The Candidates to Be the Overall QB1 in 2022

Rostering the highest-scoring player at a position feels a lot like having a superpower in fantasy leagues. You just know that player is going to deliver for your fantasy squad every week.

And owning the overall QB1 is often as good as it gets, as QBs typically score more points than any other position in fantasy. Today, we will look at the players most likely to finish as the overall fantasy QB1 in 2022. 

Keep in mind these are not fantasy QB rankings, but a tiered list of players most likely to finish as the overall fantasy QB1 in 2022. 

Tier 1 Overall Fantasy QB1 Candidates

• Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
• Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens

These two players are going to be ranked in the top five by most analysts, and for good reason: They have high floors and God-tier ceilings.

Allen has put together back-to-back seasons as the overall fantasy QB1. And his supporting cast in 2022 is arguably better than it has been either of the two previous years, with both Devin Singletary and Gabriel Davis looking like breakout candidates. 

Jackson is just two years removed from an otherworldly fantasy performance in which he scored over 450 fantasy points, one of the best fantasy seasons by a QB ever. (Allen matched the mark in 2020, for what it’s worth.) And Jackson, like Allen, has an improving supporting cast. He should finally have healthy RBs behind him again — instead of a makeshift cast featuring Devonta Freeman, Latavius Murray, Le’Veon Bell and the rest of your 2016 fantasy team — as well as prime Mark Andrews, emerging Rashod Bateman, and trustworthy deep threat Marquise Brown.

Tier 2 Overall Fantasy QB1 Candidates

• Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
• Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals

Mahomes would be in Tier 1 if he still had Tyreek Hill. But Hill’s loss has the potential to really handicap Mahomes’ ceiling. Mahomes is still great, obviously, hence his status at the top of the Tier 2 pile, but we can’t act like the threat of a lower ceiling isn’t there with Hill gone.

Murray, for his struggles last year, still finished as the fantasy QB4 on a per-game basis. He was the QB4 per game in 2020, too. He’d be a Tier 1 candidate if the Cardinals didn’t re-sign James Conner, potentially capping Murray’s rushing fantasy points ceiling. But still, if the cards fall in the right place, Murray as the overall QB1 would surprise nobody.

Tier 3 Overall Fantasy QB1 Candidates

• Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
• Tom Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
• Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
• Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns

Brady was last season’s overall fantasy QB2. Herbert was the QB3. Burrow was the QB5. These three are not only consistent in the box score, but they also have arguably the best weapons in the NFL. Which group do you like the most? 

If there’s a slight down year from the rushing QBs, one of these three aerial assassins could easily claim the crown.

Included in Tier 3 are Prescott and Watson, QBs with rushing upside and strong supporting casts. Prescott lost Amari Cooper (to Watson, ironically), but CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup (if healthy) remain a more-than-capable duo. Watson was the fantasy QB3 and QB5 in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

Tier 4 Overall Fantasy QB1 Candidates

• Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles
• Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
• Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
• Russell Wilson, Denver Broncos

Hurts has the skillset of the players in Tiers 1 and 2, but he’s not nearly as deadly through the air and thus falls into Tier 4. If he’s able to take a big leap as a passer this year, he’s a darkhorse candidate.

Rodgers would be a leading Tier 3 candidate if it weren’t for the loss of Davante Adams. But Adams, a player Rodgers relied on for double-digit TDs each year and threw over 30% of his passes to — including over 150 first-read looks — is a critical loss.

Stafford is similar to the Tier 3 QBs listed above as consistent with an elite supporting cast, but his ceiling isn’t as consistently high as those players, thus landing him a tier below. (He was a full 3 fantasy PPG behind Brady and Herbert last year, for example.)

Wilson was the overall fantasy QB1 a half-decade ago, but he was top-five in PPG in 2019, too. He’s fallen out of elite fantasy favor (QB13 in PPG last year), but a fresh start with a strong team in Denver may help fault Wilson back to the top. He certainly as the ceiling to do it (over 28 fantasy points in three games last year).

Tier 5 Overall Fantasy QB1 Candidates

• Trey Lance, San Francisco 49ers
• Justin Fields, Chicago Bears

These are your joker cards. These running QBs have the Konami Code hard-coded inside, it’s just a question of whether it will be fully activated for the entire year. If it is, they are legitimate threats for the throne.