RELATED: See lessons learned at all other positions:
Quarterbacks | Running Backs | Wide Receivers | Tight Ends
As we close the door on the 2024 fantasy football season, it's beneficial to look back and see what lessons we learned. In this week's roundtable series, I asked our Footballguys staff to discuss their fantasy New Year's resolutions for each position and their overall takeaways for approaching drafting in 2025.
In today's article, we discuss the quarterback position.
Lessons Learned at Quarterback
Target Dual-Threat Quarterbacks
Jason Wood: I don't think the quarterback position was particularly surprising this season, as things mostly played out as expected. Four of the top five quarterbacks—Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, and Jayden Daniels—are elite rushing threats who are also hyper-accurate passers. Based on preseason ADP, the only real shock was Sam Darnold finishing as QB8 with 4,153 passing yards and 35 touchdowns.
One point I think is important to remember—though it's not unique to 2024—is that the Late-Round Quarterback strategy is a fallacy if your goal is to dominate. Lamar Jackson averaged nine more points per game (26.0 vs. 17.2) than the QB12, Kyler Murray. For comparison, that's the same gap as between Saquon Barkley (22.0 points per game) and Tony Pollard (13.1) or Ja'Marr Chase (23.6) and Adam Thielen (14.5).
Jeff Haseley: Spending big on a quarterback might win your league if you can also hit on several other players at different positions. It comes down to drafting a quarterback who will get rushing yards and/or rushing touchdowns, along with decent passing numbers. Thirteen quarterbacks had 300 yards rushing this season. The lowest finisher of that group was Anthony Richardson, who had 499 yards rushing and six rushing touchdowns in 11 games, finishing 25th. Drake Maye had 421 yards rushing with two rushing touchdowns in 13 games, finishing 21st. Every other quarterback with at least 300 yards rushing finished no lower than 15th (Caleb Williams). If you're not a rushing quarterback like Jared Goff (56 rushing yards), you better have the stats to make up for it. Goff had over 4,600 yards passing with 37 touchdown passes and finished only 7th. The next-highest quarterback with under 100 yards rushing was Jordan Love (83 yards), who finished 18th. The key is to draft versatile, dual-threat quarterbacks with a good supporting cast.
Will Grant: For many years, I advocated waiting on a quarterback, targeting two in rounds 7-10, and playing matchups in a Quarterback By Committee (QBBC) approach. However, as Jason pointed out, I've taken Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson early in the last three years and have been very happy with the results. In leagues with 12-14 teams or short benches, having one quarterback can save you a couple of extra draft positions / free agent slots for your standard flex positions.
If you miss out on the top four choices, you are probably better off waiting a bit and taking the QBBC approach. That can certainly help you compete with the mid-tier quarterbacks who are drafted after the top guys, but you'll need to make up the difference against the top teams with better running backs or wide receivers.
Running quarterbacks are the way to go in any case. If you look at the top twelve fantasy quarterbacks this season, only Jared Goff had less than 200 yards rushing, and only Goff and Sam Darnold had fewer than two rushing touchdowns. Brock Purdy finished at QB13 despite only having 20 passing touchdowns because he had 323 yards rushing and five rushing scores. Having a quarterback who runs, especially in the red zone, really makes a difference in your week-to-week scoring.
Be Willing to Go with a Rookie Quarterback
Andy Hicks: Jason brings up some great points about running quarterbacks and their dominance at the position. The angle I will take here focuses on rookie quarterbacks. Historically, rookies struggle for fantasy relevance. Cam Newton in 2011, Robert Griffin, and Andrew Luck in 2012. Plus a few others sprinkled in through the years such as C.J. Stroud in 2023. This year, we have three of the top 12 rookie fantasy scoring seasons of all time. Allowing for a 17-game season, Bo Nix and Jayden Daniels are the top 4 of all time for rookie quarterbacks. Caleb Williams finished 12th for a rookie all-time. All three of these rookies rushed for over 400 yards.
NFL teams are comfortable now drafting dual-threat quarterbacks. They expect them to play immediately. These rookies do not have to be good NFL quarterbacks just yet as long as they can run the ball. Even Drake Maye ran for 400 yards. I have historically undervalued rookie quarterbacks for numerous reasons. Individual circumstances need careful assessment, but I will not dismiss out of hand any rookie quarterback expected to play that can run.
Go Great or Go Late at Quarterback
Dave Kluge: It's been a viable strategy for a long time, but this year's results galvanized the Great or Late strategy. The list of guys with proven long-term success is short: Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, and Jalen Hurts. Beyond those names, variance must break right for a quarterback to have an elite finish. Of course, we're reasonably good at identifying those guys, and Jayden Daniels was a common pick made by many sharp players. But while Daniels flourished, similarly sharp picks like Anthony Richardson and Kyler Murray were tough to stomach. Other players high in preseason draft positions, like Patrick Mahomes II, C.J. Stroud, Jordan Love, and Tua Tagovailoa, also fell way short of their preseason values. Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, and Bo Nix were drafted in almost no leagues, and all finished inside the top 10. Next year, pay up for Jackson, Allen, Hurts, and (probably) Daniels. But don't fall into the trap of taking a mid-round quarterback. They're more likely to hit than miss.
Jeff Bell: Elite, or wait, then keep waiting.
