Early 2020 Fantasy Football Position Rankings: Quarterback

As we’re rolling along this offseason. We’re laying the groundwork for early best ball drafts, new dynasty startups, and everything else under the fantasy sun. The league’s landscape is going to shift a lot through free agency and the NFL Draft, but we’re starting that early outlook with positional ranks. These will move and be updated throughout the offseason, so keep tabs on them through the spring. We’ll also have a more linear list of the top-200 players once all the initial rankings have been released that will be updated throughout offseason movement. We’re starting with the quarterbacks and you can take a look at the running production and fantasy trends for quarterbacks here. 

Quarterback Rankings

1. Lamar Jackson: Averaged a QB-record 27.1 fantasy points in his first full season as a starter. His 9.0% touchdown rate should be expected to come down, but he remains the ultimate cheat code at the position, averaging 11.1 rushing points per game in 22 career regular season starts. ↑, ↑, ↓, ↓, ←, →, ←, →, B, A.
2. Patrick Mahomes: Even in taking a step back from his sensational 2018 season, Mahomes was the QB6 in points per game (20.5) while giving us a taste of his potential rushing chops when he was over ankle and knee issues, rushing for 271 yards over his final nine games played.
3. Dak Prescott: Dallas has gone all-in on being an offensive-based football team (and finally moved on from Jason Garrett). Prescott set career highs in passing yards (4,902), passing touchdowns (30), and fantasy points per game (21.1) in 2019 while he is one of just two quarterbacks (Russell Wilson) to finish as a top-10 overall scorer in each of the past four seasons. 
4. Kyler Murray: The arrow is only pointing up for Murray as he was the QB8 overall the QB12 in points per game as a rookie with a limited supporting cast while facing the fourth-hardest schedule of opposing pass defenses in passing efficiency. Now gets DeAndre Hopkins.
5. Deshaun Watson: A blend of high-end passing and rushing stats, Watson has finished as the QB1, QB2, and QB4 in fantasy points per game over his first three seasons. He loses a true alpha wideout in DeAndre Hopkins, but has a host of vertical threats at his disposal when they are available to go with a rushing floor. 
6. Russell Wilson: On the other side of his career arc than the previous quarterbacks, Wilson is still a top-flight player despite playing in an undercutting scheme that gives him a lower weekly floor than his talent level. The only quarterback to throw 30 touchdowns in each of the past two seasons, Wilson has finished as a top-10 overall scorer in all eight years of his career.
7. Josh Allen: Took a step forward as a passer in his second season in completion, touchdown and interception rate stats while finishing first and second in rushing fantasy points added per game over his first two seasons in the league. Gets added weapon in Stefon Diggs while his opening schedule is among the league’s best.
8. Drew Brees: Father Time remains undefeated, but missing five full games with a thumb injury hid the fact that Brees was still as good as ever at age 40, finishing seventh in points per game (20.4) while finishing as a QB1 scorer in eight of his 10 full games played. 
9. Matt Ryan: We know what we’re getting from Ryan. Nine consecutive 4,000 yard passing seasons while his passing volume has been top-five in each of the past two seasons.
10. Aaron Rodgers: Late-career fragility? Supporting cast? Scheme change? Pick your flavor, but Rodgers dipped to QB14 in points per game this past season with just six games higher than QB19 in weekly scoring. But his overall floor is still present, throwing for 4,000 yards in eight of his 10 full seasons with at least 25 touchdown passes in all of those years.
11. Carson Wentz: Playing with a skeleton crew on a weekly basis, Wentz was still the QB10 overall and the QB15 in points per game in his first full season since his rookie year. 
12. Matthew Stafford: Stafford was quietly the QB4 in points per game in eight starts last year. Career-highs in yards per pass attempt (8.6 Y/A) and touchdown rate (6.5%) should come back down, but Stafford has now been top-12 in points per game in eight of the past 10 seasons.  
