Is the fantasy football hype around Chase Brown warranted? Let's investigate
(This article was written with the assistance of Castmagic, an AI tool, and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy. Please reach out to us if you notice any mistakes.)
If you were underweight on Chase Brown in 2024 fantasy football, you weren't alone, and you probably felt it by midseason. But with 2025 drafts heating up, a surprising consensus has emerged across the fantasy community: Brown is not only a locked-in RB1, but his profile in the Bengals offense looks rock-solid for another top-tier season.
Advertisement
Let's dig into Matt Harmon and Scott Pianowski's conversation from the Yahoo Fantasy Forecast for a nuanced breakdown of Brown's outlook.
Subscribe to Yahoo Fantasy Forecast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.
Brown finished last season as the RB12 overall, emerging as one of the rare true hits for zero-RB drafters. When Zack Moss missed time, Brown 'was the only game in town,' as Harmon put it, regularly dominating not just the early-down work but also the hurry-up and high-scoring packages — a holy grail scenario for fantasy running backs.
Pianowski put it bluntly: 'Chase Brown was a screaming right answer … He never came off the field. He was good in all packages … [and] a running back who never comes off the field in that situation is fantasy gold.'
Advertisement
Perhaps the most important note for Brown's fantasy managers is how little has changed in Cincinnati. Burrow, Chase, Higgins — everyone's back, and the system remains in place. The only real additions in the RB room? Taj Brooks (a Day 3 rookie) and some veteran insurance in Samaje Perine. Neither is expected to cut deeply into Brown's role; the Bengals' lack of a splashy running back addition speaks volumes about their trust in Brown.
Even the oft-circulated Zack Moss 'threat' doesn't move the needle. Pianowski is firm: 'Zach Moss? Last year, what, 3.3 yards a carry? Give me a break … He really should be like an RB3 on a decent team and he might ultimately be that on this team.'
What are the positives and negatives for Brown in 2025?
Brown fits the traits fantasy managers crave:
Advertisement
Three-down role: He handled 90%+ snaps in multiple games last year — a pace that, even if dialed back, still lands him in RB1 territory.
Concentrated offense: As Harmon notes, the Bengals have 'a very highly concentrated nature of this offense.' You don't have to squint to see the targets for Brown (alongside Chase and Higgins) being safely locked in.
Game-script-proof: Even in negative scripts — likely with Cincinnati's defense still projected to struggle — Brown will continue to see playing time and pass-catching work.
The Yahoo Fantasy Forecast episode highlights that the industry consensus is to rank Brown right around RB12-13, and that's roughly where his best ball ADP is landing — yet Pianowski went as far as to call him flat-out mispriced: 'People who are getting Brown in the third round right now, enjoy it while it lasts. He'll be a locked-in second-round pick, I think, when the major part of draft season kicks in.'
There's a broader fantasy team-building angle here, too. If you love building out dominant receiver rooms and going 'Hero RB,' Brown is a prime candidate. Pianowski says it best: 'Is Chase Brown good enough for a Hero RB build? And my answer is, absolutely. If I left the draft where the only signature back I had was Brown and I had that wide receiver … I was winning the flex. I was winning the wide receiver room. That's a roster I'd go to war with.'
Of course, every player has risks. With Brown, it comes down to:
Advertisement
Pedigree concerns: As a former Day 3 pick, some 'what if?' always lingers until a player receives massive team investment.
Volume adjustment: The coaching staff has hinted they don't want every game 90%+ snap shares, but even a dip to 70-75% would be plenty.
Bengals defense improvement: If the defense outperforms expectations, there could be fewer shootouts — but the unit is projected to remain bottom-10.
