Justin Fields Signs With New York Jets: Will He Be Viable In Fantasy Football And For Garrett Wilson?
Ian Hartitz has instant reaction and analysis to quarterback Justin Fields signing with the New York Jets, and fantasy football impact on Garrett Wilson.
And just like that, the Jets have replaced Aaron Rodgers, as Justin Fields is lined up to sign a two-year, $40M contract, per Adam Schefter.
What does it mean for the Jets and fantasy football? And how about his old Ohio State teammate Garrett Wilson?
One of the top QBs available on the open market has found a new home: Justin Fields signed with the Jets on a two-year, $40-million deal that includes $30 million in guaranteed money. The contract makes Fields one of the league's lowest-paid starting QBs, although the former 11th-overall pick will seemingly be the clear-cut QB1 with Tyrod Taylor being the only other notable signal-caller on the Jets depth chart at the moment.
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Justin Fields Signs With the New York Jets
We'll get to Fields' much-documented real-life passing concerns in a second, but first it's important to realize: The man knows how to score fantasy points.
Fields fantasy points per game:
- 2021: 11.7 (QB30)
- 2022: 19.7 (QB5)
- 2023: 17.7 (QB11)
- 2024: 18.9 (QB8)
Of course, the rushing ability at hand is a big reason for this. Fields joins Lamar Jackson and Jayden Daniels as the only QBs in NFL history to average at least 50 rush yards per game; the 25-year-old talent is a legit threat to take it the distance anytime he takes off.
Now, consistent passing excellence hasn't exactly been on the table here. In fact, Fields ranks 37th in EPA per dropback (-0.006) and 35th in completion percentage over expected (-0.6%) among 54 qualified QBs since entering the league in 2021.
Then again, it's worth wondering if a better scheme and supporting cast could bring out another level here. After all, Fields has all the arm talent in the world. Are we positive this dude can't figure it out?
Fantasy Football Impact On Jets, Garrett Wilson, And More
Being reunited with former Ohio State BFF Garrett Wilson should help matters, although it's another example of Fields having exactly *one* good place to go with the football. This led to career-best production from DJ Moore in 2023 (PPR WR6!), but less-than-stellar results from George Pickens (WR42) during the first six weeks of 2024.
This brings us to Fields' standing in fantasy land ahead of 2024: His rushing upside will make it awfully difficult to rank more than 10 or so signal-callers ahead of him, assuming the $30 million guaranteed means he'll have a decently long leash. I understand prioritizing far more proven passers in better real-life offenses like Brock Purdy, Jordan Love, and Justin Herbert, but things get interesting when pitting Fields against guys like Drake Maye and Anthony Richardson, as well as various veteran pocket passers like Dak Prescott and Tua Tagovailoa.
Ultimately, Fields doesn't figure to earn that lofty of an ADP considering the general pessimism surrounding his ability as a passer, making him a potential PRIME late-round, dual-threat option to attack in drafts of all shapes and sizes. Drafting with a "first or last" mindset means gunning for high-upside options, and there simply haven't been many cheat codes in fantasy land better than run-heavy dual-threat QBs over the years.
Consider: 31 QBs had 100-plus carries in a season from 2014 to 2024 and …
- 13 (42%) finished as top-3 fantasy QBs on a per-game basis
- 20 (65%) finished as top-6 fantasy QBs
- Only 3 (10%) finished outside fantasy's top-12 QBs (2014 Colin Kaepernick, 2018 Lamar Jackson, 2020 Cam Newton)
As for Wilson: It's tough to be overly optimistic about a true explosion in fantasy land, although the potential for all kinds of volume in a passing game without many (any?) additional good places to go with the football will make it tough to drop the rising fourth-year talent too low in the ranks. Squeezing him into the top 10 feels a bit extreme, but something in the mid-to-low WR2 range alongside fellow former Buckeyes like Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Terry McLaurin, and Marvin Harrison Jr. feels appropriate.
Best of luck to Fields and the Jets: Here's to hoping they can snap their NFL-high nine consecutive seasons without a single finish at or above .500. Yikes!
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