Fantasy Football Quarterback Rankings – Who Is The QB Expert Around Here?

We find ourselves in that stretch of the NFL offseason where there’s not a lot of news to report.  The fury of Free Agency has long passed.  The NFL Draft is becoming a distant memory.  The first round of rookie mini-camps are also complete without generating much excitement.  Some of you highly motivated ballers out there are drafting Best Balls or filling out your rosters in dynasty leagues.  For the rest of the fake footballers, the anticipation for the start of draft season is starting to grow.  Stay patient my friends, football is right around the corner. 

Here at Razzball, we don’t take a break.  We’re pumping out content 365 to give you every edge in your offseason and draft prep.  As you know by now, all our articles are free and the tools available are second-to-none.  Stick with us all year.  It’ll be worth your time, trust me!

For this edition of the QB rankings, I’m going to take a look at my rankings compared to the Expert Consensus Rankings (ECR) and discuss the players we tend to disagree on.  I’ll give you my perspective on why I’m either higher or lower on that signal caller.  Maybe you’ll agree with me or maybe the “experts” will align with your current thoughts.  That’s ok either way, we all can benefit from different perspectives at this point of the offseason.  It’ll make us more prepared when the time comes to craft our rosters – and that’s what is most important right now. 

Read through my thoughts and let me know what you think.  If you have a question on a QB I don’t discuss, drop it in the comments below and we’ll discuss it in real time.  As always, I’m here to help. 

Let’s jump right into it.

QBs I’m Higher On

• Player: Justin Fields
• Team: Pittsburgh Steelers
• My Rank (2024 ECR): QB20 (QB32)

Of all the QBs in my top 25, Fields is the name where the experts and I disagree the most.  As I shared in a previous article, I don’t believe Russell Wilson will be the QB to draft for fantasy.  The experts obviously feel differently, although not strongly so, as Wilson is their QB 28.  Ultimately, I see Fields beating out Wilson, either in training camp or shortly into the season, and becoming a very good fantasy QB.  If he drops in fantasy drafts, like I would expect right now, he’ll be a fixture on as many of my teams as possible.  Make him a fixture on yours too. 

 

• Player: Kirk Cousins
• Team: Atlanta Falcons
• My Rank (2024 ECR): QB10 (QB17)

Of course, the big shock on draft night was the Falcons drafting the heir apparent to their newly signed franchise QB.  Ok, the Falcons see something in Michael Penix and want to develop him.  That’s great.  However, they’ll be paying a lot of green to Cousins when Penix is “feasibly” ready to go.  Maybe they think that’s a good problem to have.  Personally, I see the Falcons on the cusp of a Super Bowl run and adding another weapon for Cousins would have been more practical.  So, this still makes little sense to me but let’s not kick that dead horse any further. 

For the upcoming season, I do expect some transition time for Cousins.  Between the injury recovery and learning his new teammates, I won’t be surprised to see a slow start out of the gates.  That’s perfectly fine by me.  Early struggles lead to fantasy opportunity if you don’t get to draft him yourself.  He doesn’t have Justin Jefferson anymore, but the weapons are there in Atlanta for him to be a top 10 QB again.  I fully expect that to be the case when the dust settles next season.

 

• Player: Jared Goff
• Team: Detroit Lions
• My Rank (2024 ECR): QB8 (QB14)

This one baffles me.  How do the experts have Goff outside the top 10?  Goff gets another year with all his weapons and probably most importantly, OC Ben Johnson decided to stick around another year.  In his three seasons with the Lions, all that he’s done is throw for over 12,000 yards and a 78:27 TD:INT ratio.  “Yeah, but he doesn’t perform on the road.”  That’s a load of crap, as indicated by a few of his best fantasy games on the road at TB and LAC.  Detroit will be one of the best teams in the NFC this season and I predict their QB will be worth the wait in fantasy drafts.  When others are spending high picks on rushing QBs and high-profile rookies or sophomores, I will be loading up at the skill positions, ready to strike on a QB like Goff.

