With the recent draft trades, things are spicing up a month before the NFL draft is set to take place and teams are doing their best to fill fans with hope for upcoming seasons. I’ll be analyzing the incoming rookie quarterbacks in this one because teams don’t trade up to take any other position than the face of the franchise. It will be more than likely a run of quarterbacks very early in this year’s draft, and for Superflex leagues, it’ll be hard to decide between more than a few of these players.
Trevor Lawrence – Clemson
The obvious top choice for the NFL draft and every dynasty Superflex, unless someone gets too cute. He has been touted as the next best thing ever since he won the national championship his freshman year, and he checks every box in question about incoming quarterbacks. He has thrown for over 10,000 yards with 90 touchdowns in his collegiate career, posting a 66.6% completion rating. Lawrence is athletic and brings to the table what every fantasy manager looks for in the quarterback, the ability to be a pocket passer with rushing capability and escapability. He has played at an elite level throughout his college career and seems to show no signs of stopping.
Lawrence will be an above-average starter and potentially one of the top quarterbacks in the league. The only question we can make about Lawrence at this time is will he thrive in Jacksonville? With few weapons to boast about, Lawrence looks to be the Jaguar’s savior. For fantasy managers with Chark or Shenault, they couldn’t have hoped for anything better, but only time will tell and hopefully, Lawrence is everything he is expected to be. If Lawrence continues his usual routine expect him to grow as Jax surrounds him with talent hopefully and keeps him upright. He can see the whole field, let the play develop, while looking off DB’s, and the only question throughout his college play is will he be able to do it without all the talent he was surrounded with. My say is yes, take Lawrence and enjoy many great fantasy years to come.
Zach Wilson – BYU
I have come around to putting Wilson ahead of Fields and Lance in my rankings, but only by a hair and assuming he will be with the Jets under a new regime while they rebuild around him. In Superflex drafts, it’ll be a toss-up and I could flip flop at any moment myself. Wilson, like Lawrence, also played all three seasons at his current school and improved each season. With 7,600 yards, 56 passing touchdowns, and a 67.6 % completion rating there is a reason NFL teams are interested in him so early in this year’s draft.
It seems like he came out of nowhere because he is from BYU, where games can go unnoticed. Wilson offers a ceiling of unbalanced accurate baseball-like throwing creating time with his legs while looking to throw. Will he be able to play with NFL talent is the question against Wilson and hopefully, he will be able to ease into his time in the NFL where he can continue to grow. I would be comfortable taking him anywhere from 1.02-1.04 depending on your preference in QBs
Trey Lance – NDSU
With the recent trade pointing towards San Fransisco moving on from Jimmy Garrapolo and selecting a QB, Trey Lance is looking like a dynasty darling for fantasy managers offering the ability to read defenses and take advantage of situations with his legs. He has a big arm and most of his highlights offer deep throws or read options which schematically makes sense for Kyle Shanahan and his tricky offense. Shanahan has been looking for an answer to his problem at QB, and Lance offers the upside of opening up the playbook entirely for the 49ers.
Expecting this landing spot and watching Lance consistently take advantage of defenses with his legs puts him ahead in my fantasy rankings. Is he the better QB? Who knows? As for fantasy, Lance will thrive extending plays and gaining chunks of yards each game Lance is big-bodied and looks like he will be able to handle playing at the next level. Take him anywhere from 1.03- 1.04 in Superflex leagues. Unfortunately, we only witnessed him play entirely for a single season, but it was a show, putting up 2,947 yards 48 total touchdowns, and only a single interception during his time at North Dakota. He added another 1,300 yards on the ground, took only 15 sacks had a 65.4% completion rating. With no injury history to note, he seems like a safe bet going into the NFL as the youngest QB of the ones that’ll have an immediate impact.
Justin Fields – Ohio St.
Fields is not worse than the two QBs listed above him by any means, and all three should be grouped in a tier together and drafted based on preference in all leagues. Landing spot will matter dramatically for these three options, and I expect a lot of back and forth on the matter until we see them take the field with their new teams. Justin Fields offers a great dual-threat with his legs, but a slight knock on his play is that he scrambles to run and loses sight downfield at times to take off. This will be a bonus for fantasy, but it’ll only take a little while for defenses to adjust to that style of play and he will have to learn to keep them guessing when he is out of the pocket. During his time in college, he transferred from his home area out of Georgia and into Ohio St., because he could not beat out Jake Fromm as the starter his freshman year. In his three seasons, he was able to post 5,700 yards, 88 total touchdowns, and only 9 interceptions. Astounding numbers, but the NFL has been fooled by Ohio QBs before, and he is seemingly slipping into the latter end of the top ten. The Panthers would love to see him fall to 8 and with the weapons, in place there I believe Fields would thrive for Carolina. He had a great completion rating throughout his play with 68.4%, and aside from underthrowing receivers at times, and needing to protect his body at the next level fields will be a starter for years to come under the right system. Feel comfortable taking him anywhere in the top four selections of Superflex drafts.
Mac Jones – Alabama
I didn’t want to put Mac Jones this high seeing the talent he was surrounded by, but after watching his highlights and seeing his ability to run the offense with ease and great accuracy I believe he will be a good starter for the NFL. Therefore making him worth a back-end 1st selection in Superflex, Jones has climbed into the top ten of this year’s NFL draft for sure and will be given a solid shot at commanding a team going forward. Posting decent numbers and holding off incoming recruits at Alabama showed his ability to lead, and his accuracy was exemplified with a 74.3% completion rating the highest of this group of QBs.
His major question of being surrounded by the best at every position and potentially being propped up can be combatted with the fact that he distributed the ball well to all of those weapons and ran the offense throughout his time at Alabama. He should be a good option for a QB3 as long as he can edge out the future competition for a starting job. Jones doesn’t offer the upside of being a dual-threat, so temper fantasy expectations and expect modest output even if he does start. A good base floor for your roster and a bye week fill-in QB is what should be expected unless proven otherwise.
The Takeaway
This year’s QB class offers a lot of hope, much like past years, and with that, we should all temper expectations. We have to see them translate and treat picking a QB like a lottery ticket. Placement and how they adjust to playing in the NFL will matter, and all we can do is hope that each skill set works well with their new teams. Each of these QBs offers immense upside and a great skill set, but only time will tell. In Superflex, Leagues QBs hold value well so the risk is not as high, which of them will be better than the others is yet to be seen and hopefully, this helped you in deciding which of the bunch you like more. For more advice follow me @DFF_MattBull, and leave me any comments or questions about your dynasty team. Don’t forget to #AlwaysBeBuilding with @DFF_Dynasty to win your dynasty league!
