We were about a month away from maybe never seeing Ryan Fitzpatrick as an NFL quarterback again. He had had a miserable season in Houston and been benched for Ryan Mallett, who looked at least competent. And then Mallett got hurt, Fitzpatrick got a start again, and he responded with a career performance in the Texans' 45-21 win over the Tennessee Titans Sunday.
Fantasy football waiver wire, Week 14: Ryan Fitzpatrick has career day
Ryan Fitzpatrick, six touchdowns. Ryan. Fitzpatrick. Six. Touchdowns. We break down the fantasy implications.
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Fitzpatrick completed 24-of-33 passes Sunday for 358 yards and six touchdowns, more than half as many as he had totaled in nine starts before Sunday. Fitzpatrick spread the ball around, as well, connected for two touchdowns to DeAndre Hopkins and one each to Ryan Griffin, Arian Foster, Andre Johnson and J.J. Watt.
Fantasy impact: This can’t change much of anything about any evaluation of Fitzpatrick. He’s always been good for a monster game or two on occasion. Yes, this -- 39 fantasy points -- is extreme, and higher than anything he’s ever done before, but this is still Ryan Fitzpatrick, he of the 11:8 TD:INT ratio entering Sunday.
Going forward, he is who he was: a low-end quarterback who at least has enough upside to be a reasonable QB2 if things get desperate, but not anyone you can rely on. Congratulations on a big game, Fitzpatrick, but that doesn’t change much of anything.
