In a year of impact rookie quarterbacks, no rookie quarterback has had more fantasy football impact than Carson Wentz, and it’s time to fire the number two overall pick up for your fantasy football squads this weekend against a woeful Lions defense.
Wentz stepped into the starting quarterback role for the Eagles and immediately took control. Through three games this season, Wentz has thrown for over 250 yards per game and has an immaculate 5:0 TD: More importMoreover, as the games have progressed, he has gotten more control over the team. He is yet to go under 30 passing attempts for the season, meaning the game is running through him, and he has increased his completion percentage every game this season while going from 7.5 yards per attempt average in the first game up to 9.7 yards per attempt. The Eagles aren’t dumbing down the offense for Wentz. They’re allowing him to grow into it.
There are productive NFL quarterbacks who do not produce sufficient fantasy points to be useful in the game, but Wentz’s growth has shown that he is not that player. Through three games this season, Wentz is the #12 quarterback on a points-per-game basis, averaging 17.62 FPPG thus far this year. Of the three games he’s played, he was QB12, QB23, and QB7 (and his QB23 week saw him ahead of Eli Manning, Russell Wilson, Andrew Luck and Jameis Winston, who anyone would have started over him). He is a viable fantasy football starter and is worth getting onto your squad.
Wentz and his increasing responsibilities travel to Detroit to take on a Lions team that is struggling to stop the quarterback thus far this season. They have only picked off one pass through four games and the passing touchdowns allowed in four games are as follows: 4, 2, 4, 2. Granted, they played Andrew Luck and Aaron Rodgers in this span, but they have also taken on Marcus Mariota and Brian Hoyer. Mariota is talented, but the offense has schemed poorly and Hoyer was run out of Houston and is now a backup. This Lions defense is allowing three passing touchdowns per game and isn’t doing much to stop the quarterback.
Wentz is likely freely available on your waiver wire in your fantasy football league, and with three starting QB options on bye this week, Wentz will be a great fill-in option you can pluck freely out of free agency after waiver wires run. While he will be useful this week against a terrible Lions defense and next week as he visits the common Washington pass defense, he will not be startable against the Vikings, and an ill-advised start two weeks later against the Giants. If you are playing matchups with two quarterbacks, you could do worse than Wentz as a part of your rotation. Either way, if you got him, start him this week.