When it comes to tackling quarterbacks in Dynasty Superflex leagues, there are countless approaches to take en route to a championship. The worst of those methods is trading significant current production for an elite quarterback.
What you gain from adding Josh Allen, you lose by parting ways with a package of cornerstone players like Breece Hall and Jaylen Waddle. The difference between the average scoring for the top quarterback and the 12th quarterback is similar to the other positions. However, we see a huge gap when it comes to something like the difference between the 12th wide receiver and the 24th wide receiver. This is especially prevalent in leagues where a starting lineup requires more than seven position players.
The path to a championship is certainly easier with an elite quarterback, but it’s more realistic for a roster to survive taking big swings in the rookie draft. This can be done by either trading up aggressively or by simply putting a premium on quarterbacks when two players are ranked closely: like Jamyr Gibbs and C.J. Stroud this year. Acquiring the 1.04 and drafting Anthony Richardson would take significantly less capital than trading for Jalen Hurts.
It is unlikely Richardson ever has a season as great as Hurts’ 2022 campaign, but he wouldn’t need to. Since the 1.04 was a much more palatable trade target, the rest of the roster was able to remain intact. In this scenario, Richardson would only need to be a top-12 quarterback to keep from being a liability to a championship run, while he’d still carry the ceiling to singlehandedly win games.
We can avoid all these options by simply playing rent-a-quarterback. There are a handful of signals callers that dynasty managers would be happy to send packing for a small fee, who can still fill a need on otherwise incredible rosters. This allows dynasty managers to submit monster lineups while still getting league-average production from the smallest position group.
These are the top three rental quarterbacks to trade for now.
Derek Carr, New Orleans
Derek Carr is entering his age-32 season in his first year with the New Orleans Saints. He signed a 4-year deal worth up to $150M. Our consensus rankings have him at QB24.
Over the last three seasons, Carr has not finished worse than 17th among quarterbacks. In his short time with Josh McDaniel, his fantasy production suffered. In his 15 starts last season, he averaged 14.6 points per game. In 2021 he averaged over 15 points per game and over 17 the year prior.
While the new coaching staff was one issue with Carr, his supporting cast was another. The Raiders made waves by adding Carr’s best friend, Davante Adams, and that connection panned out. Adams went on to be selected First-Team All-Pro for his third consecutive season. The rest of his receiving weapons, however, did not. Darren Waller only caught 28 passes over 9 games. Hunter Renfrow caught just 36 passes over 13 games. Mack Hollins was the team’s second-leading receiver, with just 57 catches for 690 yards.
Carr is not completely without fault, but his personal stats were on par with the rest of his career while he achieved worse fantasy results. There is no clear indication that he was the problem for the Raider's offense in 2022, and now he has moved to a new system that will presumably fit him better than the offense that didn’t want him.
The Saints' offense is not much better in the way of weapons, but it’s at least the same. He will have a budding star at wide receiver with Chris Olave while also reaping the benefits of an elite PPR back in Alvin Kamara.
Carr may not be the most exciting name to click when submitting lineups, but he will almost assuredly outperform his ADP over the next two seasons, as he has his entire career.
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Geno Smith, Seattle
The NFL’s reigning comeback player of the year earned himself a 3-year, $75M contract this off-season. Fortunately for Geno Smith, Seattle did not have the opportunity to select Anthony Richardson at pick five. Unfortunately for fantasy managers, we will never know if they were willing to replace Smith so quickly had they been given the opportunity.
What we do know is this version of the Seahawks will not be picking in the top half of the draft next year. They were only within striking distance of a franchise quarterback because they traded Russell Wilson to the Broncos in exchange for a huge hull, including pick 5. This means Smith is likely safe for at least the next two seasons.
Not only did Seattle not draft Smith’s replacement, but they also added significant firepower in Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Zach Charbonnet.
Smith finished 2022 as the fifth-highest-scoring quarterback, averaging nearly 18 points per game. The Seahawks passed just above league average and now have a legitimate third wide receiver to go along with DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. With his attempts expected to increase, his surrounding cast improving, and his rock-solid job security, Smith is a near lock to outproduce his QB25 ranking over the next two seasons.
Desmond Ridder, Atlanta
Rental quarterbacks don’t always need to be players on the back 9 of their careers. Desmond Ridder is projected to be the Falcons' starter in 2023. At this point in the season, there are very few viable options to replace him. Atlanta could benefit by adding Trey Lance via trade, but there has been very little substantiating evidence to indicate that is even an option for either team involved.
Ridder, by all accounts, was not a starting-caliber quarterback in 2022. Instead of replacing him, the Falcons doubled down by selecting Bijan Robinson at eighth overall. This was their third year in a row drafting a skill position player within the top ten picks. We may not have faith in Ridder as a long-term solution, but the Falcons have surrounded him with all the necessary tools to find out.
In Ridder’s four starts, he attempted 115 passes. While an average of nearly 29 attempts per game may feel uninspiring, that is 6 more than Marcus Mariota in his 13 starts.
Most people avoid this situation entirely, as indicated by his consensus QB35 ranking. It’s difficult to envision a future in which Ridder is starting a significant number of games, but sometimes as fans of this beautiful sport, we need to step aside and trust the professionals. The professionals are telling us they are confident in Desmond Ridder. So much so that their only other option is Taylor Heinicke.
Ridder has been provided everything he could need to succeed as a young quarterback in today's NFL sans depth at receiver. If he can continue to average 29 passes per game, he has a reasonable shot at finding his way into lineups on contenders this season. If he flames out, the price of admission was quite low to watch the show.