In this article, I am writing down my top 10 quarterbacks for the 2025 season. Of course, rankings are subject to change, based on what happens in the pre-season, but most of these players will still be in the top-10 when the season starts. I am also providing you with some insights in how I view these players and why I have ranked them inside the top-10.
This top 10 is based on 6pt-touchdown format and subject to change until the start of the season. For the latest rankings, check the full rankings by subscribing to https://thefantasydutchman.com/draft-kit/
#10 – Brock Purdy (49ers)
At 10 we have Brock Purdy, the quarterback with one of the easiest strength of schedules for the 2025 season. In 2024, Purdy attempted 455 passes to a receiving core that wasn’t the best. Sure, George Kittle was there, but McCaffrey was banged up, Deebo wasn’t himself, Aiyuk was injured. That left him with Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall. He still managed to get 17.8 fantasy points per game, only 0.7 less than the year before when Deebo and McCaffrey were great. A big positive of last year was the fact that Purdy rushed a lot more than previous years, which helped his fantasy output. Also, his average yards per rush attempt went up, so this definitely helped his fantasy score.
For this year, Deebo is gone, but Kittle and McCaffrey are still there. And this year, McCaffrey doesn’t carry an injury designation into the season. Ricky Pearsall looks legit, Jennings has shown what he can do, so this can be a great year for Purdy when factoring in the easy strength of schedule. This year, I project him to attempt the most number of passes since coming into the league.
Purdy is my projected #10, but only a few points separate the quarterbacks 7 till 11. I think Purdy has a great shot at being the best of the rest (outside of the top-5 projected quarterbacks) and being the quarterback number 6.
#9 – Bo Nix (Broncos)
Last year, Bo Nix was a positive surprise for fantasy. Without a true second wide receiver next to Sutton, he managed to get 18.7 fantasy points per game. He attempted a lot of passes, 567 to be precise, and also had 92 rushing attempts for 430 yards. Even with these numbers, he wasn’t talked about that much, because another rookie stole the show. You guessed it, Jayden Daniels.
This year, I project Nix to still throw the ball a lot, even with the new backfield in Denver. Yes, they have lost Vele, but Sutton is still there and also Engram has been added as a great safety net. The question for me still remains who the second wide receiver is next to Courtland Sutton, will it be Evan Engram, will one of the second year receivers (Mims and Franklin) take the role or will it be Pat Bryant who they drafted in the 4th round of the 2025 draft. Bryant was already compared to Michael Thomas by Sean Payton, I’m not sure if I want to go that far. But with the rushing upside, yes give me Bo Nix later in the draft, I project him to be in the top-10 quarterbacks, with upside.
#8 – Dak Prescott (Cowboys)
When Prescott is healthy, he delivers. Last year he had an injury, but also wasn’t in the best form of this life. He averaged just 14.6 fantasy points per game, whereas the year before he scored 20.2. That’s a massive drop-off. Since 2019, when Dak played a full season, he always finished with more than 20 fantasy points per game, that could be league winning.
For this year, the Cowboys named Schottenheimer their head coach. He was already the OC there, but will now call the plays as the head coach. Schottenheimer looks great for Dak and his pass catchers, because Schottenheimer historically has 4 percentage points higher pass ratio than the NFL average. If this is the case this year, you are looking at an extra 1 fantasy point per game for Dak, as each percentage point pass ratio extra will score about 4.5 fantasy points at the end of the season. I have investigated this possible impact on Dak in the new coaching article as well (https://thefantasydutchman.com/new-coaches-fantasy-footballs-probable-winners-and-losers/).
Next to Schottenheimer, the Cowboys traded for George Pickens, which gives Dak a great pass catcher next to CeeDee Lamb. They also didn’t invest a ton in the running back room, where no real alpha is available. At this moment, it looks like Javonte Williams is the lead-back, with Blue and Sanders behind him. I am surely taking Prescott late, as he is falling in a lot of draft because of last years’ injury and his lack of rushing upside.
#7 – Baker Mayfield (Buccaneers)
Last year under Liam Coen, Baker was amazing. He scored 21.5 fantasy points per game, his all-time high. His second highest season? When he was a rookie. That frightens me a little for this season: can he do it again? Baker threw the ball 570 times for 4500 yards, 41 touchdowns and rushed the ball 60 times for 378 yards. Why all these numbers? Well, all these stats are his all-time highs, with the exception of the rushing attempts, where he had 62 in 2023.
So, what could this mean for 2025? Liam Coen is gone, so that’s a risk factor to take into account. Josh Grizzard, who will be a first time OC takes over, so we have to see what that means for the play style of the Bucs. And with all these stats as all-time highs, I am a bit reluctant on drafting Baker aggressively. I still project Baker to be a good QB, but I think we should temper expectations when looking at the previous season. In my projections, I have Baker finishing for his 2nd best season ever, so I’m not completely out on him, but I’m still cautious with where he is drafted.
#6 – Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs)
Mahomes has now back-2-back seasons where he didn’t score above 18 fantasy points per game. And if you’re asking ‘Is this bad?’, let me then tell you that every previous season, his rookie season excluded, he scored more than 20 fantasy points per game. In 2024, Mahomes attempted 581 passes for 3928 yards, his lowest since his rookie season. So yeah, the numbers for Mahomes were down massively.
