Fantasy Football 2017 Positional Rankings: Quarterback
By Jacob DeFee
It’s fantasy draft preparation season! Or if your league is super hardcore you might already have your draft done or at least scheduled.
For you fantasy nuts like me who can’t get enough fantasy football here are my rankings at the quarterback position for the 2017 NFL season.
1. Tom Brady, New England Patriots
Adding Brandin Cooks, Mike Gillislee and Dwayne Allen makes this Patriots offense look unstoppable on paper. Not to mention getting back a healthy Rob Gronkowski will make the New England Patriots hard to match up against, the only thing Brady has going against him is father time as he recently turned 40 earlier this month.
2. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
Rodgers finished with the most fantasy points for a QB in 2016. Rodgers will be even more dangerous with a great redzone target in Martellus Bennett on his team, and the potential is there for an improvement in the Packers running game as well.
3. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints
Once again the only thing Brees has going against him is his age, but that didn’t stop him from throwing for 5,208 yards last season. It will be interesting to see what the Saints do with a three headed monster at running back after acquiring Adrian Peterson in free agency and Alvin Kamara in the NFL draft.
4. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons
The reigning MVP returns all of his offensive weapons, but loses his play caller. How much will that hurt his performance in 2017?
5. Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts
It’s the middle of August and Andrew Luck still isn’t throwing a football. Hehas the potential to finish as the top scoring quarterback in 2017 if he can get his shoulder healthy by week one. The Colts should have a poor defense and will need him to throw a lot to keep them in games. If his shoulder holds up he could put up monster numbers once again.
6. Kirk Cousins, Washington Redskins
Cousins threw for nearly 5,000 yards last season and now he adds a true number one receiver in Terrell Pryor. As Cousins gets set to break the bank on the free agency market in 2018 expect him to put up monster number this season.
7. Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks
Wilson was dealing with an ankle injury for most of last season and her still managed to finish 10th overall for QBs. He is now healthy and his numbers should improve as he continues to build his rapport with his young receivers.
8. Marcus Mariota, Tennessee Titans
Mariota is one of my sleeper candidates for league MVP this year. He finished 13th overall for QBs last season and should only improve now that the Titans finally have some legitimate receivers in Corey Davis and Eric Decker.
9. Derek Carr, Oakland Raiders
One of the best young QBs in the game and he is now the league’s highest player. Will he perform that way this season? Only time will tell.
10. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers
Roethlisberger was extremely difficult for me to place on this list. He has weapons galore at his disposal and if he remains healthy it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he finished in the top three scorers for QBs. The problem is that he hasn’t played all 16 games in the last 2 seasons and he’s not getting any younger…
11. Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
If Winston can cut down on his turnovers in 2017 he will finish in the top 10 QBs for fantasy, 18 interceptions in 2016 was simply too many.
12. Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers
Will we see 2015 Cam or 2016 Cam this year? If 2015 Cam returns, the Panthers can make another deep playoff run in 2017 and Cam will be in the running for MVP once again.
13. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
Count me as one who is not a huge believer in Dak Prescott. Sure he had a monster rookie year but so did Robert Griffin III in 2012. Let’s see him do it again before we go all in on Prescott.
14. Blake Bortles, Jacksonville Jaguars
Bortles had a terrible year last year and surprisingly finished inside the top-eight for fantasy purposes for the second year in a row. I expect a slight dip in numbers as the Jaguars will be more focused on running the football under new head coach Doug Marrone, but Bortles should still finish in the top half of the league for fantasy purposes.
15. Philip Rivers, Los Angeles Chargers
Rivers is much like Winston in the aspect that he must cut down on his turnovers. He threw 21 interceptions last season but still finished 14th among quarterbacks in fantasy. Keep an eye on him in deeper leagues.
16. Tyrod Taylor, Buffalo Bills
17. Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions
18. Andy Dalton, Cincinnati Bengals
19. Eli Manning, New York Giants
20. Carson Wentz, Philladelphia Eagles
21. Carson Palmer, Arizona Cardinals
22. Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens
23. Brian Hoyer, San Fransisco 49ers
24. Jay Cutler, Miami Dolphins
25. Tom Savage, Houston Texans
26. Alex Smith, Kansas City Chiefs
27. Mike Glennon, Chicago Bears
28. Sam Bradford, Minnesota Vikings
29. Trevor Siemian, Denver Broncos
30. Jared Goff, Los Angeles Rams
31. Cleveland Browns QB
32. New York Jets QB
I will also be starting a “Fantasy Mailbag” in the coming days. Feel free to comment any questions you have about the upcoming season, or tweet me @jjhdefee.