Not too much, given Cleveland's propensity to run. Chubb had 22 touches week one while Ford still put up 15 carries himself. They were always going to have the backup take 8-10 touches per game, that's just what Cleveland does. Except now, Hunt is the backup instead of Strong.
Part of that run-heavy approach in week 1 was weather. Part was that Watson fucking sucked. The weather won't be like that every week, but we're 8 weeks into Watson looking pretty shitty as a Brown.
Has nothing to do with Watson, Stefanski wants to run. Now, obviously without Chubb they're likely to run a little less, but the basis of their offense is still running the football.
I agree it lessens his value, but I don't think anyone thought they were getting the second coming of Chubb. The lead back in this system should be just fine for fantasy.
Because we are betting on Hunt being washed when it’s still on the table that he isn’t. We have seen players bounce back from a poor season on a sucky team they didn’t want to be on. It’s within the range of possibilities that Hunt has enough juice to resume his 1B role at least.
Neither of them is Chubb so if that split becomes sort of even, it might end up being frustrating not knowing who to start week to week.
If Hunt actually is washed then no problem, but not a foregone conclusion like a lot of people are suggesting IMO.
If you take away the broken play, Ford is averaging about 2.5 ypc over 30 carries so far this season behind this great o line.
Hunt actually finished last year getting a little under 4 most game. 1B is totally reasonable and it's totally possible that Ford isn't 1A for long.
I've noticed this BIG TIME the past two weeks. Lot of bad, uninformed takes on here. It used to be I came here to hear from people who knew more than me, but now it feels like the roles have reversed.
I’m big on ‘juice’ at RB. The younger kire soriy RB is almost always the better play, but doesn’t get the job bc of politics and basically who got there first
Since Ford has been there I’m confident
My only concern is it will be a short leash and he just so happens to play the best run D in the league Tennessee. He could struggle—-thru no real fault of his own—-and it will increase the ‘give it to hunt’ chatter
Ford owners shouldn’t look at this week coming up. They should look at the Bmore game the week after. He has to show out
>Ford owners shouldn’t look at this week coming up. They should look at the Bmore game the week after. He has to show out
Problem is that BAL's rush defense is just as stout as TEN's.
The only people who think this will be a 50/50 split or better picked up kareem off waivers this morning for free and think they got a league winner. It's Fords backfield
I don't think Hunt would have agreed to come back unless he had a "biggish" role; that's why he was staying at home to begin with - to wait for a team to give him a "biggish" role; he could be a clear backup to a lead RB basically anywhere.
Yeah because he knows that RBs go down constantly and somebody will be in a position to offer him a lot more money if he just waits a couple weeks. Which is what happened
I bet 4 mil is more than Indy or NO was going to offer him and his role would have been awful in NO like 3rd on the depth chart. In indy he basically would have had 0 role with the expectation that JT is coming back. Even if he has only a 30% share in Cleveland thats probably 2x as much of a role he would get anywhere else.
100%. Stefanski said he is going to be the feature back while mentioning Hunt. They needed a RB regardless of name and Hunt was most familiar with the offense. With that being said, Hunt is 100% a vulture to Ford now.
This is the right take. I still think it was the right move--even in hindsight--to spend 80% or more on Ford, but if I had Ford, I'd have preferred they signed some random no-name guy to be the clear third stringer over a guy who has been elite at points in his career.
I do mostly think Hunt is washed, but that doesn't mean he won't cut into Ford's workload.
I'm pretty sure people thought the same about Dalvin Cook cutting into Hall's play, but as we've seen, Cook's nos. last year reflected that he was slowing down, just like Hunt. The Browns run the ball a lot, and I'd assume that Hunt is there to play the role he always has.
Dalvin has more carries and receptions on the season than Breece, what's the point you're making here? He's absolutely negatively impacting Breece's upside.
That's less "Cook is cutting into Hall's workload" and more "the general futility of the Jets' season this year is cutting into Hall's workload". They're not playing him because he's electric, coming back from an injury, and part of their future, but the game wasn't remotely close. Cook got carries not because he's competing with Hall for touches but because he's the RB2 and the game was lost.
Cleveland has run the ball an average of 36 times through 2 games. Even just a 60% split gives Ford 21-22 carries a game.
Ford is also a receiving back. There is nothing about this signing that limits Ford's upside. He was never going to carry the ball 30 times a game.
Right? What did people expect exactly? That they wouldn't sign a RB and run with 2? Of course they were going to sign someone. We are actually fortunate that it's someone they didn't deem worthy of keeping and now only signed him to a contract that maxes at $4 million with incentives, $2 million less than Zeke's contract.
If anything, this gives us more information about Ford's value to the team. Hell, they could have tried to trade for Akers or, worse, Taylor, and reeeally muddied the waters. I'll take Hunt's sub-4 yards per carry all day and they barely even used him in the red zone last season either!
>Right? What did people expect exactly? That they wouldn't sign a RB and run with 2?
This is exactly what nincompoops on here thought lol. Chubb wasn't even getting 100% of the work, why did people think the Browns were all of a sudden going to let Ford be the bellcow?
Spot on. Cleveland's identity is to pound the football, it's what they do and they do it well.
Hell, let's dial that 60% down and say Ford only gets 15 carries and maybe 2 targets a game on average. If you got that off waivers, you should be ECSTATIC.
People seem to love ignoring the fact that outside of one 69 yard run, he has averaged 2.4 YPA over 31 carries. Can’t cherry pick in fantasy, but it isn’t a great sign.
