After I finished making this list I realized that the new wave of quarterbacks is officially here and gone are the days of Tom Brady.
No. 1 Patrick Mahomes
2x MVP, 2x Super Bowl MVP, by far and away the best player in the league. Face of the league. Has only improved his stats more post Tyreek. Fantasy Production has also remained consistently great. Has running upside as well. Any more questions?
2022 Total Fantasy: 428.4
No. 2 Jalen Hurts
Eagle's fans were pissed when Hurts was drafted back in 2020 in the 2nd round. He had been used as a gadget player similar to Taysom Hill his first year while Wentz was the starter. Jalen then took on a bigger role in 2021 in which he had some good moments, but it ended up being a forgettable season following the team's loss to the Buccaneers during the playoffs. This past year Hurts finally developed into the quarterback a lot of people thought he would be back at Alabama when he led the Crimson Tide to the National Championship. Hurts became a superstar last year during his Superbowl loss and MVP runner-up season. I expect him to continue his reign over a conference that has only gotten weaker in recent years. The QB sneak was so overpowered last season that rule changes were proposed just to stop Hurts from converting on all of them. A great hardworking QB who I think will have another great year of production in 2023.
2022 Total Fantasy: 384.1
No. 3 Lamar Jackson
Lamar's contract dispute was one of the most carefully watched events of this offseason as reports came out that multiple teams were showing interest in the former MVP. It seemed like Lamar was ready to leave Baltimore until they reeled him back in by finally signing a big-name free agent WR in Odell Beckham Jr. as well as plenty of money. Lamar also finally got his first round WR in star wideout from Boston College Zay Flowers who I thought looked great in the pre-draft process. With him finally getting some sort of weaponry at the WR position, I expect Lamar's production to finally skyrocket in the passing game. You can't get too much worse than having Demarcus Robinson, James Proche, and Devin Duvernay as your stars, so Jackson just got a huge upgrade. He also still has Mark Andrews and second year TE Isaiah Likely to lean on as well.
2022 Total Fantasy: 243.1
No. 4 Josh Allen
Josh has consistently been among the top quarterbacks ever since his sophomore season in the NFL. He's had multiple classic duels with Mahomes and many other Quarterbacks which is the reason he's at the top of the league as of right now. What makes Allen such a viable fantasy weapon is his ability to put up huge numbers in both the passing and running game. He's a monster and he's tough to take down, but at times he can take hits that look concerning. He finished top of all fantasy production for 2022 for the QB position and can be drafted over anyone above him due to his explosiveness. One day he's going to finish out the playoffs eventually by winning a Superbowl.
2022 Total Fantasy: 412.4
No. 5 Joe Burrow
Joe Burrow continued to produce at an elite level during his 2022 season. Though he had a somewhat shaky start to the season he finished strong which helps when you have one of the best WR cores in the league. Having Ja'marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Tyler Boyd for another year is always a near guarantee for success no matter what QB is behind them, but even more so behind the talent of Burrow. He has a lot of Brady like qualities especially the one where not only is he good, but he also possesses a great defense which allows the Bengals to a force when it comes to primetime games or playoff football. He should put up similar numbers to his 2022 season and he could even improve if he can start off better than last season.
2022 Total Fantasy: 369
No. 6 Trevor Lawerence
Trevor took a major leap in his 2022 season and finally got better coaches and management to further his talent. Though their team struggled for most of the first half of the season they had a tremendous comeback which led to them making the playoffs and putting the Chiefs up on ropes until eventually losing to the eventual Superbowl champs due to a few costly late game errors. Lawerence's talent is very apparent so if Calvin Ridley can return to being the type of receiver he was with the Falcons and the rest of the Jags receivers stay healthy watch out Lawerence and the Jags will be a force to be reckoned with.
2022 Total Fantasy: 303.7
No. 7 Justin Fields
Welcome to the most chaotic ranking of this bunch. Justin Fields has all the flashes of being an absolute superstar in the NFL, but he is incredibly inconsistent. The Bears finally did a very un-bear-like move by trading for WR D.J. Moore to give Fields and the whole offense a boost it has direly needed for years. The bears also stocked up on some offensive linemen to support their young QB. Fields can be a top 5 QB this year, but he is by far and away the most boom or bust fantasy player this year. I thought about ranking him higher due to his upside in the run game, but I think 7 is the perfect spot for him due to unpredictability.
2022 Total Fantasy: 307
No. 8 Justin Herbert
Herbert still has a great arm talent and plenty of weapons yet there seems to be some sort of hump that he can't get over to gain true stardom. He always makes incredible plays and puts up great numbers on a yearly basis. The Chargers also just drafted a Quienten Johnston in order to get more help to a WR core that is great, but constantly banged up or inactive. Hopefully this will give Herbert the ability to continue playing at a high level. As of now he reminds me a lot of Phillip Rivers. Expect him to put up similar fantasy stats to last year with some upside because of Johnston.
2022 Total Fantasy: 289.3
No. 9 Kenny Pickett
Pickett will probably be rating much higher on this list compared to many other, but in my opinion, he showed a great deal of development during the 2022 season. Pickett alongside his main running mate George Pickens will now look forward to having a full offseason with the team to continue to build within an offense that had its ups and downs during Pickett's rookie season. Pickett looked incredibly sharp towards the end of the season as he led multiple game winning touchdown drives and finished out the season looking more experienced and comfortable in his system.
2022 Total Fantasy: 159
No. 10 Tua Tagovailoa
Tua would actually rank higher on this list if it wasn't for the obvious which is his injury history, he built throughout the 2022 season. Severe concussions and also losing consciousness is a very bad sign for a young QB and due to his concussions Tua had even reportedly considered the option of retirement. Whenever he is healthy, he looks great and has one of the fastest WR cores to work with. If you need a game to prove his explosiveness just watch the show Tyreek and him put on against a Ravens defense that was strong last year. I and a lot of other fantasy managers hope he can put in a full season that doesn't include any more head injuries, but it is definitely something to keep an eye on. Also keep in mind that once you get multiple concussions they can happen more frequently and have severe consequences on the players overall physical and mental health.
2022 Total Fantasy: 239
Where's Rodgers?
Following his 2021 MVP season Rodgers struggled a lot last year with his new group of rookie wideouts and old veterans with not a lot left in the tank. He was able to slightly recover and perform better towards the end of the year when Chrisitan Watson began to develop, but they still missed out on the playoffs by one game. Following in his predecessor's footsteps he now heads to the big apple for a team that was in dire need of a QB change. I faith that he will still be good even considering the age he is not reaching, but I don't know if he will ever warrant a top 10 spot again. Not everyone can do it for as long as Tom did.
Song of the Day: OneFourThree by Hermitude feat. Buddy and BJ The Chicago Kid
I've been listening to this song for a couple years now and I honestly can't believe it's not more popular the beat and overall vibe is very infectious. I still can't get over how smooth the chorus flows it's hard to describe. Also the music video for this song is incredibly fun. I feel like the main reason this song hasn't gained as much traction as it deserves is because the creators are Aussies so maybe they don't have as much of a reach to American audiences. Give it a try if you got the time.
Source:
All statistical data is based on PPR format according to: Fantasy Football Rankings, 2023 Projections, Fantasy Baseball Cheat Sheets | FantasyPros
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