The Shuffle Up series continues. We’re going to hit quarterbacks today. We appreciate the extraordinary gap between fantasy players and real-life ones; Quarterbacking is everything in the NFL, the quest for the Holy Grail. But usually it’s not that hard to find a solid fantasy player.
Salaries are unscientific and meant to show where I see pockets of value. It’s all been auditions up to this point, I’m now sorting and sorting them as if I were composing them from scratch. Remember the golden rule – no player gains or loses value because you list them.
Big Tickets
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$35 Lamar Jackson
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$33 Jalen Hurts
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$31 Josh Allen
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$28 Jayden Daniels
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$27 Joe Burrow
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$25 *Jordan Love
Jackson’s accuracy has never been better, and while the Ravens don’t necessarily need help in the receiving room, the addition of Diontae Johnson makes a strong group even stronger. Jackson is also looking at career bests in several other areas — interception percentage, YPA (a juicy 8.9), quarterback rating. It’s scary to think that he’s already won two MVPS and this could be his best season yet.
Hurts got the nod over Allen because the Eagles are still calling Hurts’ number at the goal line (seven rushing touchdowns), while the Bills have gotten close behind Allen (three rushing touchdowns). Allen is the better passer of the two, though Hurts could help more at the position, at least with his top two receivers.
Love has clearly run out at this point and the interception rate is worrying. However, he’s working with a ridiculous collection of talent, and his touchdown rate has skyrocketed to a league-best 7.5%. Some people look at this number and say “Regression!” but given the supporting cast and Matt LaFleur’s genius, I’ll bet Love will keep most of that ratio.
Legal Building Blocks
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$23 Kyler Murray
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$23 Brock Purdy
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$21 Jared Goff
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$20 CJ Stroud
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$18 Sam Darnold
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$17 Patrick Mahomes
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$16 Matthew Stafford
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$15 Tua Tagovailoa
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$14 Caleb Williams
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$14 Kirk Cousins
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$14 Dak Prescott
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$14 Baker Mayfield
Purdy’s red zone work has been up and down, but George Kittle’s late unlock solves the problem. As much as we’d hate to see Brandon Aiyuk down for the season, San Francisco has decent receiver depth after him. Purdy has also proven to be a capable runner, especially against man coverage where defenders turn their backs.
I’ll believe Mahomes fantasy returns when I see him. He hasn’t cracked the top 10 in a game since Thanksgiving 2023, and that’s 11 freaking months ago. Kansas City’s defense also wears Mahomes down; Bosses rarely have to play in a shootout.
Stafford showed his potential in Week 8 (four touchdowns) with the return of two superstar receivers. Looks like Cooper Kupp isn’t going anywhere; The Rams know they can steal the wide NFC West.
Nothing Prescott has done to this point warrants his rank, but the Cowboys moved up to CeeDee Lamb last week, and we can’t forget how that duo went ballistic in the second half of 2023. It’s time for the cowboys to pepper. is their best player, and Lamb is capable of pushing Prescott into fantasy relevance even if the team goes nowhere.
Speak them, speak them
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$13 Geno Smith
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$13 Bo Nix
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$13 Joe Flacco*
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$11 Jameis Winston
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$10 Aaron Rodgers
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$10 Russell Wilson
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$8 Justin Herbert
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$8 Trevor Lawrence
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$8 Derek Carr
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$7 Drake Liquid
Knicks seems to get a little better as he passes each week, and he does something as a runner nearly every Sunday. Sean Payton would pick him again. I’m also interested in a possible bargain with Courtland Sutton, whose expected fantasy return is much higher than his real one.
Why are you wondering why Flacco has an asterisk? And Shane Steichen He committed that Flacco will “move on,” whether that’s the case for the rest of the season remains to be seen. But there’s always a chance the Colts can try Anthony Richardson again, play for the big picture. In the meantime, call the Indy receivers you can, especially Josh Downs.
The Jets are still playing at an insanely slow pace and Rodgers is already running. He’s a low-end QB2 in Superflex leagues and not someone you’d consider starting in leagues that just need a fill-in. Tom Brady’s late game probably set unrealistic expectations for future quarterbacks in their 40s.
The move to Wilson was the right move in Pittsburgh and has a budding relationship with WR George Pickens. But the Steelers will always try to win with a controlled offense and strong defense, and Wilson no longer has the juice as a scrambler. He’s a reasonable depth play, but don’t dream of an advantage that probably isn’t there.
Bargain box
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$5 Daniel Jones
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$4 Gardner Minshew
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$2 Justin Fields
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$2 Andy Dalton
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$2 Mason Rudolph
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$1 Bryce Young
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$1 Anthony Richardson
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$1 Will Lewis
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$1 Malik Willis
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$1 Michael Penix
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$1 Jacoby Brissett