Ranking the 10 Best Fantasy Football Seasons in Cleveland Browns History

Since coming back to the NFL in 1999, the Cleveland Browns haven't exactly been an offense for fantasy football managers to target.

The B/R NFL staff recently put together a list of the top 99 best fantasy football seasons of all-time. Even going back to 1980, there wasn't a single Brown to make that list.

That being said, there have been a few standouts to call the Dawg Pound home in the fantasy football era. Here's a look back at the top seasons from the Cleveland Browns when factoring in total scoring in full-point-per-reception formats, average draft position and performance relative to positional peers.

This won't be the first time we see Nick Chubb's name come up. He's easily the franchise's fantasy football MVP in the modern era. He wasn't much of a receiving threat (16 receptions for 150 yards), but he scored at least one touchdown in each of his last seven games.

Everyone remembers Trent Richardson as a bust who never lived up to his potential as the No. 3 overall pick in 2012. However, he was a worthwhile investment for fantasy managers in his rookie campaign, with 11 rushing touchdowns and 51 receptions as the focal point of the Browns' offense that season.

Quarterback play has been a sore subject in Cleveland. Derek Anderson is one of the few who have been fantasy relevant. His willingness to let it fly and connect with Braylon Edwards led to a QB6 finish despite going undrafted by ADP .

Chubb is the only player on this list who shows up more than once. His 2019 season was his first as a fantasy football star. He was more involved in the passing game (36/278/0) and still had elite rushing production with 1,494 yards on 298 carries and eight touchdowns.

The Browns never quite got the 2,000-yard rusher they hoped to acquire from Baltimore in 2007. Jamal Lewis still turned out to be the engine of one of the best Browns offenses in the modern era, though. He put up 1,304 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground, with another two scores and 248 yards as a receiver.

Since the Browns' comeback in 1999, there haven't been many players that fantasy managers have wanted to take in the first two rounds of their drafts. There are even fewer who have lived up to that kind of draft capital.

Nick Chubb is one of the rare exceptions.

The Browns star already had three top-10 RB finishes in each of his last three seasons heading into the 2022 season. He was a late second-round pick by ADP and exceeded all expectations.

Chubb totaled 1,525 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns, plus 27 receptions for 239 yards and a touchdown. That was good for an RB5 finish for the season.

The only thing holding back this campaign from being higher on our list was Chubb's production dipping in the playoff stretch. He scored his final rushing touchdown of the season in Week 12 and had his lone receiving touchdown in Week 18, when fantasy was mostly over.

Still, there's a good chance you had a top seed in your league if you had Chubb in your lineup.

Gary Barnidge's 2015 season remains one of the best one-hit wonders for a franchise that has plenty to choose from.

As a 30-year-old tight end with 603 yards over seven years in the league, Barndige didn't draw much attention in fantasy drafts. He probably didn't register with most managers in Weeks 1 and 2 when he had four catches for 55 yards.

Then he went off with six receptions for 105 yards and a touchdown in Week 3, leading to one of the best fantasy seasons in Browns history.

Barnidge ended up with 79 receptions for 1,043 yards and nine touchdowns. He scored more fantasy points than any tight end not named Rob Gronkowski that year.

Not bad for a player who was probably still available on the waiver wire until Week 4.

Last year, the Cleveland Browns wide receivers combined for six receiving touchdowns. Braylon Edwards had 16 by himself in 2007.

The former No. 3 pick's career never became what the Browns hoped for, but for one magical season, he was among the biggest fantasy football stars.

Edwards could have been drafted with a sixth-round pick after two tepid seasons in Cleveland. Managers who took that risk got a league-winner. Edwards put up 1,289 yards on 80 catches and 16 touchdowns, finishing the season as a WR3.

The touchdown production alone made him a must-start every week. He scored in 11 of his 16 games and had two or more touchdowns four times.

Peyton Hillis came to Cleveland in 2010 after two years of being an afterthought in the Denver Broncos' offense. He was largely undrafted .

Those who took a chance on him in the later rounds or happened to pick him up off the waiver wire looked like geniuses.

Hillis rushed for 1,177 yards with 11 touchdowns on the ground. He was also the Browns' top pass-catching option out of the backfield with 61 receptions for 477 yards and two more touchdowns.

His biggest game came in Week 12, when he rushed for 131 yards on 26 carries, scored three touchdowns and caught six passes for 63 yards.

The fact that Hillis ran like a human bowling ball made it all the more fun to have him carry your fantasy team every week.

Josh Gordon's prime in Cleveland was not long, but it burned brighter than any receiver in the history of the franchise since 1999.

Fantasy managers who happened to see Gordon's potential after his rookie season were handsomely rewarded with a massive return on investment. The 6'3", 225-pound wideout had an ADP around 89 and finished as WR3 in total PPR points.

Gordon was suspended for the first two games of the season, but started his campaign with 10 catches for 146 yards and a touchdown.

The apex of his year came in Weeks 12 and 13 when he helped plenty of teams clinch playoff spots with 14 receptions for 237 yards and a touchdown against the Steelers and 10 catches for 261 yards and two touchdowns against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Unfortunately, Browns fans know the rest of the story. Gordon was suspended for 11 games in 2014 for violations of the league's drug policy before missing the 2015 and 2016 seasons due to failed alcohol and drug tests.

With young playmakers like KC Concepcion, Denzel Boston, Harold Fannin and Quinshon Judkins on the roster, the Browns will hope their more recent additions become their top fantasy football stars.