Through 2 games, Cleveland has surrendered the 7^th most passing yards in the league. With Joe Haden suspended for 3 more games, that figures to only get worse. Without Haden last week, the Browns surrendered 24 completions for 318 yards and 3 touchdowns on 31 attempts, while picking off one pass, against Andy Dalton and the Bengals, who were fresh off an embarrassing offensive performance in Baltimore, in which Dalton completed 22 of 37 for 221 yards and an interception.

Seeing the secondary as a weakness, the Browns have decided to take some action and have benched two starters. Starting cornerback Sheldon Brown was benched for Buster Skrine, while starting free safety Eric Hagg was benched for Usama Young this week. Brown is 33 years old and probably at the end of his line. This demotion, even with Haden out, suggests that he’ll be no higher than 4^th when Haden returns, barring injuries. In his first NFL start, Skrine, a 2011 6^th round pick, was horrendous, allowing 8 completions for 89 yards on 9 attempts last week, in place of an injured Brown. Still, the Browns decided to keep him in the starting lineup permanently. However, if he continues to play like this, he’ll be benched when Joe Haden returns, in favor of keeping the veteran Dmitri Patterson in the starting lineup.

Whereas Brown being benched for Skrine was a case of a veteran being benched for a youngster, Hagg being benched for Young was a case of a struggling youngster being benched for what they hope will be a stabilizing veteran presence. Hagg, a 2011 7^th round pick, has not been thrown on much, but has struggled on those occasions, allowing 2 completions for 54 yards and a touchdown on 3 attempts. He’s also struggled against the run, recording just 5 total tackles, missing one, and having 2 stops. Young, a 2007 5^th round pick, has yet to play a snap this season and was almost cut from an undrafted free agent as part of final cuts. Like Skrine, he does not figure to be much of an upgrade. The Browns’ defense figures to continue to be one that is very kind to opposite fantasy players, especially while Haden remains out. This week, they face the Bills.

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