Our read
The games are the whole case here. We project 6 appearances, with a realistic range of 0 to 13 once injury risk is in, and even in the games he did play last year he gave you 10.6 points a week and beat the position's median exactly once. That week 14 spike of 33 points is the only reason anyone remembers his rookie year fondly. His worst week was 1.48. He didn't even see the field until week 11, and none of the 9 games he sat were injury sits, they were healthy scratches.
So why is he on the board at all? Because everything around him is new. Todd Monken and Travis Switzer are both running the offense for the first time in 2026, and he's still listed second among CLE quarterbacks as of early September, with Taylen Green third and Dillon Gabriel fourth. If the new staff flips the depth chart, a 24-year-old second-year pick with a live arm becomes interesting fast. Until that happens, the usage says he's a pocket passer with zero designed touches, zero red-zone work, and nothing as a runner, which caps the fantasy ceiling hard on a team the books think wins 5 or 6 games.
The call is easy: at pick 302 he's a free roll in a deepest-bench slot, nothing more. I'm not spending a real pick on him, but if you have a throwaway spot late, he's a reasonable lottery ticket on a depth chart change. If he's starting by week 4, he's worth more than this.