Looking to start fresh after an underwhelming 2024-25 season with Aaron Rodgers at the helm, the Jets signed former Bears and Steelers QB Justin Fields to a two-year, $40 million contract this offseason. The 26-year-old was set to start at quarterback for New York this upcoming season and the vibes surrounding Fields have been positive this summer. Unfortunately, things took a dramatic turn Thursday morning. During Jets training camp, Fields went down with a toe injury and had to be carted to the locker room, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The severity of Fields’ injury is still unknown, but all things considered, this is a worrisome situation for the Jets. A serious injury is possible and if Fields is forced to miss games, Tyrod Taylor will be the next man up at quarterback for New York.
Fields and Taylor are very similar players. Both are dual threat quarterbacks, who can run and pass and the Jets’ offensive strategy shouldn’t change much if Taylor is starting in place of Fields. When addressing the media about Fields’ injury Thursday, Jets’ HC Aaron Glenn even went onto say he doesn’t think there is “any drop off” from Fields to Taylor, if the latter is forced to start.
If this ends up being the case and Taylor is under center for the Jets, how does this affect Wilson’s fantasy outlook for this upcoming season?
Garrett Wilson’s 2025 fantasy football outlook
While Fields sits ahead of Taylor on the depth chart, New York will likely be able to move the ball more effectively through the air if Taylor is starting.
Over the last two seasons, Taylor owns a 94.1 passer rating and he is averaging 7.2 YPA while completing 65.8% of his passes. Meanwhile, Fields owns a 88.5 passer rating and is averaging 6.9 YPA while completing 62.7% of his passes.
As you can see, Taylor is the better passer than Fields, despite the former being nine years older than the latter. Having the more efficient passer in Taylor running the offense would be a boost for Wilson, who is the Jets’ unquestioned No. 1 pass catcher.
With Rodgers as the Jets’ starting quarterback last season, Wilson caught 101 passes for 1,104 yards and seven touchdowns, all of which set career-highs for the receiver. Wilson garnered a 25.9% target share and averaged 15.6 FPTS per game, which ranked ninth among all receivers. Wilson did all this damage despite playing alongside a target hog in Davante Adams for most of the season. Adams is no longer in the picture, as the receiver signed with the Rams this offseason.
The Jets replaced Adams with Justin Reynolds, who is a player who will see far less targets than Adams. This New York offense severely lacks appealing pass catchers after Wilson and he is going to be one of the league leaders in target share this season, likely with a rate around 30%.
Given this massive expected role, Wilson is in a strong position to have another career season in 2025-26 and his fantasy stock will be even stronger if Taylor ends up being the one throwing him passes to begin the season.
Wilson carries a current ADP of 27.2 in Best Ball drafts on DraftKings. In the wake of this Fields news, Wilson is a terrific option to target in this range of drafts. Plus, Wilson’s O/U for receiving yards on DraftKings Sportsbook is currently set at 925.5 yards and attacking him over this number at a -115 price has merit, as this number could increase if it is announced that Fields will miss some games.
