Josh Gordon Is Just a Bye Week Fill-In… For Now
Joe Owens, Rosterwatch.com Featured Analyst

Cleveland Browns WR Josh Gordon was thrown at by Browns rookie quarterback, Brandon Weeden on nine separate occasions Sunday. End stat line for Cleveland’s rookie wide receiver: 59 yards on two receptions; with one of those receptions finding fantasy paydirt via a touchdown.

For you mathematics majors out there that is a 22.2 catch percentage. Among wide receivers that have taken at least 50% of their respective teams’ offensive snaps, Josh Gordon has the second lowest catch percentage at 42.4% behind only Jacksonville Jaguars rookie Justin Blackmon.

By no means are we attempting to discredit Gordon’s big-play ability. It would be futile and a struggle, as the 2012 NFL supplemental draft darling’s touchdown numbers place him among the NFL’s elite wide receivers. Gordon is currently tied at eighth in touchdown receptions.

Gordon not only has four touchdowns in a span of the last three games but had what would have been a second touchdown on Sunday had he not dropped a 41-yard pass that hit his hands just as he crossed the goal-line.

Gordon is currently leading the NFL after seven weeks, boasting a robust 23.8 yards per reception average. Not only is Gordon the first Browns wide receiver to lead the league in yards per reception average since Quincy Morgan accomplished the feat during the 2002 NFL season, but Gordon is also the first Browns receiver since Braylon Edwards (2007) to score multiple touchdowns in three straight games.

Brandon Weeden is sporting the 6^th worst accuracy percentage according to ProFootballFocus.com and Josh Gordon has only registered three drops through seven games this season.

Gordon’s low 22.2 catch percentage seems to be quantified more by Weeden’s accuracy than Gordon’s hands, but until we see the rookie’s catch percentage increase Gordon can only be qualified as merely bye week fodder.

It’s not so crazy to think, for now, Gordon is reserved for the desperate despite seeing his highest snap count of the season playing 93.5% of all offensive plays on Sunday especially considering the touchdown dependency.