Rushing quarterbacks are all the rage in fantasy football, and for good reason. The production of players like Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, and Jalen Hurts opens up another level of fantasy production that isn’t accessible to the vast majority of pocket passers.
But pocket passers still have their place in fantasy football. Very few quarterbacks are able to combine their arm talent with their running ability, which means there are only a handful of elite dual-threat options to choose from in fantasy drafts. As a result, about half of your league will come away from your draft with a quarterback whose production is driven almost exclusively by what he can do through the air.
Dak Prescott and Jordan Love are two of the pocket passers who will be drafted as fantasy starters in most leagues. Neither typically does much with their legs, but they lead elite offenses that should be among the best in the league in 2024.
DOMINATE YOUR DRAFT: 2024 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet
At current ADP, these two quarterbacks are separated by just four picks. If you’re about to go in the 7th round and are looking to draft a quarterback, should you go with Love or Prescott?
Jordan Love vs. Dak Prescott: Which Quarterback Should You Draft in Fantasy Football?
Jordan Love’s 2024 fantasy football outlook
It was an up-and-down year for Jordan Love in his first season as the Packers’ full-time starter. He got off to a hot start, scoring 20 fantasy points in each of his first three games. He added a 19.6-point performance in Week 4 to cap off a very solid first month. He then cooled off over the next five weeks, failing to reach 20 points in any of those matchups. But what really got drafters excited about Love’s second year in Green Bay was how he finished the season.
The Packers finished the 2023 season on a high note. Starting in Week 11, Love was the second-string quarterback, leading the Packers to a 6-2 record over that span. He averaged 21.2 points per game in those eight games and showed a real connection with his receivers in the process.
Looking ahead to the 2024 season, Love will once again have the opportunity to capitalize on the fact that the Packers offense has four starting-caliber receivers. Jayden Reed, Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks all have unique skill sets and will be at Love’s disposal. He made the most of their talent last year, throwing for 4,159 yards, and should take advantage of that once again in 2024. He also has two solid tight ends in Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft, and Josh Jacobs is more than capable of catching passes out of the backfield.
Fantastic Sleepers 2024
QB | RB | WR | TE | D/ST | Struggling Players | Struggling Players by Team
It was only the preseason, but we saw what this offense is capable of when Love and Wicks combined for a 65-yard touchdown on the third play of their first preseason game. It appears Love and his receivers haven’t lost a step this offseason and will pick up where they left off.
Dak Prescott’s 2024 Fantasy Football Outlook
It was a tale of two halves for Dak Prescott in 2023. Prescott was the QB21 for five weeks and was actually discarded in many leagues. He did a complete 180 after Dallas’ bye week and finished the year as the QB3. After that fateful bye week, Prescott averaged 24.0 PPG and was the QB1 in the final 11 games of the year.
But how did Prescott overcome his early-season woes? It’s actually pretty simple: The Cowboys threw the ball at a ridiculous rate late in the season. After throwing the ball just 24 times in Weeks 1 and 5, Prescott threw the ball no fewer than 31 times after the bye week. Prescott also led the league in dropbacks in the 11 games following the bye week. They almost completely abandoned the run and relied on Prescott’s connection with CeeDee Lamb to win games.
There’s no indication that things are going to change in Dallas this year. Management completely neglected the running back room, replacing Tony Pollard with Ezekiel Elliott in free agency. This offense will once again center around the Prescott-Lamb connection, while mixing in some looks at Jake Ferguson, who cemented himself as a reliable option at TE last year and could have a true breakout season in 2024. Regardless of who sees the targets, this offense will likely pass at one of the highest rates in the league.
PPR RANKING 2024
Top 250 Overall | QB | RB | WR | TE | DEF/ST | K
The offensive arsenal behind Lamb is a bit worrisome outside of Ferguson, but it’s largely the same talented group of players as last year. This was an offense that led the league in points scored last year, and it’s sure to challenge for the top spot once again. If the Cowboys’ offense scores at a high level in 2024, it will be largely due to Prescott’s success.
The Verdict: Should You Draft Dak Prescott or Jordan Love?
Both are quality options and each has good reasons to be selected ahead of the other. Some might gravitate toward Love because he’s a fresh face who may not have reached his true ceiling. But Prescott is the obvious choice here.
Prescott will throw the ball all over the field in an offense that has one of the most dangerous weapons in the NFL. The Packers will throw their share of balls, but they just signed a workhorse in Josh Jacobs, who has shown the ability to handle 400 touches, something Aaron Jones has never been able to do.
RANKING OF POSITIONS AND PROJECT STRATEGY 2024
QB | RB | WR | TE | D/ST
Prescott and Lamb have shown they are capable of shouldering offensive responsibility and dominating defenses in the process. They were the most lethal QB-WR duo in fantasy football at the end of last season. It wouldn’t be a surprise to look back six months from now and see them dominating again and Prescott a top-five fantasy option.
