Every year there are players throughout fantasy football that cause people at the end of the season to ask, “How did I not see that coming?” Whether it be caused by injury or the looming presence of another fantasy-relevant player on their team, these players fly under the radar and are then deemed “underrated.” Here are four underrated fantasy quarterbacks going into this season.
Rankings noted using FantasyPros half-PPR Expert Consensus Rankings (ECR) and Consensus ADP.
ECR QB6 | ADP QB8
Fantasy football pundits will find whatever excuse than can to knock Jalen Hurts outside their top-five fantasy quarterback rankings because of his inconsistent real-life NFL play. But the sharp drafters know fantasy and reality are hardly one and the same. Case in point, in the 20 full games the Eagles quarterback has played as a starter, he has finished as a top-12 quarterback at an 85% hit rate.
– Andrew Erickson
ECR QB19 | ADP QB21
If you were a quarterback and I put you with a first-year head coach and took away your top wide receivers (Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley), you’d probably have a bad year. That’s what happened to Matt Ryan in 2021. In his five games last year with Ridley, Ryan averaged 22.2 fantasy points per game. In his 12 games without him, Ryan averaged just 14.1. With a seasoned head coach and respectable No. 1 wide receiver (Michael Pittman Jr.), Ryan should rebound in 2022.
– Matthew Freedman
Beyond our fantasy football content, be sure to check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Football Tools as you prepare for your draft this season. From our free mock Draft Simulator – which allows you to mock draft against realistic opponents – to our Draft Assistant – that optimizes your picks with expert advice – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football draft season.
ECR QB20 | ADP QB22
Jameis Winston isn’t going to sling the ball around as he did with the Buccaneers in 2019 when he led the NFL in pass attempts, but expect him to average more than the 23 pass attempts per game that he averaged for the Saints last year. Winston had a career-high passer rating of 102.8 last year, and he gets a big upgrade in weaponry with WR Michael Thomas coming back from injury and rookie WR Chris Olave coming aboard.
– Pat Fitzmaurice
ECR QB26 | ADP QB28
Jared Goff isn’t good, but last year — in highly negative circumstances — he had an average-ish 6.6 adjusted yards per attempt. Goff lacks the rushing ability of today’s heralded quarterbacks, but he’s probably closer to the 50th percentile at the position than the bottom first percentile. He’s serviceable, not horrible.
– Matthew Freedman
If you want to dive deeper into fantasy football, be sure to check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Football Tools as you navigate your season. From our Start/Sit Assistant – which provides your optimal lineup based on accurate consensus projections – to our Trade Analyzer – which allows you to instantly find out if a trade offer benefits you or your opponent – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football season.
Mike Maher is an editor and content manager at FantasyPros and BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive, follow him on Twitter @MikeMaher, and visit his Philadelphia Eagles blog, The Birds Blitz.
