Quarantine Day 31:

I sneezed yesterday and my girlfriend (still imaginary) kicked me out of our virus bunker. I’m now writing this from the back yard where I’m sheltering in place under my handmade wigwam shelter. Finally all of those episodes of Naked and Afraid are paying off. I’m not afraid out here but I am very naked. Hope the neighbors don’t mind. Actually, as a Bears fan I’m beyond afraid of our quarterback situation. Remember when the Bears drafted Trubisky over Mahomes and Watson? You do? Damn, was hoping that was just a bad dream! Anyway, here’s my top 40 quarterbacks for 2020 dynasty football:

Tier 5 (cont’d)

21. 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.

22. 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.

23. Ryan Tannehill – I frequently talk about players needing a change of scenery and Tannehill is a prime example. He exploded for a career year in 2019 immediately after leaving South Florida. Tannehill was top 10 in QB fantasy points on a per game average over his 12 games, Derrick Henry is back and A.J. Brown is set to take the sophomore leap into elite wide receiver territory. I might be selling the 31 year old late bloomer short with this ranking.

Tier 6

24. Teddy Bridgewater – It’s a feel good story for Teddy Two Gloves as the former first rounder finally lands another starting gig with the Panthers after losing two seasons to a torn ACL and then spending two more seasons backing up Brees in the bayou. I’m looking forward to seeing what college guru Matt Rhule does with this offense which is packed full of potential.

25. Tom Brady – Tom Brady reminds me of Bill Brasky. I remember one time Brasky took his family to Sea World. They were watching Shamu the whale when Brasky got splashed. So Brasky yells, ‘I’m Bill Brasky and no one gets me wet!’ So he climbs into the tank, grabs Shamu, and throws the whale into the audience, splashes him and yells, ‘How do you like it?’ And then damn if Brasky didn’t step in there and finish the show.” Of course Brady’s been looking less and less like Brasky over the past couple seasons. I’d be lying if I said I was excited to draft him this year, but he does now have Evans and Godwin at his disposal plus that steamy Florida climate keeping his old arm loose.

26. Ben Roethlisberger – I’ve expressed my concern previously about the 38 year old coming off elbow surgery. But reports on his recovery have been positive so far and he has a great quarantine beard going which is worth a few touchdowns in my book.

27. Derek Carr – The Mariota acquisition puts some heat on Carr to preform. Will he respond? I’m not so sure, he doesn’t exactly have the most exciting weapons at his disposal outside of the dreamy Darren Waller. Get the jumper cables out, it’s do or die time for Carr in 2020. UPDATE 4/27/20: Carr hits the motherload in this draft (maybe) as the Raider load up with first round wide receiver Henry Ruggs III and third round receiver Bryan Edwards. Time to move Carr up our boards a little.

28. Justin Herbert – The consensus #3 QB in this draft class is a 6’6″/236 pound giant. The fantasy community seems to have Herbert miles ahead of Love, Fromm and Eason but I’d be lying if I said I have a great feel for which will have the most productive NFL career. Carson Wentz seems to be the natural comp which I’ve seen made several times, that’d be a nice outcome. UPDATE 4/27/20: Hebert was drafted by the Chargers and will back up Tyrod Taylor out to of the gates. Obviously it wouldn’t be a shock to see Taylor fail and the rookie take over at some point in 2020. He’ll have some nice weapons at his disposal whenever the time comes.

Tier 7

29. Dwayne Haskins – Pretty rough rookie season where he only hit 200 passing yards twice in seven starts, but the Redskins didn’t do Haskins a whole lot of favors with their trial by fire approach. Not writing him off yet, but need to see marked improvement from the youngster in year 2 or I’m jumping ship.

30. Jameis Winston – He’s currently unemployed, like 30% of Americans are about to be. But he didn’t kneel during the national anthem so he’ll find another job eventually and be right back to throwing 4 interceptions per game in no time. UPDATE 5/1/20: Winston has signed with the Saints on a four-year deal to back up Brees. He’s probably the top backup in the league now and would stand to inherit a great situation assuming Brees walks off into the sunset when his contract is up after 2021. Stash him if you can.

