The Cincinnati Bengals’ struggles this season are well-documented. After a third straight loss without Joe Burrow at the helm and Jake Browning under center, the Bengals opted to trade in-division for Cleveland Browns vetearn QB Joe Flacco on Tuesday. Flacco won’t have much time but will prepare to take on the Green Bay Packers in Week 6. For fantasy football managers, the question is, will the addition of Flacco be a boon for Ja’Marr Chase, Chase Brown and Tee Higgins the rest of the season?
The Yahoo Fantasy Forecast Podcast took a look at the trade with Matt Harmon and Ray Garvin talking future outlook for Chase, Brown and Higgins in the video above. Harmon doesn’t believe this moves the needle much but gives a slight bump to Chase. It also doesn’t hurt having a checkdown merchant for Brown to collect more targets/receptions.
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Garvin’s biggest issue remains the Bengals’ offensive line, which is still bad and will have issues protecting an immobile QB in Flacco. There were also already issues with Higgins this season, prior to Burrow going down and Browning taking over. Overall, Garvin doesn’t believe this story will have a good ending for Flacco and the Bengals.
Cincinnati faces the Packers’ tough defense coming off a bye week on Sunday. After that, it’s home games against the Steelers, Jets and Bears before another matchup with Pittsburgh. Prior to the trade, Flacco had 815 passing yards with two TDs, six INTs and a 60.3 passer rating with the Browns in four starts. He was benched for rookie QB Dillon Gabriel in Week 5 in London. Now, Flacco would be thrust into the starter’s role again with little time to prep.
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