Cleveland Browns

When it comes to fantasy sports, a player's opportunity can be nearly as important as his talent and Chris Ivory should finally get the opportunity to showcase his talent in 2013. Although Ivory led the New Orleans Saints in rushing in 2010 as a rookie with 716 yards, he has been buried on the team's depth chart over the past two seasons behind Mark Ingram, Pierre Thomas and Darren Sproles. In fact, he has played in only 12 games over those two seasons combined. In the offseason, the New York Jets traded their fourth-round pick to the Saints for Ivory, who agreed to a three-year deal with the Jets. With Shonn Greene leaving in free agency, Ivory will compete for touches with Mike Goodson, Bilal Powell and Joe McKnight. Of those backs, Goodson is Ivory's biggest competition when it comes to workload. Considering that Goodson was recently arrested, however, it's possible that his days with the Jets are numbered. Speaking of Goodson's arrest, teammate Willie Colon recently said (via the NY Daily News): "It's one of the things where it's zero-tolerance with stuff like that. It's sad. Mike could have been huge for us." Whether or not Goodson is given his walking papers, Ivory should still lead the squad's backs in touches. Over the past three seasons, Ivory has been highly productive when given the opportunity. Carrying the ball 256 times during that span, he has rushed for a total of 1,307 yards, which is an average of 5.1 yards per carry. Ivory has been little used as a receiver with the Saints, though, as he has caught only three passes in his career. As a big back (6'0" and 222 pounds), Ivory has scored eight touchdowns for the Saints. With the Jets, he should get the short-yardage and goal-line opportunities as well. Considering the team's low-powered offense (2012: 30th in total offense, 28th in scoring offense), however, there may not be many goal-line opportunities. The days of Mark Sanchez under center appear to be numbered and it's possible that the Jets start Geno Smith, their second-round pick, at some point this season. Whether it's the turnover-prone Sanchez or the inexperienced rookie under center, it would make sense for the Jets to go with a ground-and-pound approach to limit the turnovers. With RB2 upside, Ivory is a nice value from where he is currently being drafted. Based on current average draft position (ADP) data from Mock Draft Central, Ivory is the 28th running back, on average, off draft boards recently. Fantasy Strength of Schedule Based on the cumulative fantasy points allowed by their opponents from Week 1 to 16, Ivory and his fellow Jets' running backs have the league's most favorable schedule in both standard-scoring and point-per-reception (PPR) leagues. In the fantasy postseason (typically Weeks 14, 15 and 16), the Jets face the Raiders, Panthers and Browns, respectively. - Resources: Fantasy RB Strength of Schedule | 2013 Jets Team Schedule Projection: (Rushing) 245 Attempts, 1,176 Yards, 8 Touchdowns; (Receiving) 5 Receptions, 45 Yards - More 2013 Fantasy Football profiles and projections See where Ivory is listed in our 2013 fantasy football rankings: 2013 Re-draft Running Back Rankings (Standard Scoring) 2013 Re-draft Running Back Rankings (PPR Scoring) 2013 Dynasty Running Back Rankings 2013 Fantasy Football Overall Cheat Sheet (Standard Scoring) 2013 Fantasy Football Overall Cheat Sheet (PPR Scoring) To keep track of our updates: (1) follow us on Twitter, (2) LIKE us on Facebook and/or (3) add us to your Google+ circle.

Rob Chudzinski is inheriting a better quarterback than he did when he worked here as the Browns' offensive coordinator. So why not give it a chance, Bud Shaw writes in his Sunday Spin.

What, it's draft season again? Well, lottery first, but the Cavaliers are next on the draft calendar.

The prospects for the former defensive ends tops this week's mailbag.

Ladies and gentleman, I am happy to announce that caption contests are back at Dawgs By Nature! In 2012, we made this a regular feature from mid-May until the end of June, which is otherwise known as a "dead spot" in terms of news with substance in the NFL. It is the perfect time to have some more light-hearted discussions or stray off-topic a bit more than usual. Ground Rules for Caption Contest: In the comments section, come up with a caption that you believe other readers will enjoy. Readers: if you like a caption, "rec" it. Whichever user gets the most "rec's" by the time the next caption contest is posted will be deemed the winner of that contest. We'll try to keep a running tally of how many wins members for 2013. New contests will occur several days per week. Today, we begin with Cleveland Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden on a cell phone at an OTA session. I'm sure you guys can get creative with who he was talking to or what is being said, so get at it!

According to a report by FOX 8, the removal of the "Cleveland Browns Stadium" signage is now complete, and will soon be replaced by signage for the new name of the stadium, "FirstEnergy Stadium." FOX 8's website had a picture from when some of the letters in the old signage were being removed. As for what the new signage will look like, the team released a sketch artist rendering back in January, which you can see in the lead-in photo for this article. In other news related to the stadium, if you are a soccer fan, then you should be salivating at the thought of attending the friendly match between USA and Belgium on May 29th. If you are not interested in spending the money on tickets but would like to get into FirstEnergy Stadium for free, Team USA will hold a free practice session on May 28th, starting at 5:00 PM. Who knows; maybe the signage will be all complete by then for FirstEnergy Stadium!

Hopefully Rob Chudzinski is trying to channel all of the momentum the Cleveland Indians have going for them over to the Cleveland Browns. The Browns' new head coach was at Progressive Field on Saturday for the Tribe's afternoon game against the Seattle Mariners. He threw out the ceremonial first pitch: Here's the pic you all want to see! #Browns head coach Rob Chudzinski throwing out the first pitch! twitter.com/Loede923TheFan… — Matt Loede (@Loede923TheFan) May 18, 2013 Chudzinski also met Indians manager Terry Francona before the game and gave him his own souvenir jersey for the Browns. #Browns HC Rob Chudzinski met Terry Francona and threw out 1st pitch @indians on Sat prior to Tribe's 5-4 win! RT! twitter.com/Browns/status/… — Cleveland Browns (@Browns) May 18, 2013 The Indians ended up prevailing 5-4 in the 9th inning for their second walkoff victory in as many days against the Mariners. For more coverage on the Indians, be sure to head on over to Let's Go Tribe.

Brandon Weeden admitted Friday he had no advance knowledge that the Browns were signing quarterback Brian Hoyer, but he’s not worried about how it will impact the quarterback competition, Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. “I was surprised, but that’s the nature of the beast,” Weeden said Friday at the Cleveland Browns Foundation charity golf outing at Westwood Country Club. “It’s part of this business and if you start worrying about it, that’s too much to worry about. That’s my mentality going forward.” Weeden said he hasn’t been told what the Browns have in mind for Hoyer, 27, and that it’s not his concern. “I have no idea,” Weeden said. “I’m worried about me.”

Cleveland Browns linebacker D’Qwell Jackson and wide receiver Josh Gordon have embraced the new schemes on their respective sides of the football.

The Browns signed quarterback Brian Hoyer to a two-year deal on Friday, and it’s significant because everyone in Cleveland loses it when anything happens that is related to that position. With Brandon Weeden and Jason Campbell on the roster, Hoyer will come in as the third-stringer, with a chance to move up the depth chart. Weeden was surprised by the move but isn’t worried it, choosing instead to focus on himself and the fact that he currently has a lock on the starting spot. Hoyer comes most recently from Arizona and general manager Mike Lombardi has never been shy in his affinity for him. Of course, that doesn’t mean anything if Weeden plays better this season. It never hurts to have options, but a lot is going to have to happen for Hoyer to really get his chance.