Call me crazy, but I actually have some interest in Ryan Fitzpatrick. He’s got some ability to sling it, he’s got a great pair of receivers at his disposal (Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker) and he has a passer-friendly coordinator. Fitzpatrick was effective under Chan Gailey in Buffalo.
Better than you might realize.
Fitzpatrick threw 24 TDs in each of his final two seasons in Buffalo. In the 2011-12 season, 25 quarterbacks started over half of the time, and only nine of them averaged more TD passes per game than Fitzpatrick.
Really.
TD PASSES PER GAME (2011-12) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Player | St | TD | Per G |
Drew Brees | 32 | 89 | 2.78 |
Aaron Rodgers | 31 | 84 | 2.71 |
Tom Brady | 32 | 73 | 2.28 |
Matt Ryan | 32 | 61 | 1.91 |
Matthew Stafford | 32 | 61 | 1.91 |
Tony Romo | 32 | 59 | 1.84 |
Eli Manning | 32 | 55 | 1.72 |
Ben Roethlisberger | 28 | 47 | 1.68 |
Philip Rivers | 32 | 53 | 1.66 |
Ryan Fitzpatrick | 32 | 48 | 1.50 |
Andy Dalton | 32 | 47 | 1.47 |
Carson Palmer | 24 | 35 | 1.46 |
Matt Schaub | 26 | 37 | 1.42 |
Josh Freeman | 31 | 43 | 1.39 |
Joe Flacco | 32 | 42 | 1.31 |
Michael Vick | 23 | 30 | 1.30 |
Jay Cutler | 25 | 32 | 1.28 |
Mark Sanchez | 31 | 39 | 1.26 |
Cam Newton | 32 | 40 | 1.25 |
Alex Smith | 25 | 30 | 1.20 |
Christian Ponder | 26 | 31 | 1.19 |
Matt Hasselbeck | 21 | 23 | 1.10 |
Sam Bradford | 26 | 27 | 1.04 |
Matt Cassel | 17 | 15 | .88 |
Blaine Gabbert | 24 | 21 | .88 |
Fitzpatrick forces too many passes (he threw more TDs than anyone in those seasons) but that only reinforces his value as a fantasy quarterback. Unlike Alex Smith, who’s painfully cautious, Fitzpatrick is a grip-it-and-rip-it quarterback who’ll try to jam balls into tight coverages, giving his wide receivers more chances to make plays.
He’s also simply better than many give him credit for. Think of that nice 6-TD game he had last year against the Titans. He did that without a great cast around him.
Also note that Fitzpatrick averaged almost 8 yards per pass attempt last year. That’s better than everyone in the league except the three Rs – Romo, Roethlisberger and Rodgers. We give running backs and wide receivers credit for the yards per attempt stat; why not quarterbacks too? And in that area, he was better last year than Brady, Luck, Wilson, Brees and both Mannings.
I’m not saying Fitzpatrick is an elite quarterback. But he’s a veteran guy who’s been around and gotten better over the years. With the situation he’s in, I think it’s reasonable that he might exceed a lot of expectations this year, maybe making a run at top-15 numbers at this position. Maybe.
2014 QUARTERBACKS -- YARDS PER ATTEMPT | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | Att | Comp | Pct | Yds | YPA |
Tony Romo, Dall. | 435 | 304 | 69.9% | 3,705 | 8.52 |
Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 520 | 341 | 65.6% | 4,381 | 8.43 |
Ben Roethlisberger, Pitt. | 608 | 408 | 67.1% | 4,952 | 8.14 |
Ryan Fitzpatrick, Hou. | 312 | 197 | 63.1% | 2,483 | 7.96 |
Peyton Manning, Den. | 597 | 395 | 66.2% | 4,727 | 7.92 |
Mark Sanchez, Phil. | 309 | 198 | 64.1% | 2,418 | 7.83 |
Andrew Luck, Ind. | 616 | 380 | 61.7% | 4,761 | 7.73 |
Russell Wilson, Sea. | 452 | 285 | 63.1% | 3,475 | 7.69 |
Brian Hoyer, Clev. | 438 | 242 | 55.3% | 3,326 | 7.59 |
Philip Rivers, S.D. | 570 | 379 | 66.5% | 4,286 | 7.52 |
Drew Brees, N.O. | 659 | 456 | 69.2% | 4,952 | 7.51 |
Matt Ryan, Atl. | 628 | 415 | 66.1% | 4,694 | 7.47 |
Eli Manning, NYG | 601 | 379 | 63.1% | 4,410 | 7.34 |
Teddy Bridgewater, Minn. | 402 | 259 | 64.4% | 2,919 | 7.26 |
Joe Flacco, Balt. | 554 | 344 | 62.1% | 3,986 | 7.19 |
Matthew Stafford, Det. | 602 | 363 | 60.3% | 4,257 | 7.07 |
Andy Dalton, Cin. | 481 | 309 | 64.2% | 3,398 | 7.06 |
Tom Brady, N.E. | 582 | 373 | 64.1% | 4,109 | 7.06 |
Colin Kaepernick, S.F. | 478 | 289 | 60.5% | 3,369 | 7.05 |
Alex Smith, K.C. | 464 | 303 | 65.3% | 3,265 | 7.04 |
Cam Newton, Car. | 448 | 262 | 58.5% | 3,127 | 6.98 |
Nick Foles, Phil. | 311 | 186 | 59.8% | 2,163 | 6.95 |
Geno Smith, NYJ | 367 | 219 | 59.7% | 2,525 | 6.88 |
Ryan Tannehill, Mia. | 590 | 392 | 66.4% | 4,045 | 6.86 |
Jay Cutler, Chi. | 561 | 370 | 66.0% | 3,812 | 6.80 |
Kyle Orton, Buff. | 447 | 287 | 64.2% | 3,018 | 6.75 |
Josh McCown, T.B. | 327 | 184 | 56.3% | 2,206 | 6.75 |
Blake Bortles, Jac. | 475 | 280 | 58.9% | 2,908 | 6.12 |
Derek Carr, Oak. | 599 | 348 | 58.1% | 3,270 | 5.46 |
—Ian Allan