Terry McLaurin Dynasty 2022

Terry McLaurin Dynasty Draft Stock Update

With Carson Wentz being traded to the Washington Commanders, Terry McLaurin will now be given the best Quarterback he has played within his past three seasons. Some would like to make the argument that Wentz is not that big of an upgrade from what Washington saw in Taylor Heinicke last year, but we could look at a few key analytics that could prove that to be false.

Carson Wentz vs. Taylor Heinicke

When looking at the efficiency and advanced metrics that can be found on our website, a few major things can be taken away from those numbers to prove that Wentz should increase the value and upside that McLaurin has shown glimpses of in the past with worse Quarterback play.

Carson Wentz had a True passer rating of 83.69, which is a Quarterback rating factoring out unpressured throwaways and dropped passes. Where Taylor Heinicke had a rating of 65.15, which was 29^th among all qualified Quarterbacks. Wentz also stands out in interceptable passes when compared to Heinicke. Wentz only had 28 passes that were deemed interceptable and Heinicke had 44 which was the 2nd worst clip in the entire league last season.

Finally, Wentz had 33 money throws which are listed as a pass requiring exceptional skill or athleticism as well as critical throws executed in clutch moments. 33 by Wentz was the 9^th most in the league, where Heinicke only had 26 (17^th best). The final stat that I would like to mention would be deep passes, passing attempts that travel 20 yards or farther in the air. Wentz had attempted 60 of those passes and completed them at 43.3% which was a solid 6^th best for all quarterbacks. Heinicke, yet again, was worse than Wentz in this category with 64 deep balls and only completed 32.8% of those attempts (24^th best)

When taking these stats into consideration it is clear to see that Carson Wentz should be better for Terry McLaurin’s fantasy value going forward. McLaurin was 14^th in the league with an average target distance of 12.64 yards last season and with a Quarterback that has a better arm and is more accurate on deep passes, you can expect him to be a bigger homerun threat this coming year.

When looking at 2022 Points Per Reception rankings, you will find Terry McLaurin usually sitting around 20th for Wide Receivers. I believe with the upside of a quarterback that isn’t afraid to throw it deep and be more accurate in doing so that McLaurin could find himself with his best career finish (the previous best was 20^th in PPR).  If you haven’t done so already, I would highly recommend obtaining Terry McLaurin at a low price in dynasty leagues with people still not thinking highly of Carson Wentz. This is a perfect opportunity for low risk-high reward. 

Terry McLaurin Value

In the world of Dynasty football, it is best to remember that it is more of a marathon rather than a sprint.  Terry McLaurin is a buy-low target despite needing a new contract and question marks at the quarterback position.

Terry McLaurin has had some pretty middle-of-the-road QB play since being drafted by Washington in 2019. In his rookie year, he finished 29^th in points per reception leagues. In that time, he caught passes from Case Keenum (8 games started) and Dwayne Haskins (7 games started). His season totals were 58 catches on 93 targets for 919 yards and 7 touchdowns. 

2020 was yet again another year of rotating quarterback play. Mainly due to Alex Smith’s gruesome season/career-ending injury. Washington had to start Dwayne Haskins another 6 games and then Kyle Allen also received 4 starts himself. Even with the inconsistencies at the quarterback position, F1 went on to have his best finish in his 3 years in the league with 87 catches on 134 targets for 1118 yards and 4 touchdowns. This stat line was 20^th for Wide receivers in 2020.