The NFL Draft starts up next week, and with it, the league’s landscape flips on its head. There are at least four and up to six quarterbacks going in the top-ten this year, which makes no sense. But what about for fantasy football? These guys have to be replacing other players. As we sit on the eve of the NFL Draft, we look at guys in a make-or-break (or just break) situation for 2021 fantasy football leagues.
Gardner Minshew, Jacksonville Jaguars
The erstwhile fantasy football quarterback mascot, Gardner Minshew, will likely end up in a backup role to potentially one of the best prospect quarterbacks since Andrew Luck. The Jaguars are set to take Lawrence with the #1 overall pick, and have already furnished him with the playbook. They also got Lawrence weapons, adding Marvin Jones Jr. and Phillip Dorsett to DJ Chark, Laviska Shenault, and Collin Johnson. It’s unlikely we see Minshew again this season, meaning he and his 16.9 fantasy points per game end up wasting away on Jacksonville’s bench… unless someone gets a wild hair and trades for him?
Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco 49ers
Unsurprisingly now that the 49ers own the #3 pick, “Handsome James” Garoppolo might have played his last down for the Red and Gold. Ideally, the 49ers move on from him to recoup some of the second-round pick value that they traded to acquire him, but that seems unlikely. Like Minshew, Garoppolo always bounced in-and-out of 1QB relevance for fantasy football purposes. Garoppolo likely ends his San Francisco career with 9 top-12 games in 30 starts across four seasons.
Deshaun Watson, Houston Texans
This has nothing to do with the draft and has everything to do with his attorney going with the “nuh uh, you’re lying” defense in his nearly two-dozen sexual harassment complaints. Things could break extremely poorly for the Texans’ star quarterback in the upcoming weeks, and if he is guilty of the things these women have accused him of: good.
Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
Seems weird for a sophomore quarterback to already be on the list of guys with the most to lose. After all, the Bengals took Joe Burrow #1 overall last season, preparing him as the face of their franchise. Well, he tore his ACL and needed surgery. Ja’Marr Chase or Kyle Pitts are fun options for the Bengals to take with their picture, but they need to get a tackle to protect Burrow. This became extremely evident when the Bengals accidentally showed off more than they intended with their jersey reveal photoshoot. Penei Sewell is the easy option at the #5 pick. If the Bengals don’t take protecting Burrow seriously, he could go the way of David Carr.
Daniel Jones, New York Giants
Daniel Jones, and Dave Gettleman, might just be on their last legs in New York. Jones still hasn’t lived up to expectations, posting a 1.47 TD-INT% over the last two seasons. That ranks him #24 at the position, out of 28 active quarterbacks to throw at least 600 passes over the last two seasons. That’s really bad! Now, the Giants added Kenny Golladay, and will likely beef up either their offensive line, passing weaponry or both, in the draft.
It’s going to be the end of the line for Daniel Jones as a fantasy football commodity if he doesn’t take advantage of his opportunity. As it stands, 18 quarterbacks started at least 25 games in the last two seasons, and Daniel Jones has the second-lowest fantasy points per game. The only guy below him is Sam Darnold, who was shipped out of town to greener pastures this season. That might be the only way to save Daniel Jones if he falters this season.
These guys might have the most to lose, but you don’t! Not if you click these links!
[Image Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Jimmy_Garoppolo_2019_%28cropped%29.jpg, cropped under CC BY SA 2.0]
