Fantasy Impact: Carlos Hyde
The former San Francisco 49er, will now be part of the new and improved Cleveland Browns. The Browns and Hyde have agreed on a 3 year, 15 million dollar contract. This past season was Hyde’s fourth season in the league, but the first season in which he played in all 16 games. The Kyle Shanahan offense didn’t seem to fit Hyde well. That could be a reason why Hyde saw his yards per carry average drop from 4.6 in 2016, to 3.9 this past season. While receiving the ball is not the strongest part of his game, he saw a whopping 88 targets from the 49ers quarterbacks. He would’ve had a lot more, but that usage significantly decreased when Jimmy Garoppolo took over as quarterback.
Fantasy Impact:
Hyde’s fantasy production is bound to decrease after a season that saw him finish as the #8 RB in PPR leagues (#11 in standard). When you look at the production that LeSean McCoy had with Tyrod Tayor at quarterback, you have to figure in a couple of things; 1) Carlos Hyde is not as talented as McCoy. 2) The Bills and Taylor didn’t have many receiving options at his disposal, so they weren’t as inclined to throw the ball as much as they would if they had the receivers the Cleveland Browns have, which also leads to less check downs. 3) Are we certain that the Browns aren’t taking Barkley at #1? I’m not. Carlos Hyde is a good running back, but in 2018 he can’t be drafted as anything other than a mid to late RB2. He’ll give you a few great games, but the consistency won’t be there. Look for 210 carries, 880 yards, 7 touchdowns with 40 receptions, 275 rec yards and 2 rec TD’s as a guide to his fantasy production.
