Should Patrick Mahomes or Jalen Hurts be the first QB drafted? | Yahoo Fantasy Football Forecast
Yahoo Sports' Dalton Del Don and Scott Pianowski discuss the top tier of quarterbacks that should be drafted highly in fantasy drafts this season, and debate if Patrick Mahomes or Jalen Hurts should be the first QB selected by fantasy managers.
Video Transcript
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DALTON DEL DON: I feel like we're at a time where quarterbacks are going to go earlier than they did last couple of years because people have seen how impactful they've been in fantasy. Right away about pick 14 is where I'm turning to the quarterback position.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI: When somebody ranks Mahomes not number one at quarterback, are we trying to fix something that isn't broken? When have you lost money on Patrick Mahomes? And the case with Hurts, as great as he was last year, don't some of the rushing touchdowns have to go back into-- distributed to other guys? I mean, they don't really want to run him that aggressively for the next five years, do they? Isn't that tempting fate?
I would like to think the Eagles are like, yeah, you know what, we're up 20 on Washington today. We're first and goal at the 1, do we really need our franchise quarterback taking a couple of hits at the goal line? No matter-- I don't care how dynamic he is, I think they pull back from that a little bit.
Maybe I'm wrong. There's just a gut feel on my part, sometimes teams don't do that. But I think they've been a little bit reckless with Hurts, and I think they might reconsider that.
DALTON DEL DON: Hurts is second in the league in expected rushing touchdowns last year. And I don't see D'Andre Swift or Rashaad-- my guy, Rashaad Penny, taking away too many, but that said, Hurts has ended the last three seasons with a leg injury, a lower body injury.
So it would make sense for them to try to keep him healthier, but again, he was 32nd among qualifying quarterbacks in dropbacks per game in the second half last season, and he still put up all those fantasy stats.
I mean, the defense is going to regress. He's going to have to throw the ball more in the second half. He has these absolute two superstars. DeVonta Smith developed into a superstar last year.
So I get it, Pat Mahomes is the highest floor and the best real life player maybe ever. I'm probably ready to argue that, ever, the best football player ever. So I get that, for sure, but fantasy terms, no, I don't know. I kind of-- I do actually like Hurts more than him. I'm not just trying to be different.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI: Where do you draw the line at the quarterback tiers? Is it a big two with those two guys? Is it a big three, and you put Josh Allen in there? Is it a big four with Joe Burrow? What's the line draw for you?
DALTON DEL DON: I love Fields, man. I put him four. I just think the rushing is there. Yes, no, I think it's totally there, and I see him--
SCOTT PIANOWSKI: Four, over Burrow, I take it? Allen three and Field's four?
DALTON DEL DON: Correct. Allen and Mahomes right there, and then Fields. And then Lamar Jackson and Burrow, I mean, Burrow's safer because of Jackson's injuries, but you look at the setup there and the running right there. But yeah, I haven't really-- the tiers, I guess, Hurts, Allen, and Mahomes because my number four is Fields, and he went in the fifth round in the mock draft we did together.
So that's why I'm separating the tiers because if I can get my number four that much later, then giddy up there. Sign me up for Fields or Lamar if he falls. But yeah, I love Hurts, Allen, and Mahomes as rock solid early second-round picks this year, given the fantasy landscape. It's definitely changed that the last decade.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI: And I guess that group of six is kind of like a super six, right, because after that, I mean, look, I love Justin Herbert, but I can't say his upside--
DALTON DEL DON: Yeah, Lawrence.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI: They don't have the upside of those other six guys, I don't think.
DALTON DEL DON: Right. Agreed.
