Week 1 vs. Los Angeles Chargers
Ryan Fitzpatrick will look to pull off some FitzMagic in 2021 with a new team. Fitzpatrick will, unfortunately, be without one of his top targets in Curtis Samuel, who suffered an injury in camp and was placed on the IR to start the season. But Fitz still has some great options in Terry McLaurin, Logan Thomas, Antonio Gibson, JD McKissic and rookie Dyami Brown. He'll face a fairly tough Chargers defense that allowed the ninth-fewest passing yards a year ago. Oddly though, the Chargers gave up the 11th-most passing touchdowns. We like Fitz as a mid-range QB this week.
Fantasy Upside
Ryan Fitzpatrick played well last year despite a season that saw him in-and-out of the lineup as the Dolphins figured out how to best manage their QB controversy. Fitzpatrick began the season as the starter, scoring 12 touchdowns in the first six weeks before he was benched. He now joins a Washington team where he should be the starter. He has a solid receiving corps around him in Terry McLaurin, Curtis Samuel and Logan Thomas. He then has a pair of receiving backs in Antonio Gibson and J.D. McKissic.
Fantasy Downside
Fitzpatrick is pretty well known for the fact that he’s very turbulent with his production. He can look good at times, and he can look really bad. This has led to him being in-and-out of lineups for the past several seasons. In fact, he hasn’t started a full season since 2015. He’s very turnover-prone, finishing with the fifth-highest interception percentage (interceptions per pass attempt) last season (3%). In 2019 he was 10th in that category (2.6%), in 2018 he was first (4.9%) and in 2016 he was first (4.2%).
2021 Bottom Line
Fitzpatrick could be a value play in the later rounds. Everything is set up for him to have a great season, but will the FitzMagic run out in Washington? He’ll turn 39 during the season and has a talented, younger quarterback behind him in Taylor Heinicke if things go bad. If Fitzpatrick is able to start throughout the entire season, he could finish as a top 12 quarterback this season. But Fitzpatrick has been unpredictable in recent seasons, so he carries risk if you’re looking for him to be your every-week starter.
Week 13 vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Ryan Fitzpatrick started last week in place of an injured Tua Tagovailoa (thumb), and had a fine game with 257 yards, two touchdowns and no turnovers. Despite being benched, Fitzpatrick has played really well for the Dolphins this season, and is a perfect streaming option for fantasy owners with injured quarterbacks, or quarterbacks on bye. Tagovailoa has been limited in practice this week, so it's not apparent if he'll rejoin the team as a starter in Week 13. If Tagovailoa is out, Fitzpatrick becomes a low-end QB1 play in a favorable matchup against the Bengals (No. 31 aFPA0. After a tough start in Week 1, Fitzpatrick has averaged 2.3 touchdowns per game in his last six starts.
Week 12 at New York Jets
FitzMagic returns as Ryan Fitzpatrick is expected to start over the injured Tua Tagovailoa. Before he was benched, Fitzpatrick was actually one of the best quarterback options in fantasy. He had a rough Week 1, but from Week 2 to Week 6 (5 games), Fitzpatrick had three games with three touchdowns while averaging 268.8 passing yards and 23.4 rushing yards. He scored 12 total touchdowns in that five game span and was a pretty reliable option. Oddly enough, his last start came against the Jets, his opponent this week. In that game, Fitz had three touchdowns and 191 passing yards on 27 attempts. He's in our Top 15 quarterbacks for Week 12, making him a viable QB1 option.
Week 6 vs. New York Jets
Ryan Fitzpatrick delivered another great performance last week against a depleted 49ers defense. He topped 300 yards passing as well as scoring multiple times in a game for the third time this season. He's now jumped to the 10-highest scoring QB (average) so far this season. He gets a solid matchup this week against the Jets, who are 17th in aFPA. Fitzpatrick has strong streaming value for owners who went that route, but we wouldn't start him over a trusted player. He's around the top 15 QB range for Week 6.
Week 5 at San Francisco 49ers
Ryan Fitzpatrick has emerged as a solid streaming option for fantasy players who went that route. He had another 300-yard performance last week, finishing with 315 passing yards. He also added 47 yards on the ground as well as a rushing score. Fitzpatrick is 14th among quarterbacks in average fantasy points per game, topping players like Deshaun Watson, Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford. This doesn't mean Fitz should be your every week starter, but he's not a bad play in favorable matchups. This is not one of those weeks as the 49ers have allowed the second-fewest passing yards per game (184.0) and the fewest passing touchdowns (3) in the league. Fitz is not a strong streaming option in Week 5.
Week 4 vs. Seattle Seahawks
Ryan Fitzpatrick struggled in Week 1, but has since been a serviceable quarterback in fantasy. He topped 300 yards while scoring two touchdowns in Week 3 and scored three times in Week 3. He gets another favorable matchup this week against the Seahawks, who have had a historically bad start to the season. Seattle is the first NFL team ever to allow more than 1,200 passing yards through the first three weeks of the season. While the Seahawks are giving up an average of 400 passing yards a game, you shouldn't quite expect that production from Fitzpatrick. However, it's a good enough matchup to where Fitz can be viewed as a viable streaming option. He's a top 20 QB in Week 4.
Week 3 at Jaguars
After a poor Week 1 performance, Ryan Fitzpatrick bounced back with a strong Week 2 game. Such is the career of FitzMagic. Fitz finished with 328 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions against a usually tough Bills secondary. He draws a much more favorable matchup this week against Jacksonville, which has given up the ninth-most fantasy points per game this season. We wouldn't start Fitzpatrick over some of the more obvious choices at quarterback, but he's not a bad streaming option for players going that route. He places just inside the top 20 rankings for quarterbacks this week.
Week 2 vs. Buffalo Bills
As expected, Ryan Fitzpatrick struggled last week against the Patriots. He scored no touchdowns and threw three interceptions while finishing with 191 yards. He'll continue to be a poor option in Week 2 as he gets another tough matchup against the Bills. The Bills allowed the fifth-fewest fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks last season, and looked strong in Week 1 (although it was against Sam Darnold). Fitzpatrick is going to be a poor option most weeks, but will be an especially bad option this week against the Bills.
Week 1 at New England Patriots
Ryan Fitzpatrick is starting for now, although we'd expect the Dolphins to move to Tua Tagovailoa at some point this season. In the meantime, Fitzpatrick remains solely as a potential streaming option for owners with quarterbacks who are hurt or on bye. Fitzpatrick isn't someone you want to start in Week 1, especially in a brutal matchup against the Patriots. New England allowed the third-fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks last season, and Fitzpatrick found out the hard way. He struggled in his first game against the Patriots last season, finishing 11-of-21 for 89 yards, 0 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions. He surprisingly finished with 320 yards against New England in Week 17, but still only threw for one touchdown. He's among the worst quarterback options this week.
