Welcome to Week 15 of the 2023 Footballguys Roundtable. Our intrepid panel of fantasy pundits discusses and debates four topics every week. We split the conversation into separate features.
This week's roundtable features these four topics:
- Overrated/Underrated 2024 NFL Draft Prospects
- System or Player? The QB Edition (see below)
- The Leave-Add-Start Game
- For Real/Fool's Gold - TE Playoff Edition
Let's roll.
System or Player? The QB Edition
Matt Waldman: All players are system-dependent to the extent of how teams maximize their volume and quality of targets. The better the offensive line, quarterback, ground game, and other receivers, the more likely we'll see fewer obstacles for target volume and/or target quality.
That said, which player's production MOST looks like a product of his system, and which looks LEAST like the product of his system? Essentially, I'm asking which player is most and least bulletproof for potential declines in fantasy production.
Let's begin with the system players.
Dave Kluge: I dislike answering this question, as all four quarterbacks are talented in their respect.
Waldman: Eat your peas, Dave...
Kluge: But I don't want to...
Waldman: If Emily put them in a pie I bet you'd eat them.
Kluge: Emily could bake an anvil and it would probably taste good. Okay, okay...I'm ready.
As much as it pains me to say, Brock Purdy is likely the most significant product of his system. Now, that’s not a knock on Purdy at all. He’s doing exactly what’s asked of him: getting the ball to his best playmakers. He’s operating a scheme tailor-made for his abilities with the inarguable best group of skill players in the NFL.
However, Purdy has also thrived outside the structure of the play. He’s shown surprising abilities to evade pressure and makes some remarkable throws offscript. But because we’ve yet to see him in anything besides the 49ers’ loaded offense, he’s, by default, the least bulletproof of the bunch.
Ryan Weisse: I feel comfortable saying, without a doubt, that Brock Purdy is the most system-dependent. It takes a perfect storm for Mr. Irrelevant to become a franchise quarterback, and that is what we are seeing in San Francisco. He has an offensive-minded coach who is excellent at quarterback development. The system itself is well-suited to his strengths, and, by the way, he has the most talented group of position players in the league.
Zareh Kantzabedian: This is a challenging list. I want to say Brock Purdy, but we've already seen Trey Lance fail in the same system despite having many weapons and an excellent offensive line. Sure, of these quarterbacks, Purdy most "looks" like he's benefitting from the system, but maybe he's contributing more to the system than benefitting from it. At the very least, it could be a fifty-fifty split.
Matt Montgomery: This will seem like a dig at Purdy's monstrous success, but there is no denying that he arguably has the best skill position groups and the coaching compliment to boot. Purdy has been a stable force at the QB position since college - there is no denying that - but he is benefitting from a system where we have seen successes from Jimmy Garoppolo and even Nick Mullens for spurts. There’s nothing wrong with benefitting from a system, but do we believe Purdy would be as successful in New England’s offense?
Waldman: I don't believe any quarterback we'd consider productive this year would have the same level of production if they were playing in this iteration of the Patriots offense, so I don't think that's as much of an indictment on Purdy as it may seem.