Before you know it, we’re going to be entering the draft rooms for our fantasy football leagues. Maybe some of you sickos have already done that. If not, you’re probably still trying to strategize how you want to attack your league this season. Fantasy football draft strategies are always so interesting to me.
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Guide to Streaming Quarterbacks (2023 Fantasy Football)
For starters, do you prefer to go back-to-back with wide receivers in the first and second rounds? Or do you pay the premium price for a quarterback such as Patrick Mahomes? But then, I’ve seen people do the streaming options at both tight end and quarterback. It’s worked for some, and for others, it doesn’t. While I’m a guy that likes to have a consistent threat at the quarterback position, it doesn’t always work out that way. Injuries can pile up for some quarterbacks, and at other times, there are players who just don’t meet expectations.
With most fantasy football leagues, we see 10 or 12 teams in a league. So, for the most part, it’s rare to see a fantasy owner streaming the quarterback market. For example, the following quarterbacks should be rostered in most, if not all, leagues:
- Patrick Mahomes
- Jalen Hurts
- Joe Burrow
- Josh Allen
- Justin Herbert
- Dak Prescott
- Justin Fields
- Geno Smith
- Deshaun Watson
- Trevor Lawrence
- Derek Carr
- Aaron Rodgers
- Kirk Cousins
Most people will add the following quarterbacks as quality backups to the players above. The reasoning behind the players below being listed where they are is due to regression from a season ago or due to injury. However, if healthy, they could be very productive.
That gives us 17 starting quarterbacks who can be elite to quality starters for your fantasy team. But as we know, not all the players listed above meet their potential. Some players regress for a variety of reasons. So with that, I give you the four best streaming options at quarterback this season.
Strictly basing things off last season, you could make a case that Jared Goff could be taken over Russell Wilson. Say what you want about Goff, but he put together a strong season in 2022, and it’s good enough to earn him another season as the Lions starting quarterback. He finished the season with just over 4,400 yards and 29 touchdowns.
With Goff, you don’t get a risk-taker by any means. However, you get a player who operates the Lions’ offense efficiently. Always finding an open receiver, Goff has shown that he can string together drives on a consistent basis.
Jared Goff avoiding a sack but extending outside the pocket and throwing up a prayer to ASB. I’m honestly here for it! pic.twitter.com/uRLmfJo0wS
— Russell Brown (@RussNFLDraft) September 21, 2022
One thing the Lions have done this off-season is make it a point to surround weapons around Jared Goff. They brought back former Lions receiver Marvin Jones and added David Montgomery. Meanwhile, they added Jahmyr Gibbs and Sam LaPorta in the 2023 NFL Draft. Both players should be more than serviceable as rookies in the Lions’ offense. That’s all while having a great rapport with receivers such as Amon-Ra St. Brown and Josh Reynolds. It’ll be interesting to see what the Lions get out of receiver Jameson Williams after his six-game suspension for gambling.
When you look at the season-long schedule for Jared Goff, it’s more than favorable. According to our FantasyPros strength of schedule (SOS), he’s got the seventh-best schedule for quarterbacks. Out of the 18-week schedule, there look to be at least 10 favorable matchups for Goff and the Lions’ offense.
The projected high-scoring game with the Chiefs to start the season could make Goff a fantasy starter in Week 1. It’ll be interesting to see how Goff does with another season under offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. If it’s anything like last season, the results should be promising, and there’s potential for Goff to finish as a top-12 quarterback in fantasy football this season.
Sure, there’s a lot to be determined, as Love has been sitting behind Aaron Rodgers for most of his career. However, there’s been flashes from Love when given the chance, but he’s only thrown 83 passes since 2020, so it’s tough to come up with a consensus thought on him. But I’m going to predict that Jordan Love is going to be better than people think.
Now he’s gotten an entire off-season with players the Packers have put around him. If anything, the 2023 NFL Draft was a clear indication that the Packers are building this offense around Love. That’s exactly what the organization should be doing.
In the second round, they selected tight end Luke Musgrave and wide receiver Jayden Reed. Then they followed up with Tucker Kraft in the 3rd Round. Meanwhile, Love should already have an established connection with receivers Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson from a season ago. You can also add in the fact that they’ve got a pretty good running back duo of AJ Dillon and Aaron Jones.
With Jordan Love, he’s got one of the easiest schedules in football this season, per our strength of schedule rating. Of the 18-game schedule, I’m looking at 13 total matchups where Love should have a favorable fantasy projection, and he should meet or exceed those expectations. You could look to draft Jordan Love to ensure that you have him rostered, but if you want to stream him on a weekly basis, be my guest.
