Fantasy Upside
The New York Jets have given the keys of their offense to journeyman Josh McCown, at least to start the season. McCown has had some success in the NFL and actually put up his best numbers when he played for new Jets offensive coordinator Marc Trestman. He posted a 13-to-1 TD-to-INT ratio and averaged 8.2 YPA, a career high. Being a veteran definitely helps McCown because the two young quarterbacks behind him have very little NFL experience. The Jets are likely to stick with McCown unless he is a total bust.
Fantasy Downside
McCown is a journeyman for a reason. He has 60 career starts over an up-and-down career that has spanned 14 NFL seasons. The Jets don't have a lot around him. They lost their top two receivers and the offensive line is average at best. It's going to be an offense that struggles. Also, if the Jets start the season with more losses than wins, they might throw in the towel and give one of the younger QBs a chance to see what they can do.
2017 Bottom Line
McCown is unsurprisingly going undrafted in half of fantasy leagues. We have him ranked at QB29, which means he really only has value as a QB3 and can probably only help owners in leagues with deep rosters. With the Jets offense expected to be in the bottom-half of the league, and McCown's job security limited, he isn't a good fantasy option to start the 2017 season.