4. Jameis Winston – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jameis Winston has been coming on incredibly strong in recent weeks in terms of his overall performance on the field and in terms of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers having success. This, of course, culminated in Week 11 as Winston threw for five touchdown passes and amassed 29 fantasy points. That’s by far his best outing of the year, but he’s actually been reliable before his monumental outing against the Eagles.
Winston is one of the few NFL quarterbacks that can boast the fact that he hasn’t had a fantasy outing this season with fewer than 12 points. Even before the monstrous 29-point effort in Week 11, Winston had four games this season with 17 fantasy points or more. He’s always going to be a risk because of his propensity for turning the ball over, but you can’t deny his talent and upside as a fantasy option. It’s no just his fantasy history that makes Winston a possible Flacco replacement, either.
There are two major things working in Winston’s favor going forward in his career and if you are looking at him to replace Flacco. For one, his weapons like Mike Evans, Vincent Jackson, Charles Sims, and others are phenomenal targets that boost Jameis’ value. Moreover, he also has been productive using his legs, not being afraid to run it into the end zone when Tampa gets in close. It might seem risky to rely on a rookie down the stretch of the fantasy season, but Winston has given no reason to believe you shouldn’t.
Next: No. 3 Alex Smith