Is Jerry Jeudy or Elijah Moore the WR2 for the Browns?

"How can you not think positive about what’s to come? We got a crazy group."

That's a quote from Cleveland wide receiver Elijah Moore, who believes that the Browns have a chance to boast the best wide receiver room in the NFL. Moore and WR1 Amari Cooper are joined this season by ex-Bronco Jerry Jeudy. The former first-round pick was brought over via trade in the offseason and signed a three-year, $58-million extension.

In the final year of his rookie contract, Moore would slot in as the WR3 on Cleveland if we're basing the depth chart entirely on salary. But his raw numbers are comparable to the new addition to the Cleveland roster.

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Who is the Cleveland Browns' WR2?

Elijah Moore enjoyed career-best marks in targets (104), receptions (59), and yards (640). The per-game numbers were worse than his rookie season when the fantasy football community saw a star in the making. In the end, Moore finished as the WR54 in 2023 and was on more waiver wires than fantasy rosters when the season wrapped up.

Zooming in to peek at Moore's production when Deshaun Watson played doesn't paint much of a prettier picture. 34 of Moore's 104 targets came in those five full games that Watson started. Two of those games would have given fantasy managers a flex-at-best performance (nine catches for 49 yards and a fumble lost in Week 3 and five catches for 44 yards and a touchdown in Week 10). Fantasy managers were disappointed in Moore more often than not. He found the endzone just twice in 17 games.

In one fewer game, Jerry Jeudy earned 87 targets and 54 receptions for 758 yards. He also found the endzone on just two occasions. Russell Wilson and the Denver coaching staff geared their red zone strategy around Courtland Sutton. The Denver tenure for Jeudy can only be described as a failure (especially considering that CeeDee Lamb and Justin Jefferson were selected after him in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft).

Are Jeudy's struggles a product of not meshing well with Denver quarterbacks or is he just an average wide receiver? The Browns, via that hefty contract extension, clearly believe it's the latter. Jeudy separates from defenders at a respectable clip (14th in target separation at 2.09 yards).

The stutter step and juke from Jerry Jeudy 🔥

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Selecting either Jeudy or Moore in fantasy football drafts this summer comes with the belief that Watson will return to the Pro Bowl form we saw in Houston. Otherwise, it's the Amari Cooper feature in Cleveland with a sideshow of David Njoku (although the tight end only burst onto the scene with Joe Flacco under center). With the arrival of new offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey and running back Nick Chubb still working his way back from injury, the Browns could pass more than we've seen in the Kevin Stefanski era. Jeudy could see career-best numbers but fantasy managers shouldn't be relying on the presumed WR2 to be more than bench depth to begin the fantasy season.

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