Carson Wentz, Parris Campbell among Fantasy's Likeliest Draft Board Risers
There's nothing like new situations to get the fantasy community fired up over certain NFL players.
The Indianapolis Colts home a couple of those players in quarterback Carson Wentz and wide receiver Parris Campbell.
For Wentz, he was traded to the Colts following an awful year with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2020. He's now reunited with Colts head coach Frank Reich, who was his offensive coordinator during the most successful portion of his career.
As for Campbell, he's healthy and recovered from last year's knee injury that kept him out of all but two games.
Recently, FantasyPros identified both players as ones who could rise up draft boards as the season gets closer. First, here's what they had to say about Wentz:
Carson Wentz (IND) Current ADP: QB28, Guess ADP: QB21
Through his five years in the league, Wentz’s fantasy finishes have been QB24, QB5, QB23, QB10, and QB22. If the trend holds steady to alternating years, we should have a good one. This is more about the reunion with Frank Reich than it is Wentz’s yearly finishes, as Wentz finished with 54 touchdowns and just 14 interceptions while playing under Reich in 2017 and 2018. He now has what might be the best offensive line in football, which should allow him to get back on track in 2021. His ADP could rise to as high as QB18.
While Wentz is currently ranked as QB28, there is every reason to believe he'll outperform it. However, as FantasyPros points out, he's likely to ascend from that current ranking before most redrafts begin anyhow.
For starters, Wentz has never finished that low, even as a rookie when he finished as QB24. He didn't even finish that low last year when he had what most people consider to be his worst season, ranking as QB14 by the time he was benched after Week 13.
Being reunited with Reich behind one of the NFL's best offensive lines and a running game featuring two 1,000-yard rushers and one of the game's best pass-catching backs are some pretty big advantages in Wentz's favor.
Consider this: as of the time his season ended, Wentz has finished as a top-10 fantasy quarterback twice (QB2 in 2017 and QB9 in 2019) and top-15 another two times (QB15 in 2018 and QB14 in 2020).
When taking all five of his seasons and prorating them over a 16-game slate, Wentz's average season is 3,968.4 passing yards, 29.0 total touchdowns, 17.5 total turnovers, and 252.9 rushing yards.
A player who should help Wentz's numbers as long as both stay healthy is Campbell. Here's what FantasyPros had to say about him.
Parris Campbell (IND) Current ADP: WR85, Guess ADP: WR60
Whenever a receiver gets hurt early in the year, it’s easy for drafters to forget about them. Campbell had nine targets, six receptions, and 71 yards in the one game he played last year. Do you know how many times Michael Pittman (who’s being drafted as the WR49) can say he hit those numbers? Once. Both former second rounders have a ceiling depending on who Carson Wentz favors, but it’s not built into Campbell’s price. If Wentz keeps doing what he did in Philadelphia, that’s targeting tight ends/slot receivers over the middle of the field, which is primarily where Campbell lines up.
Every time I mention him, I say that everything revolves around health for Campbell, because it's true. When he's on the field he's a huge part of the Colts' offense, but injuries have limited him to just nine out of a possible 32 regular-season games in his first two years.
In those nine games, he has touched the ball 30 times offensively and averages 8.3 yards per touch. In 2020, Campbell was off to a quick start in 63 offensive snaps. He started both games and caught 6-of-9 targets for 71 yards (11.8 avg.) as well as 2 carries for 16 yards (8.0 avg.). Out of his 8 touches, 6 resulted in first downs.
Who Wentz bonds with on the field will go a long way toward determining fantasy value but make no mistake about it, they will scheme-up touches for Campbell.
Do you plan on targeting Wentz or Campbell in fantasy this year? Drop your thoughts below in the comment section!
