Top fantasy draft targets for 2024: Quarterbacks

Daddy want. Daddy need. Daddy gotta have it! Every year, fantasy football fans fall head over heels for certain players and are determined on draft day to score their guy’s services no matter the cost. Breaking out the sledgehammer, below is a three-pack of must-have picks. Today’s position: Quarterbacks.

Position rankings: QB | RB | WR | TE | Cheat Sheet

1. Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs (ADP: 40.71, QB3)

The Kermit-sounding QB is the ultimate name brand, but getting him on average around pick No. 40 overall will have investors sipping tea. Disagree, wait-on-a-QB crowd? Mind your own damn business or consider the following.

First, Mahomes is a generational passer in the midst of his prime. Second, the Chiefs upgraded their receiving corps measurably this offseason and have Travis Kelce and Rashee Rice back (for now). Finally, and most mind-blowingly, Kansas City has the sixth-easiest fantasy strength of schedule for QBs this season. HIs four-year low in passing TDs and passing yards in 2023 was an anomaly.

The State Farm pitchman still finished top-10 in myriad advanced categories last year, including red-zone completion percentage and adjusted completion percentage. When also weighing Steve Spagnuolo’s questionable defense — ESPN’s Mike Clay projects it as the 19th-best unit — a return of 35-40 touchdown passes seems like a foregone conclusion. Consider Marquise Brown’s clavicle injury a small road bump.

Mahomes will be fantasy’s most valuable QB. It’s nuts you can acquire him a round and a half after Josh Allen in average drafts.

2. Joe Burrow, Bengals (ADP: 69.71, QB7)

The modern-day Joe Cool is another brand-name QB who, compared to the overall fantasy field, is available in the discount bin. Draft him in Round 6, and you might as well break out the Steph Curry night-night celebration.

Burrow’s various knee issues and wrecked wrist are long in the past. He’s healthy, gets to work behind a top-10 offensive line and has weapons galore — Ja’Marr Chase most notably. Despite the physical derailments last season, Burrow still finished inside the position’s top 10 in red-zone completion percentage, adjusted completion percentage and catchable pass rate. And that was behind an ill-protecting line that finished No. 22 in pass-blocking efficiency, according to Pro Football Focus.

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Cincinnati has the fourth-hardest projecting strength of schedule for fantasy QBs, but the Slim Shady slinger won’t spew mom’s spaghetti. He’s a phenomenal talent primed for 4,500 passing yards and 35-plus touchdowns. Throw in a likely 200-plus rushing yards, and it’s positively absurd Burrow is going nearly a full round after unrefined Colts QB Anthony Richardson.

Bank on Burrow.

3. Caleb Williams, Bears (ADP: 110.18, QB16)

OK, it’s true. This Monster of the Midway follower once had a Walter Payton Kangaroos poster plastered on the bedroom wall. The Black and Blue blood pumping through these veins runs deep. However, attempting to bury the bias, Williams is the real deal.

The No. 1 overall pick from USC exhibited the high-velocity accuracy, multi-platform throws, opportunistic legs and offensive command in his preseason debut against Buffalo. Up above, Charlie O’Rourke is spinning his thumbs nervously. His franchise rookie record for passing TDs in a season — a whopping 11 set in 1942 — is slightly in jeopardy.

Williams, who finished No. 15 among all FBS passers in adjusted completion percentage in 2023, has all the visible tools to blaze a QB1 trail in 12-team leagues. His plus offensive line and ninth-easiest strength of schedule for fantasy QBs only further support the conviction. So does the outstanding arsenal around him. D.J. Moore, Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze, Cole Kmet and D’Andre Swift will steadily move the chains.

As mentioned before, Williams should accumulate around 3,800 passing yards, 23-25 passing touchdowns, 350 rushing yards and 3-5 rushing TDs. Jayden Daniels also was heavily considered here, but Williams — who is largely available in Rounds 9 through 11 in single-QB formats — is just too damn cheap.

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