National Football League

FANTASY PLAYS: It's OK to wait a little bit to draft a QB

Published Aug. 29, 2019 2:26 p.m. ET

The fantasy football season is upon us and not a moment too soon.

Sure, I love fantasy baseball and fantasy hockey but there is just something different about football.

Maybe it's because the season goes by so quickly or maybe it's because for the most part, we only have to worry about setting lineups once a week rather than every day like the other major sports.

In professional team sports, I have always believed that the two most important positions are goaltender in hockey and quarterback in football.

In the current NFL, the game is geared toward the quarterback. It seems every new rule that comes into being is for the QB and for the game to produce more points.

I've been playing fantasy football since the late 1980s and I'm not sure I have ever seen a better collection of QBs than we have now in the NFL, especially for fantasy.

There are close to 20 QBs that I wouldn't mind starting on my fantasy team. You should wait to draft a QB in leagues in which you can only start one.

It's for this reason that I believe we need to make a change in leagues and go to a superflex. That's a league in which you have two flex positions, one of which you can start a QB.

— Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs

— Deshaun Watson, Houston Texans

— Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers

— Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons

— Carson Wentz, Philadelphia Eagles

— Baker Mayfield, Cleveland Browns

— Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

— Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers

— Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers

— Phillip Rivers, Los Angeles Chargers

— Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens

— Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints

— Jared Goff, Los Angeles Rams

— Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings

— Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys

— Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks

— Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals

— Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago Bears

— Tom Brady New England Patriots

— Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco 49ers

— Derek Carr, Oakland Raiders

These are all QBs that I could live with starting for my team and let's face it unless you're playing in that superflex or two QBs league, you won't have to go anywhere near the bottom of this list.

Yes, I would love to have Mahomes as my starting QB, but I'm not spending a third-round pick to do so. Now, if he fell into the fifth round, where there is much more value, I would be much more willing to grab him, but for the most part, I'm not even thinking about a QB, until double-digit rounds.

Mahomes is great and may very well lead the NFL in touchdowns again, but I just don't like my team when I spend an early pick on a QB. I like to load up on RBs and WRs early and grab a QB much later.

If you do grab Mahomes, you have what is likely to be the fantasy points leader this season.

My thinking about Mahomes and where to take him would change if you were playing in a league that awards six points for a TD pass, but most only give you four.

Watson is also in a tier by himself and is usually going 2 or 3 rounds after Mahomes.

The third tier is made up of Rodgers, Ryan, Wentz, and Mayfield. They each have question marks, Can A-Rod and the receivers figure out the new offense? Can Wentz stay healthy? How will Mayfield handle all the pressure that is going to come along with the big expectations for the Browns this season? I might just trust Ryan the most out of this group.

Winston, Cam, and Ben are in my fourth tier. Winston could put up big numbers in Bruce Arians' offense. Ben should be solid once again although expecting him to throw more than 600 times again is unlikely.

As for the others, Rivers could be a bargain if Melvin Gordon misses games with his holdout.

The Chargers would theoretically have to throw the ball more. I love Jackson. Think about this for a minute. If he throws for 175 yards, one TD, rushes for 60 yards and gets one rushing TD every other game, that's 20 fantasy points right there. His floor is so high.

Brady and Brees are two of the greatest to ever play the game, but their best fantasy years are behind them. Don't draft the name. Brady just doesn't have many options to throw to and Brees seemed to wear down quite a bit as the season rolled along last year.

I love Wilson, but Seattle also doesn't have many options in the passing game and they want to establish run.

As for Dak, I'm not buying into the hype that he is going to make that leap into the top echelon of fantasy QBs even though he could be paid as such by the Cowboys.

Good luck in your draft and wait to draft a QB.