Fantasy Football: 5 bold predictions for Week 17

Bold Prediction #4: Start multiple Cleveland Browns running backs

The Cleveland Browns offense would work great if they just took the same gameplan the New England Patriots had on Monday Night Football against the Buffalo Bills. Never pass the ball. Just run it to different places on every play. Kevin Stefanski should come up with a game plan where he uses Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt, and D’Ernest Johnson to drive the offense. Baker Mayfield is broken. Literally and figuratively. He’s clearly very injured, and it’s ruining his confidence. He is throwing way too many interceptions, and the progress the running game is making is ruined by turnovers.

This is why all Browns running backs are on the table this week. Chubb is obvious. Everyone with Chubb on their roster is starting him. He’s one of the highest-ranked running backs in the league this week. When it comes to Hunt or Johnson, this is where some questions will be asked. If Hunt plays, start him. If he doesn’t, start Johnson.

Cleveland is playing a Pittsburgh Steelers team that is just overmatched seemingly on a weekly basis. Ben Roethlisberger is cooked. The defense is great at the pass rush and decent in the secondary, but they aren’t very good against the run game. They have allowed an average of 34 points to the running back positions in fantasy the last two weeks. They’ve allowed 310 yards over two weeks. They are giving up chunk plays, and the Browns live off of chunk plays! Whoever is the “backup” in Cleveland this week is worth a start.