Summing up the takeaways from Harmon and Pianowski, Chase Brown is one of the best RB picks you can make at the 2/3 turn. Opportunity, team trust and fantasy-friendly game environment — all the ingredients are there. Don't overthink it, don't get sidetracked by backup chatter, and be comfortable making him the hoss of your RB room. When the Bengals' carnival kicks into high gear, you'll be glad Brown is riding shotgun.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
an hour ago
How groundbreaking gay author Edmund White paved the way for other writers
NEW YORK -- Andrew Sean Greer, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, remembers the first time he read Edmund White. It was the summer of 1989, he was beginning his second year at Brown University and he had just come out. Having learned that White would be teaching at Brown, he found a copy of White's celebrated coming-of-age novel, 'A Boy's Own Story.' 'I'd never read anything like it — nobody had — and what strikes me looking back is the lack of shame or self-hatred or misery that imbued so many other gay male works of fiction of that time,' says Greer, whose 'Less' won the Pulitzer for fiction in 2018. "I, of course, did not know then I was reading a truly important literary work. All I knew is I wanted to read more. 'Reading was all we had in those days — the private, unshared experience that could help you explore your private life," he said. "Ed invented so many of us." White, a pioneer of contemporary gay literature, died this week at age 85. He left behind such widely read works as 'A Boy's Own Story' and 'The Beautiful Room Is Empty' and a gift to countless younger writers: Validation of their lives, the discovery of themselves through the stories of others. Greer and other authors speak of White's work as more than just an influence, but as a rite of passage: "How a queer man might begin to question all of the deeply held, deeply religious, deeply American assumptions about desire, love, and sex — who is entitled to have it, how it must be had, what it looks like,' says Robert Jones Jr., whose novel above love between two enslaved men, ' The Prophets,' was a National Book Award finalist in 2021. Jones remembers being a teenager in the 1980s when he read 'A Boy's Own Story." He found the book at a store in a gay neighborhood in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, 'the safest place for a person to be openly queer in New York City,' he said. 'It was a scary time for me because all the news stories about queer men revolved around AIDS and dying, and how the disease was the Christian god's vengeance against the 'sin of homosexuality,'' Jones added. 'It was the first time that I had come across any literature that confirmed that queer men have a childhood; that my own desires were not, in fact, some aberration, but were natural; and that any suffering and loneliness I was experiencing wasn't divine retribution, but was the intention of a human-made bigotry that could be, if I had the courage and the community, confronted and perhaps defeated," he said. Starting in the 1970s, White published more than 25 books, including novels, memoirs, plays, biographies and 'The Joy of Gay Sex,' a response to the 1970s bestseller 'The Joy of Sex." He held the rare stature for a living author of having a prize named for him, the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction, as presented by the Publishing Triangle. 'White was very supportive of young writers, encouraging them to explore and expand new and individual visions,' said Carol Rosenfeld, chair of the Triangle. The award was 'one way of honoring that support.' Winners such the prize was founded, in 2006, have included 'The Prophets,' Myriam Gurba 's 'Dahlia Season' and Joe Okonkwo's 'Jazz Moon.' Earlier this year, the award was given to Jiaming Tang's ' Cinema Love,' a story of gay men in rural China. Tang remembered reading 'A Boy's Own Story' in his early 20s, and said that both the book and White were 'essential touchpoints in my gay coming-of-age.' 'He writes with intimate specificity and humor, and no other writer has captured the electric excitement and crushing loneliness that gay men experience as they come of age,' Tang said. "He's a towering figure. There'd be no gay literature in America without Edmund White.'
