Fantasy Football Impact: Cleveland Browns 2013 Draft

Draft Recap

One thing is clear from this draft by the Browns, they do not think they can win now, and they are right. The rest of the division is comprised of playoff caliber teams and, with a new regime taking over, Cleveland is looking to build toward the future. With their limited picks the team managed to solidify their defense with some solid talent.

Fantasy Impact

None of the Browns’ draft selections are going to be making an impact in fantasy this year. Its possible that Barkevios Mingo could turn into a sack specialist in the future, but he is raw and will take some time to develop. Leon McFadden, has the potential to form quite the tandem with Joe Haden at the corner spot making this area a strength for the rebuilding defense.

Keep an eye on Cleveland’s defensive unit in fantasy, if these draft picks catch on it could allow the Browns to be much more aggressive on that side of the football, leaving both corners in man coverage and coming after the quarterback from all angles. I expect to see a rise in their sack total by the end of the season, and they should be a good spot start based on the matchups.

The other major takeaway from this draft is that the Cleveland offense will be all Trent Richardson in 2013, as it should be. This is both a blessing and a curse for fantasy owners and T-Rich figures to get plenty of touches during the upcoming season, but with the limited explosiveness on the outside, defense will key on the running back. Richardson also battled injuries during his rookie campaign and we can’t help but think that the Browns’ would be wise to find another back to ease some of the workload despite. With almost no offensive talent joining this team in the draft, it’s a bit difficult to get excited about the prospect of Brandon Weeden and Josh Gordon becoming solid fantasy starters.

Draft Results