It’s been quite an eventful week for Cleveland Browns fans. This weekend a bombshell was dropped on Saturday and Sunday. Per Josina Anderson on Saturday she reported that Kareem Hunt is holding in due to him looking for a new contract. Then, Sunday Morning Mary Kay Cabot reports that Kareem Hunt requested a trade out of Cleveland. While the team has indicated they don’t plan to grant that wish, this is still a very fluid situation and things could change at any moment.
Right now Kareem Hunt’s ADP is around pick 78 per Fantasy Pros, which means he’s going between the 7th and 8th round in drafts right now. Nick Chubb is going to continue getting the bulk of the carries in the Cleveland offense, while Kareem gets the passing down work and to occasionally spell Chubb. That being said though, in the past Kareem has still been an upside flex play in fantasy even with the limited touches he gets.
What happens to Kareem Hunt’s ADP if he does indeed get traded from the Browns? Simply put, it will skyrocket. When Kareem Hunt was the number one back in his days with the Kansas City Chiefs he was a top running back to own in fantasy. When he had his own backfield he was a poor man’s Christian Mccaffrey. Depending where he gets traded to he would go from being taken in the 7th or 8th round to late first or potentially early second.
Only 27 years old, without any major injury history to speak of, Hunt is very much still in the prime of his career. If he winds up with a RB needy team, he could pick up right where he left off in Kansas City.
Would that then increase Nick Chubb’s value in fantasy if Hunt gets traded? Perhaps a little. But it’s still unlikely that Cleveland would suddenly use him as a pass catcher, meaning he might see a slight increase in touches per game, but is unlikely to become an all purpose back. Even when Kareem Hunt was briefly hurt last year Chubb was still very limited in the passing game. He totalled only 20 catches on 25 targets in 14 games played last campaign.
Right now his ADP is early-second round hovering around pick 15. If Hunt gets traded I would be comfortable bumping him up a few spots and taking him around picks 11-12. He should get the majority of the carries but he will still get breaks. It’s a 17-game season and in the hard hitting AFC North teams would be wise to remember it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Cleveland isn’t going to run him into the ground, but they may opt to give Chubb about 70-75% of the carries in the Brown’s offense if they were to move on from Hunt.
The biggest beneficiary in Cleveland’s backfield would be D’Ernest Johnson if Kareem were to be traded. He would likely slot into the Kareem hunt role and wouldn’t miss a beat. He broke out last year due to injuries to both Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt and could have nice value in the later rounds of your fantasy draft as a handcuff to Nick Chubb if Hunt were to be traded.
Hopefully, this is figured out before your fantasy drafts for the year. Even if Hunt isn’t traded and stays with the Browns, he still has stand alone value in PPR leagues. If your league has already drafted, you could do worse than to take a flyer on Johnson and see how things play out in the coming weeks.
-Philip O’Brien
Twitter: @bruins4life487
Photo: Erik Drost. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.