Fantasy Football: The Jets and Browns drafted some popular rookies — but will the teams sink their upside?

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Monken then went back to college to take the Georgia offensive coordinator job, where the school won back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022 and he ran a power-run-based attack. He then enjoyed a three-year run with the Baltimore Ravens, during which the team ranked, on average, third in EPA per play and fourth in success rate on offense. Yes, Lamar Jackson had a massive hand in that, but anyone who watched the Ravens offense prior to Monken’s arrival knows that his alterations to the scheme helped push the passing game to new heights and Monken brought a quality run-game design from Georgia back up to the pros.

So, all in all, I’m more than intrigued by the idea of Monken getting to run the show for this Browns offense. He had an impressive résumé, having worked with a wide variety of quarterbacks and being something of a philosophical chameleon, adapting to offensive personnel and broader trends depending on whether he was in different college conferences or the pros.

If there are going to be positive changes to the Browns' offensive ecosystem, Monken will be the deciding factor.

What are the biggest roadblocks?

Quite obviously, it’s the quarterback situation. This problem has clouded just about everything that this organization has done ever since ownership pushed for the terrible trade and fully guaranteed contract for Deshaun Watson.

Speaking of which, according to folks I’ve spoken with and wider reports out of Cleveland, it seems Watson is going to get the first crack at the starting job. The organization is giving it one last gasp to see if it can recoup any value out of his albatross contract but there is nothing we’ve seen out of Watson since the 2020 NFL season that points to him being anything other than a bottom-tier starter or someone who can even stay on the football field.

Right now, I’d bet Watson starts Week 1 for Cleveland. Everything we’ve seen from his play indicates that he won’t be the starter for long.

The other viable 2026 option on the roster is Shedeur Sanders, who ranked 37th out of 37 quarterbacks in EPA per play and success rate last season. I’d listen to and perhaps even argue a case that he’s better than those paltry efficiency stats show. It would still be a stretch to say we can lock him in as a plus starter. Guys like rookie Taylen Green and Dillon Gabriel (if he’s even on the roster) getting starts at all in 2026 would signal this thing definitely isn’t working out for the rookie pass-catchers in any meaningful way.

Sanders taking a Year 2 leap under Monken in a better-designed offense with what now looks like, on paper, a significantly more talented group of pass-catchers, would be the best bet for things working out in Concepcion and Boston’s rookie seasons. That is still a projection and no guarantee.

What needs to go right in 2027 and beyond

For starters, Monken needs to beat back what seems to be the conventional wisdom that he’s only going to hold this job short-term because he was the Browns’ fallback plan. We need the Browns defense to keep this team from bottoming out and the offense to at least look well-designed and not humiliating, even if the bottom-line stats don’t appear pretty. The biggest variable there is the offensive line, which was fully remade in the offseason with five new starters.

After this season is over, the quarterback position needs to be addressed. I’m comfortable completely ruling out some mythical rebound for Watson but I’m at least a little bit open to Sanders proving himself as a capable starter in the NFL. That said, the smart bet is that Cleveland’s, and hopefully Monken’s, long-term guy is not on the current roster. The Browns have all three of their own draft picks in Rounds 1 to 3 right now, in addition to three fourth-round picks. There’s also a chance they could deal some veterans at the NFL Trade Deadline this November to get additional capital. If the Watson and Sanders duo doesn’t lead to anything positive, at least Cleveland will be in range to pluck from next year’s draft class. With a talented young passer at the helm and Monken still employed, you could convince me that things would be looking up for Concepcion and Boston in 2027 and beyond.

Lastly, I think there is almost no shot Jerry Jeudy is on this roster in 2027; his contract voids in 2028 but they can get out of it next offseason. Jeudy isn’t a No. 1 receiver, as he’s not a reliable receiver and is too high variance despite some flashy moves within his routes. He contributed to the offensive struggles last season, albeit while playing out of position as the X-receiver too often. My guess is that Concepcion passes Jeudy up to lead the receiver room in targets this year and then both him and Boston are the top options in two-receiver sets in 2027.

Harold Fannin Jr. led the Browns with 107 targets as a 21-year-old rookie despite opening the year as the No. 2 tight end. He’s an extremely impressive player and isn’t going anywhere. Still, most NFL offenses don’t feature the tight end as the top targeted option, so it’s quite likely that one, if not both, of Concepcion — he should be considered the odds-on favorite — and Boston out-target Fannin over the next three years. The three of them would make an excellent trio for a young quarterback, can play all over the formation and create mismatches. Despite Jeudy’s presence right now, target competition isn’t a big deal on this roster long-term.

Omar Cooper Jr. and Kenyon Sadiq to the New York Jets

Why it’s sneaky fine

One thing I’ve been marinating on since we saw this team’s further investment in the offense in the NFL Draft: are we sure the Jets offense is going to be bad in 2026?

Stick with me here.

The Jets now have three wide receivers who bring explosive play potential and complementary skill sets in Garrett Wilson, AD Mitchell and Omar Cooper Jr. Look back at what they were dealing with for 60% of last season. This is a considerable improvement. At tight end, they have Mason Taylor, who had his moments as a rookie and fits more of an in-line profile, which pairs well with Kenyon Sadiq as the move option. In the backfield, they retained the services of Breece Hall (whether he wanted that to happen or not) who can contribute as a rusher and receiver, along with some reasonable depth.