Why do I still have Mahomes ranked as quarterback 6? Well, he is still a very good quarterback in the NFL. And he can provide great numbers for fantasy, even without his elite rushing upside. He still has great pass catchers in Worthy, Kelce and after his suspension also Rashee Rice. We also know how good Mahomes can be for fantasy, and the offense stayed mostly the same. So yes, I still think Mahomes is a top-10 fantasy quarterback, but the upside is much more limited compared to the other quarterbacks in this top-10. Also, with his current ADP, I am fading Mahomes everywhere.
#5 – Joe Burrow (Bengals)
And now on to the top 5, which has the same names as every fantasy analyst you are looking at. Maybe not in the same order, but the names are the same. I have Burrow ranked at QB-5. Yes, he had a great season last year, but Burrow misses one thing the other 4 quarterbacks in the top-5 do have: Rushing upside. Last season, Burrow rushed 42 times for 201 yards. These 201 yards were his 2nd highest rush yards in a season, not really upside material. What was great for Burrow, were his passing stats. 652 attempts for 4918 yards and 43(!) touchdowns. Good for 21.9 fantasy points per game on average.
This offseason, both Chase and Higgins signed contract extensions, which helps Burrow’s fantasy case, as these are by far his top two pass catchers. The Bengals defense is still ranked very low, so I expect the Bengals to play catch-up a lot, which means passing the ball. I think Burrow still has a chance of being the top passer in the league, I have ranked him there at least. So a top-5 is well within the realistic outcomes, as long as he and Chase (and to a lesser extent Higgins) can stay healthy.
#4 – Jalen Hurts (Eagles)
Oh how happy Jalen Hurts must have been when hearing the tush push will not be banned for the 2025 season. In 2024, with help from the tush push, he scored 14 rushing touchdowns! That alone is already a recipe for a good fantasy finish. Besides the rushing touchdowns, he also had 150 rushing attempts for 630 yards. The big downside was his passing game, he only attempted 361 passes. Although, when being in a tie or winning position in 80% of the drives, passing is less needed. Even without a lot of passing, he still managed 21 fantasy points per game. The main losers with the low pass attempts were the receivers.
For 2025, I project Hurts to raise the pass attempts. The Eagles’ strength of schedule is middle of the pack, and they face some tough games like the Chiefs, Bills, Commanders twice and the Lions. And yes, he still will run the ball a lot and score a lot of touchdowns thanks to the tush push. I project Hurts to be behind the top-3 with some margin, but also be ahead of Burrow by some margin. Hurts might be in a tier of his own.
#3 – Josh Allen (Bills)
The top-3 quarterbacks are all very close in my projections, so if you’re more into Josh Allen than any of the other two and draft Allen before them, I don’t blame you. Allen had a great season last year, scoring an average of 22.3 fantasy points per game. He attempted 483 passes for 3731 yards and 102 rushes for 531 yards. The main problem for Josh Allen was the fact that he didn’t have a real alpha wide receiver like most other top-10 quarterbacks have.
This year, Allen still has the same receiving core, with the addition of Josh Palmer who isn’t exactly an alpha receiver. So I project Allen to do more of the same, spread the ball around and have quite a lot of rushing attempts. The Bills also have a middle of the pack strength of schedule, so there isn’t much upside in that part.
#2 – Lamar Jackson (Ravens)
Last year, Lamar won a lot of leagues for the fantasy managers who drafted him. He scored an outstanding 25.3 fantasy points per game, 3 points more than Josh Allen. The Ravens didn’t have the most elite receiver core, but Jackson still managed 4172 passing yards on 474 attempts. Of course, with Jackson you know his rushing upside is very high, which was also shown last season where he attempted 139 rushes for 915 yards. He didn’t have many rushing touchdowns, as Derrick Henry is the true bruiser who bulldozer’s into the endzone.
For this year, I don’t expect Jackson to have as many pass yards as last season. Last season was by far his best season in passing yards, but this could be an outlier. The Ravens added DeAndre Hopkins to the receiver core, but he won’t play a massive part. They haven’t anyone else with relevance for fantasy, so I project Lamar to take a small step back from last year’s passing yards. The rushing will still make him a great fantasy asset, but I worry about Derrick Henry taking a lot of touchdowns away, just like last year.
#1 – Jayden Daniels (Commanders)
My projected number 1 quarterback can come as a small surprise. Most rankings have Daniels at QB-3, and I don’t blame anyone. He’s a sophomore, so it’s to be seen if he can repeat his outstanding rookie season. Daniels scored 20.9 fantasy points per game last season, but that was with a week where he injured his rib at the beginning of the game. He attempted 480 passes for 3568 yards and attempted 148 rushes for 891 yards. His rushing attempts were even higher than Lamar!
For this season, I project Daniels to overcome the sophomore slump and be great again. He now has some experience, and it’s important to note that the Commanders acquired Deebo Samuel in the offseason. Yes, he didn’t look particularly good last season, but he should be an upgrade over Luke McCaffrey and Dyami Brown who were weapons for Daniels last season. Also, with Terry McLaurin on a new contract, the offense is now in full force. The trade of Brian Robinson doesn’t seem to hurt Daniels too, as Ekeler should see an increased workload, who is also a known pass-catching running back.
