Fantasy Football: Post-Draft Rookie Quarterback Rankings for 2024
We are ranking all the notable rookie quarterbacks drafted in the 2024 NFL Draft based on their redraft value for the upcoming season.
1. Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders
It was genuinely tough to decide who was going to be our top-ranked fantasy football rookie quarterback for redraft leagues in 2024. We ended up going with Daniels, who we had ranked as our top quarterback prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Despite Caleb Williams having a superior supporting case, we went with the better and more polished quarterback. That's not to say that Daniels doesn't have some weapons of his own. Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson have been massively held back by the horrific quarterback play in Washington and the team also added veteran weapons Zach Ertz and Austin Ekeler. Both Ertz and Ekeler are on the downside of their career, but that isn't the case at all for Dotson and Scary Terry.
Don't be surprised at all if McLaurin sees a resurgence in his career and Dotson has that true breakout year. At the end of the day, we are siding with the superior talent over the advantageous situation. It's also fair to say that we don't particularly trust either franchise to be a sure thing when it comes to developing a young QB based on their track records, and neither team's weapons are so spectacular that it's too great of an advantage to overlook.
2. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears
If you read the previous section, obviously Williams is second in our rankings. Not only does he have incredible talent and upside, but his aforementioned weapons are an impressive group despite missing a true elite piece. His top three wideouts will be D.J. Moore, Keenan Allen and fellow rookie Rome Odunze.
Beyond his wide receivers, he will also have Cole Kmet at tight end and D'Andre Swift as his running back. That is an electric group of weapons and a rare luxury for a quarterback drafted first overall in the NFL Draft. There is a real chance that Williams will become an immediate breakout superstar and make his way into the conversation of being the greatest Chicago Bears quarterback of the Super Bowl era as soon as next offseason.
3. J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings
McCarthy lacks the physical tools and upside of a guy like Drake Maye, but his transition to the next level will be easier, and having arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL at his disposal won't hurt either.
Minnesota is currently sticking to their story that Sam Darnold will be the team's Week 1 starter, however, we all know that isn't true unless McCarthy is an unmitigated disaster this summer. They will pretend like this is an open competition then gush about how McCarthy won the job with his impressive play. When in reality, this was a foregone conclusion the moment they traded up and drafted him.
At his disposal, McCarthy will have Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Aaron Jones and eventually T.J. Hockenson, whose season could be delayed due to injury. That's an excellent collection of talent and he is solid enough to finish as the third-best rookie quarterback in fantasy leagues with that talent around him.
Unfortunately, it will also likely be a Mac Jones situation where casual fans will then believe in and overvalue him heading into 2025 while people who truly evaluate talent will see that the wheels will inevitably fall off for this smoke-and-mirrors quarterback.
4. Drake Maye, New England Patriots
Maye has the physical talent to become a great NFL quarterback and the red flags to become a complete bust. Either way, he's going to be a project and has the least talent around him of any of the top rookie QBs. So not only is the QB a project, but the entire offense will be a work in progress.
To go even further, we don't know what this offense will look like at all. Bill Belichick was there for so long that this team is a complete unknown. What we do know is that their weapons are mediocre at best.
5. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos
Nix comes in at five simply because of opportunity. He will be the Week 1 starter after the Broncos surprisingly drafted him 12th overall in this year's draft. It may have been the reach of the century, but they invested enough draft capital to tell you that he's going to be given every possible opportunity to succeed.
Do we believe in or like Nix? Not at all. Nevertheless, he has to be at five because he's going to be a starter and you have to be on the field to score fantasy points.
6. Michael Penix Jr., Atlanta Falcons
Penix would be at No. 3 had the Falcons not just signed Kirk Cousins to a massive contract in free agency earlier this offseason. Despite the head-scratching decision to even draft a quarterback this high after signing Cousins, the reality is this is what we will be dealing with for at least a few seasons. We won't get any deeper into our opinion of the pick here though.
The issue at hand is that Penix doesn't see the field unless Cousins gets injured or is atrocious. We don't expect him to be terrible, and you can't draft a backup rookie QB in redraft with hopes that the undisputed starter gets injured at some point seriously enough to keep him sidelined for an extended period of time, giving the quarterback you drafted enough value to justify the pick. It sucks, but this is what it is.
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