Fantasy Sports

Top 4 Rookie Quarterbacks For Your Dynasty League Not Named Cam Ward

Alan Goldsher|
Shedeur Sanders
Shedeur Sanders | Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Cleveland BrownsNew Orleans SaintsTennessee TitansSeattle SeahawksNew York Giants

Some seasons, the NFL’s latest and greatest crop of first-year quarterbacks seems to be an embarrassment of riches:

  • In 2004, we QB watchers were all a-tingle about the class featuring Eli Manning, Philip Rivers, and Ben Roethlisberger. We nailed that one.
  • With Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, Ryan Tannehill, Russell Wilson, Nick Foles, and Kirk Cousins in the mix, 2012 appeared to be a banner year. It was.
  • The 2020 class looked (and was) insane, with Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert, Jordan Love, and Jalen Hurts all coming off the board in the first 53 picks.
  • And we all felt that the 2024 collection with Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, J.J. McCarthy, Bo Nix, and Michael Penix Jr. had the opportunity to be among the best draft classes in decades—and it looks like we were right, as all six of those sophomores roll into 2025 as unquestioned starters.

But there were plenty of instances when we knew the QB collection would be a festival of busts:

  • In 1996, nary a field general was selected in round one. Tony Banks was the first QB off the board at pick 42. Ugh.
  • Taking Tom Brady out of the equation—because, let’s be honest here, nobody except Brady himself saw that coming—2000 gave us Chad Pennington in round one, then a bunch of nothing.
  • We were all correct to be uber-pessimistic about the 2007 class, which featured JaMarcus Russell, Brady Quinn, Kevin Kolb, Drew Stanton, and Trent Edwards.
  • With Sam Bradford, Tim Tebow, Jimmy Clausen, and Colt McCoy leading the way, nobody was all that hyped about 2010. Nobody.

As it stands right now, 2025 falls into the latter category.

Slam Cam

Yesterday, the “Madden NFL 26” team released their rookie ratings. Cam Ward—who Tennessee selected with the top pick of the 2025 NFL Draft—didn’t get much love, garnering a lousy overall rating of 76.

And that sums up the general vibe about this season’s incoming rookie QBs: Nobody’s a-tingle.

This becomes an issue if:

  • A) Your favorite team’s incumbent starter is, say, Mitchell Trubisky.
  • B) You need a quarterback for your fantasy football dynasty team.

Last summer, you could draft a Daniels, a Williams, or a Maye, and head into your fantasy season feeling good about your roster’s present and future. This summer, however, it’s Cam Ward and a cast of thousands.

Thing is, in a dynasty league, you have no choice but to take a QB. Now Ward will be off of your draft board within the first three picks—he’s a day-one starter, after all—so you’ll be forced to nab…somebody.

And here are the four most intriguing somebodies.

4) Shedeur Sanders, Cleveland Browns

The quarterback situation in Cleveland is about as weird as a quarterback situation can possibly get, what with an ancient veteran (Joe Flacco) and an underwhelming fourth-year man (Kenny Pickett) looking to stave off a couple of non-round-one rookies (Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders).

Flacco is a wonderful story—40-year-old who happens to be a great dude finds new life—but he won’t (or can’t) be a key part of Cleveland’s future. And Pickett has yet to show he has the chops to become elite, as reflected by his paltry one-year, $2.6 million contract.

Which means that come 2027, Gabriel or Sanders will be under center in Cleveland. And without any evidence to support it, I’m riding with Sanders.

Driving issues aside, Sanders has the athleticism and attitude necessary to thrive on the field and in the fantasy box score. Sure, he has a lot of cleaning up to do—accuracy, decision-making, footwork, that sort of thing—but his theoretical shortcomings are fixable.

Sanders made plenty of big plays at the University of Colorado, and in a couple of years, if given some decent receivers, could do the same in Ohio.

3) Jalen Milroe, Seattle Seahawks

Can Milroe evolve into Lamar Jackson Lite, or are we looking at Trey Lance 2.0?

Considering that starter Sam Darnold is on a relatively short three-year deal—and also considering that Darnold has posted just one 100-plus passer rating in his seven-year career—it seems like we’ll get the chance to find out.

And if Darnold reverts to the Darnold of old, that chance might come sooner than later, making Milroe worth a mid-round flyer.

2) Jaxson Dart, New York Giants

In terms individual talent, Dart lands after Ward among the 2025 QB class. Unfortunately for him, he’s stuck at the Meadowlands, where ever since Eli Manning left the building, the Giants haven’t demonstrated they can properly identify and/or develop a field general. Daniel Jones? Jake Fromm? Tommy DeVito? Mike Glennon? Tell me I’m wrong.

Right now, Dart sits behind Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston on the Jints’ depth chart, but Wilson is 36, and Winston is 31, and at this point in their respective careers, neither is a Super Bowl quarterback, period.

Dart might not be a trophy winner either, but come 2027—or maybe even 2026—or possibly even 2025—he’ll get his shot.    

1) Tyler Shough, New Orleans Saints

In virtually any other season, Shough might not even be a top-four dynasty candidate, but as we’ve established, 2025 gave us a patently meh batch of ball-slingers, so here we are.

Outside of Ward, Shough is the only rookie QB who will have the keys to their franchise’s 2025 car according to ESPN's latest depth chart, and in terms of fantasy production, sometimes the most important thing is getting on the field.

Admittedly, the field Shough will be on won’t be particularly great—ESPN BET currently has the Saints slotted as the league’s worst—but with opportunity comes fantasy points. And when you’re putting together your dynasty team, reality wins and losses don’t matter.

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Alan Goldsher
ALAN GOLDSHER

Alan Goldsher has written about sports for Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Apple, Playboy, NFL.com, and NBA.com, and he’s the creator of the Chicago Sports Stuff Substack. He’s the bestselling author of 15 books, and the founder/CEO of Gold Note Records. Alan lives in Chicago, where he writes, makes music, and consumes and creates way too much Bears content. You can visit him at http://www.AlanGoldsher.com and http://x.com/AlanGoldsher.

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