Johnny Manziel, Josh Gordon Fantasy Value After Rookie Named Browns Starter

The future is now for the Cleveland Browns. A week after balking at naming Johnny Manziel his starting quarterback, Browns head coach Mike Pettine relented Tuesday, officially naming the former Heisman winner the starter for Sunday's Week 15 game against the Cincinnati Bengals.     

"We are trying to get the offense to perform at a higher level," Pettine said in a statement. "Johnny has worked very hard to earn this opportunity and it will be very important for every member of the offense to elevate their play for us to obtain our desired result."

Manziel replaces Brian Hoyer, who was the starter for the first 13 games of 2014. The veteran has struggled mightily in recent weeks after a strong start, throwing one touchdown against eight interceptions in his last five games.

Manziel on name recognition alone will become the most-added player in fantasy this week. He looked fine in limited playing time against the Bills two weeks ago, completing 5 of 8 passes for 68 yards and adding 13 yards on the ground, including a 10-yard score.

Nonetheless, this is a situation much more defined by media hype than fantasy relevance. Manziel will probably slot in somewhere in the late-teens in most expert rankings, a far cry from the elite starters most remaining playoff teams have. If you have made it this far in the postseason, there is no reason to mess with what works.

Manziel might be an instant fantasy stud, but his floor is also much lower than the likes of Matt Ryan, Tony Romo, Ben Roethlisberger and others. Mark Sanchez, who plays a weak Dallas defense this week, remains a preferable option available in most leagues. Adding Manziel is a good idea to prevent opposing owners from reaping potential rewards—especially in keeper leagues—but there's no need to go haywire here.

Bill Wippert/Associated Press

Same goes for upgrading or downgrading Josh Gordon. We have no idea how much better (or worse) Manziel will be than Hoyer. Gordon excelled with empty paint cans and human lava lamps throwing him the ball last season. He's the rare receiver that at his peak can withstand even bottom-of-the-barrel production.

Finding Peak Gordon, though, has been a problem since his return from a 10-game suspension. He has not made a reception longer than 24 yards and was downright bad in last week's loss to Indianapolis. The ceiling here is high enough that Gordon remains an every-week start, but his return to historic production may have to wait until 2015.     

In a nutshell: Take a deep breath everyone. 

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