Best Russell Wilson Trade Destinations For Fantasy Football: Why We’re Rooting For the Saints or Raiders
Steph Chambers/Getty Images. Pictured: Russell Wilson
We caught a glimpse of how well Russell Wilson could cook, but what if he could do that … all the time?
The quarterback reportedly hasn't requested a trade from the Seahawks, but his agent did tell ESPN's Adam Schefter that Wilson would consider a deal to four teams: The Cowboys, Saints, Raiders and Bears.
So, which of those teams should fantasy football players be rooting for as a potential trade destination for Wilson? Two of our rankers make cases for the Saints and Raiders as the best fits.
Best Russell Wilson Trade Destination For Fantasy?
Sean Koerner: Saints
Sean is our Director of Predictive Analytics and was the No. 1 fantasy football draft ranker of 2019 according to FantasyPros' industry-wide accuracy rankings.
Wilson would thrive under an offensive genius like Sean Payton. We wouldn’t have to worry about the Saints "letting Russ cook" and he would likely put up top-three fantasy numbers in their scheme.
Russ going to New Orleans would also give much needed clarity to the Saints' quarterback situation. They're an impossible team to project right now considering we don’t know with 100% certainty whether Drew Brees will retire. It seems likely that Taysom Hill will be their Week 1 starter, or that we could potentially see a QB by committee approach featuring Hill and Jameis Winston.
I'm getting a headache just thinking about trying to project that.
Chris Raybon: Raiders
Chris is a senior analyst and was the 11th-most accurate in-season ranker of 2020 according to FantasyPros.
From Wilson's perspective, the Saints would be the ideal landing spot. The organization has consistently fielded strong offensive lines, drafted well at the skill positions and remained ahead of the curve offensively with Payton directing the offense.
But from a fantasy perspective, I vote for the Raiders.
Why? Because the franchise hasn’t fielded an above-average scoring defense since 2002. In Jon Gruden’s three seasons, they’ve been 32nd, 24th and 30th. With that kind of defense, Wilson is all but guaranteed to have to cook his way to shootout victories on a weekly basis.
On the offensive side of the ball, there should be more than enough to work with. Gruden somehow turned Derek Carr into a top-10 passer last season. Under Gruden, the offense has extracted career seasons from once-irrelevant pass catchers such as Darren Waller, Nelson Agholor and Tyrell Williams.
The franchise has also proven it will be aggressive at attempting to acquire game-breaking pass-catchers, as evidenced by the first-round selection of Henry Ruggs III in 2020 and the doomed acquisition of Antonio Brown the season before.
The Raiders also field a strong offensive line and play their home games in good weather.
And don’t forget that if Wilson lands in Vegas, we would get him vs. Patrick Mahomes twice a year, which is sure to be a fantasy goldmine. The last time those teams faced off (Dec. 23 in 2018), they combined for 69 points and 883 yards of offense.
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