Welcome to the first of my fantasy football positional overviews for the 2025 draft season. Today, we will be examining quarterbacks. I will share my thoughts on each tier (courtesy of our expert consensus rankings), breakout candidates and late-round sleepers.
The lifeblood of a team and the engine that makes the offense go, quarterbacks are without question the most critical position on the offensive side of the ball. Yet, for fantasy football purposes, we typically wait at least several rounds before filling that slot on our roster.
Depth at the position, coupled with most league formats only allowing one to start each week (Superflex leagues aren’t as common as you’d think), has led to running backs and wide receivers dominating the first several selections. But make no mistake: Choosing the right quarterback will provide your team with a high weekly floor of points. Adding a capable alternative or backup option in case of injury or bye-week woes is becoming more widely accepted amongst analysts.
Fantasy Football Quarterback Overview
When should you consider adding a signal-caller to your fantasy squad? Which quarterbacks stick out in their respective tiers? Let’s dive in.
Tier One
This is commonly referred to as the “rushing upside” tier for obvious reasons. Each of these four players, should they be on the field for an entire season, offers their managers upside not only in the passing game, but on the ground as well. Jalen Hurts and Josh Allen have the most potential for scoring rushing touchdowns in short-distance situations around the goal line, with Lamar Jackson and Jayden Daniels being more lithe runners who can generate chunk plays with their elusiveness.
This tier is by far the most expensive to acquire. Jackson and Allen will likely come off the board towards the end of the second round, with Daniels and Hurts usually gone in the third and fourth rounds, respectively, based on average draft position (ADP).
Favorite Pick
If you are opting to address quarterback this early, I’d go whole-hog and take Lamar Jackson. He made terrific strides last season as a passer (setting career highs in passing yards and touchdowns), while maintaining his stellar upside on the ground.
Jackson’s 915 rushing yards last season were more than De’Von Achane or J.K. Dobbins, and he is still just 28 years old. Jackson has a deep group of surrounding talent and is one of the safest selections in all of fantasy.
Tier Two
Waiting a little longer at the position will provide managers with these options. Baker Mayfield and Patrick Mahomes bring modest rushing upside (around 300-350 rushing yards in a season), with Joe Burrow tracking right behind them. Burrow finished as the QB3 in fantasy last season, mainly due to the absurd number of passes he attempted (his 652 led the league; no one else reached more than 585).
Cincinnati did make an effort to improve its defense to keep the Bengals competitive within games, but this will still be a pass-heavy offense. Mayfield enjoyed a stellar 2024 campaign where he set career highs across the board, but managers should bank upon some sort of regression. We’d anticipate his totals to come closer to his 2023 mark, where he remained a top-10 option.
It feels odd writing that Mahomes doesn’t offer the same upside as the other players within this tier, but he hasn’t been a top-six producer at the position since 2022, with Kansas City adopting a more balanced approach.
Favorite Pick
Although Mahomes and Mayfield have higher rushing floors than Burrow, he will blow past them in terms of production within the pocket, with the best one-two wide receiver tandem in the NFL at his disposal. Burrow has been a top-three option in two of the last three years when he was healthy, and is the most consistent option amongst this pairing.
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Tier Three
Tier three mirrors the prior in terms of its breakdown. There are options with modest rushing upside on offenses that don’t have a ton of proven talent (Kyler Murray, Bo Nix, Justin Fields) and pure-pocket options that have a better supporting cast, with lower rushing floors (Dak Prescott, Justin Herbert, Brock Purdy).
Bo Nix surprised me last year with his stellar rookie season. Borrowing a stat line from my colleague Derek Brown, he was the QB6 in fantasy points per game from Weeks 5-18. Despite his slow start, Nix came on late, and improvements to Denver’s weapons make him intriguing.
Kyler Murray was arguably the biggest bust at the position last season and had extreme swings in weekly production. Better chemistry with Marvin Harrison Jr. will surely help things, but maddening inconsistency is a sore spot. Dak Prescott is in a good spot and can be viewed as a buy-low candidate, coming off of his injury-plagued 2024 season. The addition of George Pickens on the outside will surely relieve some pressure off CeeDee Lamb, in an offense that looks to be one-dimensional.
Justin Fields has immense rushing ability, but New York looks to be dead-set on a run-heavy approach, and outside of Garrett Wilson, Fields has no established receiving threats. I’m worried about his potential for injury.