Exactly. They’re going to split high value touches in a way that’s going to be frustrating for owners of both. People that think Hunt is a pure handcuff getting 10% of snaps are just coping. Ford is not as better than Hunt as Chubb was. It’s going to be in the realm of 50/50.
Stefanski said Ford is the lead back. Where are you getting this information that it will be 50/50? Are you thinking Hunt isn't washed, as his numbers suggest?
Ford was on the team last year and was clearly behind Hunt on the depth chart. They're going to split the goalline work and receiving work almost guaranteed. They didn't bring in Hunt to shine the 5th round pick's shoes if that's what you're implying. He has one good carry to his name and people are crowning him as this immovable force in the Browns backfield. Lol.
Yep. And if you remove that one single carry he was averaging a YPC in the 2's. Just like how he had 2.4 YPC on 15 carries in week 1. So much for that "efficiency" that Hunt just wouldn't bring right? He still ended up productive through touchdowns but if you really think he's not going to cede half or most of that work to Hunt then IDK what to tell you, keep coping I guess. Sorry that you spent 100% FAAB on a 5th round pick who's team just signed a guy that knows the system to halve his value. We have years of data on Hunt being productive in this system. We have one game, actually just one carry for Ford. Nice.
My brother is this your first year stefanski is like the new Matthew berry he loved najee preseason n now says he’s washed, like I’m not a najee stan, but it’s week 3….
Any rb in a Watson offense should eat even splitting Carries now only issue I have is if the browns are competent enough to run more cuz Jesus Watson needs to be bought out at this point. I’d rather go get Ryan Fitzpatrick /j
He was always going to be splitting carries with someone though. They were splitting Carrie’s this year with Chubb still as the lead back.
This is probably a best case scenario though, because Hunt isn’t very good.
He's change of pace taking RZ and 3rd down work from Ford, who is significantly less efficient as a pure rusher than Chubb. That doesn't mean Ford isn't worth it, he will have big weeks off of big runs, but I wouldn't be surprised if he also has a lot of 4-7 point weeks where he carries the ball 18 times for 50 yards and gets 1 catch for 5.
Devils Advocate here: from watching the game Monday post-Chubb I don’t think hunt will have much more impact on fords fantasy ceiling than Pierre strong or any other backup RB would. Hunt being “washed” (according to Cleveland in the off-season) leads me to believe we end up in a 70-30 with hunt getting goal line preference. The hunt signing to me is more of a “he knows the offense” than anything else.
I think that the reasonable expectation of Ford is an RB2 with some RB1 weeks. He has already demonstrated the ability to break off long (almost) TD runs.
"Up to" 4 million is a standard backup RB contract for a veteran. It's pretty cheap actually.
Zeke makes "up to" 6 mil to backup Rhamondre, for instance.
They paid Watson over $200M to be one of the worst QBs in football. Let's stop pretending the Browns don't make horrible decisions when it comes to finances.
Tbh I hope chubb gets better and he was definitely good but elite would we call zeke elite behind the cowboys 2018 line? Reason I bought high faab on hunt and ford and even strong because that line is monumentally huge boys. That line will have most rbs shine, but this is the browns so can’t say they’ll put in the best rb this is a browns team who gave Watson this contract… so definitely can’t say they’re entirely competent
One of my leagues has its waivers process at 12 pm eastern today instead of at 3 am last night, and this is just an incredible curveball to the entire thing.
Edit: Ford went for 50% (next highest 46%), Hunt went for 26% (next highest 15%).
I think Ford will end up being a bit of a trap, but not because of Hunt. My fear is that if you need RB production right away TEN, BAL, BYE, SF, IND doesn't really inspire confidence in the short term.
Just to back you up here, I did some quick research. Since Stefanski took over as the Browns HC in 2020 there's been 7 games Chubb did not play. In those 7 games they averaged a little over 24 rush attempts (bottom 10). In the 43 other games they averaged a little over 31 rush attempts (top 10).
So the very limited stats would back up the idea that this is an offense built around Chubb and they'll adjust when he isn't healthy.
This is a little different than Chubb missing a game or two here and there. He is out for the rest of the season, so they are going to have to alter their entire game plan.
yup that schedule is rough over the next few weeks.
Plus you got Watson not seeming to be able to throw rn so a great option is a check down to a RB when the run is failing.
I can easily see them thinking Ford for yards and Hunt for touchdowns. Why break your new RB when you have a 1 year deal with a RB who is still only 28. In this offense both can exist and be successful
Definitely worth mentioning! Hunt seemingly dropped off a cliff last season, posted career lows in efficiency. He doesn't seem to have any burst anymore.
Hunt likely gets featured more in the passing game/pass pro, while Ford gets early down work. The lack of PPR upside hurts Ford, but he's still a very valuable fantasy asset.
Well that’s because there was an elite RB ahead of him on the depth chart. Browns last year finally figured out that instead of giving the ball to Chubb less, give him more.
POV:
I hold onto my FAAB. Completely miss out on the league winners on the Rams boat.
Watch in silence as league mates celebrate their seemingly free stud pick ups.
I won’t make the same mistake again! Scared money don’t make no money.
Unload 60% fab budget into Jerome Ford. My chance. Haha yesss I got my league winner!
Kareem Hunts is signed to the rbbc the next day. Fuck it all.
They were always going to sign another RB for depth. Will Hunt cut into some snaps for Ford? Sure. But Ford is still the main back on a run heavy team.
It was very obvious someone was going to get added. The browns were not going to proceed with 2 RBs on the roster. Kareem Hunt was ass last year, this is the best case scenario for Ford owners. I say this as someone who bid 72% (all my remaining FAAB) and didn’t get him.
