Wild Card Round Fantasy Football Quarterback Rankings: Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Matthew Stafford and More

The first round of the NFL playoffs will be here before you know it.

For those of you playing postseason fantasy leagues, or DFS, FantasySP is still here to help you out!

I’m going to start a series where we rank players at every offensive fantasy position (quarterback, running back, wide receiver and tight end). This is the first story in that series, and we will focus on quarterbacks.

I’ll begin by discussing the matchup each quarterback has, and then dive into the rankings, starting with the best options. Let’s go!

Looking for start/sit help? Be sure to check out the FantasySP Who Should I Start tool.

Wild Card Matchups

There are two Saturday games, with the Chargers and Texans facing off, followed by an AFC North battle between the Steelers and Ravens.

Justin Herbert leads the Chargers, while C.J. Stroud is the Texans’ quarterback. The matchup is slightly better for Herbert and is average based on the regular season numbers.

Lamar Jackson is the quarterback for the Ravens, while Russell Wilson still leads the Steelers. The matchup favors Wilson, while Jackson has a test against one of the league’s better defenses. 

There are three games on Sunday. In the first game, the Broncos and Bills will battle. The Packers and Eagles square off in the afternoon game before the Commanders and Buccaneers play in the nightcap.

Bo Nix guides the Broncos, while Josh Allen leads the Bills. The matchup is pretty similar for both QBs, but is below average overall.

The quarterbacks for the Packers (Jordan Love) and Eagles (Jalen Hurts) are both injured coming into the postseason, but I expect both to be active. If Love misses the game, Malik Willis would start. If Hurts is out, Kenny Pickett or Tanner McKee would start for Philly. It’s a brutal matchup for whatever quarterbacks are out there, with both defenses ranking in the top five in terms of least fantasy points allowed to opposing quarterbacks.

Jayden Daniels quarterbacks the Commanders, while Baker Mayfield leads the Buccaneers. Daniels has the most favorable fantasy matchup of the week, while Mayfield has another tough test.

The Wild Card Round wraps up on Monday with a game between the Vikings and Rams.

Sam Darnold powers the Vikings’ offense, while Matthew Stafford is the Rams’ quarterback. Darnold has a pretty favorable clash ahead, while Stafford has another tough test.

Quarterback Rankings

1. Lamar Jackson 

The defensive matchup isn’t great, but Jackson was the top fantasy quarterback all season (by a good margin), so I’m not putting anyone above him.

He scored 15.9 fantasy points in the first clash with Pittsburgh and then had 21.5 points in the second test. Pittsburgh is reeling coming into the playoffs, which makes that tougher defensive matchup a bit less worrisome.

2. Josh Allen

Allen was the No. 2 fantasy QB on a per-week basis, and that was with him not scoring after playing just one snap in week 18 (to preserve his streak of consecutive starts). Like Jackson, Allen is a dual-threat option, and that helps offset playing him in a tougher matchup.

Allen hasn’t played the Broncos this season, and the tough matchup doesn’t look nearly as bad after some of the performances offenses had against them late in the season. I think Allen goes off this week.

3. Jayden Daniels

Daniels had a fantastic rookie season, and is another dual-threat quarterback (are you catching on to the theme with my top choices?). He was a top-five fantasy quarterback and a must-start throughout the season.

Daniels faced the Bucs way back in week 1. All the rookie did for a NFL debut was score 28.2 fantasy points. He’ll be expected to do it all again this week, and it should lead to a big fantasy performance.

4. Baker Mayfield

Mayfield is my No. 4 quarterback this week - he’s the first one who isn’t a big-time running threat, but he can still make some impactful plays with his legs. He was another top-five fantasy quarterback this season.

For as good of a fantasy performance as Daniels had in the opener, Mayfield outscored him, tallying 29.7 points. He went over 20 points on 12 occasions this season, including the final five contests. Mayfield should have another good showing in the playoff opener.

5. Jalen Hurts

Hurts is my No. 5 guy this week. He was the No. 6 fantasy QB in terms of points per game this season, but fell to eighth overall after missing weeks 17 and 18 (and most of week 16).

When Hurts faced the Packers back in week 1, he scored 18.4 fantasy points. Hurts didn’t really hit his stride until after the team’s bye week. 

Him coming back from a concussion scares me off him a bit, but he was outplayed by the quarterbacks I took before him anyways, so I’m fine putting him fifth, even though he’s capable of being the top guy if he steals a couple rushing touchdowns.

6. Sam Darnold

Darnold had one of his worst fantasy performances of the season in week 18, which felt like a playoff game with it being a battle for the NFC North title and NFC’s No. 1 seed. That poor performance likely won’t give people much confidence playing him in a fantasy playoff league or using him for DFS.

He faced the Rams back in week 8, scoring 18.2 fantasy points. Darnold avoided interceptions and fumbles in that contest.

7. Justin Herbert

Herbert is my No. 7 guy this week. He took a while to get going this season, but ended the season as one of the better fantasy options. He scored at least 20 points in each of the team’s final three games.

The Texans and Chargers will be meeting for the first time this season, so we have no regular season game to go off of here. Houston’s defense struggled a little bit down the stretch in terms of yards allowed, but has been great at creating takeaways for most of the season. 

8. Jordan Love

Love is certainly capable of finishing higher than this, but based on how he finished the season and adding in his elbow injury, this is as high as I want to take him.

Love finished with 17.4 fantasy points against the Eagles back in week 1. He got injured at the end of the game. Love has scored over 15 fantasy points just once over the past five games.

9. Bo Nix

Nix was a top-10 fantasy quarterback in his rookie season, which was a surprise to many, including me. He ended the season strong, scoring at least 20 points in three straight games.

The Bills’ defense he is facing had a rough go of things in weeks 14 and 15, but got back on track in weeks 16 and 17. Buffalo’s defense is rested after sitting most of its regular contributors in week 18. 

10. Matthew Stafford

Stafford and the Rams’ offense tailed off a bit at the end of the season, which was probably part of the reason why the team decided to sit Stafford and some other regulars in week 18.

Stafford went off for 25.8 fantasy points in the first clash with Minnesota. Stafford could finish a lot higher than No. 10, but this is where I’m most comfortable taking him.

11. Russell Wilson

Wilson averaged 16.2 fantasy points in his 11 starts this season. He hasn’t scored over 20 fantasy points since week 13.

Despite the Ravens being a defense to target in fantasy most of the season, Wilson only scored 7.3 points against them in week 11. He was better in the second showing, scoring 16.4 points. So while Wilson might look like one of the better fantasy quarterbacks this week because of the matchup, I don’t like him all that much.

12. C.J. Stroud

Stroud had a pretty underwhelming second season in the NFL, especially after his big rookie season. He has scored over 20 fantasy points just once this season, way back in week 4.

The Chargers’ defense has been pretty solid all season and didn’t allow over 265 total yards in the final two weeks. LA was better at creating turnovers early in the season, but has just four over the past five weeks.

13. Malik Willis

If Willis needs to make a start, the Packers should have a little faith, as the team went 2-0 in his starts this season. He scored 13 fantasy points in week 2 and then 25.4 in week 3.

In a tough matchup against the Eagles’ defense though, I’d want no part of him as a fantasy/DFS option.

14. Kenny Pickett or Tanner McKee

Pickett or McKee would rank last if either ends up starting for Hurts. Each won their only start of the season, with McKee scoring 10 fantasy points in week 18 and Pickett tallying 16 points in week 17.

I give Willis the slight edge over them with an extra start under his belt. The Eagles’ offense is better overall, but I don’t think Pickett or McKee could outscore Willis this week if they ended up playing.