Is Wallace to the Vikings a Good Thing for His Fantasy Value?
While the focus in Minnesota tends to be on Adrian Peterson and his situation, lets take a step back and look at Mike Wallace arriving with the Vikings.
He was traded in the start of free agency to the Vikings for a Taco Bell Doritos Locos Taco (really it was a 5th round pick and $5.5 million in cap space), but it sure felt like nothing. But then again I’m not a cap guy in the NFL or someone who had to deal with Mike Wallace complaining when things didn’t go his way, but I digress.
It’s no surprise really that he’s on a new team for 2015, the relationship with the Dolphins seemed doomed from the start. Now he’s set to pair up with the emerging Teddy Bridgewater (did I just say emerging?) in an offense that could be interesting for 2015.
What the Vikings Get
The Vikings are getting, for all intents and purposes, a receiver with great deep speed. When he’s able to use his speed to gain separation, he’s extremely capable of taking it to the house. The problem in Miami was that he only caught 2 touchdowns on targets 20 or more yards down the field vs the 16 he caught from 2010–2012 with the Steelers (Per PFF).
Now that problem could be pointed at Ryan Tannehill, who struggled with deep balls. In 2013 Tannehill has a 32.8% accuracy percentage on deep throws making him 17th of 21 qualified QB’s (Per PFF). Not exactly numbers that bode well for a deep ball receiver like Wallace. If Bridgewater played enough to qualify he would have tied for 7th best in 2014 with a 46.3% accuracy rating. Now that’s promising for the team and for fantasy football owners.
What Fantasy Football Owners Get
Fantasy football fans and owners (or future owners) should see this as a boost to Wallace’s fantasy value in 2015. He moves from a team that didn’t fully utilize him to a team that needs a fast deep receiver, with a QB that can get the ball downfield.
Do I expect Wallace to have more than 2 long ball touchdowns in 2015? Absolutely. Is it going to suck going back to counting on the long ball touchdown for Wallace? Absolutely. It’ll make you cringe on game day, but when it happens, it’ll be all worthwhile.
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Courtesy of Fantasy Football Calculator[/caption]
Mike Wallace’s ADP as of 3/24/15 is the 4th pick of the 8th round which has fallen after starting the new year as the 8th pick in the 6th round.
Based on this chart from Fantasy Football Calculator, Wallace has seen quite the drop off. In fact, in 2014 drafts Wallace was the 4th pick in the 7th round as an average. He’s now even cheaper than before with a better QB. That seems like a value to me.
The Big Fantasy Football Picture
Sure we don’t know if AP will be back with the Vikings in 2015 (it appears he won’t) but if he is, defenses will need to respect the run and give Bridgewater an even bigger chance to throw the ball.
It’s possible that the biggest winner in the Wallace to Vikings sweepstakes is Teddy Bridgewater (more on that later). Look, I think this is a plus for Wallace’s fantasy value in 2015. It’s way too early to tell, but I’d take the gamble in round 8.
Do you think Wallace to the Vikings is a plus or minus for his fantasy football value in 2015?