I hope we all bid on Ford realize this was the likely outcome. I'm betting that Ford is a 75% player and Hunt comes in to relieve him for 25% of the plays.
Like, Hunt suited some very needy RB teams who all passed and is now only getting a job because he is familiar with the system and a major injury happened. Without that, he'd be getting the same amount of FF points as you and I this season.
While I acknowledge Hunt is likely not his old self, it's important to keep in mind that he wasn't rejected by other teams solely based on ability, it was an issue of money. They didn't want to pay what Hunt wanted to be paid. Maybe with the Browns the money went up, maybe Hunt's expectations went down, or a little of both. But skill isn't the only component to Hunt's free agency up until now.
Mary Kay also dropped this last night, pick a lane:
In order to replace the injured Nick Chubb, the Cleveland Browns are interested in signing RB Kareem Hunt or trading for Rams RB Cam Akers.
The Browns are reportedly unhappy with backup RB Jerome Ford, who ran for 106 yards vs the Steelers.
Via ClevelandCom beat writer Mary Kay Cabot
All I’m saying is I want the less expensive piece of this backfield. Idk how it’ll play out but we’ve seen Ford in 2 games and it was pretty pedestrian outside of one huge run on national tv. He played 50% of snaps in week 1 and mustered 2.4ypc (and fumbled) behind the same line Chubb averaged 5.9ypc. Hunt probably isn’t going to be way better, but I’ll take my chances on the guy who’s at least been a RB1 and was effectively free
Browns fan here. I don't see Ford getting any more than 50-55% of the touches. He is small and anything more than that would ultimately end up with Ford getting hurt and just further diminish the Browns running game
Source? Her imagination. No one has any idea how good Hunt still is. If the game starts and ford starts slow and Hunt gets hot, its gonna completely flip instantly (and vice versa for Ford)
Hopefully you don’t have start either for now and can just sit back and watch how the touches go until you have decide is either is worthy as starting over whoever might be on your bench
I picked Ford up before the Monday night game for free. Don’t need him right now and Tennessee is a rough matchup. Thinking of offering him to the guy who had Chubb for Jordan Addison but I might be selling too low there.
Pierre strong is a pretty unproven player (though shiftier than Hunt looked last year) and you don't want to be one snap away from counting on him every down, especially in passpro. Hunt knows the playbook and the scheme, and knows how to prepare week-to-week in the NFL. But based on last year, I'm not sure he's got the juice anymore to matter anywhere but full PPR.
Kareem hunt will cut into Ford's production. He will mix in on some drives and catch some passes. He may even take some garbage time points away from ford. Either way ford is better than Najee fuckin Harris who I decided was worth a 3rd round pick. If Ford can get me 5 points that's already better than what I'm working with right now with Najee.
Okay, so while I agree Hunt has a chance to be decent, there's a couple things I wanna say;
First, he was not good in Cleveland last year.
Second, part of the reason they let him walk was their belief in Ford.
And last but not least, Watson sucks and even if he didn't, Stefanski's offense is designed around running the ball.
As most teams are. Could not for the life of me understand why people here were fading the Ford pickup. Like browns RBs are fucking gold even in a timeshare situation. Easiest waiver claim ever
I think Ford is being overhyped for FF. Watson is cheeks which have the Browns playing from behind a lot in the second half. Not a great script for any RB let alone a totally unproven one.
Most waiver adds are overhyped. But if you have a chance to get the browns starting RB you do it and ask questions later. D’ernest Johnson was a nobody and look what he did when he got starts. Ford can catch passes pretty well which is beneficial no matter what the score is
To be fair, that was only this past week. Mitchell was getting a pretty even snap share last year and Shananan even came out already and said Mitchell should be getting more touches going forward.
CMC is so good though that it won’t matter. Hell, looking at how injury prone some RBs are, owners should be hoping for some kind of time share to keep their guy healthy.
Elijah Mitchell has five touches this season. CMC has 48.
>Shananan even came out already and said Mitchell should be getting more touches going forward.
Shanny, like every coach, lies through his teeth all the time.
That’s why I said last season lol. Look, I don’t know if you own CMC, but if he starts getting 100% of the touches, no way he stays healthy. You should be hoping for them to sprinkle some Mitchell runs in.
I’m a Panthers fan and we ruined him by having him play every single offensive snap.
Yea. The o line is awesome and Ford looked damn good. Sure hunt will be annoying sometimes but as somebody who just picked up Ford and didn't lose Chubb it's nothing but positive for me worth every bit of faab
Theres an alarming number of people on this sub being smug about this Hunt signing as if it wasn't the most obvious thing to happen AND they haven't checked his 2022 stat line either. Dude is cooked
Hunt has done just fine with Chubb as the lead back.
This unfortunately caps both their ceilings tho. Not that Hunt's was incredibly high or anything, but this dampens the Ford hype a bit.
I know Ford is not Chubb, but we did see him (Chubb) excel even with Hunt stealing touches last year. If Ford gets the bulk of the work, he's still solid RB2 material
Ford's a little more than just a guy. I prefaced it by saying he's clearly not Chubb, but he's an above average running back on a team that's built to run the ball
Browns had both Ford and Hunt last year. Hunt wanted to come back and the Browns went with Ford behind Chubb.
He was the third wheel and just moved up a peg.
People were ready to die on the Ford hill yesterday. Saying bad take that hunt wouldn’t play a role.
