With the conformation of Nick Foles‘ clavicle injury, and an “optimistic” timeline of four-six weeks until his return, all eyes in the fantasy football world are now on Mark Sanchez.
Most analyst are agreeing that Sanchez is a must add, and even my personal fantasy guru Matthew Berry is on board. While all signs are currently pointing to, “YES! Sanchez is the QB you’re looking for”, I’m a little more hesitant about buying into the hype. Here’s why:
The Philadelphia Eagles‘ offensive line is in shambles due to injury. The latest victim being right guard, Todd Herremans. Last season, the Eagles were lucky and their offensive line played all 17 games. I think we can all remember the results of a healthy O-Line. Nick Foles completed 64% of his passes, and amassed 27 touchdowns and only two interceptions. This year, Foles is struggling with a 59.9% completion rate and 10 interceptions. The signal caller is having less time to throw, and looking less and less like the quarterback we saw in 2013.The Eagles have already allowed 23 sacks on their quarterback, so is there any chance Mark Sanchez show us a better performance with a weakened offensive line?
To borrow the words of Your Fantasy Football Coach Jack Delaney, Mark Sanchez is a “turnover machine”. If you don’t remember the epic “Butt Fumble”, Google it. Now. It was voted the “Not Top 10; Worst of the Worst” for 40 straight weeks. It was finally retired after being deemed unbeatable; A first for ESPN. But it wasn’t a singular occurrence. Sanchez had eight fumbles in both 2011, and 2012. (He didn’t play a snap in 2013) Speaking of turnovers, from 2009-2012, Sanchez threw 69 interceptions. His average interceptions were a half point higher than his touchdown completions which were only 17 per season. While Chip Kelly is a great coach, poor game management is a hard habit to break.
But what about production? Maybe Coach Kelly can harness some upside in Sanchez. Foles had a high ceiling for production, what about Sanchez? In all his years in the NFL, Sanchez has never had a higher completion percentage than 56.7%. We’ve already discussed his lackluster touchdown completions, and his yards per game average only increased 30 yards from his rookie season for an unimpressive 192.2 yards in his final year with the New York Jets. I say good luck to Chip Kelly.
It’s not all doom and gloom for the new starting QB, however. Chip Kelly has a way of getting the most out of his players, and even with a flat performance from Nick Foles, he is still startable in most fantasy formats. It’s also true that Sanchez will have better offensive weapons in Philadelphia than New York. Jeremy Maclin has looked particularly impressive in the last few games, and Riley Cooper has a lot of potential. There is hope for Mark to turn things around and put together some exciting games. However, I like to base my fantasy pick ups on fact and not hope. Based on past performance Sanchez is someone I would avoid, especially with roster spots at a high premium going into the second half of the fantasy season.
Wait to buy until Sanchez proves he worth the cost.
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Categories: Fantasy Football
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