Russell Wilson Fantasy Outlook & Injury Update 2022 (Will He Live Up to the Hype in Denver?)

Russell Wilson joining the Denver Broncos has been one of the most talked about topics this NFL offseason — and rightfully so. The former league MVP is the best quarterback that the Broncos have had since Peyton Manning and has been tasked with helping to turn the franchise around.

The Seattle Seahawks weren't anything special last season, highlighted by Wilson finishing as the QB16 across most fantasy leagues. Now that he has a great team in front of him in the Mile High City, can Wilson return to fantasy prominence?

Russell Wilson Fantasy Football Outlook

Wilson looked quite ordinary in his 10th season with the Seahawks. He finished with 3,113 passing yards and 25 touchdowns to six interceptions in 14 games. Meanwhile, the 222.4 yards he averaged per game happened to be a significant decrease over the 263.3 he averaged in 2020 — the second-best mark of his career.

Though he no longer has DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett to lean on, the Broncos have surrounded Wilson with weapons like Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, K.J. Hamler and Albert Okwuegbunam. He'd also have Tim Patrick, however, the veteran wideout suffered a season-ending ACL tear in training camp.

Javonte Williams and Melvin Gordon's presence in the backfield means that Wilson won't have the rush the ball often either. His career-low 43 carries last season already show that he's running the ball less as he ages, so having the duo behind him will help him focus more on passing.

Wilson fantasy owners will also benefit from his playing in a competitive AFC West division. Each divisional game this year has the potential to be a shootout and fantasy managers could benefit from that coming to fruition.

Russell Wilson Injury Update

Wilson dealt with several finger-related injuries last year, leaving managers wondering about his health in 2022. Fortunately, there haven't been any setbacks this offseason, allowing the veteran gunslinger to hurl the ball at Broncos training camp without any issues.

Naturally, you'll want to keep Wilson's injury history at the back of your mind if you plan on rostering him. Having said that, he appears to be as healthy as can be and unless a preseason injury emerges, Wilson will be a full-go for the beginning of the new NFL season.

Rusell Wilson Projections

Projections from the NFL odds on FanDuel Sportsbook call for Wilson to bounce back. He's available at +2000 (T-No. 9) to lead the league in passing yards this fall, while also being tied for the eighth-best odds (+1600) to cap things off as the 2022 NFL passing TDs leader.

FanDuel also lists his projected passing yards total at 4,050.5 with -112 odds on both the over and under. He averaged 12.0 yards per completion last year, meaning he'd need to connect on about 338 passes to hit the over — 79 more completions than he had in 2021.

His projected passing TDs total sits at 31.5 with -112 odds on both sides as well. Though he's finished with the over on that prop in five of the last seven seasons, he's failed to do so in two of the last three.

Is Russell Wilson a Good Fantasy Football Pick?

Even though joining a new team can be a struggle, there isn't much reason to worry about Wilson. He's one of the best quarterbacks in the last decade and he has enough weapons on the Broncos to challenge for a top-10 finish this fantasy season.

The Duel's PPR player rankings are high on Wilson, listing him as the QB9 ahead of the season. Meanwhile, his 82.8 average draft position on Fantasy Pros points to him likely being drafted by the conclusion of Round 7 in most 12-team leagues.

If you've drafted Wilson, then check out the best Russell Wilson fantasy football team names, or the best Denver Broncos fantasy names for your squad.

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Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.