Quarantine Day 25:

I made a fire in the yard today while pondering my 2020 dynasty rankings. As I gazed into the flames, a series of vivid images began to appear. The Lord of Light was sending me a divine message about dynasty quarterbacks. Or maybe the mushrooms I had eaten were starting to kick in, hard to say. Either way, a life-size image of Kyler Murray arose from the blazing inferno. The meaning was clear, this dull and uneventful 20th year after 2000 will forever be know as the year of Kyler, and nothing else. Anyway, here’s my top 20 dynasty quarterbacks for 2020 fantasy football:

Tier 1

1. Patrick Mahomes – A league-winner in his first season as a starter, I’ll venture a guess that the best is yet to come from the 24-year old. I foresee Mahomes topping 50 touchdowns in a season multiple times in his career. Most “experts” will advise against an early round quarterback in 1-QB leagues, but there’s many ways to cook a moose. I have no problem building a dynasty squad around our Mahomie.

2. Lamar Jackson – Basically everything I wrote about Mahomes applies except I don’t expect him to ever throw for 50 touchdowns. He could maybe run for 50 touchdowns. Those shrooms are really hitting me now. Mahomes gets the edge over LJax since Jackson’s wheels won’t age quite as well as Mahomes canon, but we won’t have to worry about that until at least COVID-25.

Tier 2

3. Kyler Murray – Helloooooo DeAndre Hopkins! I was excited about Murray’s sophomore campaign in the Kliff Kingsbury offense even before Hopkins landed on the scene. I want every piece of the Cardinals offense I can get my hands on for 2020 and beyond. Kyler will be my most owned QB in 2020.

4. Deshaun Watson – Murray over Watson may be a little bit of a hot-take, but losing one of the top receivers in the game isn’t ideal. That said, Watson’s still an elite dynasty QB and there’s speculation he could land in New England as a free-agent next offseason. That could be fun . . . for his dynasty owners anyway.

5. Russell Wilson – He’s capable of being the #1 fantasy QB in any given season and now has two elite weapons at his disposal with Metcalf and Lockett. But Wilson also has his share of frustrating fantasy outings in Sneaky Pete’s malleable offense and he’s 7-8 years older than the four youngsters above.

6. Josh Allen – Guessing this is the highest you’ll see Allen ranked on any dynasty QB list. He’s a young dual-threat on a rising offense and now has an elite option at his disposable in Stefon Diggs. Bold prediction: the Bills defeat the Cardinals in this year’s Superbowl. Mmmmm these are some good mushrooms!

Tier 3

7. Dak Prescott – Amari’s new 5-year/100-million dollar deal is great news for Prescott in 2020, but makes it unlikely Dak resigns with Dallas next offseason due to cap constraints. Remember, they just gave Zeke Federal Reverse stimulus type money last year. There aren’t many more fantasy friendly situations for Dak than the Cowboys offense. I shy away from dynasty uncertainty as much as possible.

8. Carson Wentz – Starting to feel like Wentz will forever remain in the ‘good not great’ fantasy quarterback territory. I’m not writing off the possibility of him making the leap into the elite tier, but he’ll already be 28 this year and the plus mobility won’t last forever. While Arcega-Whiteside has nice upside, I’d still like to see the Eagles draft one of the many exciting wide receiver prospects in this year’s draft class.

9. Baker Mayfield – This is a make or break season for Mayfield in my mind. Coming into 2019 he was as high as #2 on some QB lists but it quickly became apparent that he was more interested in partying than training last offseason. I expect a nice bounce back from a guy who’s been counted down and out before.

10. Sam Darnold – Sammy D feel victim to the kissing disease in 2019. While he only missed 3 games with mono, the physical effects likely lingered for longer, not to mentioned the missed practice reps. The second half performance was encouraging and I’m looking for another step forward in 2020; hopefully the Jets snatch up one of those sexy receiving prospects for Darnold later this month.

Tier 4

11. Tua Tagovailoa – Thought I might be out on my own with Tua over Burrow, but I’ve now seen several others express the same opinion in spite of Tagovailoa’s November hip injury. He’s an exciting dual threat lefty with a great arm. May take a little more patience than Burrow, but I want the upside.

12. Joe Burrow – I’m not sold on Burrow as a future elite NFL QB. He has great pocket presence, accuracy, footwork and intelligence. But scouts question his arm strength—maybe kind of an important piece for an NFL QB. And how much of Burrow’s 2019 success at LSU was mostly the product of an absolutely loaded surrounding cast? I’ll remain on the fence until we see Burrow operate against pro defenses.

Tier 5

13. Aaron Rodgers – A-A-Ron is definitely over the hill but he was missing Davante Adams to turf toe for a chunk of 2019 and I expect some of those 18 Aaron Jones touchdowns should funnel back to Rodgers in 2020. He’s still a startable option, but the dynasty sell window was plastered shut long ago.

14. Daniel Jones – Fairly strong rookie showing for Danny Dimes in 2019, but he faded down the stretch as defenses caught on. I think there’s real upside here but it could just be the mushrooms talking again.

15. Matt Ryan – As long as he’s meeting up with Julio down by the school yard, Matt Ryan will be a startable option. Let’s just hope Julio never gets too old for school.

16. Drew Brees – The old man is tough to value in dynasty. On one hand, he still has a great situation with weapons galore in Michael Thomas, Alvin Kamara and Emmanuel Sanders. On the other hand, Brees is so old he’s in the conoravirus high risk group. On the third hand, oh man, I have three hands now! These are some good drugs!

17. Matthew Stafford – Before his back injury, Stafford was on his way to his best season since Calvin Johnson guided him to a 41 touchdown campaign in 2011. Kenny G is now singing tunes in his ear. Assuming the back is alright, Stafford could be a decent bargain bin option for 2020.

Tier 6

18. Jared Goff – The Rams offense and Goff both took a step back in 2019 as the 25-year old threw a career high 16 interceptions. I trust Sean McVay to right the ship this season, but I don’t trust Goff to be an exciting every week fantasy quarterback.

19. Jimmy Garoppolo – GQ has some great young weapons to work with in Kittle and Deebo. But we saw the hazards of investing in the 9ers pass game during the playoffs where Jimmy averaged just 142 passing yards per game with a total of 2 touchdowns in those three games.

20. Kirk Cousins – Diggs is out of the twin cities but Tajae Sharpe swoops in to the rescue. Alright, so not exactly a lateral move there but Cousins put up decent numbers in Washington while throwing to the misfit group of Jamison Crowder, Josh Doctson and Vernon Davis. Just beware, starting Kirk him will still feel like kissing your cousin(s).