Dorian Thompson-Robinson out, Joe Flacco starts Week 13

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 QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson left to get checked for a concussion after taking a hit to the head in the third quarter of Sunday's game vs. the Broncos. He's been replaced by QB P.J. Walker. We'll pass along an update on Thompson-Robinson when we know more.

Update: Thompson-Robinson has been ruled out with a concussion. That makes him unlikely to play in Week 13. We'll see if Cleveland starts QB P.J. Walker or QB Joe Flacco vs. the Rams.

Browns QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson will start this weekend's game vs. the Broncos, HC Kevin Stefanski said Monday. Cleveland just added Joe Flacco to the QB room, but DTR will get at least one more start. The rookie did very little to win last week's game vs. the Steelers, completing 56% of his passes at 3.8 yards per attempt with 0 TDs. But he turned it over just once and took only one sack. Thompson-Robinson is a bottom-barrel QB2 for Week 12 and will continue to be a drain on Cleveland's WRs. (TE David Njoku tallied a 7-56-0 line on a whopping 15 targets vs. Pittsburgh.)

The Browns plan to start rookie QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson this Sunday against the Steelers, according to Bleacher Report's Jordan Schultz. That's a mild surprise in the wake of QB Deshaun Watson's season-ending shoulder injury. DTR got the first chance to replace Watson back in Week 4 but played his way into P.J. Walker taking the next three fill-in spots. Apparently Cleveland has seen enough development from Thompson-Robinson -- and probably enough meh-to-poor play from Walker -- to try the rookie again. DTR certainly doesn't boost the outlooks for any pass catchers. He completed just 52.8% of passes at 3.4 yards per attempt with 0 TDs and 3 INTs in his lone extended action to date. But the fifth-round pick at least presents the upside of the unknown. Walker's been out of college since 2017 and garnered nine NFL starts over the past four years. Thompson-Robinson's one start into his pro career after a nice college run that included five years as UCLA's primary QB. He completed 63.3% of his passes at 7.9 yards per attempt there. More important for his own fantasy purposes, Thompson-Robinson ran for 1,826 yards (even with sack yardage subtracted) and 28 TDs across his college career. He's worth a pickup in superflex leagues. And if the rookie can't do enough to keep WR Amari Cooper and TE David Njoku relevant, expect a switch back to Walker.

Update: HC Kevin Stefanski confirmed that Thompson-Robinson will start vs. the Steelers this weekend.

Browns QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson struggled in his NFL debut, completing 19 of 36 passes for 121 yards and 3 INTs vs. the Ravens. The Browns and fantasy managers will hope that normal starter Deshaun Watson is able to make it back from his right shoulder injury after their bye week in Week 5.

On Thursday, it was announced that the Browns are naming QB Joshua Dobbs as the backup to Deshaun Watson heading into the regular season. As a result, rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson will begin the year serving as the team's QB3. In three preseason games, Thompson-Robinson completed 30 throws on 46 attempts for 348 passing yards with two TDs and zero INTs. Dynasty managers stashing the rookie nicknamed 'DTR' on their benches or taxi squads will have to continue exercising patience for the ex-UCLA signal-caller. It's encouraging that DTR beat out Kellen Mond for the QB3 job, however, as the Browns waived Mond today. Keep him around in deep leagues.