It was a rough year to use an early pick on a quarterback. Arguably none of those guys have worked out thus far.
The news got worse with a report that Jayden Daniels (hamstring) won't play in Week 8. Since it's only Wednesday when we're hearing this, that doesn't really sound great for his odds of playing in Week 9, either.
Lamar Jackson has missed Baltimore's last 2-plus games since getting hurt in Week 4. Coming off a bye week we're figuring Lamar will be ready to go for Week 8, but the team practiced on Monday and Lamar didn't. So kind of up in the air.
The consensus top 5 quarterbacks from our Experts Poll in the magazine, and I think in most drafts, are shown below, along with a note about their performances to date.
| TOP 5 QUARTERBACKS, SO FAR | |
|---|---|
| Quarterback | Note |
| Josh Allen | Great Week 1. Since then, 201 pass, 45 run, 2 TDs per week |
| Lamar Jackson | Injured 3 of 6 games |
| Jayden Daniels | Injured 3 of 7 games |
| Joe Burrow | injured 6 of 7 (and counting) |
| Jalen Hurts | Healthy; 3 of 7 lesser games |
Allen has been best, Hurts 2nd-best. They've been healthy, and with those guys runners, their stats will usually be decent in fantasy leagues even if they're not having great games.
But if we wound the clock back to August, I think almost all of us would have preferred to select the quarterbacks selected later in the top 10 (Mahomes, Mayfield, Goff) or in the 11-15 range (Herbert, Prescott). Or much lower (Maye), or not even drafted at all (Dart).
Thinking I'll be waiting at the quarterback position next year.
--Andy Richardson