In dynasty leagues, decision making is particularly difficult at the quarterbacking position. Where do you slot older quarterbacks who are great right now – Tom Brady, Drew Brees – against younger quarterbacks who aren’t as good but who have a lot more career left? Or do you figure you’ll have found some other quarterback 4-5 years from now?
It’s tough, and it’s debatable, but I’m pivoting at the top this week. I’ve had Aaron Rodgers in the top spot for a long time, but he’s 34 and on a team where the infrastructure around him isn’t great. Receivers aren’t great, and they could have a new coaching staff before long. So I’m moving him down to the 4th spot.
Three young quarterbacks have shown me enough that I’m moving them ahead of Rodgers: Patrick Mahomes, Carson Wentz and Jared Goff. They’re all on really good teams, and they’ve all got great groups around then – both players and coaches. And they’re all about 9 years young than Rodgers.
I considered including Deshaun Watson in this group, but I don’t know that his play is sustainable. He’s got a lean build and takes a lot of punishment. How much longer will it be before he suffers another serious injury?
Brady and Brees are great, but with those guys being around 40, I couldn’t put them much higher than about 10th.
The following rankings assume standard scoring, with fantasy teams allowed to keep players forever. Unlike the other rankings we put together, these ones are done by hand – by gut feel. I put the players in an order and then comb over and adjust the list until it feels right.
DYNASTY LEAGUE QUARTERBACKS | |||
---|---|---|---|
Rk | Tm | Player | Age |
1. | KC | Patrick Mahomes | 23 |
2. | PHI | Carson Wentz | 25 |
3. | LAR | Jared Goff | 24 |
4. | GB | Aaron Rodgers | 34 |
5. | HOU | Deshaun Watson | 23 |
6. | MIN | Kirk Cousins | 30 |
7. | SEA | Russell Wilson | 29 |
8. | IND | Andrew Luck | 29 |
9. | LAC | Philip Rivers | 36 |
10. | NO | Drew Brees | 39 |
11. | NE | Tom Brady | 41 |
12. | CAR | Cam Newton | 29 |
13. | PIT | Ben Roethlisberger | 36 |
14. | TB | Jameis Winston | 24 |
15. | CIN | Andy Dalton | 30 |
16. | ATL | Matt Ryan | 33 |
17. | CLE | • Baker Mayfield | 23 |
18. | DET | Matthew Stafford | 30 |
19. | SF | Jimmy Garoppolo | 26 |
20. | ARI | • Josh Rosen | 21 |
21. | NYJ | • Sam Darnold | 21 |
22. | CHI | Mitchell Trubisky | 24 |
23. | OAK | Derek Carr | 27 |
24. | TEN | Marcus Mariota | 24 |
25. | BAL | Joe Flacco | 33 |
26. | BUF | • Josh Allen | 22 |
27. | WAS | Alex Smith | 34 |
28. | BAL | • Lamar Jackson | 21 |
29. | MIA | Ryan Tannehill | 30 |
30. | DAL | Dak Prescott | 25 |
31. | JAC | Blake Bortles | 26 |
32. | NO | Teddy Bridgewater | 25 |
33. | NYG | Eli Manning | 37 |
34. | TB | Ryan Fitzpatrick | 35 |
35. | SF | C.J. Beathard | 24 |
36. | DEN | Case Keenum | 30 |
37. | CLE | Tyrod Taylor | 29 |
38. | IND | Jacoby Brissett | 25 |
39. | DEN | Chad Kelly | 24 |
40. | PHI | Nick Foles | 29 |
41. | GB | DeShone Kizer | 22 |
42. | WAS | Colt McCoy | 32 |
43. | PIT | • Mason Rudolph | 23 |
44. | ARI | Sam Bradford | 30 |
45. | MIN | Trevor Siemian | 26 |
46. | SEA | Brett Hundley | 25 |
47. | BUF | Nathan Peterman | 24 |
48. | JAC | Cody Kessler | 25 |
49. | OAK | AJ McCarron | 28 |
50. | NO | Taysom Hill | 28 |
Next week: running backs.
Last week: tight ends.
—Ian Allan