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Kate Magdziuk ranks the best quarterbacks in the NFL for the 2024 fantasy football season and some Week 1 streaming options.
The biggest fantasy football draft weekend of the year has finally arrived! That means big things for you in your quest to win your fantasy championship — remember it all starts at the draft.
The group of fantasy quarterbacks in favorable situations seems just about infinite this season, with options on every end of the spectrum from pure pocket passers like Kirk Cousins all the way to Konami Code options like rookie Jayden Daniels.
To help guide your decision-making in this year’s fantasy drafts, here’s a look at my quarterback rankings for 2024, as well as some viable streamers for Week 1 heading into the biggest draft weekend of the year — just in case you’re not looking to pay up for one of the top players at the position.
Week 1 QB streamers
Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
I’m not usually one to recommend Baker Mayfield in fantasy football, but with a matchup against the Washington Commanders to open the season, it’s too tempting to exist. Mayfield carries some risk heading into his second season with the Buccaneers, especially given the departure of offensive coordinator Dave Canales. The Washington Commanders’ secondary is a mess, even despite the addition of rookie Mike Sainristil in this year’s draft, which should be conducive to a solid 225+ passing yard day with 2+ passing touchdowns potentially on board.
In addition to building on a strong rapport he showed in Year 1 with future Pro Football Hall of Famer Mike Evans, he’ll also have Chris Godwin working back into a role playing primarily out of the slot following a season where he played lined up primarily as a boundary receiver, which could bode well for his productivity in 2024.
Daniel Jones, New York Giants
Yes, there is some sleeper potential for Daniel Jones in 2024, even after some boneheaded plays like this in the preseason:
While his overall decision-making may be suspect, Jones enters the year with Malik Nabers as his WR1 — easily the best wide receiver he’s ever played to this point in his career, which should help to raise his floor as a passer considerably. He’s also got a sneaky ability as a rusher, as he showcased in his last fully healthy season, where he posted 708 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on the ground. Happily, Jones showcased some of that movement in his lone preseason game, tallying 12 rushing yards on one attempt in his debut to live action following a torn ACL that ended his 2023 campaign early.
In Week 1, the Giants will host the Minnesota Vikings, who ranked top-10 with 3,986 passing yards given up last season without making much improvement this offseason.
Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins
Yes, it does feel a little weird to have the NFL’s reigning passing leader (4,624 yards in 2023) on a list of fantasy football sleepers; thanks for asking. Depending on your league and whether or not your leaguemates like to roster backup quarterbacks versus play the wire, Tagovailoa could be sitting on the waiver wire come the end of your drafts, currently going as the QB15 off boards based on FantasyPros ADP.
As silly as it seems to have a quarterback of Tua’s caliber on this list, we can’t deny the fact that regardless of how efficient the Dolphins’ offense is under HC Mike McDaniel, Tagovailoa’s usefulness as a fantasy quarterback has been fairly limited. He should defy that narrative in Week 1, however, with a more-than-favorable home matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars, currently ranked as PFF’s fourth-worst secondary in the league. They made a couple of solid offseason additions this year between safety Darnell Savage and former Ravens cornerback Ronald Darby, but it’s far from a guarantee that they’ll be able to stifle this near-unstoppable offense.
2024 QB rankings
Kate Magdziuk is an editor and contributor for Yahoo Fantasy and co-host of the Locked On Dynasty Football podcast. She is also the managing editor for Behind The Steel Curtain, SB Nation’s exclusive Pittsburgh Steelers blog. Her previous bylines include Pro Football Focus, NBC Sports Rotoworld and 4for4 Football, among others.
