The tale of Anthony Richardson continues to be brimming with injuries and setbacks. The 2023 4th overall pick is facing another, yet familiar, hurdle as reports are coming out of camp that he has pain in his throwing shoulder. They are early reports, and we are sitting here three months away from the season, but news like this gives off an awfully bad energy. It’ll be tough to shake this feeling when fantasy drafts come around.
Because let’s face it – the burns left by Richardson’s brutal sophomore season are still raw. Fantasy managers are vindictive creatures with too much time on their hands. They won’t forget what happened after that magical Week 1 performance.
With Richardson sidelined, this does mean, despite everything, Daniel Jones is once again in the conversation for fantasy relevance. And it is with great frustration (though tampered with a little bit of excitement) to say that Daniel Jones may just be one of the best values in fantasy drafts this year.
And I get it – Daniel Jones is not the guy you are excited to scoop up. Jones has been largely detrimental to your roster for 5 of his 6 years in the league. He’s routinely finished outside of the top 20 at his position (QB23, QB24, QB27, QB44, QB29) and has finished a complete season just once. Jones has thrown just 70 TD’s through six years, the majority of which (24) came in his rookie year. Compare that to his 47 interceptions in that time span and we are looking at a player that probably shouldn’t be starting in the NFL.
In his defense, he has been behind one of the worst pass blocking o-lines for the past five years. From 2020 to 2024 the New York Giants have had the 32nd, 30th, 24th, 32nd, and 28th ranked line per PFF. Not a lot of folks can make snap decisions when the defense can waltz right on in. Compare this with his new home in Indianapolis who ranked 13th, 23th, 23th, 6th, and 10th in the same stretch. Jones wasn’t great, but he wasn’t working in the best environment either.
So that brings us to the main question: why in the world should we trust Daniel Jones in the year of our lord 2025? Well, since he costs just about nothing in fantasy drafts, Jones could be a great value for those looking to wait on QB.
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In his only year where he played 16 games Jones finished as the QB9. The team somehow stumbled into the playoffs and even won the Wildcard matchup against the Vikings. That one wild season was enough to earn Jones an extension with the team (a contract that ultimately led to the departure of Saquon Barkley, but we won’t dive too deep into that mess). In that season Jones didn’t particularly “wow” as a passer. Instead, he produced with his legs, inexplicably crossing 700 yards rushing and scoring seven touchdowns on the ground. The upside exists; we just don’t get to see it very often.
I’m hoping we get to see some of it with the Colts this year, because he could be a very stressful fun late round lotto ticket. He has a real receiving corps in front of him and another talented back in Jonathan Taylor behind him. The vibes might continue to improve as we hear more from the Indianapolis camp about Richardson’s injury and Jones’ performance. It’s early, but it’s still worth keeping an eye on the former first rounder from Duke.
That all said, we are relying on a player who has produced just once in his six year career. We are looking statistics straight in the eye and saying, “Forget you! I believe in Vanilla Vick!”. The odds are hilariously against the premise of this article. But what’s the point of playing fantasy football if not to take ludicrous swings at players that have no business being any good for the success of your team?
I’ll leave you with one last disclaimer: please do not take him before the 12th round in your drafts. The reason why we like Jones is because he’s a starting quarterback with rushing upside that doesn’t cost a dime. Taking him in the middle of the draft is setting your roster up for failure. Don’t need to love the player; just got to love the value.
