Ryan Fitzpatrick could be in line for a second chance at fantasy football relevance in 2016 after New York Jets starting quarterback Geno Smith suffered a knee injury against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.
Fitzpatrick replaced Smith, who was checked on by trainers before heading to the locker room, in the second quarter. Both quarterbacks led touchdown drives in the first half.
Fitzpatrick started the first six games of the season for New York. He failed to replicate a strong 2015 campaign, however, completing just 57 percent of his throws with five touchdowns and 11 interceptions en route to a lackluster 63.4 passer rating in those contests.
Those struggles came after the 33-year-old veteran missed the team’s offseason program while in a long contract stalemate with the Jets. The sides finally reached an agreement in late July, but it always seemed like the Harvard product was trying to play catch up afterward.
In that regard, perhaps going to the bench for awhile in favor of Smith represented a perfect chance to press the reset button and get himself back on track.
Fitzpatrick admitted after a 28-3 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, which preceded the quarterback change, that he wasn’t making enough plays, per Connor Hughes of NJ Advance Media.
“I didn’t hit some throws that I’ve got to hit,” Fitzpatrick said. “There were probably four occasions where I could’ve made a better play. As an offense, we’re just not consistent right now, and the offense goes as the offense goes as the quarterback goes. I’ve got to play better.”
Now that he could be heading back to the starting lineup, depending on the extent of Smith’s injury setback, he’s definitely somebody to consider for fantasy owners looking for quarterback help.
While Fitzpatrick played miserably during the early stages of this season, it’s important to remember he ranked 12th in fantasy QB scoring one year ago, according to ESPN. That made him a fringe starter, which is nice upside for a player you can probably grab off the waiver wire right now.
He’s not somebody that should be a top waiver claim—barring an awful quarterback situation—and probably shouldn’t be pushed right into weekly lineups. More of a wait-and-see approach is recommended. Add him and leave him on the bench until you see if the time off helped.
Ultimately, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Fitzpatrick bounce back and provide numbers closer to last year’s production during his second stint under center. That would make him a solid fantasy backup capable of sliding into the lineup against weaker secondaries.
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