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Monday, June 18, 2018

2018 Fantasy Football: 1st QB Rankings


First set of rankings of the year and I’m going to just do positional rankings right now with three months to go and minicamps just breaking.

Note: ADP is draft positional overall, Pos. ADP is draft position with a position group, and Diff. is the difference between my positional rank and the positional ADP.

Rank
Player
Team
Tier
ADP
Pos.
ADP
Diff
1
Aaron Rodgers
GB
1
35
1
0
2
Russell Wilson
SEA
1
53
3
-1
3
Tom Brady
NE
1
54
4
-1
4
Drew Brees
NO
1
67
6
-2
5
Cam Newton
CAR
1
66
5
0

No big surprises here. I’m a touch higher on Wilson/Brady/Brees than their positional ADP right now.

Rank
Player
Team
Tier
ADP
Pos.
ADP
Diff
6
Kirk Cousins
MIN
2
90
8
-2
7
Deshaun Watson
HOU
2
50
2
5
8
Jimmy Garoppolo
SF
2
99
11
-3
9
Ben Roethlisberger
PIT
2
94
9
0
10
Matt Stafford
DET
2
97
10
0
11
Carson Wentz
PHI
2
72
7
4

I’m hedging my bets on Watson. Yes, he was spectacular while on the field last season, but the odds that he repeats his otherworldly performance from his rookie season are low. He’ll still be valuable in fantasy, but there are much more proven options with better lines and surrounding talent. Wentz is the other QB that I’m relatively low on in this tier. He’s still coming off a late-season knee injury and if he looks on track for week 1 I’ll probably bump him up a spot or two.

Rank
Player
Team
Tier
ADP
Pos.
ADP
Diff
12
Marcus Mariota
TEN
3
134
18
-6
13
Matt Ryan
ATL
3
114
15
-2
14
Alex Smith
WAS
3
139
20
-6
15
Blake Bortles
JAC
3
184
26
-11
16
Andrew Luck
IND
3
112
14
2
17
Philip Rivers
LAC
3
111
13
4
18
Patrick Mahomes II
KC
3
117
16
2

As we finish off the QB1s and move into QB2 territory we get some serious disagreement between me and ADP. I’m six spots higher on Mariota and Smith. Smith has a been a functionable QB for a number of years and last year in KC he showed a willingness to take risks that we hadn’t seen in a few seasons. He now moves to his third consecutive situation with a coach who knows how to build an offense. There’s no reason Gruden and Co. can’t be successful with Smith like they were with Cousins. As for Mariota, well, I just can’t quit him and if Matt LeFleur is a competent offensive mind with even baseline creativity Mariota and the offense should be greatly improved. Lastly, we have the one. The only. BORTLES. Yes, he’s not a sexy pick, and he’s not a good real life QB, but he provides a baseline and does enough with his legs that he’s a reasonable option as a QB2 if you want to roster one and he’s incredibly cheap as QB 26 and currently going in round 15.

Rk
Player
Tm
Tier
ADP
P.ADP
Diff
19
Dak Prescott
DAL
4
142
21
-2
20
Derek Carr
OAK
4
135
19
1
21
Eli Manning
NYG
4
159
22
-1
22
Jameis Winston
TB
4
118
17
5
23
Mitchell Trubisky
CHI
4
171
25
-2
24
Jared Goff
LAR
4
107
12
12
25
Case Keenum
DEN
4
171
24
1
26
Ryan Tannehill
MIA
4
205
28
-2
27
Andy Dalton
CIN
4
163
23
4
28
Joe Flacco
BAL
4
226
30
-2

This tier makes me queasy. Prescott is the only one I think is or can be a good real life QB right now. Trubisky, Goff, Keenum, Winston, Carr, and Manning are inconsistent year to year, or (for Trubisky/Goff) we don’t quite know what they are. Tannehill/Dalton/Flacco are veteran options that are relatively secure to make the whole year but don’t really provide upside to help you out.

QB is deep again this season with at 18 QBs that I’m excited about, and another hand full that will produce a productive/useful fantasy option. There’s no reason not to wait on QB and take advantage of other people taking their starter and/or back up way too early.

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