31. Philip Rivers – Philly and his 18 kids will now pack up the wagons and make the move cross-country to Indy. Rivers is a fine QB2/bye week fill-in, but you know you’ll never be excited to start this shot putting son of a gun.

Tier 8

32. Cam Newton – Is it time to give up on Superman? Cam seems like the type to work his way back training like Stallone in Rocky 3, montage-style. While he might be an incredible buy-low right now, he’d have to be really cheap for me to pull the trigger. Of course he’ll probably get snatched up by the Patriots/Belichick’s dog and post QB1 numbers this year.

33. Jacob Eason – I think Eason’s one of the more underrated quarterbacks in this draft class. When he was taken at pick 32 in our recent industry dynasty superflex rookie mock draft here’s what I said, “Like Herbert, Eason is another Pac-12 giant: 6’6″/231 lbs out of Washington. Truth be told, I’m not sure he’s all that different of a prospect than Herbert, but our boy Boof questions in his rookie quarterback rankings whether Eason will have the draft capital to force his way into early playing time with an NFL franchise. Just remember, rookies Drew Lock (2nd round), Ryan Finley (4th round) and Gardner Minshew (6th round) all got shots at starting in 2019. Long live Uncle Rico.” And that’s Donkey quoting Donkey. UPDATE 4/27/20: The Colts have selected Eason in the 4th round of the NFL Draft. Philip Rivers is on a one-year deal and if he disappoints, we’re probably looking at the Eason show in 2021.

34. Jordan Love – Love is 6’3″/240 lbs; what did they feed this quarterback class?? Over the weekend a Rotoworld blurb reported, “some NFL teams see Utah State QB Jordan Love as ‘the best pure thrower in the draft’ but others see ‘a Day 2 pick.'” As you might have gathered from this ranking, I fall more into the latter camp. His athleticism and upside are undeniable, but I see more of a project than an NFL ready 1st rounder here. That said, I’m a sucker for dual threat upside at QB, so not writing him off by any means. Love could turn out to be Josh Allen 2.0. UPDATE 4/27/20: In a surprise move the Packers traded up to select Love in the first round of the NFL Draft. A lot has been made of how Aaron Rodgers might feel about this move. If Rodgers puts the ego aside and takes Love under his wing then Love could be a great love term investment but there’s plenty of downside risk with the youngster, especially if A-A-Ron isn’t onboard with the training program.

35. Jarrett Stidham – Tom Brady has left some Shaquille O’Neal size shoes to fill in New England. If Belichick trusts Stidham to run the O then maybe we should too? One things for sure, the Brady vs. Belichick comparison will be tracked almost as close at COVID-19 infection numbers in 2020.

Tier 9

36. Mitch Trubisky – Da Mitch is under pressure even more so than Carr. The Bears’ big acquisitions this offseason have been Jimmy Graham and Nick Foles. Barf. Living in the Chicago-area, the amount of negative press around Trubisky has hit peak levels. Can’t say its undeserved either.

37. Nick Foles – If I was a gambling man (I can quit anytime I want!) my money would be on Foles over Trubisky in 2020. But that’s just a guess and I think Trubisky still has higher upside if he ever learns how to play NFL quarterback.

38. Tyrod Taylor – All signs point to Tyrod as the Chargers week 1 starter. I’m actually very intrigued in 2 QB and superflex leagues. He’s always had good wheels and he’s never had a whole stable of weapons on the level of Austin Ekeler, Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Hunter Henry. Worth reaching into the bargain bin here.

39. Jalen Hurts – UPDATE 4/27/20: I’ve seen speculation that the reason the Eagles spent a 2nd rounder on a back up QB is because in the age of COVID-19, having a competent second stringer to turn to will be more important than ever. Makes sense to me, definitely something to keep sight of in superflex leagues this season.

40. Ryan Fitzpatrick – Could’ve gone a few different directions with this one. Incoming rookie and Uncle Rico’s Wazzu protege Anthony Gordon is intriguing and Marcus Mariota could be throwing games in Vegas if the Carr won’t start. But I give the nod to Fitzmagic since he at least has a job for the short term and should put up some big games playing from behind.