What We Saw: Week 3

Washington Football Team vs. Cleveland Browns

Washington Football Team

Quarterbacks

Dwayne Haskins: 21/37, 224 yards, 2 TDs, 3 INT | 2 carries, 2 yards, 1 FUMBLE

It was a less-than-stellar performance from Washington QB Dwayne Haskins against the Browns on Sunday. Haskins threw three interceptions and Washington had 5 total turnovers on the day. This season continues to prove that Haskins’ pass-catchers suffer with him under center. Haskins did throw a couple of TD passes to WR Dontrelle Inman, but at this point he isn’t viable as a fantasy option. It will be interesting to see how much Haskins improves over the course of the season, but at this point he isn’t worth a roster spot in the majority of fantasy formats.

Running Backs

JD McKissic: 5 carries, 15 yards | 4 targets, 3 receptions, 37 yards

Antonio Gibson: 9 carries, 49 yards, 1 TD | 3 targets, 3 receptions, 11 yards

Peyton Barber: 3 carries, 6 yards

Those of us waiting for a breakout performance from rookie RB Antonio Gibson will have to wait at least one more week – although Gibson did find the end-zone for the second time in his young career. Gibson led the Washington Football Team in carries and rushing yards, however, so his usage trending in the right direction gives us a reason to be hopeful for the rest of the season. Fellow Washington RB J.D. McKissic was again the starter in this backfield, but was more effective as a receiver than as a runner. RB Peyton Barber finished with only 3 carries on Sunday, and seems to have ceded his goal line work to Gibson. At this point, it appears to be McKissic and Gibson leading the way for Washington’s backfield moving forward.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

Terry McLaurin: 8 targets, 4 receptions, 83 yards | 1 carry, 3 yards

Dontrelle Inman: 6 targets, 3 receptions, 38 yards, 2 TDs

Isaiah Wright: 6 targets, 4 receptions, 24 yards | 1 carry, 6 yards

Antonio Gandy-Golden: 2 targets, 0 receptions | 1 carry, 22 yards

Logan Thomas: 7 targets, 4 receptions, 31 yards

I briefly touched on this earlier, but with Haskins under center for Washington, it is hard to trust any of their pass-catching options. Washington’s #1 wideout Terry McLaurin finished with a respectful 83 yards and 8 targets, but was overthrown multiple times – including twice in the end-zone in the second half. While it appears Haskins will continue to limit McLaurin’s upside, McLaurin continues to receive a healthy dose of targets – especially in the end zone. Washington WR Dontrelle Inman caught two TD passes, seemingly out of nowhere. TE Logan Thomas has quietly amassed at least 7 targets in each of Washington’s 3 games this season. Thomas is a borderline fantasy starter at this point in the season, and should be considered a viable streaming option against softer TE defensive matchups.

Cleveland Browns

Quarterbacks

Baker Mayfield: 16/23, 156 yards, 2 TDs | 1 carry, 1 yard

Much like Washington QB Dwayne Haskins, Browns’ QB Baker Mayfield has gotten off to a sluggish start from a fantasy perspective. While Mayfield has Cleveland at 2-1 and over .500 for the first time since 2014, this is proving to be a run-dominant team and Browns’ pass-catchers are underproducing as a result. Mayfield finished with only 16 completions against Washington in a game where Cleveland scored 34 points. This is a football team that wants to run the ball early and often, and therefore Baker is tough to trust as a week-to-week fantasy starter. It will be worth keeping an eye on how this offense evolves over the course of the season. If Cleveland continues to win games by running the ball, it may be tough to count on Mayfield and the Browns group of pass-catchers for fantasy purposes.

Running Backs

Nick Chubb: 19 carries, 108 yards, 2 TDs | 1 target, 1 reception, 2 yards

Kareem Hunt: 16 carries, 46 yards | 3 targets, 2 receptions, 18 yards, 1 TD

It was another teriffic outing from both Browns RBs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. Coming into this game Washington’s run defense had done a solid job of limiting opposing RBs thus far this season, but that wasn’t the case – at least for Chubb – on Sunday. Washington did a better job in the first half at keeping Chubb and Hunt bottled up, but as the game wore on they became susceptible to big plays. Chubb had multiple carries of 20+ yards – including a 20 yard TD run in the 4th quarter. Chubb is a bonafide RB1 at this point in the season, and Hunt finds himself firmly in RB2/Flex territory. Hunt was also able to find the end zone with a 9-yard receiving TD just before halftime. These Cleveland RBs will hope to log another impressive outing next week against Dallas.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

Odell Beckham Jr: 6 targets, 4 receptions, 59 yards

Jarvis Landry: 4 targets, 4 receptions, 36 yards

Austin Hooper: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 25 yards

Harrison Bryant: 2 targets, 1 reception, 3 yards, 1 TD

While this new Browns’ offense is obviously a run-first operation, it would have been tough to anticipate how little volume Cleveland’s pass-catchers would have to produce with from a fantasy standpoint. Browns’ star WRs Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry finished with only 8 catches and 95 yards – combined. It’s likely that the draft capital you used to acquire Beckham or Landry prevents you from benching them for the foreseeable future, but it may be wise to try and sell them high if they happen to have a big performance. At this point in the season, it’s difficult to imagine either of these WRs finishing near WR1 status, although it’s possible they live up to their 5th/6th round ADPs. Newly-acquired TE Austin Hooper was more involved early in the game – netting 2 of his 3 catches on the first drive. Unfortunately, Hooper would only see 2 more targets and 1 more catch for the rest of the game. Those expecting Hooper to step in and be a solid fantasy contributor are probably thoroughly disappointed with his performance so far. Rookie TE Harrison Bryant added his first career TD reception early in the 4th quarter.

— Corey Saucier

Twitter: @Deputy_Commish

Reddit: /u/LightsKamaraAction