside the often double-covered Allen Robinson, the past few weeks. Last week Bortles targeted him 6 times. He had 5 receptions for 116 yards and added 1 touchdown to his fantasy stack. He is an interesting play this week going up against the Texans; although we trust in his ability, none of us are ready to trust in his quarterback, Bortles. The best way to manage this situation is to simply ride it out. As it's been in the last couple of weeks, Bortles is throwing Hurns the ball. Until that changes Hurns stays a WR3 with upside. Allen Hurns' current price on DFS is $5,000.
Josh McCown (CLE • QB) - Out to prove everyone wrong, Josh McCown has put up remarkable numbers through 5 weeks this season but has only played in 4 games. Throwing a pass completion percentage of 67.8 (101/149), 1,203 total passing yards, and 6/1 in TD to INT ratio. The Browns' QB has proven himself as a fantasy starter and is considered a streaming quarterback, no more. We now know that the only weekly starters at QB are Rodgers, Brady, Palmer, Dalton, Ryan, and Rivers and that everyone else are streamers. But I do believe, with a QB rating of 73.9, the quarterback (Yes, the Browns' Josh McCown) is now on the list of weekly starters. Only 17% owned in standard leagues and priced at $5,400 on DFS, McCown is affordable and extremely easy to get for a weekly QB1 start.
Charcandrick West (KC • RB) - West is one of only two options for being the replacement of the injured star, Jamaal Charles. Currently 75% owned in most leagues, West continues to be added in every league. Although West is coming into his first game as the starter over Knile Davis, we should wait to start him in standard fantasy leagues. We are unsure on how the Chiefs will use their backfield. In fact, many reports have stated that the Chiefs are not sure how they are going to use their run-game this week. If you play PPR, West can be a FLEX play this week. Already highly priced on DFS at $4,000, West is low RB3, FLEX.
Leonard Hankerson (ATL • WR) - Yes, last week I wrote about how much I loved Hankerson going up against his old team, the Redskins. And yes, Hank only had 1 receptions on 4 targets for 13 yards. Trust me, I know, but nobody's perfect. Believe it or not, I am turning to him again this week against the New Orleans Saints. 49% owned in standard leagues, Hank is still available in almost every league. He is a must pickup for the rest of season. Playing in week 6's Thursday Night Football matchup, Julio Jones had a short time period to rest his hamstring. In many reports, Julio is said to be slowed down to a limited number of snaps. This is a huge opportunity for Hankerson to show his role for Atlanta. Priced at $4,200 on DFS, Leonard Hankerson is a solid WR3 with a huge upside this week against the Saints.
By: Cameron Black
@GBCam_Black
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