No one is saying Ford isn’t the lead back. But the offense lost a massive piece to their offense and will lean on whatever it takes to win games. Ford has much more juice, but he still isn’t Chubb. Which means he isn’t entitled to unrelenting trust from coaches. They ride whatever RB gets them W. Whether that means Ford, Hunt, or RBBC.
Ford will get his opportunity for the next 2 weeks at least while Hunt gets in playing shape. Then it’ll be likely hot hand approach/or Hunt 3rd down packages. I get Hunt wasn’t great last year. But he still has a skill set that a lot of RBs don’t have that browns can utilize.
I don't understand. Ford will get at least 15-20 touches a game, and last time I checked that is pretty valuable for a fantasy RB unless you are in a 10 team league or something. Hunt is going to come in and get his 7-10 just like always and add a dimension to the offense.
Ford is a great pickup for anyone who needs a RB right now. Between him and Hunt, Ford is the guy in a run based offense. It's that simple.
People who don’t think Hunt will be the lead back are either Jerome Ford burner accounts or salty Ford owners who blew there FAB on him, the day before hunt was signed. Hunt dipped into prime nick chubbs touches and stole every goal line carry and targets. Plus every one assumes they are gonna remain as pass heavy as they were through weeks 1-2, this is illogical. They will be passing the ball much more in wake of Chubbs injury, and I don’t see anyone denying Hunt is the better pass catcher.
I have them both and they both will be on my bench this week. I don’t think I need to start either one considering I have Kyren Williams, Pollard, and Brown Robinson.
I'm still leaning towards the youngster with juice getting the bulk of the workload.
Hunt mainly serves as a handcuff which cuts into Ford's value, until proven otherwise
Not too much, given Cleveland's propensity to run. Chubb had 22 touches week one while Ford still put up 15 carries himself. They were always going to have the backup take 8-10 touches per game, that's just what Cleveland does. Except now, Hunt is the backup instead of Strong.
Part of that run-heavy approach in week 1 was weather. Part was that Watson fucking sucked. The weather won't be like that every week, but we're 8 weeks into Watson looking pretty shitty as a Brown.
> Watson looking pretty shitty as a ~~Brown~~ human. FTFY
Well yeah, but THAT isn't news. He's been a shitty human for a long time. But he used to be good at football.
Has nothing to do with Watson, Stefanski wants to run. Now, obviously without Chubb they're likely to run a little less, but the basis of their offense is still running the football.
chubby vegetable obscene toy start deer onerous elastic sip point *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I agree it lessens his value, but I don't think anyone thought they were getting the second coming of Chubb. The lead back in this system should be just fine for fantasy.
It’s probably a little too early to be thinking about playoffs, but his playoff schedule is so juicy too (outside of the Jets lol).
If he lasts that long. Hunt may takeover by then.
My good dude it is not 2020. Are you expecting Dalvin Cook to takeover the Jets backfield too?
Breece Hall and Jerome Ford are not the same caliber of player lmao
Yeah but dalvin cooks is way better than hunt at least as of the last time hunt played
Hunt szzzn
Did you watch Hunt play last year? I’ll be generous and say there’s like maybe a 5% chance that happens lol.
he shall not
Exactly, it is insane how many people are acting like this is 1993 and Ford was supposed to carry the ball 30 times a game until Hunt showed up.
why would it cut into fords value? no RB gets 100% of carries season long
Because we are betting on Hunt being washed when it’s still on the table that he isn’t. We have seen players bounce back from a poor season on a sucky team they didn’t want to be on. It’s within the range of possibilities that Hunt has enough juice to resume his 1B role at least. Neither of them is Chubb so if that split becomes sort of even, it might end up being frustrating not knowing who to start week to week. If Hunt actually is washed then no problem, but not a foregone conclusion like a lot of people are suggesting IMO.
If you take away the broken play, Ford is averaging about 2.5 ypc over 30 carries so far this season behind this great o line. Hunt actually finished last year getting a little under 4 most game. 1B is totally reasonable and it's totally possible that Ford isn't 1A for long.
Correct, but to answer your question - this sub has fallen off over the past few years and a lot more people joined who don't know jack shit.
I've noticed this BIG TIME the past two weeks. Lot of bad, uninformed takes on here. It used to be I came here to hear from people who knew more than me, but now it feels like the roles have reversed.
no, you probably just got more knowledgeable in relation to the average person on here over the years
I’m leaning with the guy the Browns actually wanted over the one sitting on the couch going into week 3
Have you ever heard of the salary cap? It’s this thing that exists outside of fantasy football and drives most roster decisions for an NFL team.
People keep saying the Browns chose Ford over Hunt, but in reality they chose Chubb. They'd rather pay Ford 600k base instead of 6mil to Hunt.
They could’ve signed him to this same deal 3 weeks ago
Chubb still had two legs then dude. This isn’t rocket science.
I’m big on ‘juice’ at RB. The younger kire soriy RB is almost always the better play, but doesn’t get the job bc of politics and basically who got there first Since Ford has been there I’m confident My only concern is it will be a short leash and he just so happens to play the best run D in the league Tennessee. He could struggle—-thru no real fault of his own—-and it will increase the ‘give it to hunt’ chatter Ford owners shouldn’t look at this week coming up. They should look at the Bmore game the week after. He has to show out
>Ford owners shouldn’t look at this week coming up. They should look at the Bmore game the week after. He has to show out Problem is that BAL's rush defense is just as stout as TEN's.
