The last time Carson Wentz was great, Alex Smith was better. Sort of.
In 2017 Wentz followed up a largely forgettable rookie campaign with a breakout sophomore season where he finished fifth among all fantasy QBs, just behind the artificially inflated Smith. And actually, Wentz was #2 in fantasy points per game, suggesting the 24-year-old might become a perennial elite or near-elite option.
Then he regressed somewhat in an injury-plagued 2018 season before rebounding to a respectable #10 finish last year.
But he remains one of the league's more underrated fantasy quarterbacks. As I highlighted yesterday, he's done a lot with relatively little against some stiff competition. He was the expert-consensus 16th-ranked QB this week, which I argued was based more on recent statistics than on actual context.
The context is that with Miles Sanders out of the picture and DeSean Jackson returning, facing a beatable defense that's been on the field more than all but four other NFL D's, Wentz was primed for a more efficiently productive outing. Simply put, Philly's "franchise" QB entered the game as the primary chain-mover.
I recommended starting Wentz with many of you. Publicly I called him "probably my favorite QB streamer of the week." Who cares about expert opinions when you have an underperforming QB1 available in nearly half of all ESPN leagues--and a guy with one of the softest remaining schedules? As always, points are available to those who take calculated risks, and considering Alshon Jeffery's and Dallas Goedert's imminent return, I'd ride Wentz as a QB1 for most of the season's remaining weeks.
Elsewhere last night, Daniel Jones was a terrific 2-QB league streamer as expected (and actually did a little better than that, though his actual play was once again erratic). Devonta Freeman's injury is one to watch with RB3/4 Wayne Gallman ready to help take over if needed. Sterling Shepard was a surprise (to me, at least) as an instant-impact #1 in his first game back, while Darius Slayton might still be less than 100%. Also, Evan Engram is awful (on the field, and usually in fantasy).
Back to Philly: It will be fascinating to see what happens with Travis Fulgham when Jeffery and Goedert are back. A Greg Ward retreat seems likely. But will Jeffery--who hasn't been "great" in five years--be a viable streamer? He's mystery given his presumed remaining talent and injury history (and he's still only 30), but his upside can't be much higher than WR3. And yes, we could talk about Richard Rodgers, but the third-string TE and former Packer castoff isn't likely to hit 8+ points again unless he's forced into another start.