The offensive line has some questions on the interior but they have a pair of young bookend tackles who played well in 2026. Olu Fashanu is a sturdy pass protector on the blindside, while Armand Membou should be an even bigger weapon as a movement run-blocker in his second season.

Obviously, this is all on paper but at least looking at the depth chart, it’s been a minute since you could convince yourself the Jets went this deep with appealing weapons and foundational pieces on offense.

What are the biggest roadblocks?

Quarterback is a question mark. I do hold out some hope and even generally believe that Geno Smith is going to be better in 2026 than he showed last year in an absolutely poisoned Raiders environment. However, I don’t think you can realistically look for top-15 play out of Smith at this stage of his career. Even if Smith does play at an above-average level, will that be enough to make viable targets out of anyone besides Garrett Wilson? If Smith is a rising tide that lifts all boats, I’d be shocked. If he does spread the wealth, perhaps guys like Cooper and Sadiq can be values, but that almost certainly means that Wilson at WR17 in current consensus rankings might be a bit of a trapdoor.

I’m honestly less concerned about Smith as the quarterback than I am about the Jets landing on Frank Reich as their offensive coordinator.

For all my excitement over the suddenly new deep Jets skill position group, I have absolutely no faith that Reich in the year 2026 is the guy to maximize all of them. The last time we saw Reich in the NFL was in 2023 when he rolled out one of the most static, stale units we’ve seen in some time and it ultimately got him fired midway through his one year as the Panthers head coach. Reich’s is a brand of offensive football that the league has completely left behind; it was obvious in 2023 and it’s only become clearer since.

What makes matters even trickier for these two rookies in particular is that their roles may directly contrast each other when it comes to getting snaps, routes, etc. and that’s extra troubling with this offensive coaching staff. Speaking to the stale nature of Reich’s Panthers team, Carolina ran 11-personnel on 87% of its plays in 2023. They were one of only two teams north of 77%, the other being the Rams, who, with their deployment of power slot players, have consistently blurred the lines between 11 and 12; there was no such creative blurring when it came to the 2023 Panthers, who featured the most stagnant view of receivers in the slot, Z and X molds.

Again, the league has left this type of static offense behind, as no team ran 11 on more than 70% of its snaps in 2025 and if you watched the NFL Draft this year, you know, based on Day 2’s tight end run, that being multiple from heavier personnel packages is the name of the game right now. Has Reich adjusted to that brand of football or does he have another pitch up his sleeve beyond the static RPO world he lived in during his career? That’s a significant hurdle.

Let’s say Reich keeps this as an 11-personnel-heavy attack, even if it’s not quite as high as 87%. Does the 6-foot-3, 241-pound Kenyon Sadiq, who many evaluators bucketed into the flex or move tight end bucket, see the field over the 6-foot-5, 251-pound Mason Taylor? Either way, in those three-receiver looks, one of their Round 1 or 2 picks from last year is at risk of playing something around 40% of the snaps.

If Reich does play more 12 personnel and other heavier looks to get Sadiq and Taylor on the field together, where does that leave Omar Cooper Jr.? I personally believe Cooper’s game is not slot-only but he’s likely to be an interior-based player in the NFL as a run-after-catch option. If that’s the case, he’ll be at risk of leaving the field in two-receiver sets. I’m overall mixed on AD Mitchell as a player and think he’s overrated as a separator but his game really only translates to playing X-receiver. We see this sometimes with rotation receiver rooms, where the X, despite differences in player quality, ends up playing the most snaps because they are on the field for every down. Theoretically, you could play Wilson at X and Cooper at Z in two receiver sets and kick Cooper to the slot, Wilson to Z and Mitchell comes in to play X in 11-personnel. That’s what I would do if I ran the room … but I don’t, and we rarely see teams operate that way.

It’s just a little difficult for me to look at the current construction of the roster, knowing what I do about positional archetypes, and not wonder if the Jets’ Round 1 offensive rookies actually end up squeezing each other for routes and playing time. Having this many playmakers is great for what could be a frisky Jets offense in 2026 but it makes for a tough projection in fantasy. Ultimately, I’d feel better about all of this if it was someone other than Reich, someone who I had more faith has their finger on the pulse of the current league offensive trends, calling the shots.

What needs to go right in 2027 and beyond

A simple one here; the coaching staff is turned over next offseason and the Jets, with a bevy of early draft picks in a supposed strong 2027 class, are in prime position to pick their franchise quarterback.

I’m relatively confident that this offensive coaching staff will be a one-and-done operation in New York, fair or unfair. I’d be really fascinated to see what a different mind could cook up with a group of pass-catchers that could create dynamic personnel groupings and create mismatches pre- and post-snap. A high-pedigree rookie quarterback falling into this situation in 2027 could quietly be set up to succeed early if Cooper and Sadiq are everything they’re billed to be.

The Jets’ playmakers could be a strong and intriguing buy opportunity in dynasty. It’s just tough to see through an admittedly murky outlook in 2026.