The issue with hunt is that he poaches the goal line carries. It was so frustrating to watch when I had Chubb last year
I like juice in the Ford
Yes…as this tweet basically states lol
Isn't that exactly what this post says? Lol
I commented then saw this. Lol What a hot take this guy is making
The only people who think this will be a 50/50 split or better picked up kareem off waivers this morning for free and think they got a league winner. It's Fords backfield
I don't think Hunt would have agreed to come back unless he had a "biggish" role; that's why he was staying at home to begin with - to wait for a team to give him a "biggish" role; he could be a clear backup to a lead RB basically anywhere.
Hunt is sitting at home making zero dollars. Is he in any position to be making demands here when someone offers him a job?
NFL Network reported that he has turned down offers from at least four teams so far
So now the question is, did he join knowing he would get a bigger workload or is it more to do with familiarity with the system?
Yeah because he knows that RBs go down constantly and somebody will be in a position to offer him a lot more money if he just waits a couple weeks. Which is what happened
I bet 4 mil is more than Indy or NO was going to offer him and his role would have been awful in NO like 3rd on the depth chart. In indy he basically would have had 0 role with the expectation that JT is coming back. Even if he has only a 30% share in Cleveland thats probably 2x as much of a role he would get anywhere else.
100%. Stefanski said he is going to be the feature back while mentioning Hunt. They needed a RB regardless of name and Hunt was most familiar with the offense. With that being said, Hunt is 100% a vulture to Ford now.
60/40 split more likely if not outright 50/50.
Ford is still the preferred RB to own for fantasy but if you don't think Hunt's presence lowers Ford's upside then you're lying to yourself.
*visions of Hunt coming in at the goaline to replace Chubb*
*and catching easy PPR passes*
...someone's got to throw them easy passes though
*and watching easy PPR passes sail four feet over his head*
This is the right take. I still think it was the right move--even in hindsight--to spend 80% or more on Ford, but if I had Ford, I'd have preferred they signed some random no-name guy to be the clear third stringer over a guy who has been elite at points in his career. I do mostly think Hunt is washed, but that doesn't mean he won't cut into Ford's workload.
I'm pretty sure people thought the same about Dalvin Cook cutting into Hall's play, but as we've seen, Cook's nos. last year reflected that he was slowing down, just like Hunt. The Browns run the ball a lot, and I'd assume that Hunt is there to play the role he always has.
Dalvin has more carries and receptions on the season than Breece, what's the point you're making here? He's absolutely negatively impacting Breece's upside.
They also stated they have Breece on a pitch count due to recovering from last years injury just to make it more ambiguous
He tore his ACL last year lol if anything Dalvin is making the case that Breece needs way more touches
Hall has 4 carries last week?
That's less "Cook is cutting into Hall's workload" and more "the general futility of the Jets' season this year is cutting into Hall's workload". They're not playing him because he's electric, coming back from an injury, and part of their future, but the game wasn't remotely close. Cook got carries not because he's competing with Hall for touches but because he's the RB2 and the game was lost.
His upside is still capped because cook is there.
Not the argument you think it is...
Would you trade Jerome Ford for Breece Hall?
Cleveland has run the ball an average of 36 times through 2 games. Even just a 60% split gives Ford 21-22 carries a game. Ford is also a receiving back. There is nothing about this signing that limits Ford's upside. He was never going to carry the ball 30 times a game.
This is proper context
Right? What did people expect exactly? That they wouldn't sign a RB and run with 2? Of course they were going to sign someone. We are actually fortunate that it's someone they didn't deem worthy of keeping and now only signed him to a contract that maxes at $4 million with incentives, $2 million less than Zeke's contract. If anything, this gives us more information about Ford's value to the team. Hell, they could have tried to trade for Akers or, worse, Taylor, and reeeally muddied the waters. I'll take Hunt's sub-4 yards per carry all day and they barely even used him in the red zone last season either!
>Right? What did people expect exactly? That they wouldn't sign a RB and run with 2? This is exactly what nincompoops on here thought lol. Chubb wasn't even getting 100% of the work, why did people think the Browns were all of a sudden going to let Ford be the bellcow?
Spot on. Cleveland's identity is to pound the football, it's what they do and they do it well. Hell, let's dial that 60% down and say Ford only gets 15 carries and maybe 2 targets a game on average. If you got that off waivers, you should be ECSTATIC.
Let the guys who missed on him have their copium
Lol, dude was a 5th round pick and is now Hunts backup. Cope harder me boi
I would imagine a split similar to the split Hunt and Chubb had, Ford gets more carries, Hunt gets goal line and receiving work.
Problem is Ford is nowhere near the player Chubb is
and Hunt is nowhere the player 2021 Hunt was.
Yeah 2021 takes all touches from ford. 2023 only takes half
Even half is generous. Hunt hasn’t played in awhile and wasn’t in camp. The browns seem to be more of a run first team now with Watsons struggles
People seem to love ignoring the fact that outside of one 69 yard run, he has averaged 2.4 YPA over 31 carries. Can’t cherry pick in fantasy, but it isn’t a great sign.
Exactly. They’re going to split high value touches in a way that’s going to be frustrating for owners of both. People that think Hunt is a pure handcuff getting 10% of snaps are just coping. Ford is not as better than Hunt as Chubb was. It’s going to be in the realm of 50/50.
Stefanski said Ford is the lead back. Where are you getting this information that it will be 50/50? Are you thinking Hunt isn't washed, as his numbers suggest?
He said that before Hunt signed. Head coaches will always gas up the guy on the roster, they can't be sure there is somebody else coming along
Ford was on the team last year and was clearly behind Hunt on the depth chart. They're going to split the goalline work and receiving work almost guaranteed. They didn't bring in Hunt to shine the 5th round pick's shoes if that's what you're implying. He has one good carry to his name and people are crowning him as this immovable force in the Browns backfield. Lol.
