Josh Gordon's Fantasy Outlook After Being Conditionally Reinstated

The NFL conditionally reinstated Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon on Wednesday, which means fantasy owners are suddenly scrambling to add one of the sport's most talented (and enigmatic) wideouts to their benches. 

However, Gordon isn't a slam dunk to produce numbers that will help owners churn out fantasy titles.  

For starters, Gordon won't be eligible to return to the field until Week 13 at the earliest, according to Pro Football Talk's Michael David Smith. 

That means, at most, you're likely getting a month's worth of games out of Gordon—and that's if you wind up in your league's fantasy championship game. 

Secondly, Gordon will presumably be joining a Browns offense that has cycled through DeShone Kizer, Kevin Hogan and Cody Kessler to this point in the season. 

That's not exactly an inspiring group, and it's one that could sink Gordon's stock upon arrival. 

If there's a reason for optimism, as Yahoo Sports' Brad Evans noted, it's that Gordon has proved in the past that he is capable of producing huge numbers in a broken system: 

Take 2013, for instance. In just his second NFL season out of Baylor, the 2012 supplemental draft pick caught 87 of 159 targets for nine touchdowns and a league-high 1,646 yards. 

Gordon has also proved adept at shredding secondaries downfield with a career average of 17.1 yards per reception. 

Pro Football Focus' Nathan Jahnke also pointed out Gordon resides in impressive company when it comes to his field-stretching capabilities: 

According to ESPN's Cian Fahey, those numbers bode well for a potential partnership with Kizer: 

"

If you want to be excited about Josh Gordon, the one thing Deshone Kizer does really well is throw deep, fits with what Gordon does.

— Cian Fahey (@Cianaf) November 1, 2017"

Based on all those factors, Gordon is worth a speculative add if you have the roster flexibility and can afford to wait until Dec. 3 to see how he fares in his first game action since 2014. 

But if you're an owner who doesn't have a clear path to the playoffs, acquiring Gordon now could prove detrimental since he'll be sitting idly by and collecting dust on the bench until he's cleared for a return to game action just before the fantasy postseason begins.