Quarterback rankings for Week 1 fantasy football

Saturday Night Update

I’ve dropped Trevor Lawrence pretty far in this update. I don’t like the rookie going on the road in a game where I think both teams will try to slow the pace down with the run game.

I didn’t have room to move Jalen Hurts up, as I already had him pretty high, but I’m feeling better about his upside and floor this week.

I moved Joe Burrow down some, as I like what the Vikings have done to boost up their defense this offseason and don’t like what the Bengals have done to boost their offensive line.

I’ve knocked Daniel Jones down as well. The Broncos defense is set to be a Top 5 unit this season while the Giants offensive line is awful.

My top guys have pretty much stayed the same. I think Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes are interchangeable. Kyler Murray is very close to those two and then Josh Allen is a step down going against the Steelers defense.

Thursday injury update

Trey Lance, QB, 49ers: Lance was throwing the ball in Wednesday’s practice and appears to have moved past his finger injury. We would expect him to see some time in Week 1, but Jimmy Garoppolo will remain the starter. Lance’s health could cut into Garoppolo’s upside against the Lions.

Zack Martin, RG, Cowboys: Martin won’t be able to play in tonight’s game against the Bucs. This will be Dak Prescott’s first live action since his ankle injury. It’s not great that Martin won’t be there, but you’re still starting Prescott tonight.

It’s football time! Time to let out a barbaric yawp or three. It’s a whole new season with plenty of great games to start the year. Quarterbacks run this league and they power many of the fantasy points for our fake teams. There will be some fun quarterback matchups this first week of the season.

Compelling QB Matchups

One of the best games, as far as fantasy players, will be the first game of the season on Thursday night when the Cowboys take on the world champion Buccaneers. The Bucs are still favored by a bit 8-points, but we’ll get to see how Dak Prescott looks in his return to action.

The Steelers fizzled out last season along with Ben Roethlisberger’s arm. They’ll face a Buffalo Bills team led by Josh Allen that seems primed to once again go deep in the playoffs. It would be a huge win for the Steelers to overcome the Bills 6.5-point advantage.

Joe Burrow will make his return to the field against the Vikings and their vaccine-adverse quarterback. There still aren’t great expectations for the Bengals, but the Vikings are only favored by 3-points on the road. This game could be a close one if Burrow shows up from the get-go.

Sam Darnold gets to face the team that dumped him for a shiny new quarterback this off season, as the Jets take on the Panthers in Carolina. The Jets are 5.5-point underdogs with rookie Zach Wilson going on the road, but this game is a true wildcard with two new quarterbacks facing off.

First overall draft pick Trevor Lawrence gets an easy start to his NFL career as he takes on the Houston Texans and perennial backup Tyrod Taylor. They Jaguars are favored by 3-points in Houston. That shows us just how bad the oddsmakers think this Texans team will be in 2021.

Tua Tagovailoa will take on Mac Jones as the old college teammates face off in Week 1. The Patriots took a step backwards last season after Tom Brady moved on, but Bill Belichick hopes Jones is the missing piece to his team returning to the postseason. The Dolphins had a strong 2020, but will have a division with the Bills and a likely better Patriots team this year. This game has a lot of meaning early on.