Fantasy Football Quarterback Draft Busts and Surprises: Joe Burrow, Justin Fields, Tua Tagovailoa, Sam Howell, C.J. Stroud Stick Out Halfway Through Season

Drafting your fantasy football team is always a fun experience, but one of my favorite things to do is look back on the draft and see what players panned out and which ones didn’t.

Now that we are halfway through the regular season, it’s a perfect time to take a look back at some of the biggest draft busts and surprises. 

We’ll start with the sport's most prominent position, quarterback. It’s been a tough year, with injuries all over the place and inconsistency from just about every starter. There’s been some surprising names among the top fantasy options. Let’s look at it all.

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Draft Busts

According to our charts, the biggest draft bust at the quarterback position so far has been Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Burrow. His Average Draft Position (ADP) was 41, making him the fifth QB drafted overall, but he’s currently the 18th-ranked quarterback with 119 fantasy points.

Burrow started the year injured and it showed in the first four games. He topped 250 passing yards once, including a 165-yard and 82-yard showing. In those contests, he threw two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Burrow has turned things around in the four weeks since, reaching 275 passing yards in all but one contest. He’s thrown 10 touchdowns to just two interceptions. If he keeps playing at a similar level, he’ll work himself out of the bust category.

The next draft bust is Chicago Bears’ Justin Fields, who continues to miss time with an injury. He played really poorly in weeks 1-3, with no games over 225 passing yards and more interceptions (4) than touchdowns (3). 

Fields found some success in weeks 4 and 5, throwing eight touchdowns to one interception and going for over 275 yards in both contests. He was injured the following week and hasn’t seen the field since.

Fields had an ADP of 46, which made him the seventh quarterback drafted. He currently ranks as QB21.

Jacksonville Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence and Cleveland Browns’ Deshaun Watson are two more quarterbacks who have underachieved to this point of the season.

Lawrence had an ADP of 55, making him the eighth quarterback selected. He’s currently QB17 with 121 fantasy points.

Lawrence hasn’t been bad, but he’s been average most weeks. He’s only got one game with over 300 passing yards and two contests with multiple touchdown passes. Overall, Lawrence has nine touchdowns and four interceptions in eight contests. He has added 216 rushing yards, but hasn’t scored on the ground.

Watson had an ADP of 87, making him the 10th QB selected. He’s scored 71 fantasy points, which makes him QB31 right now.

Watson has only appeared in five contests because of injuries, but is back on the field now. He’s thrown for 902 yards and six touchdowns, while being picked off three times. Watson has added 105 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Draft Surprises

Most of the surprises are guys that probably went undrafted in many leagues. 

Joshua Dobbs, the former Arizona Cardinals quarterback turned Minnesota Vikings quarterback had an ADP of 441, but now is QB10. Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Baker Mayfield had an ADP of 263, making him the 31st quarterback selected overall, but is now QB16. 

Houston Texans’ C.J. Stroud had an ADP of 225, making him the 27th quarterback drafted. Stroud has topped 250 passing yards in half of the team’s eight games, including a 470-yard, five-touchdown performance in week 9. He’s up to 2,270 yards and 14 touchdowns, while throwing just one pick. He’s scored 158 points, making him the seventh-best fantasy quarterback so far.

Washington Commanders’ Sam Howell was the quarterback right above Stroud. Howell had an ADP of 218, but is currently QB6. He’s gone over 285 passing yards in five of his team’s nine games. He’s up to 2,471 yards and 14 touchdowns for the season, but does have nine interceptions.

Green Bay Packers’ Jordan Love was the QB taken before Howell, with an ADP of 193. He’s currently QB15, although that’s mostly because of a fast start to the season. Love has thrown six touchdowns to eight interceptions in six games since week 2.

San Francisco 49ers’ Brock Purdy had an ADP of 186, making him the 23rd QB selected. He’s fizzled out a bit of late, but still sits as QB12 for the season. Since a four-touchdown performance in week 5, Purdy has three touchdowns to five picks.

Vikings’ Kirk Cousins would have likely been one of the top steals at the position if he hadn’t torn his Achilles a couple weeks ago. He was the 14th quarterback selected and was a top-six fantasy quarterback at the time of his injury.

Miami Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa might take that honor instead. He was the 11th quarterback drafted by fantasy owners, and he currently sits as QB5. He’s just six touchdowns away from setting a new career high already, and under 1,000 passing yards from another career high.