Cleveland's Quarterback Question Moved To The Injury Report, So I Am Counting Fannin's Targets

Friends, before the quarterback news, I owe you a grade. On Oct. 26 I wrote, "KC Concepcion will catch at least five passes against the Steelers next Sunday." He caught three passes for 37 yards on four targets, per the ESPN box score. That is a miss, and our tracker shows it as one. As promised, nobody in my family was surprised.

The older debt is from July, when I wrote that Cleveland was holding a quarterback competition and told you, "Revisit this in Week 4". It is Week 9. The depth chart is deciding it now through an injury report, and I take no pleasure in that.

What Cleveland Said Wednesday

The Browns announced Wednesday that Deshaun Watson is in the concussion protocol, following the helmet-to-helmet hit he took last Sunday at Pittsburgh, per ProFootballTalk. Todd Monken credited Watson for self-reporting his symptoms, per Daryl Ruiter, and said Watson is not ruled out yet while Shedeur Sanders prepares to start at New Orleans. Reporting them himself was the right thing to do, and I hope he feels better soon.

Mary Kay Cabot wrote, "It will be hard for Watson to clear by Saturday." As for precedent, Daniel Oyefusi notes that every Browns player with a concussion this season has played the following Sunday, and that Watson's placement this late "could make it a tight squeeze to be cleared by Saturday." The shortest version came from Ian Rapoport: "Shedeur Sanders could make his first start of the season."

On Sanders taking first-team reps Wednesday, Monken said, "I can’t wait to see him let it rip today", per Ruiter. Sanders, per Oyefusi, said, "Overall I’m just excited for the opportunity." I distrust coach quotes by family tradition. A player excited for his chance gets no argument from me.

Where The Targets Went

Within hours of the news, the fantasy hype found tight end Harold Fannin Jr. The Fantasy Footballers posted his name with three up arrows, and FTN's splits tool was cited as showing Fannin at his best with Sanders. Neighbors, an arrow is a drawing. I would rather have a receipt.

Fannin already has a receipt. He caught 10 passes for 154 yards on 12 targets at Pittsburgh, per the ESPN box score, all of them with Watson at quarterback on a day he was sacked eight times. @NFL_Stats had him second in the league in Week 8 receiving yards, behind Tee Higgins' 155.

Now the shop logic, with no chart behind it. A team that keeps falling behind keeps throwing, and the Browns are being outscored 65-13 in the first quarter this season, per Ruiter. Under pressure, any quarterback reaches for the big, safe target in the middle of the field, the way a man under a truck reaches for the closest wrench. Last Sunday the closest wrench caught 10 passes.

The Evidence Against Me

Fannin lost a fumble at Pittsburgh, per ESPN. Denzel Boston drew 12 targets in that game too and caught six for 37 yards, so the volume had two addresses. And Monken does not envision the offensive game plan changing much if Sanders starts, per Oyefusi, since the pieces around him are the same. If the plan holds, so does Boston's share.

Here is how I square it. In my warehouse years the drivers changed every shift, so I kept my clipboard at the dock doors and counted what came off each truck. I call it the loading dock rule, and you may steal it: when the quarterback changes, follow the targets that were already landing. Fannin caught 10 of his 12.

The driver changes every shift. Keep your clipboard at the dock door and count what comes off the truck.

So here is my call, and it stands whichever quarterback starts. Harold Fannin Jr. will catch at least six passes against the Saints on Sunday. It goes on our tracker beside the Concepcion miss, and it gets graded after Sunday's game.

Chief, the first round is paid for and posted on the tracker. I ordered this one off a receipt from Pittsburgh: 12 targets, 10 catches. The calm is inherited, along with the team.

What I Am Doing About It

1. I am starting Fannin in every format. Twelve targets is a role, and the loading dock rule says I follow a role through a quarterback change.
2. Sanders is a superflex or two-quarterback fill-in only. In one-quarterback leagues I am leaving him out of my lineup, because whether he starts still depends on Watson's week.
3. Concepcion and Boston keep their lineup spots, with lower expectations. A quarterback change alone is too thin a reason to bench either one. Concepcion caught a lot of passes from Sanders in camp, per Oyefusi.
4. If you roster Watson, hold him. He is in a five-phase return-to-participation protocol, per Oyefusi, and I am leaving the timeline to the doctors running it.
5. I am reading Friday's and Saturday's injury reports. Watson's status there is the first official word on his week, and my superflex lineups can wait for it.