Week 1 NFL QB Index | What QB should you start in Week 1 of Fantasy Football?

1. Patrick Mahomes

Two seasons after his prolific breakout season in 2018, Patrick Mahomes is still playing the quarterback position at the highest level it’s ever been played. A third Super Bowl might not be an option this year given their talent deficit outside of Mahomes and given the Bills’ existence, but never count out Mahomes.

2. Aaron Rodgers

Coming off a transcendent MVP season, Rodgers continues to cement his legacy as one of the best quarterbacks of all time and certainly as one of the best three quarterbacks of the 21st century. I’m a bit surprised that the Packers were still able to hang on to him, but it’s awesome for their sakes that they did.

3. Josh Allen

When Josh Allen entered the NFL as a rookie he threw for 2,074 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. Josh Allen was an easy punchline three seasons ago. Last season, Allen threw for 4,544 yards, 37 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions along with a 17% increase in completion. Allen also led his team to a deep playoff run, giving the Bills their first playoff victory since . Josh Allen exponentially improves every single year and has an amazing team around him. Allen is my easy MVP pick for the 2022 season.

4. Dak Prescott

Dak Prescott was on pace for over 7,000 yards, which would have set the previous record by Peyton Manning (5,477) on fire. He broke his foot and half of the Dallas offense went on IR for the rest of the season. If there was ever a year for the Cowboys to break out, it would be this year and I have full faith in Dak Prescott to do it.

5. Lamar Jackson

Jackson is now one year removed from being the youngest recipient of the MVP Award, and he is showing no signs of slowing down. Granted, the options at receiver aren’t optimal and most of them are injured, but Jackson has immense talent as a runner so I wouldn’t be too concerned.

6. Kyler Murray

Any quarterback that has DeAndre Hopkins at their disposal is ready to do some serious damage. The Cardinals may have fallen out of grace down the stretch last year, but Murray is only in his third season and the Cardinals offense looks ready to burst with talent.

7. Ryan Tannehill

In 2019, Ryan Tannehill was putting up efficiency ratings that rivaled Matt Ryan’s 2016 MVP numbers and led a formerly boring Titans team in a playoff run. The very next year he had an unfathomable TD-INT ratio of 33:7 and had Derrick Henry as an excellent safety net. Now with the addition of Julio Jones on offense, Tannehill should be ready to repeat the success of his last two seasons.

8. Russell Wilson

Early in the year Russell Wilson looked like an excellent MVP candidate, but poor games from both the quarterback and the offensive line as well as a horrible defense put a stop to that chatter. That being said, it’s a new year and Wilson has the best wide receiver tandem in the NFL at his disposal. The Seahawks still have one of the best quarterbacks of the 2010’s.

9. Tom Brady

What is there to say? Brady is Brady. I find it very unlikely that Brady will make a return to the Super Bowl in 2022, but Brady has made a fool of me time and time again, so I am forced to admit that anything’s possible and Brady certainly has the experience and the drive to do it. 

10. Justin Herbert

Justin Herbert had a very impressive rookie season and looks like the best quarterback to come out of the 2020 draft. The only thing I would be inclined to worry about is the fact that the two leading receivers are Keenan Allen, who tends to go on hot streaks, and Mike Williams, who has proved himself to be a bit of a draft bust.

11. Joe Burrow

I really wish Joe Burrow was on a more competent team because if the Bengals weren’t such a mess, then Joe Burrow would have a really strong chance of succeeding in the NFL. As it stands right now, Burrow is stuck on a team whose front office refuses to acknowledge the offensive line and who is stuck with a flock of young unproven receivers. Until the Bengals fix those issues, Burrow will be stuck as a slightly above average quarterback.

12. Matthew Stafford

Matthew Stafford has been stuck in a  situation like Burrow since being drafted first overall in 2009, but now with an excellent coaching staff and one of the best wide receiver tandems in the NFL; I am excited to see just what Stafford can actually do. I don’t think he will have a massive breakout season but he will certainly be a lot more noticeable than he has been in Detroit.

13. Baker Mayfield

A lot of people think Baker gets too much credit for how well the Browns played last year, and while I can’t totally disagree because of how vital Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt were for their offense. It should be acknowledged that Baker Mayfield did more than a serviceable job without Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham on their team for most of the time.

14. Derek Carr

My opinion of Derek Carr hasn’t really changed from when he first came in the league in 2014. Carr is a quarterback that isn’t going to kill his team, but adversely won’t be the reason for their success. I think Carr’s destiny is to be the Alex Smith of the 2020’s and possibly beyond, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Smith had a few playoff wins himself and was highly thought of with the Chiefs.

15. Jared Goff

I can almost guarantee that this ranking will go down during the season because of Goff’s situation, but in the interim I want to address that I do not believe Goff is nearly as bad as people say. After all, he was in the Super Bowl just two years ago and was playing  at a very high level in the playoffs, and his play didn’t exactly drop off from those seasons.

