Immediate Reaction: Houston Texans acquire Duke Johnson from the Cleveland Browns

The Texans just made moves Thursday, trading a conditional fourth round pick in 2020 to the Browns for running back Duke Johnson:

Obviously the biggest impact of this deal is that Nick Chubb is going to set the league on fire. I can’t believe I’ve passed him in all my fantasy drafts so far. That is going to 100% come back to bite me in the ass. Here I was thinking I was smart, avoiding a sophomore slump from Chubb, brought on by the addition of Kareem Hunt and Johnson’s continues presence. Then I realized Hunt is suspended until Week 10 and now Johnson is out of the picture. Chubb about to get 20 touches a game and I’m just going to be watching it from a distance. Great. Well done me.

Let’s talk about Johnson though, since after all, he was the man who was traded. This is a big help to Johnson’s fantasy potential in 2019. Yes he’ll still won’t be the number one back in his offense—never forget Lamar Miller still exists—but he’s going to have a clear, defined role in this offense. After all, the Texans wouldn’t have traded a fourth round pick for him if Bill O’Brien didn’t have some sort of plan for him. We’ve seen the kind of weapon Johnson can be, especially in the passing game. I could see Johnson putting together a 500/500 season in Houston (500 rushing and receiving yards) and quickly becoming a favorite of Deshaun Watson’s as a check-down. Maybe Johnson will be Bill O’Brien’s James White? Who says no!?

This will obviously send Johnson’s ADP skyrocketing as it had been bottom of the barrel up to this point. Without having seen anything from him, I would already bump him up into the eighth round. If you’re willing to draft Hunt at 8.03, despite the fact that he’s not playing until Week 10, I have to think you’d be ok drafting Johnson in that same round. At least I’m comfortable doing that.

This also gives a slight uptick to Watson in my mind as he has yet another pass catching weapon to throw the ball to. It also gives him a safety valve when Johnson’s on the field; someone he can dump the ball off to and still keep the offense moving.

All in all, this is a perfect trade for everyone involved (except for me of course. God I hate myself right now).

What do you think of the trade? What’s Johnson’s value now that he’s out of Cleveland?