Joe Flacco Traded to Bengals | Fantasy Football Implications for Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Chase Brown and More
Looking at the Bengals, Browns trade and what it means for all fantasy players on both teams.
Joe Flacco lost his starting job a couple weeks ago, but appears to have won it back, just with a different team.
Flacco was traded to the Bengals on Tuesday, so he looks like the starting quarterback for Cincinnati going forward. Let's dive into what the move means for the Browns and Bengals.
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The Trade Details
Flacco is a veteran quarterback nearing the end of his career, so the deal was a pretty minor one.
Flacco was sent to Cincy with a pick for a pick a round earlier.
It's not a huge move by any means, but it could have some legit fantasy implications. Let's dive into those next.
Impact on Flacco and the Bengals
Obviously, this move is a plus for Flacco, who looked like he might never start again.
Even if he only starts for the remaining weeks that Joe Burrow is out, he's going to be a fantasy asset. Things didn't go well for Flacco in Cleveland, but Cincinnati actually has some legit offensive weapons, so Flacco will be a streaming option in all leagues depending on his defensive matchup coming up.
He's owned in just 2% of fantasy leagues now, but that will rise before the team's week 6 game against the Packers. Flacco's matchup against Green Bay is pretty average. The Packers shut him down (despite the Browns winning back in week 3), but Flacco has a better chance to succeed with his new team, so Flacco should get a decent amount of starts this coming week.
The threat of a legit quarterback could do wonders for Chase Brown, who has struggled all season. He was likely to start being dropped this week, but the news of the Bengals adding Flacco might buy him another week on fantasy rosters.
He started in just over 70% of leagues in week 5, but that could grow a bit moving forward with Flacco now at quarterback. The line still needs to open more running lanes for Brown, and the back needs to be better himself. We'll see if this trade can jumpstart Brown's season.
The outlooks for Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins get a slight bump up from this transaction as well. Going from Burrow to Jake Browning was a massive hit to the wideout's fantasy outlooks, and the receivers get a slight bump back up with the news of Flacco joining the team.
Not many fantasy owners have bailed on Chase, and he delivered monster numbers in week 5, so he'll continue to remain started in nearly every league.
Higgins is still owned in all leagues, but only starting in about 55% of them. I'd think that number would get a slight bump up now that Flacco should be replacing Browning. Again, it's not a huge upgrade, but Flacco has at least shown some upside in the past.
No other pass catchers, or back, in Cincy have done very much this season from a fantasy perspective. It'd take an injury to Brown, Chase or Higgins to get guys like Samaje Perine, Mike Gesicki, Noah Fant, Andrei Iosivas or others involved.
It's worth watching to see if the addition of Flacco elevates any of those guys. What's most likely to happen is that Flacco force feeds Chase and Higgins, and if the passing game improves, then Brown's value should also increase in the backfield. I doubt anyone else factors in regularly, unless again injuries occur.
Fantasy Impact on the Browns
For as much time as we spent looking at the Bengals, there's not nearly as much to go over regarding the Browns. After all, Flacco had already lost the starting job to Dillon Gabriel, so things don't look any different than they did before week 5.
It does maybe ease the mind of Gabriel a bit, as poor play wouldn't result in the team going back to Flacco. That also means Shedeur Sanders will move to the QB2 role in Cleveland, and be next in line if Gabriel struggles or gets hurt.
As far as the backs, wide receivers and tight ends go, nothing really changes in Cleveland.
I still like Quinshon Judkins out of the backfield. He's easily been the best fantasy asset of the backs since he took the field. Having young quarterbacks out there will always work in a back's favor.
David Njoku was the top pass catcher in last week's game, so maybe he will finally take off with Cedric Tillman now out.
Jerry Jeudy still hasn't gotten going, and Harold Fannin and Isaiah Bond are the next-best fantasy assets, but better deep-league options. Time will tell who the best fantasy assets are in Cleveland, but it will all revolve around the play of Gabriel and/or Sanders.