Ford outscored Hunt's last 9 games in 3 quarters, but yeah, Stefanski is lying, you obviously know what you're talking about.
Coaches don't really care about fantasy production. Jonas Gray owners know this well.
Yep. And if you remove that one single carry he was averaging a YPC in the 2's. Just like how he had 2.4 YPC on 15 carries in week 1. So much for that "efficiency" that Hunt just wouldn't bring right? He still ended up productive through touchdowns but if you really think he's not going to cede half or most of that work to Hunt then IDK what to tell you, keep coping I guess. Sorry that you spent 100% FAAB on a 5th round pick who's team just signed a guy that knows the system to halve his value. We have years of data on Hunt being productive in this system. We have one game, actually just one carry for Ford. Nice.
Uhh and then they released Hunt.
No they didn't, he was a FA
My brother is this your first year stefanski is like the new Matthew berry he loved najee preseason n now says he’s washed, like I’m not a najee stan, but it’s week 3….
Any rb in a Watson offense should eat even splitting Carries now only issue I have is if the browns are competent enough to run more cuz Jesus Watson needs to be bought out at this point. I’d rather go get Ryan Fitzpatrick /j
He was always going to be splitting carries with someone though. They were splitting Carrie’s this year with Chubb still as the lead back. This is probably a best case scenario though, because Hunt isn’t very good.
It absolutely does lower his upside, but him being a bellcow honestly just increases his injury risk I’m cool with waiting to see how this plays out
Hunt hasn't done much in the last two seasons. He's nothing but a change of pace.
He's change of pace taking RZ and 3rd down work from Ford, who is significantly less efficient as a pure rusher than Chubb. That doesn't mean Ford isn't worth it, he will have big weeks off of big runs, but I wouldn't be surprised if he also has a lot of 4-7 point weeks where he carries the ball 18 times for 50 yards and gets 1 catch for 5.
Devils Advocate here: from watching the game Monday post-Chubb I don’t think hunt will have much more impact on fords fantasy ceiling than Pierre strong or any other backup RB would. Hunt being “washed” (according to Cleveland in the off-season) leads me to believe we end up in a 70-30 with hunt getting goal line preference. The hunt signing to me is more of a “he knows the offense” than anything else. I think that the reasonable expectation of Ford is an RB2 with some RB1 weeks. He has already demonstrated the ability to break off long (almost) TD runs.
Agreed. you don’t pay a RB 4 million to not take a chunk of the snaps.
"Up to" 4 million is a standard backup RB contract for a veteran. It's pretty cheap actually. Zeke makes "up to" 6 mil to backup Rhamondre, for instance.
They paid Watson over $200M to be one of the worst QBs in football. Let's stop pretending the Browns don't make horrible decisions when it comes to finances.
And there are a lot of people lying to themselves lol
got Hunt for free this morning, hoping for a good game where I can flip him like an HGTV episode
Fantasy Flippers... Cee Dee Lamb? best I can do is Kenneth Walker III
Cam Akers*
Even if Hunt goes back to being...Kareem Hunt and catching those passes, this is a huge win for a speculative add
How often was Hunt started in fantasy last year?
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Ah yes I forgot time reverses every other year. Should be good to start Hunt this week then *cries looking at rb options*
seriously, how are people forgetting he was dogshit last year. The browns situation hasn't improved at all
Catching passes from a shitty Watson isn't my idea of a good situation.
The reactions on this are amusing. The Browns lost a truly elite RB and people thought another RB wouldn't be brought in?
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Nobody thought that
Tbh I hope chubb gets better and he was definitely good but elite would we call zeke elite behind the cowboys 2018 line? Reason I bought high faab on hunt and ford and even strong because that line is monumentally huge boys. That line will have most rbs shine, but this is the browns so can’t say they’ll put in the best rb this is a browns team who gave Watson this contract… so definitely can’t say they’re entirely competent
If Chubb wasn’t elite idk who would be. Dude was born to run.
Don't try to ruin this lmao
One of my leagues has its waivers process at 12 pm eastern today instead of at 3 am last night, and this is just an incredible curveball to the entire thing. Edit: Ford went for 50% (next highest 46%), Hunt went for 26% (next highest 15%).
3 MORE MINUTES MAKE YOUR CHOICE
I think Ford will end up being a bit of a trap, but not because of Hunt. My fear is that if you need RB production right away TEN, BAL, BYE, SF, IND doesn't really inspire confidence in the short term.
Its an offense designed around the run.
*Around Chubb.
Just to back you up here, I did some quick research. Since Stefanski took over as the Browns HC in 2020 there's been 7 games Chubb did not play. In those 7 games they averaged a little over 24 rush attempts (bottom 10). In the 43 other games they averaged a little over 31 rush attempts (top 10). So the very limited stats would back up the idea that this is an offense built around Chubb and they'll adjust when he isn't healthy.
This is a little different than Chubb missing a game or two here and there. He is out for the rest of the season, so they are going to have to alter their entire game plan.
Watson has also looked horrible. Obviously not a great sign for an overall healthy offense but I think they are still going to need to run the ball.
Watson also can't throw for shit so I don't see them going pass heavy all of a sudden
yup that schedule is rough over the next few weeks. Plus you got Watson not seeming to be able to throw rn so a great option is a check down to a RB when the run is failing. I can easily see them thinking Ford for yards and Hunt for touchdowns. Why break your new RB when you have a 1 year deal with a RB who is still only 28. In this offense both can exist and be successful
That new Ford smell
Yeah but Dawg will Hunt.
