Troy Taormina USATODAY Sports
Russell Wilson is quarterbacking an undefeated football team in the Seattle Seahawks and has Super Bowl aspirations, but his Fantasy Football owners have been underwhelmed in a big way due to the Seahawks’ ball-control style that puts very little pressure on their quarterback to put up gaudy numbers. In fact, 11 quarterbacks have completed more passes than Wilson has attempted (96) through four weeks. Equally surprising, Christian Ponder (who missed a game and is one of the few quarterbacks who have the luxury of a better running back than the Seahawks) has more drop-backs this season than Wilson. I don’t care how talented a player is, the lack of opportunity is a killer in the Fantasy world, and it is hard to imagine things changing as long as Seattle continues to win ball games.
With fewer attempts to gain his Fantasy owners points, Wilson has almost no room for error if he is going to justify a starting spot in your lineup. That’s not a problem if the offense is creating big plays on a regular basis, but that’s not how this offense was built. An amazingly high 14.9 percent of Wilson’s drop-backs this season have resulted in a thrown away pass or a sack (for reference, the punching bag that is Eli Manning has a 11.3 percent rate), and with a career average of 5.1 yards per rush, he isn’t picking you up big plays with his legs like a Colin Kaepernick has the ability to do. So while the Seahawks are humming along and will not change a thing, your Fantasy team is suffering and in need of a major change. So where do you turn? You probably have a solid squad as you waited to draft a quarterback, but you need more than this to run the table in the Fantasy playoffs. Who should you target?
Making a trade is not a bad idea, as long as you’re smart about it. Here are two quarterbacks I like more than Wilson, two I view as a lateral move, and two I wouldn’t move Wilson for.
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Joe Flacco: Cushy Fantasy Football postseason schedule opens up with the nice “second bye week”. He currently ranks fifth in the league in total pass attempts and should have a healthy receiving core by the time you need him most.
Jay Cutler: He has an elite receiver and Alshon Jeffery is ready to emerge as a nice second option. Martellus Bennett has proven to be a nice addition, becoming the preferred redzone option over any running play. He’s only been sacked six times this season (159 drop-backs) and is thriving in Marc Trestman’s wide-open offense.
Equivalent
Eli Manning: Things can’t get worse, can they? If nothing else, he’s going to throw the ball a lot (the New York Giants can’t run the ball or play defense) and has strong receiving options. They close the Fantasy season with six porous pass defenses in a seven-week stretch following their bye.
Matt Schaub: He currently ranks second in the league in drop-backs and seventh in completion percentage (65.5 percent). DeAndre Hopkins is a budding star and Andre Johnson is still as reliable a set of hands as you’ll find.
Downgrade
Andy Dalton: The receiving core is very shallow after A.J. Green and this division is relentless defensively.
Alex Smith: Only Blaine Gabbert has a lower aDOT (average depth of target) than Smith’s 6.2. Smith isn’t looking for Dwayne Bowe for the big play, a trend that limits his upside in a big way.
Questions on a specific Wilson trade? Shoot me a tweet @unSOPable23. If you need week five advice, I’ve got you covered with a tandem to bench tonight, a receiver to start, and a running back retuning from a concussion that is ready for a full workload.