Despite everything going wrong for San Francisco last season due to injuries, Brock Purdy finished with better totals than many remember. Even with Brandon Aiyuk, Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel all missing chunks of time, Purdy still finished as the fantasy QB14 and demonstrated modest rushing upside. The healthy return of McCaffrey, coupled with a healthy Ricky Pearsall, has my eyebrow raised.
Justin Herbert is a player with immense real-life talent, but he plays in a system that will limit his ceiling, even with a strong supporting cast. He’s failed to surpass 25 passing touchdowns since 2021 and is more of a household name than a fantasy asset.
Favorite Pick
I’ll likely be in the minority, but given his price point, I’m a big fan of Brock Purdy. His current ADP has him as a mid-seventh round selection, and I don’t think that he is getting enough respect (to pull my inner Rodney Dangerfield).
Purdy has a top-five running back and tight end at his disposal, with upside plays in Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall on the outside. The healthy return of Brandon Aiyuk mid-season will only propel him further. If the 49ers can dodge the injury bug, I have no doubt Purdy will outperform his current ranking.
Tier Four
This is a deep and varied tier, with players that have breakout potential, youth and tremendous upside. Jared Goff headlines the tier as an upside-QB2. He will be consistently above average, but not someone whom I’d peg with immense upside. His 2024 numbers were incredibly efficient, and it’s worth wondering what sort of impact the departure of offensive coordinator Ben Johnson will have. Detroit is a juggernaut, but Goff’s lack of upside as a runner severely caps his ceiling.
Caleb Williams is a polarizing candidate. A dramatically improved offensive line, coupled with (arguably) the deepest group of pass-catchers in the league, has me hopeful he can begin to fulfill the lofty expectations the Bears levied on him. To quote Cooterdoodle, “Drake Maye is your favorite analyst’s favorite breakout pick at the position.”
Everyone seems to have a hunch that Maye is due to explode in 2025. After running for his life for the majority of last season behind a sieve offensive line, New England made it a point to bring in reinforcements to protect their franchise star. The additions of TreVeyon Henderson at running back and a viable No. 1 WR in Stefon Diggs should do wonders for Maye’s development.
Jordan Love has me puzzled, if I’m being honest. Part of me is hopeful that he’s able to return to the gaudy totals he set during the 2023 season; part of me is hesitant that he is stuck as a mid-tier QB2. That’s especially true after the recent news that he underwent thumb surgery to repair ligament damage suffered in the first preseason game against the New York Jets.
Trevor Lawrence is in a similar position. I should be higher on him, but I’m suffering from “once bitten, twice shy” syndrome: A new coaching staff and the addition of Travis Hunter opposite Brian Thomas Jr. should help things, but I remain hesitant. He’s a perfect upside backup for managers who took a riskier option in one of the prior tiers.
J.J. McCarthy has nearly everything going his way. He has the backing of head coach Kevin O’Connell’s quarterback-friendly system, elite options to throw to all over the field, a stout offensive line and rushing upside. The problem? We just haven’t seen it all come together yet, and trusting him out of the gate as your QB1 is a risky proposition.
C.J. Stroud is the new poster child for the “sophomore slump” reference. Following an outstanding rookie campaign, struggles along the offensive line and a decimated wide receiver core made it impossible to replicate the magic. Losing Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell won’t help matters. Houston is now relying on the Iowa State rookie tandem of Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel to provide them with a new explosive tandem.
Tua Tagovailoa. Where to even start with this one? His injury risk is obvious, and one wrong slide or unfortunate hit to the head could not only end his season but also his career. He offers little upside as a rusher, and Miami seemed reluctant to take downfield shots with him last year, in favor of quick passing routes. Tagovailoa just doesn’t offer enough upside to have me intrigued.
Wrapping up the tier is Bryce Young, who enters the year with a major spark of hope. Following an early-season benching after an incredibly rocky start, something finally clicked. Young’s accuracy showed marked improvement, and he finally began looking downfield at his receivers. The presence of alpha Tetairoa McMillan has me hopeful that Young can continue his late-season surge.
Favorite Pick
From a pure ADP perspective, Bryce Young offers QB1 upside as a 13th-round selection. For those going bargain-basement hunting, he represents the best value.
J.J. McCarthy is my other favorite of the tier. I’ve been a fan of his since his time at the University of Michigan. To put it simply, there are just too many positive factors to ignore. Anyone with a pulse could throw to Justin Jefferson and T.J. Hockenson, and McCarthy also has upside as a runner. He represents a fantastic dart throw in the 10th round that could supplant most low-end QB1s.
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