Hope is not high in Cleveland. The Browns have started the season 0-2 looking almost non-existent on both sides of the ball. Hope was rising in the offseason after Norv Turner signed on as offensive coordinator. His style of play fit perfectly with the talents of Brandon Weeden as the pairing was supposed to launch the Cleveland offense. That has yet to happen and now the Browns will be without Weeden in Week 3.
Already on the hot seat in his sophomore season, Weeden has been benched in favor of the third string quarterback. After suffering a thumb injury in Week 2 of the season, the Browns announced via Twitter that Brian Hoyer would be getting the start for Cleveland against the Minnesota Vikings. Hoyer is listed as third string, but will jump Jason Campbell for the starting spot. The quarterback signed in the offseason after being a favorite of the New England Patriots. So as Weeden sits with a sprained thumb and Hoyer, lacking experience, get the start, Trent Richardson will once again be the last bit of hope for the Browns.
Fantasy football owners should not panic on the running back just yet. Remember he is playing on the Browns who have an underachieving offensive line blocking for him. Richardson will likely be the center of the offense in Week 3. Turner has been pushing to get the running back's carries up and this is a perfect time to do so.
For some reason, the Browns opted to only hand the ball off 13 times in Week 1 as Weeden threw 53 passes, completing less than half of them. In Week 2, the Browns struggled against the defensive front of the Baltimore Ravens, hurting Richardson even more. He put up 58 yards on 18 carries as the Browns once again forced Weeden to throw the ball more. All of this is expected to change this week.
Fantasy owners know the potential of Richardson if the team would just let him show it. The running back has no one to split the carries with and a quarterback that has little experience with the first or second team offense. The Browns would be smart to take a page out of the Minnesota Vikings playbook and let Richardson bail out the offense in Week 3.