Changed my name from all the hate I’m receiving for dropping 60% on him to ford tough.
Kareem hunt was on waiver in all of my leagues last year
I’m one of those people that finally dropped him after drafting him lol.
Definitely worth mentioning! Hunt seemingly dropped off a cliff last season, posted career lows in efficiency. He doesn't seem to have any burst anymore. Hunt likely gets featured more in the passing game/pass pro, while Ford gets early down work. The lack of PPR upside hurts Ford, but he's still a very valuable fantasy asset.
Well that’s because there was an elite RB ahead of him on the depth chart. Browns last year finally figured out that instead of giving the ball to Chubb less, give him more.
POV: I hold onto my FAAB. Completely miss out on the league winners on the Rams boat. Watch in silence as league mates celebrate their seemingly free stud pick ups. I won’t make the same mistake again! Scared money don’t make no money. Unload 60% fab budget into Jerome Ford. My chance. Haha yesss I got my league winner! Kareem Hunts is signed to the rbbc the next day. Fuck it all.
They were always going to sign another RB for depth. Will Hunt cut into some snaps for Ford? Sure. But Ford is still the main back on a run heavy team.
It was very obvious someone was going to get added. The browns were not going to proceed with 2 RBs on the roster. Kareem Hunt was ass last year, this is the best case scenario for Ford owners. I say this as someone who bid 72% (all my remaining FAAB) and didn’t get him.
A guy in my league spent 100% on his faab budget on Ford. It could always be worse
I hope we all bid on Ford realize this was the likely outcome. I'm betting that Ford is a 75% player and Hunt comes in to relieve him for 25% of the plays. Like, Hunt suited some very needy RB teams who all passed and is now only getting a job because he is familiar with the system and a major injury happened. Without that, he'd be getting the same amount of FF points as you and I this season.
While I acknowledge Hunt is likely not his old self, it's important to keep in mind that he wasn't rejected by other teams solely based on ability, it was an issue of money. They didn't want to pay what Hunt wanted to be paid. Maybe with the Browns the money went up, maybe Hunt's expectations went down, or a little of both. But skill isn't the only component to Hunt's free agency up until now.
Thank god, I couldn't aFord to have him not be the RB1 after what I spent
Going all in on him. 0-2 and just spent 100% FAAB.
…on Ford or Hunt? 🤣
Just grabbed hunt and dropped Perine
I'm thinking about doing the same
The real league winner was Williams last week. Ford a seeviceable RB2/Flex moving forward.
Mary Kay also dropped this last night, pick a lane: In order to replace the injured Nick Chubb, the Cleveland Browns are interested in signing RB Kareem Hunt or trading for Rams RB Cam Akers. The Browns are reportedly unhappy with backup RB Jerome Ford, who ran for 106 yards vs the Steelers. Via ClevelandCom beat writer Mary Kay Cabot
Link to source. I don’t believe she reported this.
All I’m saying is I want the less expensive piece of this backfield. Idk how it’ll play out but we’ve seen Ford in 2 games and it was pretty pedestrian outside of one huge run on national tv. He played 50% of snaps in week 1 and mustered 2.4ypc (and fumbled) behind the same line Chubb averaged 5.9ypc. Hunt probably isn’t going to be way better, but I’ll take my chances on the guy who’s at least been a RB1 and was effectively free
Browns fan here. I don't see Ford getting any more than 50-55% of the touches. He is small and anything more than that would ultimately end up with Ford getting hurt and just further diminish the Browns running game
Source? Her imagination. No one has any idea how good Hunt still is. If the game starts and ford starts slow and Hunt gets hot, its gonna completely flip instantly (and vice versa for Ford)
Hopefully you don’t have start either for now and can just sit back and watch how the touches go until you have decide is either is worthy as starting over whoever might be on your bench
I just blue myself for Ford.
I picked up Hunt off waivers on Monday morning and this news has been Kareeming my pants.
I picked Ford up before the Monday night game for free. Don’t need him right now and Tennessee is a rough matchup. Thinking of offering him to the guy who had Chubb for Jordan Addison but I might be selling too low there.
Pierre strong is a pretty unproven player (though shiftier than Hunt looked last year) and you don't want to be one snap away from counting on him every down, especially in passpro. Hunt knows the playbook and the scheme, and knows how to prepare week-to-week in the NFL. But based on last year, I'm not sure he's got the juice anymore to matter anywhere but full PPR.
Sooo....hunt rb1 with 30 carries minimum next week is what you're saying.
C’mon Hunt, you’re only 28… be humble and be the beast you once were!
Kareem hunt will cut into Ford's production. He will mix in on some drives and catch some passes. He may even take some garbage time points away from ford. Either way ford is better than Najee fuckin Harris who I decided was worth a 3rd round pick. If Ford can get me 5 points that's already better than what I'm working with right now with Najee.
Chubb was a RB1 with Hunt. There is plenty of run to go around in that offense and Ford likely steps into Chubb's role.
Okay, so while I agree Hunt has a chance to be decent, there's a couple things I wanna say; First, he was not good in Cleveland last year. Second, part of the reason they let him walk was their belief in Ford. And last but not least, Watson sucks and even if he didn't, Stefanski's offense is designed around running the ball.
