Fantasy QB Tiers 2022: Quarterback rankings, sleepers, fantasy football draft strategy

One of the biggest questions that fantasy owners ask themselves before their fantasy drafts is when they should draft a quarterback. The answer(s) to this question are subjective, as virtually any strategy can work if you hit on the right player. Some fantasy owners opt to draft a top-tier QB like Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, or Justin Herbert within the first few rounds, while others look further down the rankings to find a sleeper or breakout pick who can provide better value. Heading into 2022, the outlook for whatever option you prefer remains roughly the same as before.

With quarterback, you always know you can get someone decent. Sure, busts happen – usually because of injuries – but it’s not hard to find a competent QB1. Even if you’re one of the last owners in your league to draft a starter, you’ll get Russell Wilson, Derek Carr, Kirk Cousins, or Trey Lance – not bad for a mid-round pick.

2022 STANDARD RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers | Top 200 | Superflex

But, again, it’s all about value. How much potential production are you losing by going from a top-tier QB to a third-tier QB? Can you make up for that loss by getting better players at other positions?

2022 PPR RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers | Top 200 | Superflex

As usual, the first quarterback tier is stacked with talent, with Allen, Herbert, and Mahomes leading the way. All three quarterbacks should go early in most drafts. However, if you end up missing out on those quarterbacks, there is a litany of guys in Tier 2 or Tier 3 who can elevate your team to a contender – assuming you don’t overdraft them.

2022 RANKINGS TIERS & DRAFT STRATEGY:
RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs

Let’s break down the different strategies for drafting a QB and which players will be available at various points in your draft. As always, we'll be updating this list throughout the preseason, so check back for updates!

DOMINATE YOUR DRAFT: Ultimate 2022 fantasy cheat sheet

Fantasy QB Tiers 2022: Who are the best fantasy football quarterbacks?

Tier 1:

Our first tier is littered with quarterbacks who can put up fantasy points in bunches, and all have the ability to pad their monster passing numbers with production on the ground. All four of these players averaged at least 22 fantasy points per game in standard leagues last season. Allen has the highest early ADP out of all the guys in Tier 1 at 23.3, meaning you could potentially draft him in the second round in a 12-person league.

However, as we know, fantasy owners reach on quarterbacks all the time, so it would not be a surprise to see someone take Allen at the end of the first round. If you miss out on Allen, who ran for a career-high 763 yards last year, you could still get value with Mahomes (32.7) and Herbert (35.7) in the third round. At this point in the draft, you will have two good skill position players and can add an outstanding quarterback. Mahomes may take a step back without Tyreek Hill, but he still has Travis Kelce, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Skyy Moore, Mecole Hardman, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Herbert, who was one of two QBs to throw for more than 5,000 yards last year, has an even better stocked weapons collection.

2022 FANTASY SLEEPERS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | One from each team

Fantasy Rankings Tiers 2022: Second-tier QBs

Tier 2:

You could make the case that all of the Tier 2 quarterbacks could end up being in Tier 1 by the end of the season and bring more value than Allen, Mahomes, and Herbert, which is why many prefer drafting a QB in Rounds 5-7 and getting one of these guys. This QB group has a nice mix of young quarterbacks on the rise and veterans who can still sling it.

Murray might be a Tier-1 QB to some, but with DeAndre Hopkins slated to miss the first six games of this season while serving a suspension, Murray takes a hit. His early ADP is just 59.7, so clearly owners are down on a bit on Murray. Still, he can provide tremendous value as a fifth- or sixth-round pick. He still has Marquise Brown, Rondale Moore, Zach Ertz, A.J. Green, and Trey McBride to throw the ball to, and he averaged over 30 rushing yards per game last year. That’s down from 51.2 in 2020, so Murray’s ultimate ranking might depend on just how much he runs. Either way, the upside is always there for a monster statistical season in Arizona’s uptempo offense, so Murray shouldn’t be ignored.

With the young quarterbacks (Hurts and Burrow), the question is how much can they build off what they did in 2021. If it's a significant amount, then look out for Burrow and Hurts to make that jump into Tier 1. Burrow’s ADP is 56.7, which sounds about right considering what he did last season and the weapons that surround him. The former No. 1 overall pick completed 70.9 percent of his passes for 4,611 yards, 34 touchdowns, 14 interceptions, and averaged 20.5 fantasy points per game. Our only worry with him is the tremendous amount of sacks he takes. It’s not out of the realm of possibility to see Burrow scoring 20 fantasy points per game this season behind a revamped offensive line.

