Fantasy Football: 5 Things We Learned in Week 9

Duke Johnson Is Back

Now that's more like it.

For the first time all year, the Cleveland Browns committed to getting Duke Johnson involved in their offense. It was frankly shocking it took them so long to get him going, especially considering their injured wide receiver group. Apparently, all Johnson needed in order to get his was an overhaul in the coaching staff.

Before the year, when I wrote about Johnson as a dark horse to lead the Browns' running backs in fantasy points this season, I was imagining games like this one. Johnson led the team with 9 targets, and he converted them into 9 receptions for 78 yards and 2 touchdowns. He was a lone bright spot in the Browns' passing offense against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 9.

The sudden burst in production actually makes sense from a narrative perspective as the Browns' new offensive coordinator, Freddie Kitchens, was formerly their running backs coach. He saw Johnson every day in practice, and Duke has proven himself to be among the best pass-catching running backs in the league over the last few years. Kitchens likely saw that and made a point to emphasize Johnson in the passing game.

It's worth noting also that Baker Mayfield made heavy use of his running backs in college. Joe Mixon handled a whopping 11.7% target share (81st percentile) in his final year with Mayfield, while in 2017, Mayfield's backs caught 59 passes. The Browns came out and said they were going to start tailoring their offense to fit their franchise passer, and it looks like they're starting to do just that by featuring Johnson.

Johnson emerged as a big winner in Week 9, and that did not come at a cost to Nick Chubb, who had a season-high 22 carries in the same game. We need to see if this trend continues in non-blowout games, but if Johnson sticks around, he should become a viable flex option, at worst, in PPR formats.