Week 9 Quarterback Rankings & Projections: Dak Prescott, Sam Darnold Rise

With teams on a bye in Week 8, 14 quarterbacks scored at least 20.00 fantasy points in four-point passing touchdown leagues. Jordan Love (32.00) posted his best game of the season, leading to him running down Drake Maye (30.10) for the top quarterback spot for the week. A couple of interceptions by Patrick Mahomes ended his streak of 29.00 fantasy points or higher in four matchups. He has had three touchdowns or more in each of his last three starts.

Best Fantasy Quarterbacks In Week 8 After Jordan Love & Drake Maye

Here's a look at the quarterbacks that ranked between third and twelfth in Week 8:

Justin Herbert (28.55)
Patrick Mahomes (27.95)
Bo Nix (27.35)
Jalen Hurts (27.15)
Joe Flacco (26.55)
Tua Tagovailoa (26.25)
Daniel Jones (25.90)
C.J. Stroud (25.90)
Josh Allen (24.85)
Justin Fields (23.30)

Here's the top 12 quarterbacks by scoring average after eight weeks:

Patrick Mahomes (27.62)

Josh Allen (25.30)

Drake Maye (24.69)

Jalen Hurts (24.19)

Justin Herbert (23.73)

Daniel Jones (23.35)

Bo Nix (23.17)

Matthew Stafford (22.56)

Dak Prescott (22.41)

Jordan Love (21.70)

Baker Mayfield (20.34)

Caleb Williams (19.89)

Quarterback Bust of the Week

Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Bucs could only muster 212 yards of offense against the New Orleans Saints, leading to Baker Mayfield crushing fantasy teams with his down day (152 passing yards with no touchdowns or rushing production). Last season, he passed for fewer than 200 yards in four games (185/1, 163/1, 180/3, and 116/1) while also struggling in passing yards in Week 1 (167/3) this season. He scored only 6.60 fantasy points in four-point passing touchdown formats.

Runner Up: Dak Prescott (219 combined yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions) scored only 10.50 fantasy points, ending his streak of over 25.00 fantasy points at four games.

After eight weeks, 11 quarterbacks are averaging over 20.00 fantasy points per game. The biggest surprise in comparing preseason ADPs with current rankings has been Daniel Jones, who was the 30th quarterback selected in the high-stakes market over the final two weeks of the draft season. Matthew Stafford (QB25) wins the runner-up prize in this area.

Each week, I’ll release my depth charts and projections on Wednesday, with a neutral eye informed by hints from previous results or in-season injuries. These statistics represent baseline outlooks, with their potential already factored in. Touchdowns create impact scores and winning fantasy days, especially in non-PPR formats. Who scores them each week is the Holy Grail that the fantasy market searches for weekly.

My projections will be ranked, and they won’t resemble the weekly consensus in any way. My man, Matt Brandon, is in charge of finding a balance between my player outlooks and the public view of each week's rankings.

Week 9 Fantasy Football Quarterback Projections & Rankings Preview

Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys

Entering Week 9, the Cowboys have only played three games at home. They’ve scored 40, 40, and 44 points in Dallas this year, highlighted by 14 touchdowns and eight field goals over 36 possessions. Prescott averaged 40.7 pass attempts, 323 combined yards, and three touchdowns when playing at AT&T Stadium.

2025 Quarterback Fantasy Point Stats — Shawn Childs

The Cardinals rank seventh in quarterback defense (133.20 fantasy points) with a game in hand. They project to be a bottom-tier team in completions allowed (24.1) and pass attempts (38.0) per game, despite allowing only 6.5 yards per pass attempt.

Prescott loves to dink-and-dunk to move the chains, and he has the tools to make long scoring plays if given time to throw and favorable matchups on the outside with CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens. As a result, he is the number one-rated quarterback by my projections this week.

Week 9 Waiver Wire Quarterback

Week 9 Fantasy Football Sleeper: Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawk — Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) looks to throw a pass during the second quarter against the Houston Texans at Lumen Field. | Kevin Ng-Imagn Images

Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks

In shallow, short roster formats, there is a good chance that Darnold was kicked to the curb last week due to Seattle having the week off. He ranked 17th in quarterback scoring while struggling in his previous matchup at home (213/1) against the Texans’ defense. Darnold passed for 295 yards or more in three starts (295/2, 341/4, and 295/2) despite averaging only 31.3 passes in those games and 27.4 for the season. His shining stat comes from his yards per pass attempt (9.1 – 27 completions gained 20 yards or more, with six of those plays reaching the 40-yard mark.

The Commanders rank 29th in quarterback defense (187.25 fantasy points) while allowing a league high 8.4 yards per pass attempt and 15 passing touchdowns.

The Sam Darnold-to-Jaxon Smith-Njigba connection has been hot over the past three games (8/132/1, 8/162/1, and 8/123/1), giving the Seahawks’ passing game an explosive floor if he can continue to hit his top wideout deep downfield.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR FULL WEEK 9 QUARTERBACK PROJECTIONS & RANKINGS!

Here are the late week quarterback projection changes:

More Fantasy Sports On SI News:

Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals

A limited practice with backups on Friday led me to switch to Jacoby Brissett as the starting quarterback for the Cardinals in Week 9.

Michael Penix, Atlanta Falcons

The Falcons cleared Penix to start this week, demoting Kirk Cousins from starting status. The return of Drake London should be a win for Atlanta’s passing game this week.

Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers ruled out Purdy to start vs. the Giants, giving Mac Jones another chance to revive his passing skills. San Francisco lost their offensive momentum in its last two games.