 

• Player: Matthew Stafford
• Team: Los Angeles Rams
• My Rank (2024 ECR): QB13 (QB19)

It’s only fitting to follow Goff with Stafford, as these two have been joined at the hip for a few years now.  Some are predicting a step back for the Rams this season and it feels like Stafford is getting punished in the QB rankings in response.  Although I agree on the team predictions, I don’t extend that to Stafford.  I see a healthy Cooper Kupp paired with a more experienced Puka Nacua.  I also see a dynamic RB in Kyren Williams who finished last season with 48 targets and rookie RB who should keep the box honest.  The TE position isn’t all that exciting, between an up-and-coming Colby Parkinson and rehabbing Tyler Higbee.  With those other weapons on the field, the Rams TE position may be a sneaky good stash.  Sure he’s getting up there age-wise and injuries tend to find him too often, but there’s enough on the roster to make Stafford a top 12 to top 15 QB if he stays healthy.  Remember, Baker Mayfield finished in this range last year.     

 

QBs I’m Lower On

• Player: Anthony Richardson
• Team: Indianapolis Colts
• My Rank (2024 ECR): QB17 (QB6)

Don’t get me wrong, I am a big Richardson fan and I hope he takes a huge step forward as a QB this year but QB6?  Let’s not forget, AR#5 has only attempted 84 passes in the NFL and is coming off an AC joint injury to his throwing shoulder.  Sure, he ran 25 times and scored 5 rushing TDs in his brief rookie season but does anyone really expect the Colts to allow their franchise QB to pick right up where he left off?  That would be the only scenario where I’d see AR#5 sniffing a top 5 fantasy finish…and I just don’t see it.  I’m willing to be wrong here, but I just don’t think I am.    

 

• Player: Kyler Murray
• Team: Arizona Cardinals
• My Rank (2024 ECR): QB19 (QB9)

Does Marvin Harrison Jr. make Murray a top 10 fantasy QB?  I’m guessing the experts would answer “YES” to that question.  Perhaps it’s the recent addition of Zay Jones to the WR room that props Murray up into single digits?  Trey McBride looks to be a stud TE, so maybe there’s that too!  Ok, I’m talking myself into liking the Cardinals offense more than when I started this analysis.  However, I’m still not sold on an undersized QB with a combined 24:12 TD:INT ratio over his past 19 games.  That’s just not going to get it done in fantasy circles.  Murray still carries the “rushing QB” label but looking a little deeper finds he’s only averaging 5-6 attempts per game.  To me, that screams more like running for his life than scripted rushing attempts.  More weapons = less scrambling.  I can see a scenario where Murray finishes top 15, but that’s as far as I’m going right now.       

 

• Player: Jayden Daniels
• Team: Washington Commanders
• My Rank (2024 ECR): QB26 (QB18)

I like the pick here by the Commanders, making Daniels their franchise QB and giving him the reins on day one.  As with practically every rookie QB not named C.J. Stroud, there’ll be a learning curve as Daniels grows to the speed of the NFL game.  One of the knocks on Daniels is his lack of throwing velocity, which will certainly be exploited by NFL defenses.  He should make up for that somewhat by his rushing production, which may eventually rival his QB brother up I-95 in Baltimore.  Long term, I am high on Daniels and might be my #1 QB for dynasty leagues.  For redraft leagues in 2024 though, I’m suspect he’ll have a hard time breaching top 20 status.        

 

• Player: Deshaun Watson
• Team: Cleveland Browns
• My Rank (2024 ECR): QB29 (QB21)

For fantasy (and in the NFL), I’ve never been high on Watson, even when he was in Houston.  Cleveland gave him a big contract and the keys to the franchise, thinking he’d elevate the team to elite status.  Well, let’s review.  In two seasons, Watson has played in only 12 games, throwing for 2200 yards and a 14:9 TD:INT ratio.  Nope, that’s not going to get it done.  Amari Cooper has resurrected his career and Jerry Jeudy enters the mix with Elijah Moore, creating a potent WR room.  David Njoku is coming off a career year at the TE position as well.  Unfortunately for all of them, Joe Flacco now plays in Indianapolis.  There’s certainly risk-reward here and Watson is an attractive name in 2-QB leagues but after that, I doubt he’ll be drafted highly.  Top 20 is certainly achievable, but as you can see, I’m leaning toward the other end of the 20s.    

 

Wrap-up:

Well, what do you think?  What side of the fence are you on with these QBs?  If we agree, great.  High-Five!  Do we disagree?  If we do, that’s fine but please make your case below.  I’m open to different perspectives.  Maybe you’ll force me to change my rankings for the next article.

In the meantime, here are my full QB rankings:

 

 

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Until next time, my friends!