7) Matthew Stafford, Rams
Grade B+ | Average Draft Position: 15th-16th Round | 25th QB off the board
If you rostered him, let’s just be honest for a quick moment. When you picked him, nobody yelled, “Great pick!” In fact, when you picked him, the majority of your league mates snickered a little as they thought you were just chasing a name you recognized rather than spending your draft pick wisely on somebody with more upside… like Bryce Young or Anthony Richardson. Stafford owners did get the last laugh, but I had to ding you here based on the draft position. In fact, Stafford doesn’t even qualify for this list based on my original criteria, but I had to let him slide after the season he just had. Way back in August, the vast majority of us weren’t just worried that Stafford would be an injury risk that would be a waste on our team if we drafted him, but we were also fading Puka Nacua by a few draft spots because of concerns over Stafford’s wonky back. He not only stayed healthy, but he had a career year after throwing 42 touchdown passes (a new career high) as well as his highest yardage total since 2021, good enough to finish the fantasy season as the overall QB3. Congratulations, nice work, I’m not calling you lucky, but……..
8) Justin Herbert, Chargers
Grade B+ | Average Draft Position: 8-9th Round | 11th QB off the board
Herbert was an A+ for the first half of this season, and then his offensive line fell apart. He was drafted as the 11th QB and finished the season as the QB11 in points per game and QB9 in total points scored. He ended up being just fine, but oh, what could have been? Through the first 9 games of the season, he was ranked well inside the top 10 as he was averaging well over 20 points per game. The streak culminated with three consecutive top 4 finishes between Weeks 7 and 9. Since Week 9, he has averaged just 14 fantasy points per game, leaving him outside of the top 20 overall. A perfect draft would have had you taking Herbert as your QB1 and then coming back a couple of rounds later and grabbing Tyler Lawrence (or grabbing Stafford or Jacoby Brissett off waivers). Either way, Herbert had enough good games in the early going to give his owners a solid baseline to build off of. Solid pick, just not a league winner on his own.