13. Tom Brady: Brady will be 43-years old at the start of the season and has been a QB1 scorer in nine of his past 25 games dating back to 2018, but gets a significant upgrade in surrounding pass catching talent and passing scheme.
14. Cam Newton: Entering 2020 at age 31, Newton is coming off of two major surgeries the past two seasons and appeared in just two games a year ago. On the ground Newton, has posted his two lowest rushing-points-per-game totals over his last three full seasons played as he hits his early thirties, but his legs are still where the crux of his fantasy appeal come from. Outside of last season’s two games, Newton’s lowest finish in fantasy points per game is QB13 in 2016 with seven seasons as the QB8 or higher in points per game. Health, limited weaponry in New England that hurt a more accomplished passer, and low passing volume are question marks, but also are question marks that have existed for much of his career.
15. Jared Goff: The QB22 in points per game last season, Goff did close the season strongly, throwing multiple touchdowns in each of his final five games of the season while averaging 329 passing yards per game over that span. A passer who is reliant on the intersection of structure of scheme, offensive line play and matchup to access his best fantasy moments. 
16. Ben Roethlisberger: Roethlisberger has been a top-10 scorer in points per game in four of his past five full seasons, but enters 2020 at age-38 and removed from elbow surgery, still offers no rushing upside and no longer has attachment to an apex Antonio Brown.
17. Joe Burrow: In line for a Week 1 start. Burrow offers more rushing potential than is credited for and we’ve seen highly-drafted rookies in Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield have fantasy success out of the blocks. The Bengals also play our no.1 schedule in expected pace of play this season. 
18. Baker Mayfield: A complete step backward for Mayfield in year two that stemmed from his own play, coaching ineptitude, offensive line deterioration and facing the third-hardest schedule in the league. Enters 2020 with potential scheme limitations from a volume stance, but a bounce-back candidate. 
19. Gardner Minshew:  Surprisingly, led the NFL in scramble rushing attempts (50) and was 13th in rushing points per game (2.6). The trade of Nick Foles makes him the starter and the Jaguars have turned away adding a veteran to this point.  In Minshew’s 12 starts as a rookie, he finished lower than QB16 in weekly scoring just three times. With his mobility and the potential game script he will have, Minshew is a safe floor QB2 option in 2QB formats with streaming upside in 1QB league based on his opening schedule.
20. Ryan Tannehill: The QB3 in overall scoring Weeks 7-17 as the starting quarterback, the question remains in how sustainable his new career-highs with 7.7% touchdown rate and 9.6 yards per pass attempt truly are and how many passers truly flip the switch at age 31-plus?
21. Kirk Cousins: Capable of QB1-scoring stretches and coming of full-season high marks in touchdown rate (5.9%) and yards per attempt (8.1 Y/A) the real bugaboo for Cousins is the volume cap his head coach seems destined to limit. Cousins attempted just 444 passes in 2019, forcing the reliance of immense efficiency with a steep decline in rushing output since joining Minnesota. The trade of Stefon Diggs leaves the team without their most efficient passing threat while Adam Thielen enters the year at age 30 and Justin Jefferson is unproven.
22. Teddy Bridgewater: A 5-0 record and 9-to-2 TD-to-INT ratio as a spot starter last season, but was only a mild fantasy producer in those starts, averaging 16.7 points per game. Gains attachment to Christian McCaffrey, D.J. Moore and Joe Brady moving to Carolina while the team should consistently be chasing points.
23. Daniel Jones: Upside is here. Jones proved to be capable of a high ceiling with four weeks as the QB1 or QB2 in weekly scoring, but struggled to find consistency as a rookie, failing to hit 15 fantasy points in any of his other eight starts. Giants’ surrounding offensive core remains a positive if they all can stay on the field together. Jones draws one of the worst opening season starts for any passer over the first four weeks of the season, leaving him as someone to wait on in season for positive matchups.
