Browns promote OC Freddie Kitchens as next head coach

Jan 09, 2019

The Cleveland Browns will hire Freddie Kitchens on Wednesday to be the 18th head coach in team history, sources told ESPN's Chris Mortensen.

Kitchens served as the Browns' interim offensive coordinator for the final eight games of the 2018 season. That work and his relationship with and development of quarterback Baker Mayfield were keys to his promotion.

The Browns did not want to lose Kitchens and denied him permission to talk to other teams about offensive coordinator openings during the interview process.

Interim coach and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was relieved of his duties and is no longer with the team.

Fantasy Impact:

Kitchens called plays for the Browns starting in Week 9 and it certainly appears that he had a positive impact on QB Baker Mayfield. In Mayfield's first five-plus games, he completed 58.3% of his passes for a 6.60 YPA and a 3.6% touchdown rate. In nine games with Kitchens calling plays, Mayfield completed 68.4% of his passes for an 8.57 YPA and a 7.2% touchdown rate. Mayfield was the No. 10 fantasy quarterback (19.0 PPG) in that span, so retaining Kitchens as the Browns' play-caller should result in continued growth for Mayfield in 2019.

yesterday

Cowboys TE Jake Ferguson officially Out for Week 13

Adam Schefter

yesterday · 7:52 PM EST

Cowboys ruled out Jake Ferguson for the Thanksgiving game vs. the New York Giants due to his concussion. His replacement, once again, will be Luke Schoonmaker.

Fantasy Impact:

This was expected, but it could have been a nice matchup for the No. 2 pass-catcher. Schoonmaker is a little less exciting but is worth a TE stream for desperate managers.

Seahawks WRs DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett miss Wednesday practice

Brady Henderson

yesterday · 7:48 PM EST

The Seahawks list DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett as non-participants in practice today. These appear to be new injuries (though Lockett was also listed with a knee injury in Week 7). Leonard Williams has been playing through his foot injury the past few weeks.

Related Players: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Jake Bobo

Fantasy Impact:

This is obviously not a great sign for Geno Smith or the general offensive environment for the Seahawks. We would have to imagine that JSN would be seeing his fifth double-digit target game of the season if either of the two were forced to miss Week 13, which catapults him into solid WR2 territory. We'll keep an eye on the reports through the rest of the week.

Giants QB Tommy DeVito officially Questionable for Week 13

Ian Rapoport

yesterday · 1:24 PM EST

Giants QB Tommy DeVito (right forearm) is listed as questionable for tomorrow against the Cowboys. Drew Lock, his backup, took some first-team reps just in case.

Fantasy Impact:

What a treat this game will be. Whether DeVito or Lock is back there on Thanksgiving, they both need to remain firmly on waiver wires.