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Bar-B-Cast' on why there's reason to feel bad for White Sox fans after succession plan reveal
(This article was written with the assistance of Castmagic, an AI tool, and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy. Please reach out to us if you notice any mistakes.) Chicago White Sox fans can expect a significant but somewhat gradual change in the team's ownership, based on the podcast's discussion. From Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman of Yahoo Sports' "Baseball-Bar-B-Cast" podcast, here's a summary of what fans should know and what to expect: Jerry Reinsdorf's exit plan is finally official — but not immediate Jerry Reinsdorf, who has owned the White Sox for 45 years, has established a clear succession plan for selling the team. The path is mapped out but doesn't take effect right away. The earliest possible transition to new ownership is 2029, and it could stretch as late as 2034. Advertisement Justin Ishbia, the brother of Phoenix Suns owner Matt Ishbia, is set to become the White Sox's principal owner, according to legal arrangements revealed this week. He already holds a minority stake and will have the option to buy the majority stake from Reinsdorf starting in 2029, or absolutely by 2034. Sorry, White Sox fans, as for now, not much changes The current public messaging is that nothing significant changes for day-to-day fans or for the on-field product until at least 2029. In the short-term, Ishbia will infuse some cash and begin slowly getting involved, but the team's operational control still rests with Reinsdorf. Advertisement Reinsdorf is 89 years old, so it makes sense for him to set up this transition. He's finally making concrete plans for when he's no longer in charge. "He clearly sold this to Ishbia because he likes Ishbia or thinks Ishbia will do a good job or whatever," Mintz said. "That was the pick. He's making the pick, not someone else. That's important to Jerry Reinsdorf. He is lucky here that he has made this choice before he dies. A lot of people, most people die before 89, and I feel bad that some White Sox fans, in fact will die before this ownership group changes hands because the quickest it could change is 2029." Said Shusterman, "If he's doing great and the White Sox are winning, guess what? Jerry's going to keep on owning the team. Now if the White Sox are still losing in 2029? Very possible, considering how deep of a hole they are in, then, I mean, I don't know, maybe he then finally decides, 'All right, your turn, Justin.'" Advertisement While there's no reason to expect rapid on-field changes or increased spending immediately, there is a sense of long-term optimism. The new owner comes from substantial means and chose the White Sox over other available MLB franchises, indicating belief in the franchise's potential. For more of the latest baseball news and debates, tune in to "Baseball-Bar-B-Cast" on Apple, Spotify or YouTube.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
New York Giants brass impressed with Evan Neal as he transitions to guard
Former New York Giants first-round pick Evan Neal is making a position switch this summer from offensive tackle to guard. It's not a natural progression for a 6-foot-7, 340-pound player who is seen as a prototypical tackle. Neal, the seventh overall selection in the 2022 NFL draft out of powerhouse Alabama, was seen as a "cant-miss" prospect who somehow missed. Injuries and underperformance have caused the Giants to move off of Neal and try him somewhere else along the line. Advertisement It would be a real boon for Big Blue if Neal could make the transition. On Thursday, assistant general manager Brandon Brown spoke about how the experiment was going thus far at organized team activities (OTAs). "I think when you look at the job description in our system for the guard, can he create movement at the line of scrimmage? Can he keep the interior firm in pass protection? We've seen Evan do it before. We need the flashes to be consistent," Brown told reporters. "He's been fully bought in with the move. Just knowing that leaning on your strengths, there are not that many men that are as big as he is inside at guard and playing with better balance. Carm (Bricillo) and James (Ferentz) have been working with him throughout this spring. Evan is putting in his work. "We're excited to see what he shows when the pads come on in training camp. Excited to see that he has the physical tools and skill set to transition inside. We just need to see it consistently." Advertisement Neal has all been written off by fans and pundits after three seasons as a bust. The Giants' effort to salvage his career with a position change is being seen as a longshot. Although his path is clear and he will be given every opportunity to win a spot, it's difficult to see Neal pulling this off. Brown believes Neal's size, strength and natural ability will work to his advantage. "He's a big man," Brown said. "When you look at the prototype size, you can look throughout the league, offensive lines like Baltimore, et cetera. There are guys, some of the guys in Philly, that are larger than the typical prototype." Brown highlighted that Neal's quickness didn't work for him at tackle but may work for him at guard. Advertisement "What is the job description and the technique? If you're asking him to pull out in space and do a lot of redirecting at the second level, that is not his game," Brown said. "He's a power broker. He's a guy that can create movement. He's a guy that can absorb power, anchor in pass protection. We have to keep improving the technique, work on his hand usage and his balance. (Offensive line coaches James Ferentz and Carmen Bricillo) are committed to that." Assistant head coach and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka also chimed in on Neal's progress at Thursday's OTA. "Evan is doing a nice job," Kafka said. "He's in transition. He did it in college. And again, just like the nature of the camp. It's not a full-padded camp, but there is a lot of fundamentals you can work, individual drills, pass set drills, and Evan is doing a nice job. Happy for him." During Thursday's session, Neal even took some first-team reps at guard. This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Giants brass impressed with Evan Neal as he transitions to guard
