Quarterback is as deep as ever, but that doesn’t mean you can treat the position as an afterthought. Josh Allen holds down the QB1 spot, with Drake Maye, Lamar Jackson and Jayden Daniels right behind him thanks to the rushing upside that can separate the elite fantasy options from the rest of the position.
The bigger decisions come after that top tier. How high should Caleb Williams climb? Can Justin Herbert push his way back into the elite group? And how long can you wait on proven names like Patrick Mahomes II, Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff? You can see where every quarterback stacks up against the rest of the player pool in PFN’s overall PPR rankings, then test out different draft-day approaches with the PFN fantasy mock draft simulator.
Note: These rankings are a combination of both our fantasy experts, Kyle Soppe and Jason Katz.
Preseason Fantasy Football QB Rankings
1) Josh Allen | BUF
2) Drake Maye | NE
3) Lamar Jackson | BAL
4) Jayden Daniels | WAS
5) Joe Burrow | CIN
6) Jalen Hurts | PHI
7) Caleb Williams | CHI
8) Justin Herbert | LAC
9) Jaxson Dart | NYG
10) Trevor Lawrence | JAX
11) Dak Prescott | DAL
12) Bo Nix | DEN
13) Brock Purdy | SF
14) Patrick Mahomes II | KC
15) Matthew Stafford | LAR
16) Kyler Murray | MIN
17) Jared Goff | DET
18) Jordan Love | GB
19) Tyler Shough | NO
20) Malik Willis | MIA
21) Baker Mayfield | TB
22) Daniel Jones | IND
23) C.J. Stroud | HOU
24) Sam Darnold | SEA
25) Bryce Young | CAR
26) Cam Ward | TEN
27) Jacoby Brissett | ARI
28) Aaron Rodgers | PIT
29) Geno Smith | NYJ
30) Tua Tagovailoa | ATL
Should I Draft Jared Goff in Fantasy Football?
Despite that incredible passing floor, there are some genuine ceiling concerns. Goff completely lacks rushing equity, in an era where that is trending close to a mandate. There are going to be a handful of games where Jahmyr Gibbs simply dominates on the ground and the Lions don’t need to aggressively push the ball through the air.
Ultimately, Goff isn’t going to be the reason you win your fantasy league, but he could very well be the reason you don’t lose, and that inherent safety works perfectly at his current draft price.
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If his pass catchers stay healthy, a back-end top-10 season is certainly possible as the controller of a Detroit offense that has led the league in scoring over the past two seasons. Why couldn’t he be what Matthew Stafford was last season?
Looking ahead to the fantasy championship round, a Week 17 matchup against Chicago is appealing, but it does come on the road in early January, meaning there is some weather risk if you’re looking long-term.
If I have Goff on my roster, I’d ideally like to stack him with one of his pass catchers. Because the rushing numbers are never going to be there, if Goff is going to hit big in a given week or for the season as a whole, he’s bringing his friends along with him.
I don’t see Goff as the type of QB that will do what Matthew Stafford did last season as a pocket-locked signal caller and lead you to glory, but he very much can steady the ship and let your stars walk the walk.
Essentially, you should treat him like the Lions do: as a part of success, not the driving force of it.
Should I Draft Shedeur Sanders in Fantasy Football?
The drumbeat during the preseason has been leaning in favor of Deshaun Watson to break camp as the starting quarterback in Cleveland, further removing Sanders from fantasy radars. Every QB that has a chance to start is worth holding in Superflex leagues, but in anything else, this is pretty clearly a no-fly zone, regardless of who takes the first snap.
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This is a Browns team with an underwhelming WR1 in Jerry Jeudy and rookies fighting for WR targets beyond that. Harold Fannin looked like the real deal in 2025 (his numbers spiked with Sanders for those looking to invest in the promising tight end), but we saw last season in Vegas that simply having a strong pass catching TE isn’t nearly enough to make the QB viable in our game.
We don’t know that Sanders can play at this level, and we don’t know that growth for him would even matter in a unit as limited as this one. Sanders is a very much a player you can track, but it’s going to near unprecedented growth for him to even factor in as a bye week filler in one-QB leagues.
