Outlook: It was the tale of two halves for Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson last season. The young passer was supposed to see a significant upgrade in fantasy value, but few could have predicted what actually happened. Wilson’s perceived top target, new tight end Jimmy Graham, was a huge disappointment prior to suffering a season-ending injury. But Wilson thrived through the adversity, absolutely lighting up the fantasy scoreboard in the second half to the tune of 25 touchdowns and just two interceptions.

Now coming off of his most impressive fantasy season, Wilson is finally being looked at as an elite fantasy option – and he should be. Wilson’s confidence as a passer was off the charts toward the end of 2015 and with Jimmy Graham back, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be able to continue to put up big time fantasy numbers. His rushing ability is elite but it appears the team or Wilson himself has decided that his long-term health needs to be taken more seriously. His 553 rushing yards in 2015 were still among the league’s best at the position, but are a far cry from the 849 yards and six scores he produced on the ground in 2014.

Replicating his 2015 season might be difficult, but Wilson’s rushing numbers give him a high floor, which is extremely valuable when coupled with his high ceiling. With Marshawn Lynch retired, Seattle will presumably look to Wilson to increase his passing workload in 2016, which gives him the opportunity to be a top-5 fantasy quarterback.

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Outlook: Tampa Bay placed 22nd in the NFL for passing attempts in Dirk Koetter’s first year as head coach last season. As the OC for three years prior in Atlanta, Koetter’s offense never placed below eighth in that same category. History suggests that Koetter will ramp up the passing game, allowing Winston to have more opportunity to be a fantasy force in 2016. Winston is fresh off his first Pro Bowl selection and has come into camp lighter and hungry to take the next step. He already has a bona fide number one wide receiver in Mike Evans at his disposal and a healthy Charles Sims gives the team two quality dual threat options out of the backfield. Adding more fantasy appeal to Winston is the buzz surrounding the offense using more of the no-huddle this year. A faster pace would make sense considering the youthfulness of Winston’s supporting cast. The FSU alum’s ability to elude defenders cannot be ignored either. He won’t be expected to lead the team in rushing like Cam Newton, yet his rushing capabilities should yield results similar to Aaron Rodgers. There are plenty of other established or flashier fantasy quarterbacks to choose from on draft day but the potential return on investing in the Bucs’ second year signal caller is too much to overlook. He is currently being taken outside the top 15 at the position despite throwing for over 4,000 yards as a rookie and scoring a combined 28 touchdowns. Expect his draft stock to rise as the preseason moves along.

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