Fantasy Football 2017: Carson Wentz’s Stock Flying High
By Dan Thomas
With the Philadelphia Eagles adding wide receivers Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith to their offense, Carson Wentz has his fantasy football stock soaring.
In 2016, Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz had a below-average year from a statistical standpoint. He finished 18th in the NFL in passing yards (3,782), 25th in passing touchdowns (16) and ninth in interceptions (14). He finished the fantasy football season as the 24th ranked quarterback (According to ESPN standard scoring).
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In Wentz’s defense, he was only a rookie and was throwing to arguably the worst group of wide receivers in the NFL. Heading into 2017, that will no longer be the case. Before free agency (technically) kicked off, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reported the Eagles signed former San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Torrey Smith to a three-year contract, which has since been made official.
Smith had two unproductive seasons with the 49ers in 2015-16 and only totaled 53 receptions, 930 yards and seven touchdowns. Keep in mind, Smith was forced to catch passes from Colin Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert. He also had to play in two different offenses in those two seasons.
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Before Smith went to the 49ers, he had four solid seasons with the Baltimore Ravens. During that time he averaged 898 receiving yards and 7.5 touchdowns per season. He also averaged 16.9 yards per reception. The reason for that is because Smith has blazing speed and has the ability to take the top off a defense. That kind of element (along with respectable hands) was something the Eagles wide receivers lacked last season.
Shortly after free agency started, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the Eagles signed wide receiver Alshon Jeffery to a one-year, $14 million contract. Jeffery was viewed by many as the top wide receiver on the free agent market.
From 2013-14, Jeffery posted back-to-back 1,100 yard seasons and combined for 17 touchdowns. The former second-round pick wasn’t as productive over the last two seasons, but that’s not due to ability. Instead, injuries and a four-game suspension in 2016 limited him to 21 out of a possible 32 games. Across those 21 games, he averaged 78 yards receiving per game. That’s less than 2.5 yards per game than his per game average between 2013-14.
Jeffery and Smith will now join an Eagles offense that features athletic receiving tight end Zach Ertz and slot man Jordan Matthews. Over the last two seasons Ertz has averaged 835 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns while Matthews has averaged 901 receiving yards and 5.5 touchdowns.
I don’t anticipate Wentz will throw as many passes in 2017 as his 607 attempts last season, which ranked fifth in the NFL. Yet, due to his new weapons he should easily be more productive with this passes.
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After finishing the last fantasy season as the 24th quarterback, Wentz should make the jump in the 15th-18th range. He will begin the season as a legitimate starter for owners in two quarterback leagues. In standard 10-12 team leagues, he won’t be any every week starter. However, he will find his way into owners starting lineups on favorable weekly matchups and bye-weeks.