Ranking the Top 10 Fantasy Quarterbacks

It’s always nice to have a good quarterback on your fantasy team. They usually score the most points and often can make the difference in close fantasy games.

Let’s take a look at the top 10 quarterbacks for the 2020 fantasy football season.

10. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons:

Ryan is the perfect player to draft if you want to load up on running backs and wide receivers in the early and middle portions of your draft. The 12-year veteran has eclipsed 4,000 passing yards each of the last nine seasons. If there is one knock on Ryan it’s that his passing touchdown totals are inconsistent. In 2015, he threw 21 touchdown passes and followed that with a career-high 38 in 2016. In 2017, he was back down to 20, but in 2018 he threw 35. Last season he had 4,466 yards and 26 touchdowns. TD’s can be a finicky stat, but Ryan is usually good for big yardage.

9. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills:

Nobody is going to misjudge Allen as an elite passer, but he did make a significant improvement in his second season. The reason Allen ranks in the top third of fantasy quarterbacks is because of his running ability. The fantasy points he scores with his legs supply a steady floor. He also has 17 rushing touchdowns in his first two seasons, which are a bonus in leagues that award four points for a passing touchdown. Rushing touchdowns are worth six points.

8. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints:

Brees’ days among the top three fantasy quarterbacks seem to be gone, but he’s still productive and capable of going off on any given Sunday. He averaged more than 5,100 passing yards and 39 touchdown passes for six seasons before his numbers came down to 4,334 yards and 23 touchdowns in 2017. The 23 touchdowns seem to be a fluke, though, because he had 32 in 15 games in 2018 and had 27 in 11 games last season.

7. Carson Wentz, Philadelphia Eagles:

Wentz’s upside has been apparent since he put himself in the MVP discussion as a rookie in 2017. Staying healthy has been a problem during his career, though. He missed three regular-season games and the Eagles’ Super Bowl run in 2017, and he missed five regular-season games in 2018. Last year he was injured early in Philadelphia’s playoff loss Seattle. In 16 regular-season games, he had 4,039 passing yards and 27 touchdowns. He can still be trusted as your fantasy starter if you’re willing to pick a back-up sooner than you normally would.

6. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals:

Murray’s dual-threat talent is tantalizing for fantasy players because he has major upside passing and running. As expected, there was inconsistency during his rookie season, but the potential was obvious. The Cardinals majorly upgraded their receiving group by trading for DeAndre Hopkins and signing him to a big contract. If Murray progresses well in year two, the sky may be the limit.

5. Deshaun Watson, Houston Texans:

Just when the Texans seemed to be taking a step forward by improving Watson’s pass protection (league-high 62 sacks in 2018) they traded away his lone elite target in DeAndre Hopkins during this off-season. His potential always has been off the charts, but he will be tested in a big way this season. His elite running skills will keep his fantasy scoring floor high, but will his watered-down group of pass catchers lower his fantasy scoring upside?

4. Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks:

Wilson is as dependable as a quarterback could be. His 52 career games with multiple touchdown passes and zero interceptions are the most in NFL history by a quarterback in his first eight NFL seasons. He is also the only quarterback to throw at least 30 touchdown passes the last three seasons.

3. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys:

Prescott’s first three seasons were well above average, but last year he took a gigantic step in new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore’s system. Prescott’s 4,902 passing yards were over 1,000 yards more than his previous career-high, and his 30 passing touchdowns were seven more than his career-high. This will be year No. 2 in Moore’s system, and the Cowboys added highly-touted rookie wide receiver CeeDee Lamb in the draft.

2. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens:

Jackson was sensational last season and ran away with the NFL’s MVP award, making him only the player other than Tom Brady to win it unanimously. His 1,206 rushing yards were an NFL quarterback record, and he added 3,127 passing yards and 36 touchdown passes. It might not be wise to think he’ll throw that many touchdown passes again this season, but his elite running skills make him an easy pick as the No. 2 fantasy quarterback.

1. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs:

Mahomes’ 5,097 passing yards and 50 touchdown passes in 2018 – his first full season as a starter – were incredible. He was really good again last season, though he saw a significant drop in touchdown passes with 26 in 14 games. It would be foolish to think his norm for touchdown passes will be closer to 26 than it is to 50. Mahomes has a regular-season MVP award and a Super Bowl MVP award in his first two full seasons. He’ll be entrenched among the elite for a long time.