The 2021 NFL offseason is off to a hot start. While this trade that saw Carson Wentz traded to the Colts for a 2021 third-round pick and a conditional 2022 second-round pick didn’t send the same number of shockwaves across the fantasy football community that the Matthew Stafford deal did, it still has some major fantasy implications. Most importantly, we should see Carson Wentz’s 2021 fantasy outlook rise from the dead under his former offensive coordinator and current Colts’ head coach, Frank Reich.
In 2017 when Reich last worked with Wentz, the signal-caller was a legitimate MVP candidate before tearing his ACL at the end of the season. In 13 games, Wentz tossed a career-high 33 touchdown passes to only seven interceptions. He also had a career-best 78.5 QBR, was ranked Pro Football Focus’ No. 4 passer, and had the third-best “big-time throw rate” in the league. Not to mention he was a fantasy stud, averaging the second-highest fantasy points per game at his position with 21.7.
Of course, Wentz has yet to replicate that magical season, but he’s also had a horrific supporting cast that saw Miles Sanders, Zach Ertz, Jalen Reagor, Dallas Goedert, Alshon Jeffery, and DeSean Jackson in and out of the lineup all last season. It’s tough to get anything going when Greg Ward and Travis Fulgham were the only lineup “consistencies” in 2020. He also had a porous offensive line that allowed him to be pressured on 29.7 percent of his dropbacks. Gross.
“I feel like all his issues are correctable,” Ron Jaworski said to The Athletic. “And he’s going to be working with Reich and they’ve had a great relationship in the past. No doubt, he had a bad year last year, there’s no other way to say it, but it wasn’t all his fault.
“The offensive line was decimated, the receiving corps was decimated, he was sacked constantly (50 sacks), they used the most starters on offense of any team in the league, and all that had an impact on him. But he still has an incredible skill set, he has system familiarity and a relationship with Frank, and he’s going to a team that’s a great fit for him. They want to run the ball, they have a great offensive line, some weapons. It’s really going to be a good situation for Carson.”
While the Colts don’t have a dazzling set of weapons, he’ll be protected by one of the league’s best offensive lines that allowed the statue of Philip Rivers to be pressured on only 16.5 percent of his dropbacks.
Even after adding Wentz to their cap, the Colts still have the fourth most cap space entering 2021 with $43 million. This will allow them to address the holes on the perimeter and potentially sign some of their unrestricted free agents (TY Hilton, Zach Pascal, Trey Burton, and Mo Alie-Cox).
However, there is some young surrounding talent, led by Jonathan Taylor, Michael Pittman, and Parris Campbell, especially if the latter can stay healthy. Then there’s also Nyheim Hines and Jack Doyle, who are solid pros.
Things can really only go up for Wentz in Indy. It’ll give him a much-needed change of scenery, a better offensive line (and team), and he’s reunited with his former offensive coordinator who engineered the best season of his career.
Thus, Wentz is a very solid late-round QB2 flier with a high ceiling in 2021 fantasy. Expect Wentz to vault up The Wolf’s 2021 Fantasy Football Rankings & Big Board on his next update.
