Divisional Round Fantasy Football Quarterback Rankings: Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Jayden Daniels, Jared Goff, Patrick Mahomes and More

It’s time for my final fantasy football ranking article for the Divisional Round!

We’ve already covered running backs, wide receivers and tight ends and will now go over the quarterbacks. We’ll go over the defensive matchups first, then rank the eight quarterbacks.

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Divisional Round Matchups

C.J. Stroud and Patrick Mahomes will battle in the first game of the week. It’s a very similar defensive matchup for each quarterback.

Jayden Daniels and Jared Goff square off in the other Saturday game. Goff has a below-average matchup, while Daniels has a slightly above-average test.

Matthew Stafford and Jalen Hurts will go up against each other in the first Sunday game. It’s a pretty favorable matchup for Hurts, while Stafford has the toughest matchup for a quarterback this week.

In the game of the week, and maybe the season, Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen will battle. It’s a tougher matchup for Jackson, while being the most favorable QB matchup for Allen.

Quarterback Rankings

1. Josh Allen

I like Allen the most for the Divisional Round, narrowly edging Jackson for the top spot.

Allen was great in the Wild Card Round, throwing for 272 yards and two touchdowns, while also running for 46 more yards. He avoided any turnovers and delivered another monster fantasy performance as a result.

The regular season clash against Baltimore was one of the few times all season that Allen didn’t star as a fantasy player. He had 180 passing yards and 21 rushing yards, but no touchdowns - Allen turned the ball over once.

I see this being a high-scoring game, and with the Bills winning in my book, I think Allen makes a few more plays and scores more fantasy points.

2. Lamar Jackson 

Jackson was really efficient last week, throwing for 175 yards and two touchdowns. He added 81 rushing yards and avoided turnovers to post a strong fantasy score.

Jackson outplayed Allen in the regular season meeting. He threw for 156 yards and two touchdowns, while adding in 54 rushing yards and a score - Jackson turned the ball over once.

You really cannot go wrong with Allen or Jackson, but I just think Allen will have to do more for his offense, so he gets the slight edge. If Jackson steals some rushing yards and scores away from Derrick Henry, maybe he edges Allen.

3. Jayden Daniels

Daniels didn’t look like a rookie in his postseason debut last week. He had 268 passing yards and two touchdowns, along with 36 rushing yards. The rookie avoided any turnovers.

His defensive matchup this week is tougher, but not by a whole lot. Detroit allowed the fifth-most passing yards in the regular season, and QBs ran for the fourth-most yards.

Daniels will need to do it all just for the Commanders to keep this game close, and I think it’ll lead to a monster fantasy showing. He could easily finish as the top fantasy QB this week.

4. Patrick Mahomes

Mahomes has had a nice little break, so he should be rested, pretty healthy and ready to go on another postseason run.

He struggled to live up to the preseason fantasy hype, but did perform well down the stretch, scoring over 20 points in his final two starts. One of those games came against Houston, when he had 260 passing yards and a score, while rushing for 33 yards and another score.

All Mahomes cares about is getting the win, but in a pretty good matchup, I also think he’s going to put up good numbers. As long as the Chiefs’ offense doesn’t start slow, I see Mahomes posting a good final number.

5. Jared Goff

Goff got a much-needed break after the Lions battled hard down the stretch to claim the NFC North title. 

He struggled in week 18 a bit, but had scored over 20 points in the previous four games before that. Goff threw multiple touchdown passes in 12 games this season, but nine of his 12 interceptions also came in three games, so he can be a little feast or famine as a fantasy player.

The matchup is average, but Goff and this Lions’ offense can put up big numbers against anyone. The only real reason to be worried about Goff’s fantasy outlook is if Washington cannot stop the run, and it takes the ball out of Goff’s hands. I think Goff will get his numbers in a high-scoring game regardless.

6. Jalen Hurts

This spot for Hurts is going to surprise a lot of people, but I didn’t think he looked very comfortable last week. His defensive matchup is more favorable this week, but the Rams’ defense also just shut down the Vikings, so it’s maybe not as good a matchup as it initially looks.

Hurts had just 131 passing yards last week, but two touchdown passes saved his fantasy day. He added 36 rushing yards.

Another reason I don’t really like Hurts this week is because he didn’t do too much in the regular season game against LA. He had 179 passing yards and a touchdown, along with 39 rushing yards in that game. 

Philly rode a monster game from Saquon Barkley to move the ball in that contest, and I expect something similar to happen this week. Hurts could have a bigger fantasy day than I expect if he steals some rushing numbers away from Barkley, or if he looks more like himself as a passer, but I’m not confident enough in either of those things to take him higher than sixth.

7. C.J. Stroud

Stroud helped the Texans to a win over the Chargers last week. In that game, he had 282 passing yards, a touchdown and an interception, while also rushing for 42 yards.

Stroud hasn’t taken the step forward this season that many people expected, but injuries to offensive playmakers around him affected him somewhat. He had 244 passing yards and two touchdowns, but also two picks in the regular season game against KC - he rushed for an additional 23 yards.

I like what I saw from Stroud, for the most part, last week, and in a pretty favorable defensive matchup, Stroud looks like a fantasy QB to target. I simply haven’t seen enough from him this season to trust him any more than I do. He’s really a fine starting option, but when we whittle things down to eight QBs, he just doesn’t stack up that well.

8. Matthew Stafford

Stafford was really good in the Wild Card Round, but he’s facing a different animal in the Eagles’ defense this weekend.

Stafford had 209 passing yards and two touchdowns a week ago. He went backward a yard on two rushes. Stafford did not turn the ball over.

In the regular season clash with the Eagles, Stafford threw 36 times in an effort to try and help the Rams keep pace. He finished with 243 yards and two touchdowns, while adding in a 15-yard rush - Stafford avoided a turnover in that game too.

With Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp to throw to, and Kyren Williams in the backfield, Stafford and this Rams’ offense can move the ball against anybody. The matchup is just too tough, and it means Stafford doesn’t stack up well with the other quarterbacks playing this weekend. He very well could finish ahead of several QBs this weekend, but I just can’t advocate for playing him over anyone given the circumstances.