Draft Jayden Daniels? The top quarterbacks in ADP (Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, and Jalen Hurts) all delivered to expectation, though Hurts' Week 16 injury and subsequently missing Week 17 were a significant blow. Still, Daniels was QB1 through the fantasy playoffs of Week 15 to 17, and Jared Goff was right behind, with both averaging above 30.7 points. They went off the board at QB12 and QB15 in preseason ADP.
The lesson would present as Late Round QB, but the better lesson would be No Round QB.
While the elite quarterbacks primarily lived up to expectations, C.J. Stroud (QB5 in preseason ADP), Anthony Richardson (QB6), Kyler Murray (QB8), Jordan Love (QB9), and Dak Prescott (QB10) had a brutal run at ADP. Murray was the best pick, finishing QB12 with Love right behind at QB13. The entire group lost to Goff (QB15), Baker Mayfield (QB21), Sam Darnold (QB31), and Bo Nix (QB23).
If a quarterback does not have elite athletic tools, you are much better off waiting to grab similar-level players in excellent offensive situations at much lower ADPs.
Rachel Tootsiepop: Jeff makes a valuable point about C.J. Stroud not performing up to ADP expectations. I drafted Stroud in the fifth round in one league but ended up starting Baker Mayfield for most of the season. Proving he was a value pick, I drafted Mayfield in the 17th round, and he finished the season as the fourth-best overall quarterback with 4,500 passing yards and 41 passing touchdowns. If I had waited on a quarterback, I could've drafted another running back in the fifth round instead, increasing my chances of making the playoffs. It's no coincidence that my best fantasy finishes for the 2024 season included Josh Allen on the roster. The presence of elite rushing quarterbacks has made a difference for this position. When I draft in 2025, if I miss out on getting one of the top few, I'm waiting on a quarterback to shore up the other positions first.
Show Patience at Quarterback
Colton Dodgson: In general, I wish I was a little more patient at quarterback this year. My strategy, like many of you, is typically to wait at quarterback. There's plenty of depth at the position, this year especially. However, I was one of the unlucky managers who fell into the Anthony Richardson trap. I snagged him in the sixth round of my home league's draft and couldn't have felt better. After his Week 1 showing, I thought I struck gold. I was also lucky enough to end up with Jayden Daniels as my contingency plan. This is where that idea of patience comes into play.
I may or may not have overreacted to Richardson's ugly stretch. He finished with single-digit fantasy points in three of his next five games, and I started 1-3. He didn't break 20 points again until Week 11. This drop-off made me think I was behind at the position. There's also a possibility that I wasn't sold by Jayden Daniels' hot start. I thought defenses would adjust. How naive I was in September and October. I decided to sell high (lol) on the future rookie of the year, packaging assets with Daniels to land Josh Allen. From a position perspective, fine. It worked out. I landed an elite option. From an asset management standpoint, I feel like I fell short. Patience and belief in Daniels would've made my championship roster even more stacked. I marched right through the home league. Shout-out to Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley. I think allowing the probable Offensive Rookie of the Year to settle in a little longer would've made my team that much better. Landing Bo Nix on waivers later in the year cushioned the blow. Still, I'm preaching patience at quarterback in the new fantasy year.
Tipp Major: Since 2020, we have had three quarterbacks throw for more than 40+ touchdowns. This brings up the adage: Do I wait at quarterback in my upcoming draft? Thanks to Bo Nix and Jayden Daniels, you can wait longer than ever. Even in a 14-team league, you could still wait to draft a quarterback.
When I started playing fantasy football, finding so many quarterbacks who bounce runs outside of the pocket was difficult. However, in 2024, 37 quarterbacks scored a rushing touchdown. With quarterback running more than ever and the trend to continue moving forward, you will also need to have a plan in place in case an injury occurs.
Focus on High-Upside Talent at Quarterback
Jeff Blaylock: After years of waiting until later rounds to draft quarterbacks, my resolution is to pursue elite talent at the position in 2025, specifically elite talent and designed runs. It's no accident that my best-performing fantasy teams this season had Josh Allen and Jayden Daniels on their rosters. Allen, Daniels, Lamar Jackson, and Jalen Hurts scored more than 100 fantasy points on the ground, but I'm targeting only the first three. Hurts' production benefited from seven touchdowns that followed Saquon Barkley being tackled at the one-yard line, something that may not be sustainable. If I whiff on these guys, I'll try to get Drake Maye a little later in drafts. Despite a lack of designed runs, he averaged 7.8 yards per rush, the best among quarterbacks with at least 20 rush attempts. A new coaching staff might unlock Maye's run game.
Bob Harris: I've always been willing to take chances on high-upside quarterbacks, even jumping slightly ahead of Average Draft Position (ADP) to land them. I've been comfortable doing this because the pool of options available outside the top 12 at the position capable of delivering solid, consistent numbers, if needed, has been deep. This year, the average weekly scoring differential between the top and second tier has been greater than in previous seasons. I don't know that it's a permanent condition, so I don't want to overstate the case. But had I known the outcomes this year, I might have been more interested in Jayden Daniels in Round 9 than Anthony Richardson in Round 5. Taking a slightly less aggressive approach until we can sort out whether 2024 was an outlier or the start of a trend makes sense.
Your 2025 Strategy at Quarterback
We are generally preaching patience at the position for the 2025 drafting season. With the influx of young talent, there seems to be plenty of quarterbacks to go around for in your draft. When you do take a quarterback, one who can add in rushing production is preferred. Luckily, there are starting to be more of these dual-threat quarterbacks.
