Do Not Ignore These Late Round Fantasy QBs in 2019
Here at The Fantasy Footballers, we are believers in the “Late Round QB” draft strategy.
Every year, fantasy owners in your home leagues decide to pull the trigger early on household names such as Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, etc. and are left without a trophy at the end of the season. Meanwhile, you know better and choose to draft your QB’s later…knowing that every year late drafted QB’s often finish near the top of the rankings.
Last season, we saw several late round QBs finish as a QB1. Meanwhile, guys like Kirk Cousins, Matthew Stafford, Jimmy Garoppolo, etc. were higher draft selections and ended up hurting more fantasy teams than helping them.
[lptw_table id=”160566″ style=”default”]The top 3 QB’s for Fantasy Football last season were late round QB’s; a QB drafted in the 10th round or later. When you deploy this strategy in your drafts, you allow yourself to stockpile at other key starting positions that have multiple starters in your lineup. In a traditional 1-QB league, the need to reach on a QB is simply not there due to the value that can be had later on in your drafts.
With all that being said, it’s time to look at three names at the QB position that you simply cannot ignore. As we saw with Big Ben, Matt Ryan and Patrick Mahomes last season, these players could give you an incredible advantage in your league.
Josh Allen – Buffalo Bills (ADP: 13.10)
Last season, Josh Allen finished as the QB20 despite only playing in 12 games and being surrounded by one of the worst receiving corps in the NFL.
All the talk in the NFL Draft was regarding Allen’s arm strength, but that wasn’t what carried him to fantasy dominance (Allen was the QB1 from Weeks 12-17) in the latter half of the season. It was Allen’s rushing ability.
30-yard touchdown run by the #Bills QB Josh Allenpic.twitter.com/J7ztaMunZI
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) December 30, 2018
Looking at this season, Allen is now surrounded with much more talent than he was at this time last year. John Brown and Cole Beasley come in to provide Allen with some options in the passing game, while the offensive line has been revamped to provide Allen more protection.
At his current ADP, Allen is an absolute steal and he’s proven that he can be the top fantasy QB. If you’re willing to wait until nearly your last pick for QB, Allen’s as solid of a selection as you can get.
Mitch Trubisky – Chicago Bears (ADP: 13.07)
Similarly to Josh Allen, Trubisky finished as the QB15 last season despite only playing in 14 games. In his first year with Matt Nagy as head coach, we saw Trubisky take a huge step forward and put together an impressive campaign. Now, Trubisky is settling in completely to Nagy’s system and has full control of it. The Bears also brought in players this offseason such as David Montgomery, Cordarrelle Patterson, Mike Davis and Riley Ridley to provide even more weapons to an already loaded offense.
Trubisky has an incredible opportunity to finish as a top fantasy QB this season purely based on the quality of the receiving options around him combined with his rushing ability. In fantasy football, rushing yards matter immensely to QBs and are an easy way to rack up points.
What a run by Mitch Trubisky 👀 pic.twitter.com/teKmRKzpVv
— RotoQL (@rotoqlapp) October 21, 2018
If Trubisky is simply able to get the ball in his receivers hands, he’s going to get points with YAC opportunities. Adding that Trubisky threw 24 TDs last season, there’s reason to be optimistic that that number will only go up. Right now, Trubisky is an incredible value at the back of the 13th round and you should feel extremely comfortable with him as your QB1 going into the season.
Lamar Jackson – Baltimore Ravens (ADP: 11.04)
Lamar Jackson burst onto the scene last year with an offense unlike any witnessed in recent history. Through only seven games as the starting QB for the Ravens, Jackson ran the ball an absurd 147 times.
As mentioned previously in this article, rushing yards matter immensely to QBs in fantasy football and you’re not going to find anyone more capable of putting up yards than Lamar Jackson. The big concern with Jackson has been his throwing ability, which we didn’t get to see put on display much last season.
Don’t give Lamar Jackson room to run 👀
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/WS3rMBgja5
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 14, 2018
The Ravens made significant strides this season to revamp their receiving corps with rookies like Marquise Brown and Miles Boykin. These two dynamic rookies will provide Jackson with the opportunity to get the ball out quickly and make things happen after the catch, which will only boost Jackson’s passing yard total. If Jackson can take a step forward and put more points up through the air, we could see a fantasy force like none other this season. More about Lamar can be found in the best fantasy draft kit.
Every indication and report coming out of Ravens camp has been that Jackson’s looking great throwing the ball. At his current draft price, Jackson’s a worthy pick who will deliver a safe floor every week due to his rushing ability. If he figures things out in the passing game, we could be looking back and discussing Lamar Jackson as the steal of fantasy drafts this time next year.