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Factoid

Ryan Fitzpatrick

Aggressive veteran should help Washington

I'm a Ryan Fitzpatrick fan. I like the beard, I respect the Harvard background. And I like what his style of play could do for Washington's offense, most notably top wideout Terry McLaurin.

McLaurin, of course, has been saddled with some pretty lousy quarterbacks his first two seasons. Case Keenum, Dwayne Haskins, Colt McCoy, Kyle Allen, Alex Smith -- those are the quarterbacks who have started games for Washington the last two years. Either out-and-out bad, or checkdown types that aren't going to elevate a wide receiver in any way. McLaurin has caught 7 and 4 TDs in his first two seasons.

But Fitzpatrick, who never should have been benched in Miami last year (this is not just hindsight; many of us said this at the time) is a wide-receiver friendly passer. He'll put the ball in the end zone, and he'll look downfield. He sparked the Jets offense to its best season in ages a few years ago, and he was great for DeVante Parker in Miami. I think he'll be great for McLaurin, too.

Over the past three years, there have been 30 seasons of a quarterback averaging over 7.8 yards per attempt (minimum 200 pass attempts). Fitzpatrick has two of those seasons, including the very best of those seasons, averaging 9.6 yards per attempt with Tampa Bay in 2018. (Search tools at pro-football-reference used for this table.)

QUARTERBACK YARDS PER ATTEMPT, 2018-2020, TOP-30
PlayerYearGCmpAttCmp%YdsTDIntY/A
Ryan Fitzpatrick2018816424666.7236617129.62
Ryan Tannehill20191220128670.327422269.59
Deshaun Watson20201638254470.248233378.87
Patrick Mahomes20181638358066.0509750128.79
Matthew Stafford2019818729164.324991958.59
Philip Rivers20181634750868.3430832128.48
Dak Prescott2020515122268.01856948.36
Jimmy Garoppolo20191632947669.1397827138.36
Jared Goff20181636456164.9468832128.36
Patrick Mahomes20191431948465.940312658.33
Nick Mullens2018817627464.2227713108.31
Kirk Cousins20201634951667.6426535138.27
Deshaun Watson20181634550568.341652698.25
Dak Prescott20191638859665.1490230118.22
Aaron Rodgers20201637252670.742994858.17
Drew Brees20181536448974.439923258.16
Jameis Winston20191638062660.7510933308.16
Kirk Cousins20191530744469.136032668.11
Matt Ryan20181642260869.449243578.10
Russell Wilson20181628042765.634483578.07
Patrick Mahomes20201539058866.347403868.06
Russell Wilson20191634151666.141103157.97
Josh Allen20201639657269.2454437107.94
Ryan Tannehill20201631548165.538193377.94
Derek Carr20201634851767.341032797.94
Jameis Winston20181124437864.6299219147.92
Derek Carr20191636151370.440542187.90
Drew Brees20191128137874.329792747.88
Ryan Fitzpatrick2020918326768.520911387.83
Philip Rivers20191639059166.0461523207.81

Things could go south in Washington. Maybe the team struggles, or Fitzpatrick has the kind of turnover-filled meltdown at some point that's tended to end his tenures with his various employers. Eventually Washington could decide to take a look at Taylor Heinicke, who was impressive in last year's playoff loss to Tampa Bay.

But until that happens, I think Fitzpatrick will be productive for Washington's offense, and I think McLaurin will be a star. I expect to have him on a lot of teams this season.

--Andy Richardson

Fantasy Index