Whether you’re in a one-quarterback or Superflex league, picking the right quarterback can make or break your season. Having a good one can mean one less position you have to tweak throughout the season constantly.

Below are a few candidates that didn’t live up to expectations last year but could bounce back in a big way.

• 4 Bounce-Back Running Backs

Lamar Jackson (QB – BAL) 

Lamar Jackson is perhaps the most obvious bounce-back candidate, not just at quarterback but in all of football. Not only did he set a career-high in interceptions with 13, but he did it in just 12 games due to missing over a month because of an ankle injury. His advantage in the run game was also seemingly tapped, as he scored just twice on the ground, a career-low and even lower than his rookie season total of five when he only started seven games. Jackson finished as just a top-15 fantasy quarterback, top-12 if you measure it by per-game fantasy points.

This isn’t to say Jackson had a bad season. It just was not as good as his previous two, one of which he won the Most Valuable Player award. That season, Jackson lit up the league with over 3,000 yards passing, 1,200 yards rushing and 43 total touchdowns on his way to becoming the top fantasy quarterback in the league in his second year.

So how can Jackson get back to that level, or at least closer to number one than number 15? Our first clue may be the Ravens 2022 Draft class. They not only traded away their top receiver in 2021 – Marquise Brown – for a first-round pick but ultimately used that pick to draft the top center in the draft, Tyler Linderbaum. The Ravens drafted another lineman, two tight ends and a running back. And no receiver to be found in what looks like a plan to model the 2022 Ravens offense around the 2019 one that led to Jackson’s MVP season.

Russell Wilson (QB – DEN)

Admittedly, it looks odd to see “Denver” next to Russell Wilson’s name, but that’s 2022 for you. After a huge trade that moved Wilson to the mountains, fantasy managers hope a new team means a new Russ, at least compared to 2021. Compared to a typical Wilson season, 2021 was a down year. He failed to throw at least 30 touchdowns for the first time in five years and totaled the lowest rushing total of his entire career with just 183 yards. Wilson finished between a top-12 or top-15 fantasy quarterback for the year, depending on your league’s scoring.

So what can Wilson managers expect in 2022? Presumably, Denver will “let Russ cook” after the fortunate they spent to get him. Denver sent first and second-round picks in 2022 and 2023, plus later picks and former first-round pick Noah Fant (Denver also sent Shelby Harris and Drew Lock but meh).

Still left in Denver are former first-round pick Jerry Jeudy, former second-round pick Courtland Sutton, former second-round pick KJ Hamler and Tim Patrick (whom they extended last year). And that’s just the receivers. He also has second-round pick Javonte Williams and veteran Melvin Gordon in the backfield. The point is that Wilson’s supporting cast is loaded, and he’ll have no excuse for not being a QB1 again in fantasy scoring. Even if his rushing numbers never reach their peak levels, 30-plus touchdowns should be the floor with so much talent on the offense.

Matt Ryan (QB – IND)

Another example of a new team that could inject some fantasy stats into a quarterback is Matt Ryan landing in Indianapolis. Ryan is about as dependable as it gets when it comes to quarterbacking your fantasy team. He’s missed three games his entire 14-year career and, other than just two seasons, is always a top-15 fantasy quarterback.

Unfortunately, one of those three seasons was 2021. Ryan totaled just 20 touchdowns and failed to top 4,000 yards for the first time in a decade. Granted, the team jettisoned Julio Jones before the season while Calvin Ridley addressed off-the-field concerns that kept him to just five games. Nonetheless, it was a down year.

But there is reason to be optimistic that he will turn in a typical fantasy season by his standards this year. He heads to a team led by Head Coach Frank Reich, who just squeezed a high-end QB2 fantasy season out of Carson Wentz one year after Wentz finished outside the top 20 in fantasy scoring.

Ryan will also be surrounded by a supporting cast that, on the whole, is better than what he had in Atlanta. Third-year receiver Michael Pittman just notched his first 1,000-yard season, while All-Pro running back Jonathan Taylor will lighten the load in the run game. Put Ryan in the middle of this equation, and it should equal another top-15 fantasy season, if not better.

Jared Goff (QB – DET)

After the Lions failed to sign a veteran quarterback or draft one, it guaranteed that Jared Goff would have one more season as the starter. It wasn’t such a sure thing after Goff had his worst statistical season since his rookie year. He averaged his lowest yards-per-game throwing (231) and lowest touchdown total in five seasons. But that was then, and this is now, with Goff having a supporting cast that rivals the one he had in Los Angeles.

The pass-catchers will be led by budding star Amon-Ra St. Brown who had the fourth-most receiving yards by a rookie in 2021 – not bad for a fourth-round pick – and set the Lions rookie record in the process. He’ll be joined in 2022 by the 12th-overall pick, Jameson Williams. It won’t be right away as Williams is still recovering from a torn ACL, but it’ll be a nice boost towards the end of the fantasy season.

Former first-round pick T.J. Hockenson will join them at tight end. Hockenson was on his way to setting career highs in receptions, yards and touchdowns until a thumb injury took him out of the last five games of 2021.

And perhaps the best weapon Goff will have is in the backfield. D’Andre Swift was a top-five running back through Week 11 last season before an injury knocked him out for a good portion of the season. But Swift is fully healthy and making linebackers miss already. This could push him into the top 20 in fantasy scoring this season, something he didn’t do last year.

Michael Moore is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @DLF_Moore.