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Teddy Bridgewater: Why he belongs on your fantasy football team

By Luke Sims

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Teddy Bridgewater is currently 16th among quarterbacks in fantasy football.

This is a good thing for you and your burgeoning fantasy football team. You want to win a championship and Teddy Bridgewater is just the quarterback to get you over the top.

ALSO ON SPIN ZONE: Where does Teddy Bridgewater rank among QBs?

Sitting pretty with an average draft position of 119 across all leagues (140 for you lucky Yahoo! league owners), Bridgewater is a quarterback you can afford to take a chance on while stocking your team with quality running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends.

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Even if you aren’t waiting until the mid rounds to draft your quarterback, Bridgewater represents a great number two.

While many may be scared away from taking Bridgewater because the Minnesota Vikings offense flows through running back Adrian Peterson, you shouldn’t be. This pick is less bold and more logical than you think.

Through the 2015 preseason, Bridgewater connected on a ridiculous 29 of 35 attempts (82.9%) for 295 yards and a touchdown. That efficiency is what keeps Bridgewater in the discussion as a legitimate quarterback contender for your fantasy team.

Sure, if you have the chance to get Aaron Rodgers or Andrew Luck, pulling the trigger is a no brainer. But getting an efficient quarterback who isn’t going to hurt you with interceptions is the logical approach if you aren’t getting a guy like Rodgers and Luck.

Last season, Bridgewater managed to accumulate 2920 yards through the air (15th in the league) with just 12 starts. With a full season under his belt and (somehow) improved accuracy (he managed an impressive 64.4% completion percentage his rookie season) we could be looking at about 3,600+ yards in his second season. That’s based on his 2014 average per game of 224 yards.

3,600 yards would have made him the 15th most prolific passer in the NFL last season, giving you excellent fantasy value later in the rounds for your fantasy football team. Personally, I expect him to rank higher than that.

Projected to toss the ball around 516 times and with an incredibly accurate arm, it’s not unreasonable to assume that Bridgewater can complete around 345 passes. If he keeps his yards per completion near the 11.3 he averaged in 2014, then your fantasy quarterback is looking at almost 3,900 yards (which is borderline top-10). Personally, I think we’ll see his yards per completion increase this season with his speedy wide receivers.

With just 14 touchdowns in his rookie season, it is reasonable to expect Bridgewater to get closer to 20 in year two. While not in line with the greats at the quarterback position, that’s a respectable number that, coupled with his increased yardage and the ability to protect the football, makes him a safe quarterback to keep on your roster.

It’s clear we aren’t talking about an elite fantasy football quarterback, but in any fantasy league you sacrifice something to gain something else during the draft. This is called opportunity cost.

Running backs still reign supreme and sacrificing a top flight running back to draft an elite quarterback doesn’t always pan out. Stocking your roster with top running backs and wide receivers before addressing quarterback can be the safer strategy.

And no quarterback will give you a better return for waiting to draft your QB than the efficient Teddy Bridgewater.

Do yourself a favor and get a top-flight QB in the mid rounds. You’ll come away looking smarter than your counterparts as you wreck the league with your stacked team and efficient quarterback.

Next: Should you start Eli Manning?

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