When making fantasy football rankings, every player has to be ahead of the guy after him. Sometimes, you may not feel like there’s any difference between two, three, or even more players ranked next to each other. To help you decide when to draft what position, here are our QB tiers, named after the greatest real-life quarterbacks of all time.
Which Quarterbacks Fall Into Which Tiers for Fantasy Football in 2024?
Tier 1: The Patrick Mahomes Tier
These are the best of the best. Every QB here costs premium draft capital and is capable of finishing as the overall QB1. In fact, they’ve all done it before.
- Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
- Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles
- Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
- Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
Tier 2: The Tom Brady Tier
Naming this tier after Tom Brady feels weird since these are two mobile quarterbacks, but let’s not overcomplicate the tier names. Both of these guys are clear QB1s with overall QB1 upside but lack the safety of the guys above them.
- Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis Colts
- Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals
Tier 3: The Peyton Manning Tier
Here we have your traditional pocket passers. They are better quarterbacks than the second tier, but due to their lack of rushing production, their path to being elite is more challenging. They are all highly unlikely to fail, though.
- C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans
- Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
- Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
Tier 4: The Joe Montana Tier
This tier features two young quarterbacks who are very much unproven. If either of these guys is your starter, consider drafting a backup.
- Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders
- Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers
Tier 5: The Dan Marino Tier
If you end up with one of these guys as your starter, you can get by. If your first quarterback drafted is in this tier, you should take two of them.
- Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons
- Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
- Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears
- Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins
- Jared Goff, Detroit Lions
Tier 6: The Aaron Rodgers Tier
These are fantasy backup QBs that will definitely be picked up and streamed at various points during the season. You shouldn’t be leaving your draft with one of these guys as your QB1.
- Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
- Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars
- Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets
- Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
Tier 7: The John Elway Tier
Now we’re getting into the Superflex-only tier of quarterbacks. None of these players should be rostered in 1QB formats.
- Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns
- Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks
- Will Levis, Tennessee Titans
Tier 8: The Johnny Unitas Tier
We’re firmly in QB3 range, although Justin Fields would be several tiers up if he were assured a starting job. Outside of Superflex, these are not fantasy options.
- Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings
- Derek Carr, New Orleans Saints
- Russell Wilson, Pittsburgh Steelers
- Justin Fields, Pittsburgh Steelers
- Daniel Jones, New York Giants
- Gardner Minshew II, Las Vegas Raiders
- Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers
- Bo Nix, Denver Broncos
- Drake Maye, New England Patriots
What Are Tiers in Fantasy Football?
Tiers are a means of grouping similarly valued players together. Rather than a linear list that suggests one guy is better than the next, each tier is viewed as a notch above the one below it.
How To Use Tiers in Fantasy Football
Tiers are especially useful in helping fantasy managers value players across positions. When doing a linear set of rankings, it’s difficult to determine whether a running back is definitively better than a wide receiver.
In general, overall rankings aren’t particularly helpful to fantasy managers because they don’t offer any guidance as to when to take what positions. Tiers do, though.
When you have tiers, you can see when there is about to be a step down in the caliber of a player at a particular position. You can use them to determine whether it is optimal to take the best overall player available or take the best player from a specific position — knowing there are several others available from another position all in the same tier, and you are likely to get one of them with your next pick.
How To Create Your Own Fantasy Tiers
For better or worse, you have to start with a linear set of rankings. List every player in the order in which you would draft him.
Once this is complete, separate them into groups of players you view as similar in value. There is no hard and fast rule regarding how big or small a tier must be. Sometimes, a tier can literally be one player. Other times, particularly as you get farther down the player list, they can be quite large.
