RosterWatch Nation, this last week was a close one! David Johnson scored a kick return TD but that wasn’t enough. He was slow getting involved in the offense but he ripped off a rushing touchdown. That’s two weeks in a row we’ve hit gold… third time better be a charm.

Some of your fantasy hopes got crushed along with Tony Romo’s clavicle on Sunday. Fear not! You can pick Brandon Weeden up off the waiver wire. OK, maybe you should fear a little. Weeden looked good after Romo went out but he’s not a guy you want to bet your fantasy fortune on when teams have some time to game plan against him. I remember his stint in Cleveland and things didn’t go so well. You need a quarterback in redraft and you need a cheap quarterback in daily fantasy… let’s make some magic!

You could pick up Nick Foles, but he’s going against a Steelers defense that just wrecked Colin Kaepernick until garbage time and I think his ceiling is pretty low. You could pick up Johnny Football but we went on that roller coaster at the end of last season and Mike Pettine just dumped all over this idea by starting Josh McCown. You could pick up Tyrod Taylor (and as a Virginia Tech Hokie myself, I love the TyGod) but he’s heading into a matchup against a Miami defense giving up only 16.5 points per game. No, the quarterback you need is Ryan Fitzpatrick AKA Fitzmagic!

Fitzpatrick is the oldest player I’ve ever covered in a DECLASSIFIED column. I tend to stick with young, less-heralded and certainly less-bearded players. But I can’t quit Ryan Fitzpatrick. His career as a starter has been a series of peaks and valleys. He’s on a good peak right now and I like the system he’s in. He’s averaging about 15.7 fantasy points per game which is better than Joe Flacco, Sam Bradford, Peyton Manning, and Nick Foles to start 2015.

Let’s take a look at the positives and negatives for Ryan Fitzpatrick while considering his fantasy value in Week 3 versus the Philadelphia Eagles.

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Positives

– Experience: Fitz has been in the league a long time. You don’t have to worry about him having rookie jitters or being overwhelmed with the playbook or any defense he sees. He also gets the ball out quickly so he’s not going to get killed behind that offensive line.

– Weapons: Ok I shouldn’t say weapon(s). One weapon. Brandon Marshall. It hasn’t hurt Fitz in the past when he was throwing to Stevie Johnson and not much else. Brandon Marshall will be enough to carry him without Eric Decker.

– Matchup: The Philadelphia Eagles defense should be at least decent on paper. But they just got ripped in a breakout game by my favorite balding quarterback Blake Bortles(berger). The front-seven could cause some problems, but Fitz is going to attack that secondary (especially Nolan Carroll).

– Run Game: I like what I’ve seen from the 1-2 combo of Chris Ivory and ***shudder*** Bilal Powell. It’s not exactly the most dynamic backfield, but it can put enough fear in defenses that they can’t get too
far out of the box.

Negatives

– Inconsistency: Remember what I was saying about peaks and valleys? His other nickname besides “Fitzmagic” is “Fitzpee-pee” because he wets the bed and has a little pee-pee arm. There’s good Fitz and bad Fitz. Fitzmagic can be really good but he still throws a pick or two. Fitzpee-pee is really bad. I don’t think Bad Fitz will show his face for at least a few more weeks.

– Limited Arm Talent: The Amish Rifle has more of a squirt gun than a rocket arm. He’ll throw some ducks. Not a huge deal if you’re Peyton Manning but Fitz tends to try and fit the ball in some windows that he shouldn’t or in some cases just can’t.

– Eric Decker Injury: No telling how long Decker is out right now. He’s a great No. 2 opposite Brandon Marshall and he was easily the second best weapon for Fitzpatrick. His loss hurts.

– Possibility of a Close Game: If it’s a blowout it probably means one of two things… Fitz went ballistic and shredded the Eagles secondary OR the Eagles got ahead quick and Fitz is going to rack up a bunch of garbage time points. Either way you win. However, if it’s a lower-scoring close game obviously that hurts. If this turns into a game between the Eagles and Jets backfields then we’re in trouble.

DECLASSIFIED: Ryan Fitzpatrick’s Week 3 Fantasy Outlook

I think the floor is pretty high with Fitzpatrick in Week 3. He’s up and down but it’s usually in stretches of games, not game-to-game. I’d be surprised if he suddenly flatlined after two pretty good weeks. In redraft leagues, I think he’s a great QB2 and you can stream him in a lot of formats. He’s available in over 90% of leagues! That’s bananas! You should take advantage, especially in 12-man leagues where it can be hard to get a halfway-decent QB2.

I don’t see him being pulled from the lineup unless he stinks the joint up for a stretch of weeks or until Geno Smith comes back. But Chan Gailey loves Fitzy and the feeling is mutual. I think he’s a major daily fantasy bargain. He’s only $5100 in DraftKings! That’s cheaper than Brandon Weeden, Nick Foles, and Matthew Stafford (who is going against the toughest defense in the NFL right now).

Fitz will continue to be a QB2 with QB1 upside. All factors considered, I would expect Ryan Fitzpatrick to throw for 280 yards three touchdowns and a pick in Week 3 versus the Philadelphia Eagles.