- - 2025 Fantasy Football QB Exit Interview: Rushing upside reigns supreme, but injuries and unexpected chaos are always lurking

Chris AllenDecember 31, 2025 at 7:46 PM

0

Honestly, I can see why a quarterback wins the MVP every year. I know, that’s for real football. But on the fantasy football side of the shield, QB might be the only position where you can say the name of your starter, and folks can gauge how well your season went. Tell a friend you drafted Drake Maye and watch them smile, as if they already know you won your league.

And then mention to someone else that you had Patrick Mahomes and expect the opposite reaction.

2025's top QB scorers (through 17 weeks) -

Josh Allen, Bills — 374.5 standard fantasy points

Drake Maye, Patriots — 343.5

Matthew Stafford, Rams — 331.6

Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars — 326.8

Dak Prescott, Cowboys — 323.1

Caleb Williams, Bears — 305.7

Bo Nix, Broncos — 305.3

Jalen Hurts, Eagles — 305

Justin Herbert, Chargers — 299.8

Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs — 295.7

Jared Goff, Lions — 288.9

Baker Mayfield, Bucs — 268.7

It's not that the other positions don’t matter. Ask anyone with Derrick Henry. But we start more players with those non-QB designations. Meanwhile, as it is for most franchises, our rosters rise and fall with our QBs. So, let’s look at the best (and worst) of the 2025 season with the signal-callers in mind, and what we should be looking for next year.

OK, So What Happened Again?

It feels like a lifetime ago, but let’s rewind to August. You know, back when we all believed our draft day decisions would eventually lead us to a championship. But, of course, the market still had a say in how we built our squads:

Josh Allen: 22.5 (August ADP)

Lamar Jackson: 22.8

Jayden Daniels: 29.6

Jalen Hurts: 33.1

Joe Burrow: 43.1

Patrick Mahomes: 51.5

Bo Nix: 66.0

Brock Purdy: 70.5

Baker Mayfield: 72.3

Dak Prescott: 79.7

Kyler Murray: 93.0

Justin Fields: 95.8

I’ll say this. Hindsight has got to be 20/20 because my foresight is 20/200. Four of the QBs in this list ended the season on IR. Of the remaining eight, four missed significant time. And Baker Mayfield? Well, I’ll get to him in a bit.

However, there is at least one positive takeaway. We weren’t too far off base in categorizing these passers as potential QB1s. Besides, for most of them, their passing wasn’t the only allure. The Konami Code still reigns in 2025, and we saw that come to fruition throughout the first eight weeks of the season.

Daniel Jones to the end zone!AZvsIND on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/woJDecmQLh

— NFL (@NFL) October 12, 2025

After 2024, we (and I’m using the royal “we” here) boosted hybrid signal-callers into the QB1 discussion. Two-thirds of the above list had top-12 marks in fantasy points per game as runners the prior year. And the same was true through Week 8.

Our starters were averaging 21.4 rushing yards per game (or 3.8 FPPG as runners). It’s why we were right to keep guys like Daniel Jones (QB13) and Jaxson Dart (QB14) on our fantasy speed-dials. A dual-threat ability still gives us the best shot at accessing a weekly ceiling at the position. Of the 22 instances where a quarterback scored more than 30 points (i.e., what won you your week), 13 of them featured a performance with at least six of those fantasy points (aka, a touchdown) coming from them running the ball.

However, as the NFL likes to do, chaos changed the landscape of the entire league.

Philip Rivers hits Alec Pierce on the free play for a 20-yard touchdown!SFvsIND on ESPNStream on @NFLPlus and ESPN App pic.twitter.com/LkZfbV3umf

— NFL (@NFL) December 23, 2025

Since the Colts are out of the playoff race, Indianapolis pulling 44-year-old, retired Philip Rivers back into action deserves more discussion. But we can save that for the offseason. However, the Colts' problems weren’t too different than everyone else’s. Fifty-one different QBs had two or more starts this season. Reminder, there are only 32 teams. And as fantasy managers had to scramble through the minefield that was the waiver wire for viable passers, we had to evaluate not just the player, but their situation, too.

Some of the mid- and late-season heroes were like solving a problem in reverse. Nobody thought Jacoby Brissett would (or should) average 41.2 attempts per game. But Trey McBride was a consensus TE1, and Michael Wilson, as the lone WR, was whatever we thought Marvin Harrison Jr. would be. The same logic applied to Tyler Shough with Chris Olave and Juwan Johnson. With the production intersection at the QB spot, instead of looking at the production flowing out from under center, the pass-catchers would be the ones doing the heavy lifting.

In any case, let’s dig into a few specific players and see what we can take from this year and apply it to 2026.

The Biggest Surprises and Best PerformersJosh Allen, Bills

I recognize this comes on the heels of Josh Allen overthrowing his receiver for what would’ve been a game-winning two-point conversion. As a unit, the Bills’ WRs have generated the 12th-fewest receiving yards per game and rank 22nd or lower in touchdowns (11 total) and first downs (6.1 per game). Accordingly, Allen ranks just outside of the top 12 in passing yards per game (14th). However, his rushing ability remains unmatched both on the field and in the boxscore. With the leader of Bills Mafia leading all QBs in rushing yards and TDs, Allen will have yet another early-round ADP even if Buffalo waits another year to add to its receiving room.

Drake Maye, Patriots

Fantasy managers got enough of a glimpse of Drake “Drake Maye” Maye last year to understand his potential in fantasy. After taking over for Jacoby Brissett, the then-rookie averaged 34.1 rushing YPG and two TDs. The only hesitation was whether or not a pass-catching corps headlined by a 31-year-old WR coming off an ACL injury would be enough in Maye’s first full year. But as Maye sits in first among all QBs in EPA per dropback with Stefon Diggs and Hunter Henry, and none of his pass-catchers over 1,000 yards, his case to be the MVP isn’t outlandish.

Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars

A lot’s happened this season, but I remember Trevor Lawrence brushing off HC Liam Coen’s criticism like a son unbothered by their parent. Lawrence, unable to get in sync with either Brian Thomas Jr. or Travis Hunter, was a growing concern. But one Jakobi Meyers trade later, Lawrence is looking like the player we expected coming out of Clemson a half-decade ago, with the 11th-most passing yards per game (234.5). But the surprise part of the “2025 T-Law Experience” has been the rushing component. As we saw with Mayfield under Coen, Lawrence has hit career-high marks in yards (348) and scores (9) as a runner. With Thomas and Hunter (hopefully) contributing more next season, Lawrence should be a staple of the middle rounds in fantasy drafts.

Matthew Stafford, Rams

I had no idea what an ammortal chamber was until I saw one parked next to the Rams’ practice field in August. But I did understand what a back injury meant for a 37-year-old QB behind an average offensive line. Or at least I thought I did. Matthew Stafford has put together nothing short of an MVP season. He’s top-three in every stat, from passing success rate to yards per game, while setting a new career-high in TDs thrown in a single season. Sure, it benefits having Puka Nacua and Davante Adams (the King of Goal-Line Routes) on the opposite end of your throws. But defenses are still trying to get after Stafford. Teams have blitzed Stafford at the sixth-highest rate, but he’s taken the fewest sacks of any full season he’s played. We can debate if he plays in '26 later, but this result was hard to foresee, given what we were hearing towards the end of summer.

Let’s Hope Things Get Better Next YearBaker Mayfield, Bucs

Mayfield carried a QB9 price tag and closed out the fantasy season as the QB15 in PPG. So, I might be stretching the definition of bust, but two top-12 finishes over the last two months feels like a letdown to me. However, the thing I’ll be looking for signs of is a less-aggressive passing scheme.

Mayfield’s passing aDOT was up to 8.8 air yards through the first three weeks of the season. That was at about the same time when his offensive linemen were dropping like flies. Luckily, he was hitting on his intermediate and deep shots to Mike Evans and Emeka Egbuka, but Mayfield was below Spencer Rattler in passing success rate. Plus, after Evans went down, there was no adjustment.

Egbuka just slid into the “Evans’ role,” forcing the rookie to play as the iso-X receiver on 71.9% of his snaps with a 12.3-yard receiving aDOT. So it’s no surprise that Mayfield’s EPA per pass attempt dropped, and the interceptions and sacks increased. And when both Evans and Chris Godwin Jr. returned, even with a bum (non-throwing) shoulder, there was no shift to make things simpler, bumping the Bucs’ first-round WR into a timeshare with Jalen McMillan.

Mayfield’s best season in Tampa came with him averaging over a yard less on a per-attempt basis (7.0). I’d expect him and the coaching staff to try to get back to more shorter-area concepts with their younger receivers in 2026.

Jayden Daniels, Commanders

Here’s my foolproof, two-point plan for Jayden Daniels to have a bounce-back season: stay healthy and add a receiver. Sounds simple, right? Well, maybe not the first part. A chest injury limited Daniels throughout some of his rookie campaign, and multiple ailments sidelined him this season. Regardless, even when he was out there, the downfield magic wasn’t on display as often, indicating the Commanders need another boost to their pass-catching corps. But not just any receiver will fit the bill.

Daniels threw to the perimeter on 44.1% of his attempts in 2024. And you can guess who was on the other end of those passes. Terry McLaurin hauled in 43 passes on the boundary for 696 yards and a hilarious 10 TDs. Daniels has still been throwing to that part of the field, but with McLaurin dealing with his own injuries, the Commanders’ entire receiver room hasn’t even totaled McLaurin’s TD mark from last year. The majority of their current group primarily works from the inside. Having a full season of McLaurin should help, but another contested-catch option for Daniels will ensure we get another top-10 campaign out of Washington’s QB1.

Lamar Jackson, Ravens

Go ahead and add Lamar Jackson to the list of players who could benefit from at least the first part of my strategy to fix Jayden Daniels. But the Ravens don’t need another wide receiver. If anything, they should lean into the personnel already on the roster.

Last season, Jackson was on an MVP trajectory, throwing dots to every eligible pass-catcher with a purple jersey. Accordingly, we saw career-high output from not just Zay Flowers, but the ancillary options like Rashod Bateman and Justice Hill. We even got a return to form for Mark Andrews, as he found the end zone 11 times. But the same formula didn't work in 2025.

The Ravens ran 11-personnel on 40.2% of their plays (42.9% in '24). That means, outside of Flowers, at least two of Bateman, Tylan Wallace and DeAndre Hopkins are on the field. And no disrespect to Hopkins, but asking the 33-year-old veteran to play 40.2% of the routes is a choice. And it’s especially confusing when you have not one, not two, but three TEs with a receiving skill set.

Baltimore already has an identity as a power run team with Jackson and Henry. Embrace it. The team could condense its personnel packages to focus on multiple TE sets, featuring both Andrews and Isaiah Likely (assuming Likely re-signs). Similar to how Seattle has kick-started its passing game, a dose of heavy fronts would entice defenses to respond with fewer defenders in coverage. The result? More open throwing lanes for Jackson.

Way-too-early fantasy QB rankings for 2026 -

Josh Allen, Bills

Drake Maye, Patriots

Lamar Jackson, Ravens

Jalen Hurts, Eagles

Jayden Daniels, Commanders

Joe Burrow, Bengals

Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs

Brock Purdy, 49ers

Dak Prescott, Cowboys

Justin Herbert, Chargers

Jaxson Dart, Giants

Caleb Williams, Bears

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Sports”