Fantasy Football Draft Targets: QB2s With Top-5 Upside (2024)

There are a lot of different strategies when you’re in your fantasy draft, and everyone swears by their own method.

One of the biggest debates is how you approach drafting your quarterback. Some want to grab one of the elite players early; Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson or Jalen Hurts. Others believe it’s best to wait until the end of the draft because even at that time, there’s still some potentially great value.

If you’re looking to go in that direction, you’ll be looking to draft a player that could potentially finish in the top five. There are a couple of guys this late in the draft that have the potential to get you a top-five return.

NFL QB2 With Top 5 Potential (2024)

Aaron Rodgers (QB – NYJ)

We were excited to see what Rodgers on a new team could do, but after five snaps, that all ended. The Achilles tear ended his season, but the potential for this year makes him a possible league winner.

Rodgers’ last top-five finish was in 2020 when he was the QB3, and he finished as the QB6 the following year. While 2022 was not as good for him, he still had seven top-15 finishes.

Garrett Wilson has proven himself to be one of the top wide receivers in his first two seasons with back-to-back 1,000+ receiving yards and that was with a group of below-average quarterbacks. There is no question Breece Hall has fully recovered from his ACL tear as he was their clear-cut RB1 and finished as the RB2 last year.

The most important signing that could make this work was left tackle Tyron Smith. One of the premiere players at his position, he will protect Rodgers’ blind side and open up running lanes for Hall, which will help the passing game.

Anthony Richardson (QB – IND)

If he didn’t get hurt in the early part of the season, the Offensive Rookie of the Year could have been a two-man race.

He got off to blazing to start and had two top-four finishes in his first three games and his 23.1 fantasy points per game from Weeks 1-4 were the fourth-best.

He has a lot of great weapons, as the Colts have locked down their future to help him progress. Indianapolis made sure to pay Michael Pittman. He is one of the best route runners in the league, last season he was fourth in total route wins and he can extend plays, as he was tenth in yards after the catch.

Josh Downs had a phenomenal rookie season with 771 receiving yards and 11.3 yards per catch. The slot receiver has quickly established himself as one of the best at that spot and was tenth in win rate in man coverage.

Then of course there’s Jonathan Taylor, who had 4.4 yards per carry with eight total touchdowns. If he can stay healthy, then he can balance that offense.

Most important is Richardson’s dual-threat ability. He had 5.4 yards per carry and would have been the second-highest amongst quarterbacks with 50 or more rushing attempts. The Colts want him to use legs, and even playing in only parts of four games, he still had the 11th-most designed run plays (16), which were 9.8% of his snaps. That’s more than Jalen Hurts (9.4%), Lamar Jackson (7.3%) and Josh Allen (4.9%).

More Best Ball Draft Advice

SubscribeApple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | SoundCloud | iHeartRadio