Jerome Ford Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

The Browns and RB Nick Chubb have agreed to a salary adjustment for 2024, the final year on his contract. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reports that the change drops Chubb's cap hit from $15.85 million to $6.275 million -- with incentives that could bring his salary back up to $12.2 million. You could read this several different ways. It's positive that Cleveland didn't simply cut Chubb, which would have cost just $4 million in dead cap space, according to Spotrac. But Chubb's new salary knocks him to 11th among RBs in total money for 2024, behind Tony Pollard and Aaron Jones; barely ahead of Devin Singletary and Miles Sanders. Chubb no doubt believes he can achieve at least some of the performance incentives and drive that number back up. But it also appears he wasn't willing to test the open market for higher 2024 earnings. Ultimately, it's way too early for fantasy managers to know what we can expect from the veteran RB. Chubb's multi-ligament knee injury in September has required surgeries then and in November. We haven't seen much on his return timeline. The Browns, meanwhile, have added RBs D'Onta Foreman and Nyheim Hines this offseason. Both signed small, one-year deals that don't come close to guaranteeing offensive roles. (Hines probably arrives to primarily return kicks.) But they join Jerome Ford and Pierre Strong as backfield insurance. We're staying away from Chubb at his RB27 best ball ADP, which still has him ahead of Javonte Williams, Austin Ekeler, and Zamir White, among others. The crowded depth chart behind Chubb also makes it a risky backfield for investing in backups.

The Browns signed RB D'Onta Foreman to a one-year deal. Although he averaged just 3.9 yards per carry in Chicago last year, Foreman ranked 22nd in Pro Football Focus rushing grade, 22nd in Elusive Rating, and 26th in Rush Yards Over Expected Per Attempt among 49 qualifying RBs. That followed a career-high 914 rushing yards on 4.5 yards per attempt for the Panthers in 2022. Foreman is a quality depth addition for a Browns team that has RB Nick Chubb working his way back from a significant knee injury that will likely cost him at least part of the 2024 season. Foreman will team up with RB Jerome Ford for however long Chubb is sidelined.

The Browns have fired OC Alex Van Pelt and RBs coach Stump Mitchell. Van Pelt has been Cleveland's OC since HC Kevin Stefanski was hired in 2020; Mitchell started his Browns tenure in 2019. We'll see who replaces those guys, but we wouldn't expect sweeping changes to the offense considering Stefanski has always had a big say in the operation.

Browns RB Pierre Strong (back) is inactive for today's Wild Card game vs. the Texans. That leaves a few extra touches to go around for RBs Jerome Ford and Kareem Hunt.

Browns RB Pierre Strong (back) is questionable for Saturday's Wild Card game vs. the Texans. He shouldn't be in your fantasy plans, but his absence would leave a few extra touches for RBs Jerome Ford and Kareem Hunt. We'll get Cleveland's inactives around 3 pm ET on Saturday.

Browns HC Kevin Stefanski named QB Joe Flacco the starter for the rest of the season after Sunday's win over the Jaguars. No surprise. Flacco has given the Browns their best QB play of the season the past two weeks (and that includes Deshaun Watson). He followed a 254-2-1 passing line last week with 311 yards, three TDs, and one INT in the Week 14 win. Flacco gets doable matchups the next two weeks vs. the Bears and Texans but is really only in play in 2-QB and superflex leagues. Flacco's solid play is good news for Cleveland's skill-position players, though.

Browns QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson (concussion) is out for this weekend’s game vs. the Rams. The team confirmed on Friday that QB Joe Flacco will start that one. The 38-year-old isn’t a good option at this point of his career – but he should prove to be at least a slight upgrade over Thompson-Robinson and P.J. Walker.

Browns RB Kareem Hunt (groin) is not listed on the final Week 13 injury report. He was a full participant in Friday’s practice and will be ready for his usual 1B role behind Jerome Ford in Sunday’s game vs. the Rams.

