Fantasy Football Draftable Quarterbacks: Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Jayden Daniels Lead the Way

Quarterback is the most important position in all of sports. We've seen the odd champion succeed without a top QB, but that is much less frequent than the team with Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, or Joe Montana breaking through. There's not a whole lot of debate around the matter.

In fantasy football, though, quarterback gets a little diminished because those players often score the most points, and it's easier to find streamers at the position. Part of that is how much of a passing league the NFL has become: it's easy to find yards and touchdowns when QBs are slinging it around the field. (The increase in running quarterbacks has also changed the equation; we'll get to that soon.)

Let's look at the draftable fantasy football quarterbacks as we head toward the preseason and fantasy drafts. I broke players into tiers based on our FantasySP ADP rankings as of July 15. Players are listed in alphabetical order within their tier.

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Top Tier

• Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
• Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders
• Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens

You're going to see me talk about running quarterbacks a lot, and that's because those players are the most valuable at the position in fantasy. If a QB throws for 150 yards and a touchdown, that comes out to 10 fantasy points. If that player can also run for 60 yards and another TD, his score jumps to 22 points. A running quarterback can excel without doing well throwing the ball.

If he does have a big passing day, it puts him on track to break 30 fantasy points or more, the type of performance that can win a week for you. I can't imagine myself targeting a QB who doesn't at least run a moderate amount unless I'm just finding a streamer for a week or two.

Since 2019, either Allen or Jackson have led all quarterbacks in fantasy points every season except one (Patrick Mahomes in 2022). If health holds, the most likely outcome is that they finish No. 1 and 2 again, the way they did last season. Even a drop from one or both guys would keep them among the top five.

Daniels burst onto the scene last season, throwing for 3,568 yards with 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He added nearly 900 rushing yards and six scores on the ground. That added up to a QB5 finish, about 30 points higher than sixth-place Jared Goff. It makes sense to expect improvement, but as we saw with C.J. Stroud last season, it's not as easy as just showing up and repeating a Rookie-of-the-Year performance.

These three and Jalen Hurts (more on him in a moment) are the four guys I would target if I wanted an early QB. My personal strategy will be to wait, but those are the clear players to go after if you want the best chance at a top-five fantasy quarterback.

Tier 2

• Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
• Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles

Speaking of Hurts, he fits into the running QB group and has a secret weapon: the Tush Push. From 2021-24, Hurts scored 10, 13, 15, and 14 touchdowns on the ground. Jackson has never hit double-digit TDs, topping out at seven. Allen reached 15 and 12 the past two seasons, but those are his only years with at least 10 scores on the ground. Hurts was among the top 10 fantasy QBs in each of those four seasons, topping out at QB3 in 2022 and QB2 in 2023.

Burrow is the first player to show up here who isn't a runner. He topped out at 257 rushing yards and five touchdowns in 2022, and it's best not to count on that part of his game. Instead, Burrow is one of the best throwers of the football and put up MVP-level numbers last season with 4,918 yards, 43 touchdowns, and just nine interceptions. If Cincinnati had made the playoffs, Burrow may have won the MVP award.

Again, I'm not drafting a guy in this range, but if I were, I still wouldn't be looking at Burrow. His receivers are great, and he'll put up numbers, but Burrow has only played every game once, and that was in 2024 (he appeared in 16 in both 2021 and 2022). With a bit of an injury history and no running to prop him up, there is a slight amount of risk, even if I would take him immediately as a real-life quarterback.

Targetable

• Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
• Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Now we get outside those top passers to the point where everyone starts looking kind of the same. Mahomes finished first among fantasy quarterbacks in 2018 and 2022; he was a top-five QB in 2020 and 2021 and a top-10 scorer in 2019 and 2023. Last year, he was QB11. We know how great Mahomes is as a real-life quarterback (the best in the world), but he's another guy who doesn't run a lot. He's a great scrambler but has never reached 400 rushing yards in a season or scored more than four TDs. He'll be a fine fantasy quarterback, but you can find that level or better by streaming most weeks.

Mayfield is an interesting case. He had the most rushing yards of his career last season, but that still was less than 400 yards. His major jump came in the passing department, where he had a career-high 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns. He also threw 16 interceptions and fumbled nine times, though he only lost one of those fumbles. The most likely result is that he regresses back closer to his career rates, and though that can still be a good quarterback, it's not a guy to go out of your way to draft. Waiting and grabbing a player or two in the next group a few rounds later is a better way to get the most value out of your draft.

Draftable

• Justin Fields, New York Jets
• Jared Goff, Detroit Lions
• Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
• Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers
• Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals
• Bo Nix, Denver Broncos
• Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
• Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
• C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans
• Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears

Now we really get to the guys who are very much the same as fantasy players. The running quarterbacks are Fields, Murray, and Nix, and they are the ones I want most out of the group. Nix should improve in his second year, though like I said with Daniels, it's not as easy as just coming out and doing it again. We know what to expect from Murray. Fields is intriguing, as the starting job is his, but it's tough to expect big things, even with his high ceiling (QB6 in 2022).

Otherwise, we are looking at guys who are worthy of a spot in your lineup when the matchup is right but should be used with caution when playing tougher defenses. Goff and Purdy have played at MVP levels at times but are seen more as products of their situation rather than true top players. Goff lost his play caller from the past three years (when he finished as QB10, QB7, and QB6), so it will be interesting to see how he holds up, but that's a guy worth drafting in the late rounds.

Prescott, Herbert, and Love are veterans to different degrees who have had success and can be expected to play well at times. I've mentioned Stroud a few times as a player who excelled as a rookie but slumped a little last year. Part of that was playing behind a bottom-10 offensive line, but his line was also poor in 2023 when he played better, so it's hard to know exactly where to place blame.

Williams might be the most intriguing player in this group. He was seen as a generational prospect coming out of college, but he was overshadowed by Daniels' huge year in 2024. Now, he has a reinforced offensive line, weapons at each pass-catching spot, and a new coach in Ben Johnson who comes over from Detroit, where Goff excelled. It wouldn't be a surprise to see Williams take a huge jump, but it's also far from a sure thing. I like the idea of taking Williams and another guy in this group (like Fields) and playing matchups while hoping someone hits big.

Others

• Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars
• Drake Maye, New England Patriots
• J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings
• Anthony Richardson Sr., Indianapolis Colts
• Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
• Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins
• Cam Ward, Tennessee Titans

This is streamer territory. Two guys are runners: Ward and Richardson (if he can win the QB job of Daniel Jones). Maye and McCarthy are second-year passers, though McCarthy missed his whole rookie season; he also has a great play caller in Kevin O'Connell who just helped Sam Darnold look functional, so there's some upside there. Lawrence and Tagovailoa are young-ish but also veterans who have a history of success and inconsistency. While Stafford is the old head, he can still play, and he'll be throwing to Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, creating a lot of potential for big performances.

Conclusion

My main takeaway is not to stress if you miss the top tier of quarterbacks. There are so many capable guys that qualify as at least streamers, and there will probably be a surprise or two, so while having Allen or Jackson is a major boon, it's not a necessity to win big.

I generally veer toward targeting skill players early and skipping quarterback until later, and that will be my strategy again this year. In my perfect world, I would probably grab Fields and Williams late in the draft with the expectation that one of them will have a top-10 fantasy season.