Heading into Fantasy Football Week 9 action, it is time to look at potential sleeper pickups. There is one player in particular that we are looking at, which is Cleveland Browns running back Duke Johnson.
Johnson will be going up against a very tough Cincinnati Bengals defense that has been underachieving this season. Cincinnati is easily capable of playing at a higher level than they have this year. Whether or not they wake up this week against their AFC North rival or not is unknown.
Why is Johnson considered a sleeper this week going up against the Bengals' defense?
First of all, he is more than capable of breaking a big run or grinding out a solid number of yards on the ground. He has carried the football 56 times for 179 yards on the season which may not seem like much, but the rest of the Cleveland running backs haven't been succeeding either. Johnson hasn't been being given the carries and could start receiving them with the struggles that other backs are having.
Secondly, Johnson has proven himself to be a very dangerous receiver out of the backfield. He has caught 33 passes for 331 yards and a touchdown. With Johnny Manziel starting at the quarterback position for the Browns this week, they could very well run more short plays to Johnson. Manziel isn't going to be throwing deep as much as Josh McCown has, which opens up the door for Johnson.
He is an excellent pickup and play in a PPR league especially and could rack up a good number of points in certain leagues.
Johnson may not end up putting up massive fantasy points, but he is a very solid play in deeper leagues. If you need a FLEX or RB2 option and are desperately searching around, Johnson should be a player that you target in free agency or via a trade.
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