The quarterback position is one of the most interesting ones to evaluate every single year. You typically have a solidified top group of guys and then the waters get murky. A lot has changed since your draft which means how you value these quarterbacks should too. Below, we’re going to look at the top 24 quarterbacks in order to find which players you should be targeting and staying away from.

Tier 1

1. Lamar Jackson, BAL

2. Josh Allen, BUF

3. Jalen Hurts, PHI

4. Jayden Daniels, WAS

Tier 2

5. Joe Burrow, CIN

6. Jordan Love, GB

7. Kyler Murray, ARI

8. Brock Purdy, SF

Tier 3

9. C.J. Stroud, HOU

10. Baker Mayfield, TB

11. Patrick Mahomes II, KC

Tier 4

12. Sam Darnold, MIN

13. Kirk Cousins, ATL

14. Drake Maye, NE

15. Jared Goff, DET

16. Bo Nix, DEN

Tier 5

17. Caleb Williams, CHI

18. Geno Smith, SEA

19. Matthew Stafford, LAR

20. Dak Prescott, DAL

21. Tua Tagovailoa, MIA

22. Russell Wilson, PIT

23. Aaron Rodgers, NYJ

24. Jameis Winston, CLE

Target these Quarterbacks

Baker Mayfield (TB)

Baker Mayfield has had high expectations ever since being drafted as the #1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft. That said we’ve never really seen Mayfield become a great fantasy option ever since his rookie year where he had 17.1 PPG. Even with the departure of Dave Canales, Mayfield has dominated, averaging 22.5 PPG which is good for the QB2 spot on the year.

The reason Mayfield is being valued as the QB14 according to Fantasy Pros is because Chris Godwin is out for the rest of the season and Mike Evans is out for the next few weeks. Even with both these receivers out, we saw Mayfield score 22.3 and 18 points in the last two weeks. If you can trade for Mayfield at a discounted price right now, I would highly recommend it.

Drake Maye (NE)

Rushing quarterbacks are a cheat code in fantasy football, and Drake Maye is the cheapest one outside of the top 12. Maye wasn’t being talked about at the start of the season despite being the number three pick in the 2024 NFL draft. The Patriots decided to keep Maye on the bench to start the year, making him useless for fantasy. In week six, however, the team turned away from Jacoby Brissett and gave the starting spot to Maye.

In Maye’s first two full games in the NFL, he scored 19.5 and 20.8 points in back-to-back weeks.

Having played in only three full games this year, Maye has already ran for 201 yards and one touchdown. Once you get outside the top 12, you should be rostering players who have the ability to become a consistent starting quarterback on your team. You don’t want to roster a safe option to finish the year as the QB16 because he’s never going to be startable for you. Maye is a great upside shot at his price right now.

Avoid these Quarterbacks

Tua Tagovailoa (MIA)

Tua Tagovailoa isn’t being ranked particularly high by Fantasy Pros as the QB16, but he’s in that range where one of your league mates is probably starting him. I’m not even super worried about the concussion, but Tagovailoa has only had one season above 16 PPG, and things aren’t looking great for the Dolphins right now.

Typically Tyreek Hill and his big play ability allows Tagovailoa to be viable on a week to week basis. Even with Tagovailoa back, Hill has only caught 10 passes for 152 yards which isn’t bad but it’s not anymore near when he was averaging 112.5 receiving yards per game last season. More importantly though, Jaylen Waddle has only caught six passes for 41 yards in the last two weeks. With everything stacked against Tagovailoa, I would be leaving him alone in all 1QB formats.

Jared Goff (DET)

During weeks 4-7, Jared Goff had a nice stretch, scoring 25.1, 18.8, and 15.5 points during that time. However, over the course of the year, Goff is averaging 16.4 PPG, and he’s never scored over 17 PPG more than once in his career. As we talked about earlier, you don’t want to be targeting these quarterbacks who are safe bets to finish within the QB13-QB16 range.

The Lions are a great offense, but they don’t ask Goff to throw the ball often because they have two elite running backs in Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. Even though most fantasy players would disagree, I would rather have Drake Maye instead of Goff for the rest of this fantasy football season.