Cleveland BrownsOur read
Written Oct 17, from his facts through last season
Two zeros in the first five weeks of 2026, then a 10.4 in week 5 of 2026. That is the whole season so far: 9 targets, 5 catches, 86 yards, 0 touchdowns. The spike came against a defense that lost track of him deep, and his role says it will not repeat. He is listed fourth among CLE receivers behind Jerry Jeudy, KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston, and in 2025 Jeudy and Harold Fannin Jr. took 42% of the targets between them. That room has not thinned out.
The case splits three ways. His 20.8% air-yards share is the one real card, worth about 1.3 points a game of year-over-year growth for receivers in his spot. But the crowded room costs about 0.9 a game in that spot, and 5.5 expected team wins costs another 0.8. Those two eat the first number and then some. Before the season we put 74 points on him, a 5.7 a game pace over 13 games, and he is running 2.7 a game through five weeks of 2026. Even his biggest fantasy game of 2025, 10.9 points late in that season, would barely clear that pace.
There is no injury angle here, he has played every week and carries no designation, so this is a usage call. We would let him go before his week 11 of 2026 bye and spend the spot on a receiver with a real weekly path. It would take a second spike and a target share that actually climbs to bring him back.