This week we have the pleasure of discussing #DALvsCLE with a trio of fantasy football analysts from Her Fantasy Football.
Brandon Marianne Lee, Ashley Williams and Courtney Kirby are all part of Her Fantasy Football. Their podcast airs Thursday mornings on all the major podcasting platforms. And they have a radio show on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio every Saturday night from 9-11 pm ET. They are all real sisters born in Colorado and raised as rabid Broncos fans. Today, they are pragmatic and competitive fantasy football players and analysts. You can follow the show @herfantasyfb.
John (Inside The Star): Hello, Her Fantasy Football, I didn’t realize that you were sisters. That’s pretty great. Really enjoy your work. Thank’s for taking the time to join us for a Fantasy Football preview of this week’s Cowboys at Browns matchup. The Cleveland Browns may be winless, but they have players who have been assets for Fantasy Owners in various formats. Maybe the biggest asset has been Isaiah Crowell. Which Isaiah Crowell are we to believe? The one who led the league in rushing the first four games of the season, or the one who has struggled to produce over the last several weeks?
Ashley (@AshleyHerFFB): First of all, the Browns are not getting him enough touches.
If you look at the top-5 running backs at the moment, they each have 50-plus more touches than Crowell. If the Browns want him to be a major player on their team and an integral part of their offense, then they need to give him more touches.
He is also very matchup dependent. He has performed well when he has been up against ho-hum defenses at defending the rush but has been virtually shut down against stout defenses. The only exception was when Crowell went off on Baltimore who is a top-10 defense against running backs.
If we look at his upcoming schedule, he has three tough match-ups (Dallas, Baltimore, and New York Giants) including another game against the Ravens, in which he was able to handle them just fine. So perhaps there are two more pitiful games to come.
As for the remaining five games on the schedule, you can expect double-digit points. The best part is that he has a nice string of opponents when he is playing for your fantasy playoffs. Nothing worse than having a player take you all the way into the playoffs and then have him drop off when it really counts because he has horrible match-ups. You should be able to depend on Crowell when it counts.
John (Inside The Star): I’ve been a huge proponent of Isaiah Crowell because he seems to be able to make plays for the Browns, but you’re right, he isn’t getting the touches to be a weekly RB 1.
Looking at the Wide Receiver group, Corey Coleman and Terrelle Pryor have both had some really good games for the Cleveland Browns this year. Both seem to be struggling to stay healthy in the first half of 2016. When both are healthy, which would you rather have?
Courtney (@CourtneyHerFFB): I think there is room for both.
What’s nice is that the Cleveland Browns usually get behind and need to fight for points.
I really like Corey Coleman and I think that in 2017 he is the guy to own, but this year Terrelle Pryor has been able to, for the most part, play through injuries and be a fantasy asset. When Pryor gets the targets, he gets the fantasy points. Coleman has the upside when healthy, for sure.
I think Coleman is the guy I would prefer to own. He doesn’t need double-digit targets to have double-digit fantasy points.
John (Inside The Star): People around here are all to familiar with Corey Coleman from his days at Baylor. He was on many people’s radars through the draft process as well. He has that dynamic ability that could cause Dallas trouble this week. Rookie quarterback Cody Kessler has had some ups-and-downs since taking over for Josh McCown, but in the last few games before getting injured, he was showing progress. Do the Cleveland Browns and Hue Jackson see a future for Kessler, despite the hardships he’s faced thus far?
Brandon Marianne (@BrandonHerFFB): I’m not sure even they know the answer to that question. How many times will this team replace a quarterback this season? Eesh!
From a fantasy perspective, I hope they stick with Josh McCown. It’s unlikely, but literally every player on the Cleveland Browns has more fantasy value with McCown on the field.
In terms of the future, they played “money ball” at the draft this year and took a bunch of wide receivers. I think they’ll go quarterback in the draft, regardless of how Kessler performs.
The Browns have a lot of needs, but they have two first round and two second round picks in 2017. Look for them to make the most of them.
John (Inside The Star): The Browns can’t seem to get out of their own way sometimes, but I kinda like the approach they’ve taken with stock piling draft picks. The story hasn’t fully been written on Carson Wentz and it’s looking like they’ll get the top pick in 2017, so there’s a good chance they get their franchise quarterback there.
Ashley (Her Fantasy Football): Zeke (Ezekiel Elliott) has performed even better than expected, and we expected him to do well.
He is the fourth highest scoring running back on the season and is the only player of the top-10 running backs in standard scoring leagues who already has his bye week under his belt.
I had Elliott ranked 6th coming into fantasy drafts and I would still take him at No. 6 today. A lot of factors affected production, such as Tony Romo getting hurt which could have led to a different offense in Dallas. Also, Adrian Peterson being out for the year who could have bumped Zeke down to the 5th highest scoring running back.
I feel like I had him a little low compared to most while still being in the top-10. He deserved to be drafted as an elite player and I am just thrilled that he is living up to the hype.
John (Inside The Star): Ezekiel Elliott was certainly a hotly debated commodity in the preseason, but I think people nationally see why Cowboys fans were so excited to see him with a Star on his helmet behind that offensive line. A match made in football heaven.
Aside from Ezekiel Elliott, who’s the Dallas Cowboy that you would like to own for the second half of the year?
Courtney (Her Fantasy Football): We all know that Tony Romo and Dez Bryant have a special connection. When Bryant came back from injury I was curious to see if he could be an elite receiver with Dak Prescott under center. After last week, I am not concerned at all. He has had double-digit fantasy points in three of the four games he has played this year. Dez Bryant is the guy to own in Dallas aside from Ezekiel Elliott.
John (Inside The Star): I agree. All the concern about Dez Bryant not being the same receiver with Dak Prescott was hyperbole. I don’t think any of us expected Prescott to throw his way 14 times, but they’ll continue to build chemistry and get better. How do you think this week’s game is going to play out? Who is the Fantasy MVP?
Brandon Marianne (Her Fantasy Football): I’m telling everyone to play Dak Prescott in DFS this week.
The Browns give up an average of 288.5 passing yards per game, sixth most in the league. The Browns are tied with Atlanta and Detroit, giving up an average of 2.4 passing touchdowns per game. That’s the most in the league. Prescott has yet to throw for over 300 yards in a single game, but his floor is about 17 fantasy points. You have to like that.
John (Inside The Star): I’m also very high on Dak Prescott this week, which you can read more about in my Week 9 Hot Sauce/Weak Sauce Article. Thank you, ladies, for taking the time to join us here at Inside The Star. We appreciate your insight and look forward to hearing from you in the future.
Make sure you follow Ashley (@AshleyHerFFB), Courtney (@CourtneyHerFFB), and Brandon Marianne (@BrandonHerFFB) on Twitter and check out their radio show on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio on Saturday nights from 9-11 pm ET. You can follow the show @HerFantasyFB.
Make sure you follow me and send me your Fantasy Football Sit/Start questions each and every week at @john9williams.
