Fantasy Upside
Ryan Fitzpatrick played well last year despite a season that saw him in-and-out of the lineup as the Dolphins figured out how to best manage their QB controversy. Fitzpatrick began the season as the starter, scoring 12 touchdowns in the first six weeks before he was benched. He now joins a Washington team where he should be the starter. He has a solid receiving corps around him in Terry McLaurin, Curtis Samuel and Logan Thomas. He then has a pair of receiving backs in Antonio Gibson and J.D. McKissic.
Fantasy Downside
Fitzpatrick is pretty well known for the fact that he’s very turbulent with his production. He can look good at times, and he can look really bad. This has led to him being in-and-out of lineups for the past several seasons. In fact, he hasn’t started a full season since 2015. He’s very turnover-prone, finishing with the fifth-highest interception percentage (interceptions per pass attempt) last season (3%). In 2019 he was 10th in that category (2.6%), in 2018 he was first (4.9%) and in 2016 he was first (4.2%).
2021 Bottom Line
Fitzpatrick could be a value play in the later rounds. Everything is set up for him to have a great season, but will the FitzMagic run out in Washington? He’ll turn 39 during the season and has a talented, younger quarterback behind him in Taylor Heinicke if things go bad. If Fitzpatrick is able to start throughout the entire season, he could finish as a top 12 quarterback this season. But Fitzpatrick has been unpredictable in recent seasons, so he carries risk if you’re looking for him to be your every-week starter.