Fantasy Football: Jacoby Brissett on rise with Andrew Luck’s retirement

If you drafted Andrew Luck to your fantasy football team, feel free to pivot right to the man who’s replacing him, Jacoby Brissett.

A calf injury that seemed to evolve into some sort of ankle issue had kept Indianapolis Andrew Luck from practicing virtually all offseason, casting his status for Week 1 into doubt. But Saturday night the shocking news came, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter first reported Luck has told the Colts he is retiring. So Jacoby Brissett is now going to step in as the starter for Indianapolis.

Luck’s health situation dropped his fantasy ADP a bit, to QB8 and pick 7.09 in 12-team leagues as of Saturday (via Fantasy Football Calculator). Based on his upside when healthy, a surefire top-five fantasy signal caller, there was a measure of risk/reward value in drafting Luck.

So those that drafted Luck, maybe as late as Saturday, are left in a real lurch. So what can be done to fill the void?

The most obvious option is the man who will replace Luck, Jacoby Brissett. And luckily (pun intended), we have a solid sample to draw from.

When Luck wound up missing the entire 2017 with a shoulder issue, Brissett started 15 games and played in all 16 for the Colts after being acquired late in the preseason from the New England Patriots.

Brissett threw for 3,098 yards with 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions in 2017, along with 260 rushing yards and four touchdowns. He wound up finishing as QB20 for the season, and he was QB17 over his run as the starter from Week 2-Week 17. From Week 5-Week 10, with two 300-yard passing games in that stretch, he was QB8.

With everything he had going against him–learning a new system just before the regular season, taking a league-high 52 sacks behind a horrible offensive line and a shallow set of skill talent around him, Brissett did incredibly well in Luck’s absence. Since taking over as Colts’ general manager, Chris Ballard has substantially upgraded everything around the quarterback.

It’s sure to change quickly, but as of Saturday night Brissett is owned in just 0.4 percent of ESPN leagues.

Here are some other options off the waiver wire for the fantasy owners Luck has left holding the bag with his late retirement (ESPN ownership rates). Based on some of these names, don’t dismiss there being a really good available option to replace Luck in your league.

Jameis Winston-38.4%
Lamar Jackson-58.9%
Josh Allen-13.9%
Philip Rivers-54.4%
Kirk Cousins-31.7%
Sam Darnold-12.4%
Mitchell Trubisky-51.8%
Derek Carr-17.7%
Jimmy Garoppolo-21.6%
Nick Foles-7.2%

Luck was shaping up to be a very risky fantasy pick, so his retirement now simply removes him from the equation. Quarterback is very deep again this year, so all is not lost for those fantasy owners who suddenly have no Luck. Brissett, stepping into a very good situation, has the potential to finish in the top-10 at the position now.