As for Hurts, we should see his numbers go up this season with the addition of A.J. Brown. Last season, Hurts was a fantasy star thanks to his dual-threat ability. He had 3,144 passing yards, a league-leading 784 rushing yards, and 26 total touchdowns (10 rushing). If Hurts can continue to improve his completion percentage, we could see him averaging 23 fantasy points per game this season and finishing top three. The rushing alone will make him a consistent starter and great value anywhere in the early-middle rounds.

When we look at the other four quarterbacks in this tier (Jackson, Prescott, Stafford, and Brady), we don’t have a lot of questions about them. We know what each of them does well and know that they can all score 20 fantasy points per game. Jackson’s early ADP is 49, which seems a bit high after his drop-off last year. His 16:13 TD-to-INT ratio in 12 games is concerning, especially with the loss of Hollywood Brown and the return of stud RBs JK Dobbins and Gus Edwards. Jackson’s rushing ability makes him an every-week starter, but he's still being valued as if he can have overall QB1 value, which is questionable at this point. If he falls too far, scoop him up, but don’t reach, especially because you can get consistent, high-end producers in pass-happy offenses a couple rounds later.

Prescott is a bit of a wild card after his rushing decreased so dramatically (just 9.1 yards per game last year). Perhaps that will go up two years removed from a devastating ankle injury, but it’s probably best to expect Prescott to be more of a pocket passer who can occasionally add value with his legs. He still has rushing touchdown upside, though, which gives him an edge over Stafford and Brady.

2022 AUCTION VALUES (Standard & PPR):
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers | Overall

Fantasy Tiers & Draft Strategy 2022: When you should draft a QB?

Tier 3:

The third tier of fantasy quarterbacks mostly consists of a nice collection of veterans who have been some of the top scorers at the position (Wilson, Rodgers) or have a nice core of weapons at the skill positions (Carr, Cousins). Lance is the one wild card, but his overall production upside makes him tough to rank any lower.

Ultimately, drafting a QB in this tier probably gives you the most bang for your buck. You likely won’t get the highs of the guys above them, but you just might hit on a top-five player. Many owners opt to grab two of these QBs in back-to-back rounds, figuring one is bound to pay off. That can work, but by doing that, you’re giving up some of the value you earned. There are some intriguing, high-upside backups available in the next tier, too.

Carr should average more than the 15.9 fantasy points per game he did last year. Adding Davante Adams to a healthy Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow should help Carr up his TDs while maintaining his high volume of yards (4,804).

The same thing can be said for Cousins, who has a star-studded offense that features Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, Dalvin Cook, and Irv Smith Jr. Cousins averaged 19.2 fantasy points per game last season, but he should be better with new head coach Kevin O’Connell. O’Connell was the OC with the Rams, and we saw what Stafford was able to do (20.4 FPPG, 4,886 yards, 41 touchdowns and 17 INTs). There’s no reason why Cousins can’t build off of last season when he had 4,221 yards, 33 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. He’s boring to draft, but the value is obvious.

As for Rodgers and Wilson, they have been in the Tier 1 and 2 categories for most of their careers. They still have the potential to provide that kind of production, but they now have more question marks. Rodgers does not have Adams anymore, which means he’ll have to work with a new group of young wide receivers. He still has the luxury of some exciting rookies and a few holdovers, but none are necessarily gamebreakers. Meanwhile, Wilson joins a Broncos team that does have a solid young receiving corps that features Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, Tim Patrick, and K.J. Hamler. However, Wilson is coming off a tough season that saw him get banged up and stop running. His rushing yards per game dropped from 32.1 to 13.1. If that trend continues, Wilson is merely a solid fantasy QB.

Finally, there’s Lance, who has the upside to be a 20-point-per-game scorer in fantasy football this season. In his two starts last year, Lance scored 14.58 and 19.06 fantasy points, respectively. The former North Dakota State standout has the ability to be a factor in the running game, which will give him the edge over pure pocket passers. Lance only had 168 rushing yards and a touchdown last season, but he should easily quadruple that production this season in Kyle Shanahan’s offense.

Lance’s early ADP is currently 102 on FantasyPros, which is not a bad range to select the young quarterback after filling out your other skill positions. He has Jalen Hurts upside without the price.

2022 CONSISTENCY RATINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end

2022 Fantasy Ranking Tiers: Best sleeper quarterbacks

Tier 4:

This quarterback tier features sleepers who could just as easily “bust” as they could “boom," but grabbing one as a backup in the middle rounds isn’t a bad idea if your starter is from Tier 3 (or maybe even Tier 2). You don’t want one of these guys as your Week 1 starter in single-QB leagues, but it wouldn’t be a shock if one finishes the season in the top 12. That's especially true for Watson, who has top-five upside when he's on the field but will miss the first six games of the year.

