This week was a reminder that opportunity is the mother of all fantasy breakouts. Without opportunities to score points, players will disappoint even if they’re more than capable. Tyrod Taylor and Blake Bortles illustrated this opportunity principle well.
Taylor attempted only 12 passes on 17 dropbacks, completing 11 and scoring nearly a point per dropback. Unfortunately, that’s only 16 points, and 16 players scored more.
Bortles, on the other hand, struggled mightily against the Jets. He barely completed 60 percent of his attempts and threw two interceptions. But he attempted more than three times as many passes as Taylor, so despite scoring less than half a point per dropback, he passed for 381 yards and scored 24 points, the seventh-highest total this week.
I advised taking Taylor last week. As you’ll read in a bit, another significant factor constricted his potential, but ultimately, there’s only so much for which you can plan. One of those things may just be volume, as you’ll learn when you reach the portion of this column advocating for Kirk Cousins.
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