There are two ways to play fantasy football. You can play it safe, or you can swing for the fences. It’s always risky to chase outliers, but outliers are how we separate from our competitors.
With that in mind, we’re going through bold fantasy takes for every NFL team, with this installment looking at the Indianapolis Colts.
Indianapolis Colts Bold Fantasy Prediction: Anthony Richardson Goes Full 2019 Lamar Jackson
The title says it all. In 2019, Jackson ran for 1,213 yards, threw 36 touchdowns, and averaged 28.2 fantasy points per game. It was the best season by a fantasy quarterback ever.
But if there’s anyone in the NFL now with a chance to match it, it’s Anthony Richardson.
Although he played only four games as a rookie, Richardson showcased his dual-threat ability. He averaged 34 rushing yards per game and left two games early.
There’s certainly a world where Richardson can average over 60 rushing yards per game. If he progresses even a little bit as a passer, a historic season is possible in what should be a high-octane Colts offense.
Anthony Richardson Fantasy Profile
Richardson finished his rookie season with 80 pass attempts, completing 50 of them for 577 yards and three touchdowns against one interception. There’s not much for us to do with that information.
But while his passing numbers remain largely a black box, I believe we saw enough on the ground to make reasonable inferences. Richardson averaged 6.25 rush attempts for 34 yards per game. In this case, it’s fair to project that to be mostly sustainable across a full season.
Richardson made it through 90% of the snaps in three games last season. In those games, he scored 21.9, 17.7, and 29.6 fantasy points, respectively.
As we’ve established, three games are not a large sample size. We cannot say with any certainty that Richardson will be an elite fantasy quarterback if healthy. What we can say, though, with absolute certainty is that the potential exists. It’s his potential that makes Richardson so appetizing for fantasy managers.
Check out Pro Football Network’s full fantasy football profile of Anthony Richardson right here.