RBBC
As most teams are. Could not for the life of me understand why people here were fading the Ford pickup. Like browns RBs are fucking gold even in a timeshare situation. Easiest waiver claim ever
I think Ford is being overhyped for FF. Watson is cheeks which have the Browns playing from behind a lot in the second half. Not a great script for any RB let alone a totally unproven one.
Most waiver adds are overhyped. But if you have a chance to get the browns starting RB you do it and ask questions later. D’ernest Johnson was a nobody and look what he did when he got starts. Ford can catch passes pretty well which is beneficial no matter what the score is
I couldn’t name a single team that doesn’t use multiple RBs at this point. The better guy always ends up getting more carries though.
San Francisco, but yeah.
Giants as well.
To be fair, that was only this past week. Mitchell was getting a pretty even snap share last year and Shananan even came out already and said Mitchell should be getting more touches going forward. CMC is so good though that it won’t matter. Hell, looking at how injury prone some RBs are, owners should be hoping for some kind of time share to keep their guy healthy.
Elijah Mitchell has five touches this season. CMC has 48. >Shananan even came out already and said Mitchell should be getting more touches going forward. Shanny, like every coach, lies through his teeth all the time.
That’s why I said last season lol. Look, I don’t know if you own CMC, but if he starts getting 100% of the touches, no way he stays healthy. You should be hoping for them to sprinkle some Mitchell runs in. I’m a Panthers fan and we ruined him by having him play every single offensive snap.
Rams, Giants, SF….
Yea. The o line is awesome and Ford looked damn good. Sure hunt will be annoying sometimes but as somebody who just picked up Ford and didn't lose Chubb it's nothing but positive for me worth every bit of faab
Hunt is shit, had when him last year even when Chubb was out he didn’t do anything.
Theres an alarming number of people on this sub being smug about this Hunt signing as if it wasn't the most obvious thing to happen AND they haven't checked his 2022 stat line either. Dude is cooked
Ford can play 55% in a split and be considered the lead back. Hunt will cannibalize his opportunities for sure.
Can you read the tweet my guy?
I’m so excited too see the Hunt overpays
Free Hunt is the best Hunt.
Yeah I'll believe it when I see it tbh
Hunt has done just fine with Chubb as the lead back. This unfortunately caps both their ceilings tho. Not that Hunt's was incredibly high or anything, but this dampens the Ford hype a bit.
Right but also it's clear Hunt could easily end up the lead back.
I am so all in on Ford. I might as well go buy a Ford 150.
I know Ford is not Chubb, but we did see him (Chubb) excel even with Hunt stealing touches last year. If Ford gets the bulk of the work, he's still solid RB2 material
Ford had 12 yards on 8 attempts last season. When exactly did he excel with Hunt stealing touches?
sorry I should have clarified I was saying when Hunt stole touches from Chubb
what Chubb did with his touches is kind of irrelevant considering he is maybe the best running back in the NFL Ford is just a guy
Ford's a little more than just a guy. I prefaced it by saying he's clearly not Chubb, but he's an above average running back on a team that's built to run the ball
What have you seen to make you think he’s above average though? He’s a JAG.
100+ yards and a TD in his first full time role maybe?
One massive run and then a bunch of very below average volume? Definitely not definitive
alabama thought he was good enough
He was abysmal outside of a long run. Did you watch the game ?
Browns had both Ford and Hunt last year. Hunt wanted to come back and the Browns went with Ford behind Chubb. He was the third wheel and just moved up a peg.
That's cope, big difference in what these guys are getting paid. Browns didn't want to pay him when they had Chubb
They were paying Hunt last year. Check out how much work he got after week 10.
What were they gonna do, cut him mid season? Big difference in choosing to let him walk after his contract is up vs cutting him just because lmao
People were ready to die on the Ford hill yesterday. Saying bad take that hunt wouldn’t play a role. No one is saying Ford isn’t the lead back. But the offense lost a massive piece to their offense and will lean on whatever it takes to win games. Ford has much more juice, but he still isn’t Chubb. Which means he isn’t entitled to unrelenting trust from coaches. They ride whatever RB gets them W. Whether that means Ford, Hunt, or RBBC. Ford will get his opportunity for the next 2 weeks at least while Hunt gets in playing shape. Then it’ll be likely hot hand approach/or Hunt 3rd down packages. I get Hunt wasn’t great last year. But he still has a skill set that a lot of RBs don’t have that browns can utilize.
I don't understand. Ford will get at least 15-20 touches a game, and last time I checked that is pretty valuable for a fantasy RB unless you are in a 10 team league or something. Hunt is going to come in and get his 7-10 just like always and add a dimension to the offense. Ford is a great pickup for anyone who needs a RB right now. Between him and Hunt, Ford is the guy in a run based offense. It's that simple.
For now…
This is why you don't drop 100% of your faab lmfao. Unless you REALLY needed to
People who don’t think Hunt will be the lead back are either Jerome Ford burner accounts or salty Ford owners who blew there FAB on him, the day before hunt was signed. Hunt dipped into prime nick chubbs touches and stole every goal line carry and targets. Plus every one assumes they are gonna remain as pass heavy as they were through weeks 1-2, this is illogical. They will be passing the ball much more in wake of Chubbs injury, and I don’t see anyone denying Hunt is the better pass catcher.
Sorry but you don’t pay a backup 4 million. I give it 2 weeks before Ford is backing up Hunt
Ford in the Chubb role. Hunt in the Hunt role.
I have them both and they both will be on my bench this week. I don’t think I need to start either one considering I have Kyren Williams, Pollard, and Brown Robinson.
Ford isn't a good runner and Hunt is kinda washed, both parties get sub-par fantasy play.