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The Cleveland Browns may wind up with as one of the bottom teams in the NFL in 2017, but they certainly have some intriguing fantasy football options on their roster. One of those players is running back Isaiah Crowell, who broke out for a strong 952 rushing yards on 4.8 yards per carry, with 319 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. While he enters the season as the expected workhorse back in the Browns offense, he’s still not receiving a ton of love.
Fortunately, for all the fantasy football players out there, this means that you could wind up landing a starting running back who can make a big impact without having to spend a high draft pick on him. Let’s take a look at not only when you should draft Crowell, but also what type of statistical production fantasy owners can expect from him this year.
*Before diving in, note that this is based on 12-team leagues with standard rosters and point-per reception (PPR) scoring.
When to Draft Isaiah Crowell
Consensus: Early third round
Crowell isn’t expected to be a second-round draft pick in most 12-team leagues, but a few may wind up surprising you. Fortunately, if you can get him in the early third round, you’re sitting in a pretty nice spot. This is a situation where some other teams may already begin looking to draft a quarterback or possibly even adding a wide receiver (a position where there’s plenty of depth to be found in the middle rounds).
If you’re able to land Crowell as your third player, it’s a solid spot, especially if you already have a stud with your first-round draft pick and another tremendous player on the tail end of the second round. Obviously, Crowell may not seem like the sexiest pick on paper, largely due to the fact that he’s on the Browns, but he has virtually no competition for carries. As Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot reported, No. 2 running back Duke Johnson Jr. could wind up being the team’s starting slot receiver.
Overall, Crowell could be poised for a monster workload, and one that completely destroys the 198 carries he had last year. If he can average over 4.5 yards per carry again with that workload, then it’s a huge deal.
Statistical Predictions for Crowell in 2017
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Double-digit touchdowns seem like a very realistic expectation for Crowell this coming season. While he had seven scores last season, he had eight on the ground back in 2014. It’s obvious that the 24-year-old running back has no issue finding the end zone, which means that the touchdowns shouldn’t be a big concern for fantasy owners. Plus, there’s no one to steal his goal line carries this coming season.
One area where Crowell improved quite a bit in 2016 was as a pass-catcher. His 52 targets were 30 more than the season before, which is a really big deal. He also had 40 receptions, which is huge in point-per-reception (PPR) leagues.
The expectations aren’t astronomical, but I believe Crowell has a career year. Something around 1,150 rushing yards with 400 receiving yards and 12 total touchdowns doesn’t seem completely out of the realm of possibility. If your third round pick and likely No. 2 running back can produce like that, then you’ve just struck gold.
