I'm a Ryan Fitzpatrick fan. I like the beard, I respect the Harvard background. And I like what his style of play could do for Washington's offense, most notably top wideout Terry McLaurin.
McLaurin, of course, has been saddled with some pretty lousy quarterbacks his first two seasons. Case Keenum, Dwayne Haskins, Colt McCoy, Kyle Allen, Alex Smith -- those are the quarterbacks who have started games for Washington the last two years. Either out-and-out bad, or checkdown types that aren't going to elevate a wide receiver in any way. McLaurin has caught 7 and 4 TDs in his first two seasons.
But Fitzpatrick, who never should have been benched in Miami last year (this is not just hindsight; many of us said this at the time) is a wide-receiver friendly passer. He'll put the ball in the end zone, and he'll look downfield. He sparked the Jets offense to its best season in ages a few years ago, and he was great for DeVante Parker in Miami. I think he'll be great for McLaurin, too.
Over the past three years, there have been 30 seasons of a quarterback averaging over 7.8 yards per attempt (minimum 200 pass attempts). Fitzpatrick has two of those seasons, including the very best of those seasons, averaging 9.6 yards per attempt with Tampa Bay in 2018. (Search tools at pro-football-reference used for this table.)
| QUARTERBACK YARDS PER ATTEMPT, 2018-2020, TOP-30 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Year | G | Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | Y/A |
| Ryan Fitzpatrick | 2018 | 8 | 164 | 246 | 66.7 | 2366 | 17 | 12 | 9.62 |
| Ryan Tannehill | 2019 | 12 | 201 | 286 | 70.3 | 2742 | 22 | 6 | 9.59 |
| Deshaun Watson | 2020 | 16 | 382 | 544 | 70.2 | 4823 | 33 | 7 | 8.87 |
| Patrick Mahomes | 2018 | 16 | 383 | 580 | 66.0 | 5097 | 50 | 12 | 8.79 |
| Matthew Stafford | 2019 | 8 | 187 | 291 | 64.3 | 2499 | 19 | 5 | 8.59 |
| Philip Rivers | 2018 | 16 | 347 | 508 | 68.3 | 4308 | 32 | 12 | 8.48 |
| Dak Prescott | 2020 | 5 | 151 | 222 | 68.0 | 1856 | 9 | 4 | 8.36 |
| Jimmy Garoppolo | 2019 | 16 | 329 | 476 | 69.1 | 3978 | 27 | 13 | 8.36 |
| Jared Goff | 2018 | 16 | 364 | 561 | 64.9 | 4688 | 32 | 12 | 8.36 |
| Patrick Mahomes | 2019 | 14 | 319 | 484 | 65.9 | 4031 | 26 | 5 | 8.33 |
| Nick Mullens | 2018 | 8 | 176 | 274 | 64.2 | 2277 | 13 | 10 | 8.31 |
| Kirk Cousins | 2020 | 16 | 349 | 516 | 67.6 | 4265 | 35 | 13 | 8.27 |
| Deshaun Watson | 2018 | 16 | 345 | 505 | 68.3 | 4165 | 26 | 9 | 8.25 |
| Dak Prescott | 2019 | 16 | 388 | 596 | 65.1 | 4902 | 30 | 11 | 8.22 |
| Aaron Rodgers | 2020 | 16 | 372 | 526 | 70.7 | 4299 | 48 | 5 | 8.17 |
| Drew Brees | 2018 | 15 | 364 | 489 | 74.4 | 3992 | 32 | 5 | 8.16 |
| Jameis Winston | 2019 | 16 | 380 | 626 | 60.7 | 5109 | 33 | 30 | 8.16 |
| Kirk Cousins | 2019 | 15 | 307 | 444 | 69.1 | 3603 | 26 | 6 | 8.11 |
| Matt Ryan | 2018 | 16 | 422 | 608 | 69.4 | 4924 | 35 | 7 | 8.10 |
| Russell Wilson | 2018 | 16 | 280 | 427 | 65.6 | 3448 | 35 | 7 | 8.07 |
| Patrick Mahomes | 2020 | 15 | 390 | 588 | 66.3 | 4740 | 38 | 6 | 8.06 |
| Russell Wilson | 2019 | 16 | 341 | 516 | 66.1 | 4110 | 31 | 5 | 7.97 |
| Josh Allen | 2020 | 16 | 396 | 572 | 69.2 | 4544 | 37 | 10 | 7.94 |
| Ryan Tannehill | 2020 | 16 | 315 | 481 | 65.5 | 3819 | 33 | 7 | 7.94 |
| Derek Carr | 2020 | 16 | 348 | 517 | 67.3 | 4103 | 27 | 9 | 7.94 |
| Jameis Winston | 2018 | 11 | 244 | 378 | 64.6 | 2992 | 19 | 14 | 7.92 |
| Derek Carr | 2019 | 16 | 361 | 513 | 70.4 | 4054 | 21 | 8 | 7.90 |
| Drew Brees | 2019 | 11 | 281 | 378 | 74.3 | 2979 | 27 | 4 | 7.88 |
| Ryan Fitzpatrick | 2020 | 9 | 183 | 267 | 68.5 | 2091 | 13 | 8 | 7.83 |
| Philip Rivers | 2019 | 16 | 390 | 591 | 66.0 | 4615 | 23 | 20 | 7.81 |
Things could go south in Washington. Maybe the team struggles, or Fitzpatrick has the kind of turnover-filled meltdown at some point that's tended to end his tenures with his various employers. Eventually Washington could decide to take a look at Taylor Heinicke, who was impressive in last year's playoff loss to Tampa Bay.
But until that happens, I think Fitzpatrick will be productive for Washington's offense, and I think McLaurin will be a star. I expect to have him on a lot of teams this season.
--Andy Richardson