By 4:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, the Indianapolis Colts will officially be allowed to announce the contract agreement with veteran quarterback Philip Rivers, which is set to have massive implications in real football and fantasy football.
The signing of Rivers shows the Colts know just how bad their passing attack was in 2019. For fantasy football managers, that meant dealing with the irrelevancy of studs like T.Y. Hilton, Eric Ebron and even Jack Doyle.
But how will Rivers impact the offense now? In terms of a fantasy football outlook, it could yield positive results for the skill players on the offense and even potentially bring Rivers back into the fold of relevancy.
Rivers suffered a major setback in 2019. His 23 touchdowns to 20 interceptions hurt fantasy managers more than it helped them and despite having a plethora of weapons around him, Rivers showed decline in arm strength, decision-making and consistency.
He wound up finishing as the QB16 on the year and only finished inside the top-12 in four of his games. He wasn’t even a streamable asset for the majority of the season.
That said, this new scenery might just be what Rivers needs. Frank Reich’s offense is deeply rooted in the West Coast system, preferring to stretch the field horizontally while taking calculated shots down the field. At this point in Rivers’ career, Reich’s system is a near-perfect match. Not to mention, there is a big history between the two, which should translate to a smooth transition.
The Colts have weapons for Rivers to work with and the potential to add more. Hilton will be his WR1. Doyle will be his safety-valve tight end. There is a lot of hope that Nyheim Hines will have an Austin Ekeler type impact in the passing game.
Throw in the elite offensive line and potential for explosive additions in the draft, and Rivers finds himself in a great situation.
Now, this doesn’t mean Rivers is going to be an automatic QB1. Those days are likely behind him. There is also a chance he sees a small decline in volume. Rivers has averaged 580.5 pass attempts per season since the start of the 2014 campaign.
The Colts only had 513 attempts as a team in 2019. Could that be more of an indication of the quarterback play? Sure, the numbers were much higher with Andrew Luck under center. But the addition of Rivers doesn’t automatically mean he will be approaching the 600 attempt threshold.
Still, it should be strong enough to make him a reliable asset in fantasy football.
Rivers isn’t going to be a league-winner. His days of being a locked and loaded QB1 are behind him. But this change in scenery and offense will help him immensely.
Once the Colts add a few more weapons, Rivers will be a low-end QB1 with weekly streaming upside.