Quarterback is as deep as ever, but that doesn’t mean you can treat the position as an afterthought. Josh Allen holds down the QB1 spot, with Drake Maye, Lamar Jackson and Jayden Daniels right behind him thanks to the rushing upside that can separate the elite fantasy options from the rest of the position.
The bigger decisions come after that top tier. How high should Caleb Williams climb? Can Justin Herbert push his way back into the elite group? And how long can you wait on proven names like Patrick Mahomes II, Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff? You can see where every quarterback stacks up against the rest of the player pool in PFN’s overall PPR rankings, then test out different draft-day approaches with the PFN fantasy mock draft simulator.
Note: These rankings are a combination of both our fantasy experts, Kyle Soppe and Jason Katz.
Preseason Fantasy Football QB Rankings1) Josh Allen | BUF
2) Drake Maye | NE
3) Lamar Jackson | BAL
4) Jayden Daniels | WAS
5) Joe Burrow | CIN
6) Jalen Hurts | PHI
7) Caleb Williams | CHI
8) Justin Herbert | LAC
9) Jaxson Dart | NYG
10) Trevor Lawrence | JAX
11) Dak Prescott | DAL
12) Bo Nix | DEN
13) Brock Purdy | SF
14) Patrick Mahomes II | KC
15) Matthew Stafford | LAR
16) Jared Goff | DET
17) Kyler Murray | MIN
18) Jordan Love | GB
19) Malik Willis | MIA
20) Tyler Shough | NO
21) Baker Mayfield | TB
22) C.J. Stroud | HOU
23) Sam Darnold | SEA
24) Daniel Jones | IND
25) Bryce Young | CAR
26) Jacoby Brissett | ARI
27) Cam Ward | TEN
28) Geno Smith | NYJ
29) Aaron Rodgers | PIT
30) Michael Penix Jr. | ATL
31) Kirk Cousins | LV
32) Tua Tagovailoa | ATL
Smith’s first stint with the Jets was quite forgettable. He made 29 starts across his first two seasons before losing the job and threw more interceptions than touchdowns while completing fewer than 60% of his passes. When the Jets made the decision to move on after the 2016 season, no one faulted them.
From 2015-2020, Smith made a grand total of two starts. It wasn’t until the final month of the 2021 season that he got a chance to audition for the Seattle Seahawks to be their starter, with the team having decided it was moving on from Russell Wilson. Smith played well enough over that span to earn a full-season audition in 2022. In what would go down as the best year of his career, Smith parlayed that into establishing himself as definitively one of the 32 best QBs in the NFL.
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There’s no debate over whether Smith currently deserves to be a starter. The question is whether he can produce QB1 numbers again.
In 2022, Smith averaged 17.9 fantasy points per game behind career numbers across the board. He actually led the NFL in completion percentage at 69.8%. The man had his breakout season at 32 years old.
Smith’s next two seasons in Seattle were indicative of a player who is clearly a starting-caliber NFL QB, but nowhere near as good. He averaged 15.2 and 15.6 PPG before moving to Las Vegas in 2025. That…did not go quite as well. He averaged 11.6 PPG, which was more reminiscent of his early-career struggles during his first stint with the Jets.
The thing with Smith is that his 2021 breakout does still seem legitimate. Even in a disaster year, he completed 67.4% of his passes. The interceptions have gone up over the past two seasons, but there are certainly reasons to forgive them in 2025.
Brock Bowers sprained his PCL and wasn’t healthy for pretty much the entire season. The Raiders’ WR1 was Tre Tucker. Smith had no time behind an offensive line that graded out as No. 31 in PFSN Impact Score. And, of course, we can’t forget the most glaring negative, which was one of the worst coaching staffs in NFL history. Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly was so bad that, despite making him the highest-paid OC in NFL history, he didn’t make it through the season. Head coach Pete Carroll was also gone after one year. There are plenty of reasons to give Smith a mulligan for 2025.
The problem for 2026 is that the Jets’ coaching staff isn’t much better. It’s pretty surprising that Aaron Glenn was brought back. But there are reasons for optimism, most notably a better-than-you-think supporting cast.
Smith will have the likes of Garrett Wilson, Breece Hall, and two first-round rookies in Omar Cooper Jr. and Kenyon Sadiq at his disposal. The Jets’ offensive line was No. 18 in PFSN Impact Score and should be even better this season.
Smith posted two games of 26+ fantasy points last season, proving that the upside still exists.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.
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