Matthew Stafford, Brock Osweiler Among Quarterbacks to Avoid in 2016 Fantasy Football Drafts
When drafting a quarterback in fantasy football, it’s easy to get swept up in the hype. The big money contracts, defensive acquisitions, and rookie class all have an impact on a QB’s performance, so it’s important to stay grounded when analyzing the options.
Your quarterback can make or break your team, and the later-round players can be especially risky. Here’re a few guys to avoid in this season’s fantasy football draft for the more conservative owners out there:
Brock Osweiler, QB, Houston Texans: Osweiler is one of those high-risk, low-reward guys, and the perfect example of an over-hyped quarterback. His contract looks nice, and giving him DeAndre Hopkins to throw to is a bonus, but he struggled to win games with the Super Bowl 50 Champion Denver Broncos and their No. 1 defense.
As far as starting quarterbacks go, Osweiler is basically a rookie. We think he can run (although we saw little evidence with Denver), and he was incredibly inconsistent. Also, Osweiler was nothing but a running joke amongst Broncos’ fans before 2015.
While he has the added benefit of playing in a weak AFC South division, Osweiler is largely unproven. Personally, I wouldn’t touch Osweiler unless he’s an undrafted free agent. Never hurts to sit him on the bench just in case.
Matthew Stafford, QB, Detroit Lions: Stafford is another high-risk player for 2016. In the past, Stafford has been one of the better fantasy quarterbacks out there, but the retirement of Calvin Johnson will likely change that.
Sure, there’s an argument to be made that Eric Ebron and Golden Tate will pick up the slack, but without Megatron taking the brunt of the focus away from the others, you can expect a noticeable drop off in Stafford’s production.
Johnson was responsible for over 1,200 yards and nine touchdowns this past season. That’s about one-fourth of everything Stafford did last season.
I expect the completion percentage to drop, interceptions to rise, and a significant decline in yardage. Stafford may be better than some QBs (I wouldn’t touch Robert Griffin III just yet), but you also have more reliable players out there.