Fantasy Football: Week 1 QB Rankings
Kevin Hanson joins SI for the 2019 season. His fantasy rankings have placed him in the Top 20 in each of the past two seasons among all the industry experts tracked by FantasyPros.com, and he has been in the Top 25 in six of the past eight years.
Check out more of Kevin’s rankings: RB, WR, TE, flex, DST and kicker.
The long wait is almost over—Week 1 kicks off in just hours.
In addition to positional and flex rankings, I will highlight a player at each position that I like or dislike for the given week.
When it comes to offensive passing games, there is plenty of reason to like Jameis Winston and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this week and in future weeks.
Behind the dynamic duo of Ryan Fitzpatrick and Winston, the Buccaneers led the NFL in passing (5,125 yards) last season. Winston has had the propensity to implode but will have a longer leash with Fitzpatrick now in Miami.
Facing the 49ers in Week 1, Winston is playing in one of four games on this week's slate with a Vegas game total of at least 50 points. Given how bad Tampa's secondary and defense will be this season, Winston and the Bucs find themselves needing to keep pace early in this one.
The good news is that San Francisco's pass defense isn't much better. Last season, the 49ers allowed 35 passing touchdowns, only the Raiders (36) allowed more, to go along with a league-low two intercepted passes. Winston has two top-15 receivers—Mike Evans (WR6) and Chris Godwin (WR15)— and a top-four tight end (O.J. Howard).
Matt Ryan: Ice Cold in Week 1?
While Winston and the Bucs may see their passing game get off to a hot start, the opposite could be true for Matty Ice and the Atlanta Falcons.
Ryan was a top-seven option in my preseason rankings and has finished as a top-two fantasy quarterback in two of the past three seasons. Unfortunately for Ryan owners, he starts the season with a difficult road matchup against the Vikings.
The Vikings allowed the fourth-fewest fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks last season. And while last year's fantasy production allowed could be misleading, we know that a Mike Zimmer-led defense is going to give opposing signal-callers fits week in and week out.
Since Zimmer took over in Minnesota (2014), the Vikings have allowed just seven 300-yard passing games—no team has allowed fewer.
Below are my fantasy football quarterback rankings for Week 1:
• QB1: Deshaun Watson, HOU @ NO
• QB2: Patrick Mahomes, KC @ JAC
• QB3: Jameis Winston, TB vs SF
• QB4: Drew Brees, NO vs HOU
• QB5: Carson Wentz, PHI vs WAS
• QB6: Dak Prescott, DAL vs NYG
• QB7: Lamar Jackson, BAL @ MIA
• QB8: Russell Wilson, SEA vs CIN
• QB9: Baker Mayfield, CLE vs TEN
• QB10: Cam Newton, CAR vs LAR
• QB11: Aaron Rodgers, GB @ CHI
• QB12: Kirk Cousins, MIN vs ATL
• QB13: Jared Goff, LAR @ CAR
• QB14: Kyler Murray, ARI vs DET
• QB15: Mitch Trubisky, CHI vs GB
• QB16: Ben Roethlisberger, PIT @ NE
• QB17: Tom Brady, NE vs PIT
• QB18: Philip Rivers, LAC vs IND
• QB19: Jimmy Garoppolo, SF @ TB
• QB20: Matt Ryan, ATL @ MIN
• QB21: Josh Allen, BUF @ NYJ
• QB22: Matthew Stafford, DET @ ARI
• QB23: Nick Foles, JAC vs KC
• QB24: Jacoby Brissett, IND @ LAC
• QB25: Derek Carr, OAK vs DEN
• QB26: Sam Darnold, NYJ vs BUF
• QB27: Joe Flacco, DEN @ OAK
• QB28: Marcus Mariota, TEN @ CLE
• QB29: Andy Dalton, CIN @ SEA
• QB30: Eli Manning, NYG @ DAL
• QB31: Ryan Fitzpatrick, MIA vs BAL
• QB32: Case Keenum, WAS @ PHI
• QB33: Taysom Hill, NO vs HOU
