2018 Fantasy Football Draft Guide: Quarterbacks
As a Fantasy Football owner, are you trying to have a winning record this season? Trying to get a win at all this season? Trying to get the best possible #1 overall pick?
Well, You’ve come to the right place.
Fantasy Football season is upon us and we here at ChiCitySports are determined to help you dominate your league. Let this post be your cheat sheet when drafting your QB. I will be breaking up every starter in the NFL into six tiers. Tier one being the best picks and tier six being the worst picks.
With all of this in mind, here are how our QBs this year stack up against each other and how they can be grouped into tiers.
TIER 1
Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay Packers)
Chicago sports fans do not be reluctant on taking him, it will most certainly pay off for you. Rodgers is in a tier of his own because nobody in the league currently can roll with this guys’ stuff. Not this season, anyway.
TIER 2
Tom Brady (New England Patriots), Russell Wilson (Seattle Seahawks), Carson Wentz (Philadelphia Eagles), Cam Newton (Carolina Panthers), Deshaun Watson (Houston Texans).
These QBs are great backup options if Rodgers was taken. Most, if not all of the Quarterbacks should be available to you in the second and third round of your draft. The drop-off between these Quarterbacks and Aaron Rodgers might be, at most, 20 more total points at the end of this season.
However, I predict Watson will have a stellar year so if he is available, get him.
TIER 3
Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints), Andrew Luck (Indianapolis Colts), Kirk Cousins (Minnesota Vikings), Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh Steelers), Philip Rivers (Los Angeles Chargers).
These QBs have a chance to be great but don’t necessarily have the tools to be great. This is a great sleeper tier to maybe get lucky and have one of these QBs turn into a top 5 player at the end of the year. Andrew Luck returning from injury might have some people shaking their heads after reading this but I think he’ll be a great pickup as a backup starter.
TIER 4
Jimmy Garoppolo (San Francisco 49ers), Marcus Mariota (Tennessee Titans), Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs), Matt Ryan (Atlanta Falcons), Jared Goff (Los Angeles Rams), Derek Carr (Oakland Raiders), Matthew Stafford (Detroit Lions), Dak Prescott (Dallas Cowboys).
Hopefully you have already drafted a QB by now because I would not recommend these players to be your week 1 starters. I think Garoppolo, Mahomes, and Goff have a chance to really breakout and have a good season. Dak Prescott’s career is in a bit of a decline, I fear. Towards the tail end of last season, he proved that he can make mistakes. Prescott threw over triple the amount of interceptions last year compared to his rookie year and had a passer rating nearly 20 points lower than his rookie season. I do not predict Prescott being high up on any charts this year.
TIER 5
Blake Bortles (Jacksonville Jaguars), Andy Dalton (Cincinnati Bengals), Mitchell Trubisky (Chicago Bears), Jameis Winston (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Tyrod Taylor (Cleveland Browns), Eli Manning (New York Giants), Case Keenum (Denver Broncos), Ryan Tannehill (Miami Dolphins).
I predict some of these players will be drafted and I predict some will be FAs. The sleepers in this tier would be Blake Bortles and potentially Case Keenum. Both QBs like to throw the football and Case Keenum is the perfect QB for a spread offense and getting a lot of passing yards due to his background as a Houston Cougar in college by holding the record for most passing yards, passes completed, and touchdowns thrown.
Tier 6
Joe Flacco (Baltimore Ravens), Sam Bradford (Arizona Cardinals), Josh McCown (New York Jets), Lamar Jackson (Baltimore Ravens), AJ McCarron (Buffalo Bills), Baker Mayfield (Cleveland Browns), Sam Darnold (New York Jets), Josh Rosen (Arizona Cardinals), Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills), Nick Foles (Philadelphia Eagles).
A lot of great young talent in this tier but unfortunately, until these rookies prove themselves, they remain in the lowest tier. Nick Foles has already proven himself worthy but he will be backup to Carson Wentz which is why the Super Bowl MVP has made his way to the lowest tier. Even the “elite” Joe Flacco found himself in the lowest tier, another Super Bowl MVP. Meanwhile in Cleveland, the position battle between Baker Mayfield and Tyrod Taylor still commences. Personally, I think Mayfield should be the starter after his preseason performance for the Browns. All in all, I predict these players will be FAs for the duration of the season.
I hope this guide has helped relieve some stress for selecting your skipper for the 2018 season. Be sure to check out my guide for RBs coming out very soon.