24. Philip Rivers: Rivers has been a QB2 in points per game in four of the past seasons and takes a step back in surrounding talent in moving on to the Colts, but gets an an early-season boost with a lighter schedule.
25. Jimmy Garoppolo: The QB14 in overall points and QB23 in per-game scoring in first complete NFL season, Garoppolo has been a QB1 scorer in 9-of-24 starts with the 49ers and the QB20 or lower in 12. 
26. Derek Carr: Handcuffed by no current boundary playmakers and unknown commitment from his organization, Carr has been the QB24, QB29, and QB24 in fantasy points per game over the past three seasons. Whispers this offseason suggested he was on the hot seat, so his leash could be short in 2020.
27. Drew Lock: The QB23 over his limited five-start stretch Weeks 13-17, Lock offers no rushing ability and attachment to a head coach that may cap the sex appeal of a major breakout, but the team gave him a plethora of young weapons this past draft.
28. Sam Darnold: 2019 was about as bad of situation a 22-year old quarterback could have. From an early-season illness, to a limited surrounding offense and the consistent befuddlement from his head coach. Darnold was pressured the most of any quarterback in the NFL in 2019 (42% of his dropbacks) and was the QB1 scorer in just four of 13 starts. The light is still on, but improvements to his situation are still a major question mark.  
29. Tyrod Taylor: Taylor turned in two QB1 scoring seasons in points per game during his three years as a starter in Buffalo. Herbert should be expected to play, but the Chargers opening schedule prior to their Week 10 bye is littered with winnable games to keep Taylor in the lineup and in the streaming conversation while he’s starting.
30. Dwayne Haskins: In the back half of weekly scoring in five of his seven starts, Haskins has a limited supporting cast entering the offseason to have high hopes for a significant second season breakout.  
31. Tua Tagovailoa: Miami  may attempt to slow play his 2020 season due to health concerns, but for the short term Tagovailoa is expected to pass all initial medical checks this summer. 
32. Ryan Fitzpatrick: Was the QB2 in overall scoring Weeks 7-17 after taking back over as the starting quarterback, but unlikely to start the full season as he keeps the seat warm for Tua. Look at Miami’s opening season schedule when it comes out to gauge Fitz’s early-season streaming ability.
33. Justin Herbert: All eight quarterbacks selected in the first round over the past two seasons have started seven or more games while top-10 picks have averaged 12.4 starts in their rookie seasons over the past decade. That makes Herbert a good bet to start earlier than the Chargers say, but their schedule is soft enough to keep him sidelined for the early open of the season should Taylor win the job over the summer.
34. Mitchell Trubisky: Getting dangerously close to a Blake Bortles-esque trajectory, Trubisky is now a question mark to make it through 2020 as the full season starter even if he manages to beat out Nick Foles for the job. 
35. Nick Foles:  Foles ranked only ahead of Devlin Hodges and David Blough in passing points created per pass attempt in 2019 among passers who started four or more games, but is still drawing breath to start the season competing with Trubisky. Foles hasn’t thrown 200 passes in an NFL season since 2015 with the Rams. 
36. Jarrett Stidham: Last year’s fourth-round draft pick dodged multiple bullets this offseason, but the signing of Cam Newton hurts his chances of getting the crux of snaps this season, but Newton’s health remains a question mark.
37. Marcus Mariota: Mariota will still only be 27 years old this upcoming season. He will need to go the route that Ryan Tannehill went to supplant him a year ago with Las Vegas.
38. Jameis Winston: Winston led the league in passing yards (5,109) and was second in touchdown passes (33) orbiting a league-worst 30 interceptions. Backing up Drew Brees, Winston doesn’t have a 2020 opening.
39. Andy Dalton: Joining the Cowboys, Dalton is strictly a backup who needs an injury over being a potential mid-season candidate to unseat a tenuous starter.
40. Taysom Hill: Hill’s best fantasy position isn’t quarterback, but he did have double-digit fantasy points in four of the final six games for New Orleans last season.