Deep Threat: Mike Wallace should open up
room underneath for Charles Johnson and Kyle Rudolph.
Signed to a giant five-year $60 million contract following several
explosive seasons in Pittsburgh, Mike
Wallace brought his afterburners to Miami in the hopes of hooking
up with Ryan
Tannehill for many years to come. It turns out a giant contract,
bad attitude, and a quarterback who struggles to throw the deep
ball conspired to make Wallace’s time in South Beach a short one.
Shipped off to the Great White North of Minnesota for a fifth-round
pick, will Wallace be able to improve his fantasy outlook?
Fantasy Impact
Apparently Wallace spurned the Vikings a few years ago in free agency
because he wasn’t interested in living in a cold weather city.
What a small world it is! Wallace failed to live up to his lofty
contract in Miami, and closed out his two-year career with a 140-1792-15
line. Coaching scheme, and Tannehill’s deep accuracy woes
never allowed Wallace to stretch the field as well as he did with
Pittsburgh and he was never truly able to shed the one-trick pony
routine and become a threat closer to the line of scrimmage. Wallace
was only able to secure 54 percent of his targets in two years,
and if it weren’t for a fluky 10 touchdowns last season, Wallace
would’ve been a small blip on the fantasy radar. Be that as
it may, Wallace did finishing a respectable 18th in fantasy scoring
among receivers, but outside of Week 15, failed to top 81 yards
in a game the whole season. Despite the WR2 finish, he was a weekly
touchdown dependent gamble. (I can honestly admit I started him
week after week waiting for the giant breakout game that never came).
Instead of looking through teal and orange colored glasses, let’s
take a look at what awaits in Minnesota.
Wallace goes from the quick passing west coast scheme of Bill Lazor,
to the downfield reads of Norv Turner. On paper this seems like
a much better scheme fit for a player built to split the safeties
and take the top off the defense. At 29 (in August), Wallace isn’t
about to reinvent himself and become a possession receiver, so expecting
a surge in catches isn’t likely. But can he be the homerun
threat he was at times in Pittsburgh? The answer is a very solid
maybe. Wallace’s fate rests in the gloved hands of Teddy Bridgewater.
Bridgewater made great strides the second half of the 2014 season,
completing nearly 70% of his passes from Week 13 on keeping the
Vikings competitive on a weekly basis. But in order for Minnesota
and fantasy owners to get the most out of Wallace, Bridgewater will
have to improve his downfield accuracy (yikes, not that again).
Teddy doesn’t have a giant arm, and only completed 38 percent
of his passes past 20 yards. He still has great room to improve
and if any coach can get him there it’s Turner.
I’m not sure change scenery will do much for Wallace’s
fantasy value. He’ll be a great fit for the Minnesota offense,
clearing out space underneath for Charles Johnson and Kyle Rudolph,
but he’ll also have to deal with the growing pains of a young
quarterback, and won’t have the streak routes all to himself
if Cordarrelle Patterson ever finds his way off the milk carton.
Look for Wallace to be in the 60- to 70-catch range again, and depending
on how many big plays he makes, might approach 1,000 yards. I don’t
see a repeat of the double-digit touchdowns from last year, dropping
Wallace into the upper WR3 range. Of course he will continue to
be that guy your deathly afraid to bench in fear of a blow-up.
