Rich Hribar has you covered with the best fantasy football rankings for Quarterbacks (QB) based playoffs match-ups.
NFL Playoffs QB Rankings
- Lamar Jackson
- Patrick Mahomes
- Drew Brees
- Jimmy Garoppolo
- Aaron Rodgers
- Russell Wilson
- Deshaun Watson
- Josh Allen
- Ryan Tannehill
- Tom Brady
- Kirk Cousins
- Carson Wentz
It all starts with Lamar Jackson at the quarterback position. Not only do the Ravens have the highest Super Bowl odds, but Jackson is also coming off the highest-scoring points per game season (27.7) for a quarterback in NFL history. In context of comparing Jackson’s 2019 season to the record-breaking 2018 season for Patrick Mahomes in terms of positional leverage, Jackson was a top-six scorer in 12 of his 15 games and a top-three scorer nine times. Mahomes in 2018 was a top-six scorer 10 times and a top-three scorer four times.
That said, Mahomes is an interesting pivot off Jackson. The Chiefs are 2-0 against the Ravens over the past two seasons with both of these quarterbacks playing, albeit with both of those wins coming in Arrowhead. Mahomes had 20.8 and 27.9 fantasy points in those games.
Drew Brees has been sensational over the past month, throwing 15 touchdowns to zero interceptions over his past four games with three or more touchdowns in all four. As a first-round favorite with top-four Super Bowl odds, he’s the best starting option at the position if you’re in a league that affords transactions.
There’s a significant tier break between Brees and the rest of the field in terms of fantasy scoring potential paired with high Super Bowl odds. But after Brees, Jimmy Garoppolo is next up in both categories. Since Week 8, Garoppolo ranks fourth in the league with 20 touchdown passes and third in yards per pass attempt (8.6), but had six games over that 10-game span with fewer than 15 fantasy points, including three of his past four.
Aaron Rodgers averaged just 250.1 yards per game (18th) and 7.0 yards per pass attempt (22nd) this season with 17.4 fantasy points per game (14th). Seeding suggests Rodgers is undervalued, but it is troubling that he had just six QB1 scoring weeks this season and five of those games came against the Lions (x2), Eagles, Giants, and Raiders with the other versus the Chiefs.
Russell Wilson tailed off down the stretch, with just three QB1 scoring weeks over his final 10 games played. He’s thrown more than two touchdown passes in just one his past 11 games, with one or fewer in five of those games. But I believe Seattle wins against the Eagles in the opening round. If that holds true and Seattle ends up facing San Francisco in the Divisional Round, Wilson posted 20.2 and 16.6 fantasy points in his two matchups with the 49ers.
Deshaun Watson is a home favorite and capable of having a huge ceiling in any week as we saw in his Week 13 game against the Patriots (28.9 points), but he gets a lousy draw to open the postseason against a Bills defense that ranked second in passing points allowed per game (10.9) this season after leading the league in 2018 (10.9). Watson averaged 5.6 rushing points per game to give him an extra out as a potential two-game candidate.
In that same game, Josh Allen may be the best bridge option to Jackson or Mahomes outside of Brees. Allen had a steady floor, posting 17 or more fantasy points in 11 of his 15 full games played in thanks to averaging 6.6 rushing points per game. Allen also comes with the most touchdown equity of the Wild Card options, accounting for 85.3% of the Buffalo offensive touchdowns, the highest rate in the league. His first-round matchup against a Houston defense that allowed 18.1 passing points per game (28th) doesn’t hurt, either.
Since taking over as the starter in Week 7, Ryan Tannehill was the QB3 in over scoring and the QB2 in points per game (22.0). He had at least 17.9 fantasy points in nine of those 10 games. The Patriots were the worst matchup for quarterbacks this season (10.9 points per game), but have shown signs of mortality over the final five weeks of the season, allowing top-10 scoring weeks to Watson (28.9 points), Allen (20.6), and Ryan Fitzpatrick (24.3) over that span. Because of the ceiling he’s displayed, I prefer chasing Tannehill’s ceiling over the potential extra game of his counterpart.
Tom Brady is coming off a regular season in which he posted his lowest completion rate (60.8%) since 2013, his lowest touchdown rate (3.9%) of his career, and his lowest yards per pass attempt (6.6) since 2002. From a fantasy stance, he’s reached 20 fantasy points in just one of his past 10 games. Even a first-round favorite, the requisite ceiling Brady has shown hasn’t been as high as some of these other bridge options at the position.
Kirk Cousins bookended his 2019 season as a QB2 option outside of a middle portion that was incredible. Through Week 1-4, Cousins was the average QB25 per game, averaging 10.8 fantasy points per game. Then he went on a seven-game tear in which he was the average QB9 (21.7 points per game) before struggling once again to close the season, as the average QB24 (12.3 points per game) over his four games Weeks 13-16. The Vikings are the largest Wild Card underdog.
Carson Wentz deserves huge credit for getting the Eagles to the postseason despite working with a skeleton crew on offense. Wentz has attempted at least 40 passes in each of the past seven games. But eventually, all these offensive injuries sustained by the Eagles are going to hurt them in the box score and final score. Wentz posted just 8.9 fantasy points when the Eagles hosted Seattle in Week 12.