No question about it. You’re going to have to be patient with Anthony Richardson. He’s going to take time to develop into the quarterback we want him to be. However, there’s much to be desired with his arm strength and mobility. When you watch the way he runs and how he shrugs off tacklers, there’s a chance that he could run for over 1,000 yards as a rookie.
Add in the fact that he’s got playmakers such as Jonathan Taylor and Michael Pittman, and there’s a chance that Richardson is the best rookie quarterback this fall. He’s got the best offensive line of his football career in front of him, and if all goes right, he could be a top-12 quarterback in fantasy.
One of my favorite throws from Anthony Richardson this past season. Great stuff on 3rd and 15. pic.twitter.com/SBnCCB76d6
— Russell Brown (@RussNFLDraft) April 1, 2023
When you look at our strength of schedule rating, Richardson’s is ranked 11th in the NFL. Some of the passing defenses he’ll face aren’t as favorable as others, but teams might honor his mobility more than his arm. Some games that I’m paying attention to on the schedule for Richardson are the following:
Week 4: Los Angeles Rams
Week 6: Jacksonville Jaguars
Week 16 – Week 18: Atlanta Falcons, Las Vegas Raiders and Houston Texans
That three-game stretch to end the season could be good enough to win you a fantasy championship. Especially if Richardson really starts cooking. Meanwhile, if he can find ways to throw with more touch, he could outperform his projection on a weekly basis. Add in the fact that he gets to work with head coach Shane Steichen and the potential for Richardson is through the roof.
When looking at how the Falcons’ roster is structured, Desmond Ridder is by far their best option at quarterback. Despite adding Taylor Heinicke, there’s reason to believe that Ridder will be the starter for the season. Fortunately for the Falcons, Ridder ended the season on a high note in Week 18 against the Buccaneers. He completed 63.3% of his passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns.
If healthy, tight end Kyle Pitts can become one of the better players at the position. It’ll be interesting if he and Ridder show strong rapport on the field this season. One thing for sure is that wide receiver Drake London should really take off this season and produce like a number one receiver should. Another playmaker that should help Ridder succeed is running back Bijan Robinson. Not only can he be an effective runner out of the backfield, he should also be a productive pass-catcher for the Falcons’ offense.
Ridder with a bullet pic.twitter.com/S0HfDp5xMr
— Russell Brown (@RussNFLDraft) August 23, 2022
As you look at the schedule for Ridder, there’s much to be desired with his matchups. He’s got the fourth-best schedule per the FantasyPros strength of schedule rating. Early season matchups against the Panthers, Packers, Lions and Jaguars should give us a good idea of what Ridder can do with this new-look offense. Meanwhile, he’s got four great matchups as we enter the fantasy playoffs. Those matchups are against the Buccaneers, Panthers, Colts and Bears.
There will be some up-and-down moments for Ridder during the season. He’ll continue to learn and will obviously have to continue on improving his timing with his pass-catchers. However, this Falcons team under Arthur Smith needs to start winning. While he’s gone 7-10 in consecutive seasons, it’s not good enough. While the Falcons could be a few seasons away from winning championships, there’s reason to believe that Desmond Ridder can take a massive step forward as an NFL quarterback this season.
One quarterback to consider for week one of the regular season:
It’s honestly a shot in the dark for week one. Most fantasy football leagues are 10 or 12 teams, so the players listed above should be rostered and started for most teams. However, maybe you don’t like a particular matchup for the quarterback you draft. Maybe one of your receivers gets hurt, and you put him on the injured reserve list (IR), and you have an open roster spot.
If so, I’d consider rolling the dice on Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell. It’s projected that Howell is going to get the nod at quarterback for the Commanders this year.
Early into optional team activities (OTAs), it’s being reported that Howell has taken advantage of every opportunity that he’s earned. In fact, he’s already earned plenty of praise from star receiver Terry McLaurin. He went on to say that Howell “has really led us.” We’ll see if that remains to be true once we get into the season and the win-loss columns start to reveal themselves.
According to our FantasyPros strength of schedule for quarterbacks, it’s projected that Howell has the hardest schedule of any quarterback. With that, he could be a risk to start every week. However, Week 1 is more than favorable against an Arizona Cardinals defense that looks very bad on paper. Their top cornerbacks on the depth chart are Antonio Hamilton and Marco Wilson.
While they do have a defensive playmaker such as Budda Baker on the depth chart, they’re still very young and inexperienced in a lot of key areas on defense.
I could see a scenario where Howell enters the season in rhythm with Terry McLaurin, Curtis Samuel and Jahan Dotson. In Week 18 of the 2022 season, Howell earned a start and put up 19.1 fantasy points. It’s possible that Howell outperforms his projection total for Week 1 of the 2023 season.
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