In this piece, I highlight quarterbacks who stand out in our large suite of analytical fantasy tools, most specifically, our FantasyLabs Player Models. While the models are built for DFS contests, this is an all-purpose fantasy article with actionable information for all formats.
As news breaks throughout the week and we adjust our projections (powered by Sean Koerner), player ratings in our Player Models will change as the projections change. For updates, visit the models directly.
And don’t forget about the tools that FantasyLabs has to offer, like our Lineup Optimizer to effortlessly create up to 150 lineups, or use our Lineup Builder if you like to hand-build your lineups.
Top NFL DFS Quarterback Picks in the FantasyLabs Models
On DraftKings, there are two quarterbacks near the top of the individual Sean Koerner, Chris Raybon, Cash Game, and Tournament Player Models.
- Patrick Mahomes
- Justin Fields
We’ll discuss why these three are popping in our models, as well as take a look at some other quarterbacks.
Top Model NFL DFS Quarterback Picks
Patrick Mahomes ($7,900 DraftKings, $8,500 FanDuel): Kansas City Chiefs (-9.5) vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (51 total)
From watching the game on Sunday night, you wouldn’t have thought that Mahomes had a monster performance fantasy-wise. The Chiefs don’t like to run the ball, and the Titans swallowed up any rush attempt that Kansas City had. This led to Mahomes throwing a career-high 68 pass attempts. He only managed 6.6 yards per attempt but threw for 446 yards due to the high volume.
He also utilized his legs, scampering for 63 yards and a touchdown on six rush attempts. Kansas City’s running game struggles are nothing new, as they now sit atop the league in early down pass rate in neutral game scripts at 68.1%. Mahomes has thrown for 338, 423, and 446 yards in the past three games for Kansas City. It’s doubtful that Kansas City suddenly figures out how to run the ball, so we can expect them to consistently lean on Mahomes going forward.
Mahomes marries floor and ceiling at the quarterback position, with four games above 30 DraftKings points, and only two games below 20 DraftKings points, with none lower than 17. Mahomes and the Chiefs are big home favorites, so we can expect another solid performance from Mahomes.
The Jaguars have been middling against opposing quarterbacks while giving up top-10 performances to Matt Ryan, Daniel Jones, and Derek Carr in the past few weeks.
Mahomes is second in both our Cash Game and Tournament Model while ranking fourth and second in Chris Raybon and Sean Koerner’s Pro Models, respectively.
Justin Fields ($6,500 DraftKings, $8,300 FanDuel): Chicago Bears (-3) vs. Detroit Lions (48.5 total)
Justin Fields seemed like he was starting to round into form heading into last week’s matchup with Miami. He had scored more DraftKings points than the week prior in each of his last six games, as well as averaging 21.70 points per game in Weeks 5-8.
He continued his upward trend with a monster performance last week, racking up 45.72 DraftKings points in last week’s shootout against Miami. He threw for 123 yards and three touchdowns while running all over the Miami defense. Fields carried the ball 15 times for 178 yards and a touchdown.
The most impressive part of Fields’ recent tear has been who he’s done it against. He put up 24.36 and 26.04 DraftKings points against the Patriots and Cowboys, respectively. Both defenses rank in the top seven in points allowed per game. Fields now gets a matchup with the Detroit Lions, who are surrendering a league-high 29.3 points per game.
Detroit held Aaron Rodgers in check last week, as he only put up 16.64 DraftKings points. However, Rodgers did have three two in the red zone and the other deep in Detroit territory. Those mistakes easily could have been touchdowns, which would have led to Detroit allowing another monster game from a quarterback.
Fields doesn’t use his arm that much, but that shouldn’t be too much of an issue this week. Detroit has allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks on the ground.
He is the top quarterback in both our Cash Game and Tournament Model, as well as both of Sean Koerner and Chris Raybon’s Pro Models.
Other Notable NFL DFS Quarterback Picks
Tua Tagovailoa ($6,700 DraftKings, $8,100 FanDuel): Miami Dolphins (-3.5) vs. Cleveland Browns (49.5 total)
Tua Tagovailoa hasn’t been the staple of consistency this year, but he has flashed some ceiling. He doesn’t have a single game between 16-27 DraftKings points, but he has performances of 43.86, 32.18, and 27.02. The last two performances came in the last two weeks, showing that Tua and the Dolphins may be heating up.
Tua leads the NFL in EPA per dropback while targeting wide receivers and gets a matchup against Cleveland this week, who is in the bottom 10 in fantasy points allowed to opposing signal-callers. Cleveland’s style of defense is also beneficial for Tua, as they play Cover-3 at the seventh-highest rate in the league.
Tua leads the NFL with a 111.4 passer rating against Cover-3. With names like Josh Allen (probably), Lamar Jackson, and Jalen Hurts not on the main slate, we’re starved for some ceiling at the quarterback position. Tua can provide that ceiling.
Daniel Jones ($5,700 DraftKings, $7,500 FanDuel): New York Giants (-4.5) vs. Houston Texans (41 total)
With lots of top options not on the main slate, we may have to go dumpster diving at the quarterback position. Enter Daniel Jones. Jones has had a shaky year fantasy-wise but has been able to post a few solid performances. For Jones to be relevant for fantasy, he has to utilize his legs. He has two games above 20 DraftKings points on the year, and his rushing performances in said games were 6/68/2 and 11/107/1.
The worry for Jones this week is that he may not be forced to do much. The Texans defense gets shredded by opposing running backs, so the Giants may just feed Saquon Barkley all day. Hopefully, Jones utilizes his feet, and we can get a viable performance out of him.
Case Keenum ($5,000 DraftKings, $6,100 FanDuel): Buffalo Bills (-3.5) vs. Minnesota Vikings (43.5 total)
Case Keenum’s fantasy outlook is entirely dependent on whether or not Josh Allen sits. As of now, we are operating under the assumption that Allen misses this contest. Many may think that Buffalo needs to massively change their game plan without Allen, but that may not be the case. Keenum is a capable quarterback, and this is an aggressive offense by nature. Keenum has operated in spread offenses before, going back to his college days at Houston.
Minnesota has allowed the 11th-most fantasy points per game through the air and the 12th-most fantasy points per pass attempt.
Keenum is very cheap and certainly a viable option this weekend
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