Browns QB Joe Flacco has been getting first-team reps in practice and "could start" this weekend's game vs. the Rams, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson is in concussion protocol -- and hasn't been good in his three starts. QB P.J. Walker has been just as bad. Flacco just joined the Browns 10 days ago but is likely the team's best passer. He completed 58% of his passes at 5.5 yards per attempt with five TDs and three INTs in five appearances for the Jets last year. That included outings of 309 and 307 passing yards in the first two weeks of the season. Flacco is not a viable Week 13 fantasy play, but we'd consider him a slight upgrade for Cleveland's skill-position players.

Browns RB Jerome Ford carried 17 times for 107 yards in Sunday's comeback win over the Ravens. That not only marked a season high in rushing yardage for Ford (by 1 yard). He also led No. 2 RB Kareem Hunt by 7 carries. That gives Ford a 37-24 lead in rushing attempts over the past two weeks. Ford added just 1 catch for 2 yards on 1 target, but even that was the only RB target for Cleveland against the Ravens. Ford looks like the clear lead back for a run-friendly offense and has the potential to help your fantasy football team quite a bit down the stretch. After a neutral matchup with Pittsburgh in Week 11, Cleveland gets a high-upside matchup with Denver in Week 12. And the schedule finishes with the fourth-best RB schedule across weeks 15-17, according to our adjusted fantasy points allowed.

Browns RB Pierre Strong (hamstring) is active for today’s game vs. the Ravens. He should continue to serve as the No. 3 RB behind Jerome Ford and Kareem Hunt.

Browns RB Pierre Strong (hamstring) is questionable for this weekend’s game vs. the Ravens. He got in limited practices on Thursday and Friday. Strong got just four touches last week and shouldn’t be in your fantasy plans. His absence would be a very slight boost for RBs Jerome Ford and Kareem Hunt.

Browns RB Pierre Strong (hamstring) did not practice on Wednesday. He tallied just three carries and one target last week, so Strong's absence vs. the Ravens on Sunday would be just a slight boost to RBs Jerome Ford and Kareem Hunt.

Browns RB Jerome Ford tallied 20 carries for 44 rushing yards in Week 9 vs. the Cardinals. The second-year back also added 5 catches and 33 yards as a pass-catcher on Sunday. Ford had seen a team-leading 41.6% of the Browns RB touch opportunities over the past four games and out-touched his teammate Kareem Hunt 25 to 14 this week. It seems the issues Ford had with his high ankle sprain of late are behind him. Week 10’s matchup vs. the Ravens (fifth in run defense DVOA) won’t be easy, but he should be involved enough to warrant RB2 consideration.

Browns RB Jerome Ford (ankle) is not listed on the final injury report for this weekend’s game vs. the Cardinals. He put in a full practice on Friday, which feels significant after he suffered what was reported as a low-grade high-ankle sprain in Week 7. Ford ended up playing in a 3-RB committee last week – but handled eight of 10 RB opportunities in the fourth quarter. We’re projecting Ford to lead Cleveland RBs in touches against Arizona on Sunday.

Browns RB Jerome Ford (ankle) got in a limited practice on Wednesday. He surprisingly played vs. Seattle this past weekend, just a week after suffering what was reported as a low-grade high-ankle sprain. The fact that Ford was able to get on the field again this early in the week bodes well for his Week 9 outlook. We'll see if he gets in a full practice on Thursday or Friday, but he's clearly on track to play against Arizona.

The Browns’ backfield is a bit of a cluster, though, at this point, it’s evident that RB Kareem Hunt is the leader. The veteran tallied 14 carries for 55 rushing yards in Week 8 vs. the Seahawks and punched in his fourth rushing TD over the past three games. Teammate Pierre Strong Jr. had a nice game spelling Hunt with 41 rushing yards on 10 carries and a long, 41-yard reception as a receiver in the contest. Though coming into Sunday with a sprained ankle, a fact that holds some weight, it’ll be curious to see if Jerome’s Ford diminished involvement (39 total yards, 10 touches) is a sign of things to come moving forward. Hunt will be our favorite fantasy start in Week 9 vs. the Cardinals.

Browns RB Jerome Ford (ankle) is active for today’s game vs. the Seahawks. He went down with what was reported as a low-grade high-ankle sprain just last week. But Ford has evidently made a surprisingly quick recovery. It’s still safe to assume that he'll be at far less than 100% today, though. He’d be a risky fantasy start. See where Ford sits in the Week 8 RB Rankings.