Ahead of Week 1 of the NFL season beginning this Thursday night in Kansas City, we’re taking a look at the best quarterbacks to select and ranking the best choices ahead of your fantasy draft.
If you’re new to fantasy football, strap yourself in and get ready for the ride because this is one of the most fun things to get involved with ahead of the new season.
It follows a simple concept. You draft your own team of players from the NFL, set a lineup every week, before you sit back and relax whilst they run, pass, catch and score touchdowns to earn points for your team.
Ahead of Thursday night’s opener at Arrowhead between the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions, find the best QBs for the new season listed below with the help of DraftSharks.
Fantasy Football Week 1 Quarterback Tiers
Tier 1: Elite passers who can also rush
- Jalen Hurts (Philadelphia Eagles)
- Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills)
- Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs)
The highest tier of fantasy quarterbacks consists of the players who are both elite passers and possess a strong run game on the ground.
Jalen Hurts averages nearly ten rush attempts per game and recorded 13 rushing TDs last season. He’s also one of the best passers in the league, ranking sixth in passing grade (80.6).
He rarely turns the ball over and the Eagles have some of the best receiving talent in the league with A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith, so Hurts should be a no brainer on your fantasy board.
Josh Allen finished as the top QB in fantasy points per game last season (29.5) and scored as a top-three fantasy QB on five occasions, finishing outside the top 12 twice and didn’t miss a single game with injury.
Among 24 QBs with 400+ dropbacks, Allen ranked third in Pro Football Focus passing grade, tied for fourth in yards per attempt and 18th in adjusted completion rate.
Patrick Mahomes led all QBs in total fantasy points last year and in the last five years since taking over as the Chiefs star starter, he has ranked second, third, fifth and seventh in that category also.
He’s the only QB to finish top seven in points per game in each of the last five years and his 308.8 passing yards per game in 2022 were the second most of his career. His talent goes without saying.
RELATED: Patriots Vs Eagles Predictions, Betting Picks & Best Bets: Hosts To Cover Spread
Tier 2: Elite rusher or elite passer
- Lamar Jackson (Baltimore Ravens)
- Joe Burrow (Cincinnati Bengals)
- Justin Fields (Chicago Bears)
- Trevor Lawrence (Jacksonville Jaguars)
- Justin Herbert (Los Angeles Chargers)
Lamar Jackson entered 2022 with three consecutive years as a top ten QB in fantasy points per game and achieved that again last year, finishing sixth.
He’s an effective runner, ranking second in PFF rushing grade among QBs in 2022 with six games of 70+ rushing yards but he is still yet to throw for over 3,000 passing yards and 20+ TDs in his career.
Joe Burrow started the 2022 season off a 2021 campaign where he finished first in PFF passing grade among qualified players and a ninth overall finish in points per game.
He was also PFF’s highest-graded passer in 2022, improving his points per game average to 21.9. Among QBs with 400+ dropbacks, he ranked second in passing yards and TDs whilst doubling his previous career highs in rushing yards (257) and rushing TDs (5).
Justin Fields ranked sixth in fantasy points per game among QBs in 2022 and produced ten top 12 weekly finishes in 12 games. Throwing the ball is not his forte however and he ranked last in PFF passing grade among 25 QBs with 400+ dropbacks.
Chicago’s offense relies heavily on the run game led by Fields and they ranked first in team rushing yards per game in 2022. He recorded the second-most rushing yards (1,143) and third-most carriers (160) ever among QBs.
Trevor Lawrence went from 33rd among QBs in fantasy points per game in 2021 to 11th last season, ranking 12th in passing yards per game, 13th in completion rate, 10th in QB rushing yards, tied-fifth in rushing TDs and 10th in carries.
He also ranked 14th in PFF passing grade and improved significantly throughout the season, ranking third from Week 9 through the playoffs.
Justin Herbert has an elite arm and his 25 passing TDs was tied for eighth. He ranked second in pass attempts (699), completions (477) and passing yards (4,739).
His rushing production left much to be desired but he ranks sixth among QBs in fantasy points per game over the last three seasons and he has a very talented group of receivers this year with the addition of Quentin Johnson.
RELATED: Chiefs Vs Lions Predictions, Betting Picks & Best Bets: Blowout At Arrowhead
Tier 3: The best of the rest
- Tua Tagovailoa (Miami Dolphins)
- Dak Prescott (Dallas Cowboys)
- Daniel Jones (New York Giants)
- Anthony Richardson (Indianapolis Colts)
- Geno Smith (Seattle Seahawks)
Tua Tagovailoa finished 15th among QBs in total fantasy points and eighth in points per game last year. He has ranked as a top 12 fantasy QB five times and a top six QB on four occasions.
His rushing production also isn’t the greatest but he sat fifth in PFF passing grade and third in average depth of target, adding a league-high 8.9 yards per attempt.
Dak Prescott is a health risk and only played in 12 games last year. However, he ranked ninth in fantasy points per game among QBs and tied for 12th in yards per attempt.
He did lead the league in interceptions (15) which could be a worry. He posted just one rushing TD for the second straight year but averaged 15.1 rushing yards per game, up from 9.1 in 2021.
Daniel Jones doesn’t have much to work with in New York but finished as the 12th-best QB in fantasy points last season. He recorded three weeks in the top five but six at 20th or worse.
He averaged just 29.5 attempts, 200.3 yards and 0.93 passing TDs per game. However his rushing production was again impressive, ranking in the top five among QBs for rushes (120), yards (708) and TDs (7).
Anthony Richardson is a world-class athlete and the rookie QB is poised for a huge year. In college last season, only three QBs averaged more yards per tote last season among 52 with at least 50 rushing attempts.
He’s an impressive deep passer but his biggest strength lies in his running game. We don’t know how it’ll translate to the NFL yet, but all will be revealed in due course.
Geno Smith threw for 4,282 yards and 30 TDs in his first full-time year as a starter since 2014 and the Seattle Seahawks have one hell of a QB on their hands.
Those marks ranked fourth and eighth league wide, whilst also adding 366 rushing yards on 68 carries – both eighth among QBs. He finished as a top five fantasy QB four times and worse than 13th in just five occasions.
me staring at my fantasy football roster pic.twitter.com/DFzgFm9yib
— NFL Fantasy Football (@NFLFantasy) September 2, 2023
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