Quarterback rankings for 2020 fantasy football: Post free agency

Free agency is tidying up after it crashed through the NFL window and rearranged the furniture, so it’s time to get you, our loyal reader, some updated fantasy rankings for the 2020 season.

The NFL Draft will move things around a bit, but free agency is the more impactful of the two overall. We already have a good idea of what teams will go after starting quarterbacks and they aren’t teams with strong fantasy quarterbacks already in place.

Tier 1

Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes are the cream of the fantasy football crop and I doubt I’ll get much pushback on that account. I’m sure there are some Lamar Jackson haters out there who think the Titans figured him out and he’ll now be awful, but he showed me enough to believe he will only continue to improve and find ways to combat defenses who start to find an edge against him.

Patrick Mahomes had a “down” season with injuries and touchdown regression and still was amazing. His 5.4 touchdown percentage should go back up, just as Lamar Jackson’s 9 percent touchdown rate should head back the other way. But, Mahomes’ adjusted yards per attempt will likely stay steady, as he led the league last year at 9.6 yards and was third this season at 8.9 yards. Touchdowns come and go, but AY/A is a sticky stat that shows us that Mahomes is no flash in the pan.

Tier 2

We have seen a decline for some of the older stud quarterbacks, and as Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and Tom Brady get long in the tooth it’s hard to justify them in Tier 2 at this point with players like Deshaun Watson, Dak Prescott, and Russell Wilson out there in their primes. Toese three all have the ability to become the No. 1 fantasy quarterback if things go their way.

Free Agency Fallout

Tom Brady to the Buccaneers elevates his upside going into his 21st season, but it’s still tough to put him in Tier 2 at 43-years of age. Mike Evans and Chris Godwin are a big step up from his receivers last season while Brice Arians’ offense is great for fantasy, so he should flirt with Tier 2, but stick in Tier 3.

DeAndre Hopkins was traded to the Cardinals for a three-day old bag of donuts, knocking the Texans passing game down by a significant margin. Randall Cobb is just another player at this point in his career and David Johnson was a disaster last year. Maybe Johnson, aka donut bag, can have a bounce back year, which would include plenty of work as a receiver, but I’m not going to count on it in my projections. The good news is that Watson is very good and will add fantasy points with his legs. He’s not the slam dunk fantasy player he was before the trade, but he’s one of the tops.