The Browns have ruled Baker Mayfield out of tomorrow night's game against the Broncos, deducing it would be a mistake to have a starting quarterback whose arm might fall out of its socket and be laying on the field on national television. It will be Case Keenum filling in at quarterback.
Aside from having two functioning arms, Keenum won't necessarily change the outlook for Cleveland's offense. At all. In Keenum's last three seasons as a starter, he's been fairly similar to what Mayfield has done so far this season.
Mayfield in 6 games has averaged 246 passing yards, with 6 TDs. Keenum as a full season starter for Minnesota in 2017 and Denver (ooh, revenge game!) in 2018 averaged 236-243 passing yards, and 20 TDs in each season. So nearly identical in yards, and a little better in terms of throwing touchdowns.
| KEENUM VERSUS MAYFIELD | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Comp % | Yards | TD | Pass/G |
| Keenum (last three seasons as a starter) | |||
| 67.6 | 3547 | 22 | 236.5 |
| 62.3 | 3890 | 18 | 243.1 |
| 64.8 | 1707 | 11 | 170.7 |
| Mayfield (2021) | |||
| 67.1 | 1474 | 6 | 245.7 |
In 2019 (last Keenum row below) he started eight games, averaging just 171 yards. That was it for him as an NFL starter. But he still threw 11 TDs. No reason to think he can't manage Cleveland's run-focused offense as successfully as Mayfield.
More interesting from a fantasy standpoint is that D'Ernest Johnson will be starting at running back for the Browns tomorrow night. He'll be a hot waiver pickup this week, last night in ESPN leagues (for some reasons), tonight in many if not most others. I'm intrigued by Johnson, with Denver having placed both of its starting inside linebackers on IR since the start of the season, damaging what began as a very good run defense. I'm sure Keenum can hand the ball off as well as Mayfield could have.
--Andy Richardson