The Cleveland Browns picked up a stunning win on Sunday, knocking off the previously undefeated San Francisco 49ers, 19-17. P.J. Walker filled in for the injured Deshaun Watson and threw for 192 yards and two interceptions. Yet, the run game of Jerome Ford and Kareem Hunt was solid against an elite 49ers defense.
Hunt carried the ball 12 times for 47 yards and one touchdown while also getting three catches for 24 yards. With this performance, should fantasy football managers be looking at picking Hunt off the waiver wire?
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Should Kareem Hunt Be a Fantasy Waiver Wire Add in Week 7?
Hunt didn’t start the year with the Browns, even after rushing for 468 yards last season for them. After the injury to star running back Nick Chubb, Cleveland brought Hunt back as an insurance policy. Week 6 was his third game of the year, and he saw his production and touches increase significantly.
In the first two games, Hunt saw five carries in each, along with two catches. He more than doubled his touches on the year this past week, finishing with 15. Is this a sign of things to come for Hunt, or was this just a one-time occurrence?
One positive for Hunt is that he did this against a very good opponent. San Francisco’s defense may be the best in the NFL. They are loaded everywhere and made a ton of plays. However, it’s still not time to bring in Hunt.
His co-star Jerome Ford actually had the better game, posting 17 carries for 84 yards. Ford was extremely popular on the waiver wire a couple of weeks ago, but he might just be there in shallower leagues. If he is, then Ford is definitely the better play.
It’s still hard to truly trust the Browns’ offense, though. Cleveland has one receiver who can truly beat man coverage, and that is Amari Cooper. He had four catches for 108 yards, including an impressive 58-yard reception.
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Outside of Cooper, the other wide receivers had seven catches for 29 yards. Until those other receivers can make plays, the Browns are going to see loaded boxes and safety over the top of Cooper.
The win was great, but Cleveland was only able to generate 19 points. If Hunt hadn’t scored a touchdown in this game, he would have only had 10.1 PPR points. If this offense — and, by extension, Hunt — isn’t scoring, then his ceiling is very low.