Fantasy Football: The Surprising Quarterback Ranked Above Josh Allen This Week

The deeper we get into the playoffs, the more fantasy football changes. We had 12 teams in action last week but just eight this week, cutting the amount of fantasy players by 33%.

We will lose half of this week's players next week, making it harder than ever to find a good matchup and put together a fantasy lineup, DFS or otherwise.

Let's look at four quarterbacks who are worth considering and four who are better left out of your fantasy lineup in the Divisional Round. Players in each tier are in alphabetical order. Most stats are from NFL.com.

Use FantasySP's weekly projections to compare players and help make your toughest lineup decisions!

Start

Start of the Week

Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams @ Chicago Bears

Stafford was one of my contenders for this title last week also, and he threw for 304 yards on 7.2 per attempt with three touchdowns and one interception (around 22 fantasy points). That was in a decent matchup against the Panthers, and this week is even better against Chicago.

The Bears allowed the seventh-most yards per pass attempt and the second-most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks this season.  Last week, Jordan Love had 323 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions.

I don't trust Chicago's defense, and this one could also turn into a shootout after the Rams won 34-31 and the Bears won 31-27 last week. Bad weather might be the only thing that can stop Stafford, though the forecast calls for mild weather on Sunday.

Great Players, Tough Matchups

Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills @ Denver Broncos

Allen was QB1 this season. He finished 15 points ahead of the guy in second place, and that was without playing in Week 18. There is no good argument against Allen.

Any consternation is all about the defense. Denver allowed the second-fewest yards per pass attempt and the sixth-fewest fantasy points per game to quarterbacks this year. Running will always be a big part of Allen's game, and the Broncos were good stopping the QB run, giving up 18.3 yards per game with just three touchdowns this year.

Trey Lance had 69 rushing yards against Denver in Week 18, and Marcus Mariota had 55 in Week 13. No one else topped 31, and only four other quarterbacks reached 20 yards. Allen will run, but the Broncos seem equipped to at least hold him in check.

While Buffalo's quarterback has the highest ceiling of anyone, I like Stafford's outlook better than Allen's.

Drake Maye, New England Patriots vs. Houston Texans

We can essentially copy and paste the previous section right here. Maye was QB2, just ahead of Stafford, and the Texans gave up the seventh-fewest yards per pass attempt and the second-fewest fantasy points per game to quarterbacks in 2025.

Maye had a tough matchup last week against the Chargers and still had 268 passing yards on 9.2 per attempt with a touchdown and an interception (and added 66 rushing yards). The matchup this week is even worse, but Maye is still likely to have a decent fantasy score.

Like with Allen, I just prefer Stafford's outlook so much better that I'm not playing Maye in any DFS contest. If you don't have a choice, he will probably be OK (same with Allen).

Decent Outlook

Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks vs. San Francisco 49ers

In the two games these teams played during the regular season, Darnold was very middling with a bad fantasy score, averaging 174 yards per game with no touchdowns and no interceptions. He doesn't run the ball, so there's not much left.

San Francisco is so banged up that it's easy to see them getting beat by any good passing game. The 49ers ended up right near the middle in both yards per pass attempt allowed and fantasy points given up to QBs. They had a good outing against Jalen Hurts last week, holding him to 168 yards on 4.8 per attempt and just 14 rushing yards.

Darnold could have a good game against his division foe the third time out, but based on what we've seen, it's more likely that he tops out with a middling day. I'd prefer Stafford, Allen, and Maye over the Seattle passer.

Sit

Good Players, Tough Matchups

These three guys are all decent-to-good fantasy players, but they have tough matchups this week. While most players have poor matchups in the playoffs, these guys stand out as having negative fantasy outlooks.

Bo Nix, Denver Broncos vs. Buffalo Bills

The Bills allowed the fourth-fewest yards per pass attempt and the eighth-fewest fantasy points per game to quarterbacks. Trevor Lawrence had an OK day in the Wild Card Round, throwing for 207 yards on 6.9 per attempt with three touchdowns, two interceptions, and 31 rushing yards.

Lawrence was fantasy QB4 this season, and Nix was QB7, scoring close to three points per game less than Lawrence. It's reasonable to expect him to put up a day close to what the Jacksonville passer did, which came out to just under 20 fantasy points; that's a decent score.

I prefer the guy with the better outlook and the two with the higher ceiling that we talked about previously, though, leaving Nix on the wrong side of things. I feel like there are better options this week.

Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers @ Seattle Seahawks

Purdy and the San Fran passing game put up numbers; it's essentially a weekly occurrence. Last week against a good Philly defense, Purdy had 262 passing yards on 8.5 per attempt with two touchdowns, two interceptions, and 24 rushing yards (around 17 fantasy points).

That's a good estimate for his fantasy performance again in this one. Purdy's numbers were close to that in the first game between these teams: 277 passing yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions, and 17 rushing yards. He was way down in Week 18, gaining just 127 yards on 4.7 per attempt with no touchdowns and an interception.

This game will likely end up somewhere between. Seattle has a good pass defense, allowing the fewest yards per pass attempt and the seventh-fewest fantasy points per game to QBs this season. Purdy has a good floor, but he doesn't have a high ceiling, making him a middling option.

Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears vs. Los Angeles Rams

It was a tale of two halves for the Bears in the opening round. After scoring three points and gaining just 122 yards on four drives in the first half, Chicago came back with 28 points and 333 yards on six drives, 55.5 yards per drive versus 30.5 in the first two quarters.

Williams followed that pattern also and eventually ended up with a good performance: 361 passing yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions, and 20 rushing yards. Add in a two-point conversion, and Williams had around 22 fantasy points, a good outing.

The Rams gave up the 11th-fewest yards per pass attempt and finished a little better than average in fantasy points allowed to QBs. They were much better early but faltered in the second half of the season, feeling the effects of a struggling secondary.

Williams has a decent outlook here. I wouldn't be surprised if we came back next week to find that he had another 20-plus-point performance. I like the outlook of others better, but Williams might be the best of the “Sit” quarterbacks.

Sit of the Week

C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans @ New England Patriots

It had to be somebody. On top of modest production, the matchup against New England is a negative one. The Patriots allowed the 10th-fewest yards per pass attempt and the 10th-fewest fantasy points per game to quarterbacks this year.

Stroud is a better real-life quarterback than fantasy quarterback, something that was true in the opening round of the playoffs. He threw an interception and lost two fumbles, which hurt his score, leaving him with less than 10 fantasy points. Stroud is a low-floor fantasy player.

There's no scenario in which Stroud is your best option this week. Bench him in every format.