Most fantasy football drafts are a couple of months out, but the arrival of the summer means it’s time to start preparing. And step one in that preparation is getting your rankings down.
SI’s Michael Fabiano has released his initial fantasy football rankings for every position, and now it’s time to dig deeper into each individual position.
Quarterback has been a tricky position in fantasy football over the years. It’s used to be highly valued until the “late-round quarterback” approach took hold. An influx in rushing production and overall elite play over the last few years has caused yet another shift. So let’s take a deeper look at the quarterback rankings, as well as who some of the top values and busts are for 2024.
Rank |
Player |
Team |
Bye Week |
---|---|---|---|
40 |
Mac Jones |
JAX |
12 |
39 |
Kenny Pickett |
PHI |
5 |
38 |
Micahel Penix Jr. |
ATL |
12 |
37 |
Jake Browning |
CIN |
15 |
36 |
Sam Howell |
SEA |
10 |
35 |
Zach Wilson |
DEN |
14 |
34 |
Gardner Minshew |
LV |
10 |
33 |
Justin Fields |
PIT |
9 |
32 |
Aidan O’Connell |
LV |
10 |
31 |
Bo Nix |
DEN |
14 |
30 |
J.J. McCarthy |
MIN |
6 |
29 |
Daniel Jones |
NYG |
11 |
28 |
Geno Smith |
SEA |
10 |
27 |
Drake Maye |
NE |
14 |
26 |
Bryce Young |
CAR |
11 |
25 |
Will Levis |
TEN |
5 |
24 |
Russell Wilson |
PIT |
9 |
23 |
Derek Carr |
NO |
12 |
22 |
Deshaun Watson |
CLE |
10 |
21 |
Baker Mayfield |
TB |
11 |
20 |
Aaron Rodgers |
NYJ |
12 |
19 |
Matthew Stafford |
LAR |
6 |
18 |
Caleb Williams |
CHI |
7 |
17 |
Justin Herbert |
LAC |
5 |
16 |
Tua Tagovailoa |
MIA |
6 |
15 |
Trevor Lawrence |
JAX |
12 |
14 |
Jared Goff |
DET |
5 |
13 |
Kirk Cousins |
ATL |
12 |
12 |
Jayden Daniels |
WAS |
14 |
11 |
Brock Purdy |
SF |
9 |
10 |
Kyler Murray |
ARI |
11 |
9 |
Jordan Love |
GB |
10 |
8 |
Dak Prescott |
DAL |
7 |
7 |
Joe Burrow |
CIN |
12 |
6 |
Anthony Richardson |
IND |
14 |
5 |
C.J. Stroud |
HOU |
14 |
4 |
Lamar Jackson |
BAL |
14 |
3 |
Patrick Mahomes |
KC |
6 |
2 |
Josh Allen |
BUF |
12 |
1 |
Jalen Hurts |
PHI |
5 |
Now that we’ve seen the rankings, let’s look at who the biggest quarterback values you should draft are based on who is ranked significantly ahead of their average draft position (ADP) from FantasyPros.
Jayden Daniels (Ranked QB12, ADP QB17)
The biggest value on the list is rookie Jayden Daniels. As the QB17 by ADP, he’s not even being selected as a high-end backup. In reality, he’s ranked as a low-end starting option (for 12-team leagues), and his upside is much higher than that. Fantasy value for young quarterbacks typically comes from rushing production, and that’s something Daniels offers in spades. There’s a chance he turns into a bust, of course, but when you’re drafting him in a spot where league mates are taking guys like Trevor Lawrence and Aaron Rodgers, that’s not a risk that would come back to burn you anyway.
Kirk Cousins (Ranked QB13, ADP QB18)
Kirk Cousins’ ADP makes him the perfect complement for a riskier quarterback like Daniels. Assuming everything ends up clear on the injury front, Cousins should be a pretty safe high-floor kind of player. He’s not going to suddenly blossom into a top-end QB1 the way Daniels could, but he could save you when injuries or bye weeks hit. Ignoring quarterbacks early and pairing Daniels and Cousins in the later rounds is a great approach to capitalize on this value.
Jalen Hurts (Ranked QB1, ADP QB2)
A one-spot difference is not as significant as the gaps we see for Dainels and Cousins, but one spot is significant when it’s the top spot at the position. If your draft approach is to try landing the year’s best quarterback, you can afford to wait a little longer than you might typically. Allen is going as the first quarterback off the board, and if you’re in a more casual league you could even see Hurts falling to the QB3 or QB4 spot because of the name value Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson carry.
On the other side of the coin, these are quarterbacks you should not be drafting. They’re ranked significantly behind their ADP as of our last update.
Tua Tagovailoa (Ranked QB16, ADP QB13)
The 2023 NFL passing yards leader, Tua Tagovailoa is missing a couple of key factors for being a top-end fantasy option in 2024. First, he doesn’t offer any rushing upside (74 yards and 0 touchdowns in 2023). Second, his huge passing upside last year skewed heavily toward the start of the season, not offering much consistency or value when the fantasy playoffs rolled around. For his final eight games of the fantasy football season (weeks 9 through 17), he ranked just 26th at the position in per-game fantasy scoring, averaging just 14.3 per game.
Caleb Williams (Ranked QB18, ADP QB14)
On the other side of the rookie coin, first-overall pick Caleb Williams offers none of the exciting value Jaylen Daniels does. Williams is in a great spot for real-world success as a rookie, for sure, but he’s not the rusher that Daniels is, and the Bears offense also doesn’t figure to be nearly as pass-heavy as the Commanders’.
Jared Goff (Ranked QB14, ADP QB12)
Jared Goff isn’t a horrible pick, being taken two spots ahead of where we have him ranked, but when you’re looking at the difference between QB12 (a low-end starter) and QB14 (a high-end backup), that does matter. Goff was the QB15 in fantasy scoring on a per-game basis last season, and not much has happened with the Lions’ roster this offseason to signal he’s due for a jump. His high-floor production is very replaceable with players going later in the draft, and if you’re taking one of the first 12 quarterbacks off the board in your league, you want it to be one with way more upside.