It’s the most wonderful time of the year. College football is back, the preseason is almost over and home leagues around the nation are getting ready to draft. These 2023 fantasy football quarterback rankings will help managers find value every step of the way.
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2023 Fantasy Football Quarterback Rankings
Tier One – Best of the Best
- Jalen Hurts
- Justin Herbert
- Josh Allen
- Patrick Mahomes
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Managers all too often want to just draft off of last year’s finishes. If that were the case, Mahomes would easily be the first quarterback off the board. But it’s important to note that this was his first QB1 finish in five years, and he normally floats in the QB4 range. Hurts actually led the league in PPG in 2022, all while throwing fewer passes in the fourth quarter total than Matt Stafford, Mike White, and Joe Flacco. For context, Burrow and Mahomes both attempted more than double the fourth-quarter attempts. Either the Eagles continue to blow out teams and he’ll produce similar to last season, or last season wasn’t even his final form.
This isn’t meant to put Josh Allen down. It’s to point out how high Herbert is going to finish this season. He’s an early choice to lead the league in passing, has more of a rushing floor than people give him credit for, and will be in shootouts all year long. There’s not a bad option among them, but Herbert’s ADP is far below the other three and is one of the best values in redraft leagues this season.
Tier Two – QB1 Overall Upside
- Justin Fields
- Lamar Jackson
- Trevor Lawrence
- Joe Burrow
A month ago, Burrow would have topped this list. Now he is dealing with a calf injury. It likely won’t cause him to miss time, but if he experiences even a minor set back they can put him on ice. The Bengals are worried about Super Bowls, not fantasy championships. He’ll offer little to no rushing upside and he’s likely more trouble than his ADP right now.
Conversely, Fields and Lawrence each added exceptional receivers to add to their passing game. Fields actually outscored Burrow over the second half of the season while his wide receiver one was out. A healthy Lamar Jackson is a cheat code in fantasy, he’s already fifth all-time in quarterback rushing yards in his career.
Tier Three – Set It and Forget It
- Daniel Jones
- Tua Tagavailoa
- Anthony Richardson
- Deshaun Watson
- Kirk Cousins
- Geno Smith
- Dak Prescott
- Jared Goff
- Aaron Rodgers
Jones and Tua don’t have QB1 overall upside, but top five is definitely in their range of outcomes. The ideal team build with Anthony Richardson includes two quarterbacks from this tier, one to start the season and Richardson to finish it out. His rushing alone could win him OROY. Watson could return to former fantasy football glory, he could also be the next in a long line of Browns QB mistakes.
The rest are accumulators of stats. They likely won’t win a fantasy team a week or a season, but at the year’s end they’ll float around QB10-16 and it will look like a great season. Great floors for a QB2 in a Superflex league, but in 1QB it’s better to shoot for the stars.
Tier Four – Superflex and Streaming
- Kenny Pickett
- Russell Wilson
- Kyler Murray
- Derek Carr
- Jordan Love
- Brock Purdy
- Ryan Tannehill
- Matthew Stafford
A healthy Kyler Murray is a top-ten fantasy football quarterback. Ranking him is difficult because it looks like the Cardinals might be openly tanking. Pickett has looked like the real deal this preseason but even at his best won’t crack the top eight. Love, Purdy, Stafford, and the rookies are all mystery boxes. They have little to no rushing ability, but if they get on a hot touchdown streak they could outperform their ADP.
None of these players is worth more than a bye week fill-in or stash in case of injury in 1QB leagues, but in Superflex are very useful QB2 options.
Tier Five – Better Than Nothing
- Desmond Ridder
- Bryce Young
- C.J. Stroud
- Sam Howell
- Jimmy Garoppolo
- Baker Mayfield
- Mac Jones
As laid out in his fantasy outlook, Bryce Young will struggle to produce for fantasy as a rookie. The similarities with the players in this tier are interesting. No rushing ability, poor weapons (Other than Mayfield, Garoppolo, and Ridder), and either minimal job security or rookie mistakes to make. If any of these players finishes in the top 18 it will be Ridder or Howell making an impressive year two jump. The reason they’re ranked this low is they could just as easily be out of the job in week nine.
Read More
Redraft Wide Receiver Rankings
Full Fantasy Football Draft Guide
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Main Photo Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
