That's right -- it's only the beginning of June, but we are already thinking about Fantasy Football! Yahoo Sports has released their preseason rankings for quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, kickers, and team defenses. Do the "experts" at Yahoo Sports think that any members of the Browns have a worthy fantasy value?
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QB: Brandon Weeden is ranked 30th overall, which means he would most certainly be an undrafted free agent in most fantasy leagues. As far as I can tell, only two teams have a starting quarterback ranked lower than Cleveland: Miami (probably because it is unknown which of three guys will start), and Jacksonville. Peyton Manning is ranked 9th on the list. He will be an interesting guy to watch in fantasy football drafts this year.
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RB: Trent Richardson's ranking surprised me: he was listed 7th overall, ahead of the likes of Jamaal Charles, Darren McFadden, and Adrian Peterson. Will a high ranking like this influence when fantasy football players end up drafting Richardson? This ranking makes it seem as though he'd be drafted at the end of round one or the beginning of round two. No other Cleveland back was listed in the top 60.
- WR: Who in their right mind would draft a Browns receiver for fantasy football, right? Greg Little is ranked 37th overall. Mohamed Massaquoi is next at 84th overall. No sign of Joshua Cribbs or any of the other Browns wide receivers. Little at No. 37 is probably about right; he saw a lot of targets last year, and if he grows this year with Weeden, he could be a nice late-round sleeper pick.
- TE: No Browns tight end is listed in the top 35. So, unless you feel you have a die-hard Browns fan in your league with you (and you are a Browns homer for certain positions too), you can wait until the end to take your flier on Evan Moore or Ben Watson. Unfortunately, many of us waited for Moore to bust out all of last season.
- K: He could be as consistent as they come, but that isn't going to help Phil Dawson in the fantasy rankings unless he's on a high-scoring team. Dawson ranked 26th, which is kind of higher than I anticipated.
- DEF: Like Dawson, the Browns' defense ranks 26th on the fantasy football projections. The team generated a good amount of sacks last year, but they did not register many interceptions or defensive touchdowns.