Tagovailoa is on everybody’s watchlist after the Dolphins acquired Tyreek Hill in a trade and brought in a new head coach in Mike McDaniel from San Francisco. Tua showed some glimpses of promise throughout the season after coming back from a Week 2 rib injury that sidelined him for three games. In the final 11 games of last season, the 24-year-old signal-caller completed 68.9 percent of his passes for 2,438 yards, 15 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. Those stats might not be eye-popping, but knowing what McDaniel was able to do in San Francisco with Jimmy Garoppolo, there’s something to work with.

Winston is another starting quarterback who a lot of people aren’t really focusing on this season, but there’s upside here. Before Winston suffered a torn ACL in Week 8, he completed 59 percent of his passes for 1,170 yards, 14 touchdowns, and three interceptions. Winston’s completion percentage was not great, but to see him limit his turnovers is a good sign, as that has plagued him throughout his career. If Winston was able to stay healthy last season, his full season stats would’ve been 2,841 yards, 34 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. With a healthy WR unit that includes Michael Thomas, Chris Olave, and Jarvis Landry, Winston has the weapons. The biggest worry is how New Orleans’ offense will function without Sean Payton, which is why Winston is ranked this low.

As for the other two you quarterbacks in this tier (Fields and Lawrence), we’ll be looking to see if they can show significant improvement from their rookie seasons in 2021. Lawrence has the best chance to make that leap thanks to an offensive-minded head coach (Doug Pederson) and a solid corps of running backs and receivers around him, but fantasy owners should take a wait-and-see approach as he works in a new system. He was downright bad last year with just 12 TDs and a league-leading 17 INT.

The same can be said for Fields, who will have a new head coach (Matt Eberflus) and offensive coordinator (Luke Getsy) in his second season with the Bears. Fields will try to improve with an offense that did not make much progress in the offseason. While Lawrence gets the Tier 4 treatment thanks to his raw talent, Fields lands in this tier largely thanks to his legs (420 yards, two rushing TDs last year). It’s tough to expect huge numbers from Fields, but he might have a solid floor thanks to his running ability.

2022 FANTASY DRAFT STRATEGY:
Snake drafts | Auctions | Dynasty | Best ball | IDP

Fantasy QB Rankings Tiers: Backups, bounce backs, and sleepers

Tier 5:

This tier is for the boring backup QBs, but one or two could find their way onto your roster if things break right (or they just have the right matchups). If you have a top-tier or possibly even a second-tier QB and want to draft a backup, this is the tier you should focus on late in your draft.

Wilson and Mayfield are the two best sleepers in this group, largely because of what they have around them on offense. Wilson will be heading into his second year with the Jets and has a solid group of running backs and wide receivers to work with. Mayfield is in a similar situation and has produced solid fantasy numbers in the past. The same goes for Wentz, too, but it’s just tough to trust him given his injury history and turnover issues.

Ryan and Tannehill are solid, but both have limited weapons and play in run-centric offenses. Jones might be the most interesting given his rushing ability and new coach (who’s shown the ability to coach up a running QB), but he’s shown so little in his brief NFL career that it’s tough to get excited about him.

Fantasy QB Streamers and 2-QB Starters

Tier 6:

This tier features two young quarterbacks entering their second season, both of whom will likely be streamers this season. Jones did what he was asked to do in his first season with New England, which was just managing the game and not turning the ball over. He completed 67.6 percent of his passes for 3,801 yards, 22 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions.

As for Mills, he’ll get the chance to start a full season for a Texans’ team looking to find their identity. Mills was solid in his first season, completing 66.8 percent of his passes for 2,664 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions, but limited weapons limits his fantasy ceiling.

Goff might actually be underrated given Detroit’s improved weapons, but he’ll still likely be a waiver-wire streamer early in the year. Mariota might be decent if he runs a lot, but there’s a reason he spent last season as a backup.

Tier 7

If you are picking up one of these three quarterbacks off waivers, you likely have a couple of injuries at the position. Trubisky and Brissett might have some upside as a streamer at some point in the season. However, Trubisky may not start for the entire season, especially with Kenny Pickett waiting in the wings. Brissett is no sure thing to start for for 11 games even with Deshaun Watson's suspension.

For what it’s worth, Pickett would likely be in Tier 4 if he was named Pittsburgh’s Week 1 starter, and Watson would be Tier 1 or 2. However, considering he'll be eligible for just two fantasy regular season games, he's little more than a ringer for the fantasy playoffs.