Following their Week 6 loss to the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Baker Mayfield came out and said this “loss makes 4-2 feel like 0-6”. Moving on to Week 7 in Cincinnati, we will take stock of which Browns played well and which ones failed to achieve a satisfying return on investment.
Here’s a look at the stock up and stock down for Browns players in Week 7.
Stock Down: The secondary
In Week 7, the Cleveland Browns secondary allowed rookie Joe Burrow to pass for the season’s highest yardage. Maybe the worst display of the day was Tee Higgins’ touchdown reception in the fourth quarter with the Browns up four points. Higgins catches the ball in the middle of the field and sheds multiple tacklers when turning upfield.
Compile this mistake with constant lapses in coverage; the Browns offense will have to score 35 points or more every game even to stand a chance. In fact, the Browns have only kept two opponents under 30 points in 2020.
Stock Up: Baker Mayfield
After starting the game with five incompletions and an interception, there was likely plenty of concern around how the rest of the game would go. Would Baker Mayfield go into a shell, similar to Week 6, or would he be the reason for a victory?
Fortunately, in the second half of the contest, Mayfield found his groove. Mayfield completed his last 22 passes, no I don’t count the spike. It was the type of performance a fanbase can reflect on when they find themselves asking, “why did we draft him?”
Baker had a magical game.
Baker Mayfield completed his last 22 passes after starting 0 for 5, leading the Browns to a 37-34 win over the Bengals.
Mayfield had just a 1 in 19,062 chance of completing those 22 passes in a row (~0.005%).#CLEvsCIN | #Browns pic.twitter.com/VEaGmlkIfo
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) October 25, 2020
Stock Down: The linebackers
The linebackers deserve just as much blame for what happened in Week 7 as the secondary. The linebackers were being manipulated by a rookie quarterback and constantly found out of position. For example, on the last Bengals touchdown of the game, there appeared to be a switch between Sione Takitaki and Andrew Sendejo on Gio Bernard. One or both of them completely blew the assignment, and Takitaki could not catch up to Bernard.
Stock Up: Harrison Bryant
Being a tight end in the NFL, in my opinion, is one of the hardest positions because you can be moved all over the field, and you have designated blocking assignments. For this reason, and also because he was behind both Hooper and Njoku, I didn’t have high expectations for Harrison Bryant coming into the season.
In Week 7, with Hooper out and Njoku being a distraction and possibly asking for a trade, Bryant stepped up. There wasn’t a phase of the game which seemed too big for him. He worked hard as a blocker, he was aggressive with the ball in his hands, and he didn’t shrink in the spotlight.
FANTASY SPIN: If Austin Hooper misses another week, fantasy gamers should be cautiously optimistic about starting Harrison Bryant. Also, there is still a possibility David Njoku becomes trade bait before the deadline for an upgrade on defense.
Stock Up: Rashard Higgins
Over my career of watching football, some people have undeniable connections. No matter the situation, the quarterback has an uncanny ability to put the football exactly where that particular wide receiver is. Baker Mayfield and Rashard Higgins have one of those connections. For some reason, the football is like a magnet to Higgins’ hands when Mayfield is targeting him.
For Week 8 and fantasy football purposes, we have to consider what will happen with Higgins moving forward. Specifically, how serious is the injury to Odell Beckham? If OBJ does miss time, Higgins steps in with a great connection to Mayfield, a possible 78% snap share, and a 13.7% target share available to him. Higgins would likely be considered a WR3 or low-end flex option.
Stock Up: Kareem Hunt
Outside of one carry for D’Ernest Johnson, no other running back for the Cleveland Browns touched the football. Even while dealing with a groin injury, Hunt was the iron man for the Cleveland Browns in Week 7. He was strong after contact and proved to be a reliable weapon out of the backfield. Having a backfield with both Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt in it should not be allowed.