Fantasy Football 2016: What round to draft New York Jets Ryan Fitzpatrick
The NFL 2016 season here. Fantasy football is back! What round should quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick of Gang Green be drafted in leagues?
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Don’t expect a fantasy encore for Jets QB Ryan Fitzpatrick in 2016 – New York Jets Blog- ESPN New York Jets QB Ryan Fitzpatrick is coming off a career year, but will face several elite defenses this season, hurting his fantasy prospects. |
| Source: www.espn.com/blog/new-york/jets/post/_/id/62082/dont-expect-a-fantasy-encore-for-jets-qb-ryan-fitzpatrick-in-2016 | |
In 2015, Ryan Fitzpatrick was a steal for many Fantasy Football fans. He threw for 3905 yards and 31 touchdowns along with 270 rushing yards and 2 TDs. He finished with 272 fantasy points, which ranked 11th among 32 NFL QBs, both career highs. During the season, he scored more than 20 fantasy points 5 times (25, 29, 25, 24, 22). He was still available in free agency in most fantasy leagues, which shows that there were no expectations from him in 2015. For those owners who claimed him off waivers, he led them to the fantasy playoffs and the Championship game.
However, 2016 is a different story. Fitzpatrick still has the same offensive coordinator (Chan Gailey). He still has the same wide receivers (Brandon Marshall, Eric Decker). He is still the starting QB for Gang Green (not Geno Smith, Bryce Petty or rookie Christian Hackenberg). BUT the NFL schedule has changed. No more Tennessee Titans. No more Washington Redskins. No more Jacksonville Jaguars. No more New York Giants. No more lousy defenses to throw against. Instead, there are the Cincinnati Bengals, Kansas City Chiefs, Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals. Not only are these defenses 4 of the top 11 defenses from 2015 but the New York Jets face them early in the season (in Weeks 1, 3, 4, and 6 respectively).
To make matters worse, Gang Green play the Chiefs and the Cardinals on the road. And this is not including the AFC East division rivals Buffalo Bills who intercepted Ryan multiple times in 2015 (2 INTs in Week 10 and 3 INTs in the last game of the 2015 regular season) causing him to produce only 14 and 10 measly fantasy points in the 2 games. Because of this tough part of the schedule, he is expected to score less than 20 points per game. Although Fitzpatrick faces stiff defenses in the 1st 6 games of the season, from Weeks 7 to 15 he will throw against porous defenses (Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, Miami Dolphins, San Francisco 49ers).
“So in which round should Ryan Fitzpatrick be drafted?”
Obviously, he should never be selected in the 1st round of any fantasy football draft. Nor the 2nd or 3rd rounds. He should be drafted after Round 10 or not be drafted at all. It is likely that no other owners will select him and he will be available in free agency. Ryan is a solid solid QB who can score more than 20 points in a game but only if the matchup favors him. There is no point in choosing him in the top 10 rounds if you are going to bench him in the 1st half of the season because of the tough schedule.
Fantasy owners who pick him should stash him for the last weeks of the year when he has a better chance of posting bigger fantasy numbers. For now, Fitzpatrick should be drafted as a QB2 to be used in the run to the playoffs.