16. Matt Ryan

I feel like all Matt Ryan can do is stand and watch as the Falcons roster gets ripped to shreds before his eyes. It started in the Super Bowl with the Falcons’ defense losing a 25 point lead, kept going when the front office did nothing to address it for four seasons, and is coming to a screaming crash now that the Falcons’ offense is slowing down just as much as their defense did. No more Julio Jones, no running game, and no offensive line is going to cause an exceedingly poor season for the Falcons.

17. Jimmy Garoppolo

Jimmy Garoppolo is not a bad quarterback, the 49ers simply caught the Cowboys’ syndrome as they watched everyone on their team get injured around them before losing the quarterback. Not only was Garoppolo often injured, he was trapped in an extremely tough situation in a lost year. Garoppolo may not be what we thought he was in 2018 but he’s no disaster.

18. Teddy Bridgewater

Teddy Bridgewater used to be similar to an Alex Smith or Derek Carr type of player, but he showed enough last year to prove that he is a high level backup at his best and should not be considered as a starter. To me, Teddy Bridgewater is more of a Tyrod Taylor than an Alex Smith. Expect Drew Lock to take over as the starter within the next five weeks.

19. Tua Tagovailoa

Tua may have had a rough start to 2021, but his ceiling is extremely high and he’s getting placed in a much improved offense. I also trust Brian Flores’ ability to coach up Tua to the point where he can become the franchise quarterback everyone thought he would be on draft day.

20. Ben Roethlisberger

Tom Brady is the only week one starter with more years under his belt than Ben Roethlisberger, and his age is beginning to show. This will likely be Roethlisberger’s last year in this offense and given the decreasing talent at receiver, I don’t see the Pittsburgh legend’s last year being a good one.

21. Jalen Hurts

I’m glad that Jalen Hurts was able to get the starting job again after losing it in college, but Hurts will have to step up his game if he wants to keep that starting job. The Eagles have traded for Gardner Minshew, so the pressure is on for Hurts to start building chemistry with young receiver Jalen Raegor.

22. Carson Wentz

Carson Wentz’s career has been a mess for the past two years. From injuries, to a horrible season, and now recent COVID concerns. Wentz’s NFL road will be a bumpy one. On the bright side, the Colts will be able to test what they have in young strong armed talent Jacob Eason which is a big plus.

23. Kirk Cousins

Cousins had a really horrible 2020 season. His counting stats looked pretty good, but they looked like that every year because Cousins will consistently do good in games that hold no significance and then choke in big spots. The Vikings have one of the best wide receiver groups in the league, one of the best running backs in the league, and an improving offensive line. Most other quarterbacks can make a team like that into a playoff team. Cousins gave them 7 wins.

24. Ryan Fitzpatrick

We all know Fitzpatrick at this point. For three games he’ll throw for 400 yards and set the league on fire, then he’ll throw three picks and be mediocre for the rest of the season. Fitzpatrick is a good placeholder until Washington figures out what it wants to do at quarterback.

25. Tyrod Taylor

Moving on from Deshaun Watson to Tyrod Taylor is an extremely rough proposition. Watson does almost as much as Patrick Mahomes in terms of carrying his team on his back and needless to say Taylor has proved that he cannot live up to that expectation.

26. Daniel Jones

Danny Dimes has had really bad turnover concerns and injuries upon injuries to start out his first two seasons, but the Giants have been building so much offensive talent that they look ready to burst. If Jones can manage to reach his potential while keeping himself and the rest of the offense from injuries and also fix his turnover issues, then he could excel greatly in the league. Unfortunately, that’s a lot of if’s.

27. Andy Dalton

We all said that Andy Dalton was the sum of his surrounding talent but for the very few weeks that Dalton had a good roster around him he wasn’t able to do anything of importance. I expect Justin Fields to be the starter by week four at the latest.

28. Jameis Winston

Isn’t it crazy to think that Winston led the league in passing yards two seasons ago? Winston will likely set whatever defense he sees on fire with passing yards but luckily he’ll also turn over the ball about four times per game. The Saints will likely make a switch to Taysom Hill midway through the year.

29. Sam Darnold

Darnold has been one of the worst starters in the league since he came in as a rookie in 2018. With this said, Darnold got drafted by one of the worst managed organizations in the last 20 years. Let’s just say the Panthers have a much better chance at making Darnold useful than the Jets ever would.

30. Trevor Lawrence

Obviously the first overall pick should be much higher but given that these rookies have no experience they will start out low on this list. Lawrence has a good receiver to start out with in D.J. Chark and thankfully a new coach as well. Hopefully the Jags will have more success with Lawrence than they did with Gardner Minshew.

31. Zach Wilson

I dread Zach Wilson becoming the next Sam Darnold because Wilson was one of the most compelling quarterbacks I watched in college. Normally getting drafted as a New 

York Jet is a death sentence, but maybe Wilson will be able to pull this broken franchise together.

32. Mac Jones

The decision to axe Cam Newton was a surprise, but a good surprise nonetheless. The Pats have a much better chance developing Mac Jones than they have trying to squeeze what’s left out of a very old, injury prone Cam Newton.