Fantasy Forum Week 3: Minshew Meh

It’s a fun story. The late round draft pick that gets his chance on a team that would really, kinda, rather prefer tanking but let’s see what you got, kid kind of story. Talking of course about Gardner Minshew II who, in the reality TV show that is the NFL, opposed the ghost of his NFL future in Ryan Fitzpatrick, the grizzled veteran who has taken the quarantine beard to new heights.

Minshew doesn’t have the arm talent that the elite quarterbacks boast. That’s why he was a late round pick and not a first rounder because, if we’re being honest with each other, he has everything else. The dude boasts confidence and makes really smart decisions with the football. He’s actually a bad quarterback for tanking because Jacksonville has an interesting group of receivers that he’s smart enough to distribute the ball to accurately. So, is he a worthy of being your fantasy QB?

The honest answer is, it depends. If you’re in a one QB league, I think you’re only grabbing Minshew in the right matchup and probably on a bye week. If you’re in a two QB league, then by all means, grow the mustache and lean into it, but realize that you’ll need to occasionally need to make an audible when the Jaguars face a legitimate pro defense. Insert your Dolphins jokes all you want, but they’re going to be better than a lot of people think and while I ended up letting it ride with Minshew in my QB2 spot this week, I’m not surprised it didn’t work out.

The rest of the league right now is simply sorting through the injuries. The number of injuries to elite players is worrisome and I think we’re seeing just how important that ramp up in training camp and preseason is for these players. The first round of fantasy drafts has already taken a huge hit with Saquon Barkley serving at the poster child.

Has your team been hit hard by the injury bug? Who are the young players that you believe will step up and who are you avoiding? I, for one, have no interest in the Giants backfield.

Hit us up on the Twitter machine for any late questions or use the comments below to sound off. I can be found @gridironborn and my trusty assistant Whiskey Ranger tweets under the handle @WhiskeyRanger29.