After an eventful week, the QB free agency market has settled down substantially. The next rocks to fall will occur at the NFL Draft in about a month. As the date comes closer, we may see some jockeying for draft positioning amongst the remaining teams looking for a new signal caller. Most likely, there’ll be plenty of drama once the Commanders go on the clock for Pick #2.
Why not the Bears with Pick #1? Well, you and I both know what they’re going to do now. Is there a scenario where they trade down to the second or third pick for a windfall? Oh, wouldn’t that be fun – Commanders send a bonanza of a deal to Chicago to swap spots. The Bears still wind up with Jayden Daniels or another QB they covet plus all that Washington is willing to part with. Will they do it? Highly doubtful, but what a thought…
Coming back to reality, let’s take a look at the major moves made by the QBs and assess where they are now.
The QB Moves
- Player: Kirk Cousins
- Team: Atlanta Falcons
- My Rank (2024 ECR): QB10 (QB16)
In the latest ECR rankings, Kirk moves up to QB16. I still have him at QB10 and love the prospects of rostering him next season. As I stated last article, “although I do expect some transition time, between the injury recovery and learning his new teammates, I fully expect Cousins will be a Top 10 QB when the dust settles next season.” I still believe this.
- Player: Russell Wilson
- Team: Pittsburgh Steelers
- My Rank (2024 ECR): QB25 (QB28)
Despite the reporting out of Pittsburgh, I don’t believe Wilson will be the fantasy QB to own next season. There are many reasons why the Steelers are right in stating it’s Wilson’s job to lose – he’s an established veteran who’s taken his team to the Super Bowl. Alternatively, he’s also in the Steel City at no risk to the franchise. He’s on a one-year contract that cost them virtually nothing. Ultimately, I see Wilson beaten out by Justin Fields, either in training camp or shortly into the season, and becoming a very good backup QB for this playoff-ready team. The “experts” feel the same, ranking Wilson at QB28, compared to my QB25.
- Player: Justin Fields
- Team: Pittsburgh Steelers
- My Rank (2024 ECR): QB19 (QB18)
The other half of this new tandem, Justin Fields moves to Pittsburgh for a conditional 6th round pick. Again, kudos to the Steelers for revamping their QB room for next to nothing. I already said it so I won’t belabor it here, Fields is the QB to own next year. He may not be the starter on Day One, but he’ll be the one to own when it’s fantasy playoff time. If he drops in drafts, like I would expect right now, he’ll be a fixture on as many of my teams as possible. I have him ranked as my QB19 right now and the “experts” tend to agree, ranking him as the QB18.
- Player: Caleb Williams
- Team: Undrafted (#1 to Chicago Bears?)
- My Rank (2024 ECR): QB21 (QB19)
Despite my trade teaser above, I fully expect Caleb Williams’ name to be called #1 overall to the Bears next month. The Bears are providing him plenty of weapons to play with right from the start so we should see more success than last year’s #1 overall pick. However, it’s not likely he’ll be on my rosters as his draft helium will likely skyrocket him up draft boards. That said, I currently have him as my QB21, with potential to rise to QB15-QB18 range. Again, the “experts” tend to agree with me.
Other Notes:
I didn’t really make any other major changes to my rankings at this time.
- Baker Mayfield (QB16) over Kyler Murray (QB17) and Trevor Lawrence (QB18) still feels right.
- I might be a little low on Will Levis (QB23), but not by much.
- I’m still off the Aaron Rodgers train (QB24).
- Same for Deshaun Watson – not for me (QB26).
- I don’t love Jayden Daniels to the Commanders, but that likelihood makes my ranking (QB33) feel about right.
- I expect the Vikings to bring in another QB rather than relying solely on Sam Darnold (QB34) and Nick Mullens (QB37).
- Which rookie QB goes to the Patriots? One of: Drake Maye (QB35), Michael Penix Jr. (QB38), or J.J. McCarthy (QB40) will get a slight boost when they decide.
- Does Ryan Tannehill (QB47) find a home before the draft? I think not.
While we wait for the draft, here are the full QB rankings:
| Download Table as CSV | |||
| Note: Filters and sorting in the table below apply to the output | |||
| # | Name | Team |
|---|---|---|
| Josh Allen | BUF | |
| Jalen Hurts | PHI | |
| Dak Prescott | DAL | |
| Lamar Jackson | BAL | |
| Patrick Mahomes | KC | |
| C.J. Stroud | HOU | |
| Joe Burrow | CIN | |
| Jared Goff | DET | |
| Justin Herbert | LAC | |
| Kirk Cousins | ATL | |
| Brock Purdy | SF | |
| Trevor Lawrence | JAC | |
| Matthew Stafford | LAR | |
| Tua Tagovailoa | MIA | |
| Jordan Love | GB | |
| Caleb Williams | CHI | |
| Anthony Richardson | IND | |
| Baker Mayfield | TB | |
| Kyler Murray | ARI | |
| Justin Fields | PIT | |
| Derek Carr | NO | |
| Daniel Jones | NYG | |
| Sam Darnold | MIN | |
| Will Levis | TEN | |
| Aaron Rodgers | NYJ | |
| Jayden Daniels | WAS | |
| Zach Wilson | DEN | |
| Russell Wilson | PIT | |
| Deshaun Watson | CLE | |
| J.J. McCarthy | MIN | |
| Drake Maye | NEP | |
| Geno Smith | SEA | |
| Gardner Minshew | LV | |
| Bryce Young | CAR | |
| Bo Nix | DEN | |
| Jameis Winston | CLE | |
| Sam Howell | SEA | |
| Kenny Pickett | PHI | |
| Joe Flacco | IND | |
| Michael Penix Jr | ATL | |
| Nick Mullens | MIN | |
| Desmond Ridder | ARI | |
| Jimmy Garoppolo | LAR | |
| Taysom Hill | NO | |
| Joshua Dobbs | FA | |
| Mac Jones | JAC | |
| Ryan Tannehill | FA | |
| Michael Pratt | Und | |
| Tyrod Taylor | NYJ | |
| Taylor Heinicke | ATL |
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Until next time, my friends!
