Is Lamar Jackson still an elite quarterback? He has not played well this season, making it reasonable to wonder if he’s moved past the elite seasons or his career.
Jackson as recently as last year threw 41 touchdowns versus 4 interceptions. Earlier, he won a couple of MVP awards. But he hasn’t played at that level this season. In his last six games, he’s averaged only 190 passing yards, with more interceptions (6) than touchdowns (5).
Injuries have played a role; he’s been banged up all year. But he’s also older now – closing in on 29. He’s still plenty, but he doesn’t seem to have the same off-the-charts speed and athleticism, where it looked like he could be plugged in to start at tailback or wide receiver.
Jackson averaged at least 64 rushing yards in each of his first four seasons, going over 1,000 yards in two of those years. This year, he’s averaging only 30 rushing yards. He’s averaging 5.5 yards per carry, which is fine, but it’s over a yard less than three of those four earlier seasons.
It makes me wonder if he’ll continue to post difference-making numbers into his 30s.
In a dynasty league, I think I would prefer to cast my lot with a younger quarterback, like Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels. Maye seems to be on his way – like he’s going to be a top-10 quarterback for the next decade. And he’s more durable. With Daniels, I think you would get a better chance at the difference-making rushing numbers that Jackson used to put up.
My updated quarterback board for dynasty leagues appears below. Among the top 25, Jackson is one of the three biggest fallers, dropping 4 spots, putting him below Mayes, Daniels and Justin Herbert. The other big decliners in this installment include Baker Mayfield and Daniel Jones (who tore his Achilles).
With Mayfield, who’s dipped some over the last month, his movement is also influenced by others moving up. A couple of AFC South quarterbacks (Trevor Lawrence, C.J. Stroud) looked like they needed to move up. Lawrence was 22nd a month ago, but coming off his best game as a pro, he’s now at 14th.
The two other biggest climbers in the top 30 are Tyler Shough (up 6 spots), who’s looking like he’ll be the Saints’ starter next year. And Shedeur Sanders, who is trying to play his way into the job in Cleveland; he shows up at 28th this week.
In the following rankings, I’m assuming standard scoring, and I’m envisioning a 12-team league, with each franchise carrying about three quarterbacks and holding the rights to those players indefinitely. (So you get into the mid-20s, and it gets speculative, with the expectation that players on the bottom third of this list will be coming and going). Rookies at tagged with black dots.
Matthew Stafford and Aaron Rodgers were tough to grade. They’re throwing plenty of touchdowns, but are they even playing next year? Rodgers, I’m pretty sure, is finishing up his last year. Stafford is closing in on 38, with the potential to step away. If he’s playing, I expect he’ll throw for more yards and touchdowns than most of the quarterbacks listed ahead of him (but with no contribution as a runner).
I turn my attention to dynasty leagues each Saturday during the regular season, rotating between the four notable positions. To see previous installments, using the “Past Issues” navigation box.
Last week: Wide receivers
Next week: Running backs
| DYNASTY LEAGUE QUARTERBACKS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Tm | Player | Age | + / - |
| 1. | BUF | Josh Allen | 29.6 | 1 |
| 2. | CIN | Joe Burrow | 29.0 | 3 |
| 3. | KC | Patrick Mahomes | 30.3 | -2 |
| 4. | NE | Drake Maye | 23.3 | 0 |
| 5. | LAC | Justin Herbert | 27.8 | 1 |
| 6. | WAS | Jayden Daniels | 25.0 | 1 |
| 7. | BAL | Lamar Jackson | 28.9 | -4 |
| 8. | CHI | Caleb Williams | 24.1 | 0 |
| 9. | PHI | Jalen Hurts | 27.4 | 0 |
| 10. | DEN | Bo Nix | 25.8 | 4 |
| 11. | SF | Brock Purdy | 26.0 | 2 |
| 12. | DET | Jared Goff | 31.2 | -1 |
| 13. | DAL | Dak Prescott | 32.4 | -1 |
| 14. | JAC | Trevor Lawrence | 26.2 | 8 |
| 15. | HOU | C.J. Stroud | 24.2 | 3 |
| 16. | GB | Jordan Love | 27.1 | 1 |
| 17. | TB | Baker Mayfield | 30.7 | -7 |
| 18. | TEN | • Cam Ward | 23.6 | 2 |
| 19. | NYG | • Jaxson Dart | 22.6 | 0 |
| 20. | SEA | Sam Darnold | 28.5 | -4 |
| 21. | LAR | Matthew Stafford | 37.9 | 0 |
| 22. | IND | Daniel Jones | 28.6 | -7 |
| 23. | NO | • Tyler Shough | 26.2 | 6 |
| 24. | MIN | J.J. McCarthy | 22.9 | 0 |
| 25. | ARI | Kyler Murray | 28.4 | -2 |
| 26. | CAR | Bryce Young | 24.4 | -1 |
| 27. | ATL | Michael Penix | 25.6 | 0 |
| 28. | CLE | • Shedeur Sanders | 23.9 | 20 |
| 29. | ARI | Jacoby Brissett | 33.0 | -3 |
| 30. | SF | Mac Jones | 27.3 | 4 |
| 31. | ATL | Kirk Cousins | 37.3 | 7 |
| 32. | PIT | Aaron Rodgers | 42.0 | -1 |
| 33. | HOU | Davis Mills | 27.2 | 0 |
| 34. | LV | Geno Smith | 35.2 | -2 |
| 35. | MIA | • Quinn Ewers | 22.8 | -- |
| 36. | IND | Anthony Richardson | 23.6 | 8 |
| 37. | NO | Spencer Rattler | 25.2 | 0 |
| 38. | NYJ | Justin Fields | 26.8 | -3 |
| 39. | CLE | • Dillon Gabriel | 25.0 | -9 |
| 40. | GB | Malik Willis | 26.6 | 0 |
—Ian Allan