Jacoby Brissett

Brissett blew his chance to start last season in Washington when he injured a hamstring the week the Commanders finally tired of Sam Howell. This season, though, he could get another shot at the starting job after returning to New England where he played as a rookie in 2016. Brissett will compete with Drake Maye, the third pick in this year’s draft, for the Week 1 assignment. Maye might need some time to develop his mechanics and footwork, and the Patriots can afford to be patient, so Brissett could begin the season under center. The problem for either quarterback, though, is a lack of playmakers in the New England offense. Kendrick Borne, who is coming off an ACL injury, is the No. 1 WR and tight end Hunter Henry is probably the best target. That doesn’t make Brissett, who figures to be usurped by Maye at some point anyway, a great option even in two-QB leagues.

Brissett kept the seat warm for 11 starts last season while the Browns waited for Deshaun Watson to serve his suspension. He held his own in the caretaker role, finishing middle of the pack (more or less) in most passing stats despite struggling on deep throws. While he looked downfield at a good clip -- his 8.5 average target depth ranked seventh and his 47 attempts of 20-plus yards were sixth most through Week 12 -- his on-target percentage ranked 22nd (42.6) and he threw four interceptions on deep attempts (3rd most). After signing with Washington this offseason, Brissett enters training camp as the backup to Sam Howell. Washington wants Howell, whose only start last season came in Week 18, to win the job, but if Brissett finds himself under center he’ll have a good trio of wideouts to target, led by Terry McLaurin. While unlikely to do much more than what he did in Cleveland last season, Brissett is accurate enough to have value in two-QB leagues if he's surrounded by decent talent.

With Deshaun Watson suspended for the first 11 games of the season, Brissett will start under center for the Browns out of the gate unless the team makes a last-second trade for another quarterback. It's not a good scenario for the Browns nor fantasy managers. Brissett's 70.0 percent on-target rate in 11 games last year with the Dolphins ranked 29th of 33 QBs with at least 225 attempts. And on attempts of 20-plus yards, he completed just eight of 22. When he plays, it figures to be mostly be as a game manager for an offense that rides running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt.

After spending four years in Indianapolis, Brissett now replaces Ryan Fitzpatrick as Tua Tagovailoa's top backup. Brissett has two years of starting experience with the Colts under his belt (2017 and 2019) during which he proved to be a capable game-manager. In addition to mentoring Tagovailoa and serving as an emergency option under center, Brissett's running ability could allow him to see the field in certain short-yardage situations, similarly to how he was used by the Colts to complement Philip Rivers last season.

Brissett, who was installed as the Colts' starting QB after Andrew Luck's surprise retirement last August, ended up completing 272 of 447 passes for 2,942 yards to go along with a respectable 18:6 TD:INT in 15 games during the 2019 campaign. Additionally, the 27-year-old logged 56 rushing attempts for 228 yards and four scores on the ground. In the wake of compiling a 7-9 record, the Colts decided to return Brissett to a backup role in 2020, with veteran signal-caller Philip Rivers now in line to helm the team's offense. With that, Brissett becomes the highest-paid No. 2 QB in the league as he enters the second season of a two-year, $30 million contract. Assuming Indy keeps him around, coach Frank Reich has suggested that Brissett could play a handful of snaps per game in order to take advantage of his mobility.

Brissett is now the Colts' starting QB following the abruot retirement of Andrew Luck in late August. The 26-year-old signal-caller has a full season as the team's starter under his belt, as he filled in for Luck in 2017, en route to logging 3,098 passing yards and a 13:7 TD:INT ratio to go along with 63 carries for 260 yards and four rushing scores. While he's not the passer Luck is and therefore not expected to come close to replicating the numbers of the player he replaces, it's reasonable to expect Brissett to put up more fantasy production this time around, protected by a strong offensive line and bolstered by a solid supporting cast the includes the likes of T.Y Hilton, Devin Funchess, Marlon Mack and tight ends Eric Ebron and Jack Doyle.

The Colts expect Andrew Luck to be ready for the season, but they insisted the same last year. After throwing at minicamp in June, he's on pace to be a participant at training camp and, beyond that, Week 1. If he's not ready for the opener, Brissett will be tapped again. A 2016 third-round pick, Brissett didn't put up great numbers last season, but he showed promise in a tough situation. He was sacked a league-high 52 times and had few playmakers to rely on in a run-first offense that limited his attempts per game to the fewest of any quarterback who made at least 13 starts (29.3). Brissett threw only seven interceptions, ranking sixth in interception percentage (1.5), and he was effective on the ground, averaging nearly 17 rushing yards per game and running for four touchdowns. The Colts reportedly turned down two trade offers this offseason to bring him back as Luck insurance. Brissett should at least have a better scheme in which to operate this year with new coach Frank Reich, the Eagles' offensive coordinator last season.

A third-round pick of the 2016 NFL Draft, Brissett finished up his rookie season with 34 completions on 55 attempts for 400 yards to go along with 16 carries for 83 yards and a TD over the course of three appearances (including two starts) for the team. Brissett seeing action last season wasn't how the Patriots drew up their game plan, but with starter Tom Brady suspended for the first four games of the season and Jimmy Garappolo subsequently injured, Brissett was unexpectedly called on. While he didn't throw any TD passes or picks during his stint behind center, the 24-year-old did gain some valuable NFL experience. Brissett ended up missing time last year after undergoing surgery on his right thumb in October but was eventually activated off IR by the Patriots in December in order to reprise his depth QB duties. With Garappolo still in the mix and Brady available from the get-go in 2017, Brissett remains the team's No. 3 QB option this season. The Patriots will continue to groom the North Carolina State product with an eye toward a future that may or may not include Garappolo remaining with the team. In any case, Brady, who turns 40 in August, can't play forever.

With starting QB Tom Brady set to sit out the first four games of the 2016 regular season, Brissett is on track to serve as Jimmy Garoppolo's backup out of the gate. Once Brady returns in Week 5, Brissett is in line to return to third-string duties, but the rookie's training camp reps take on added importance, given the his elevated status he'll gain come Week 1. It's still possible that the Patriots could add a veteran signal-caller before then, but the fact that they haven't done so hints at the team's confidence in Brissett, whom the team took in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft, 91st overall.