The 2022 offseason is upon us. What does the market for free agency QBs in dynasty look like? Are there any who are worth buying?
What a strange time to be searching for a QB in the NFL. Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger just retired and the 2022 QB class is not as ready or high upside as 2021 or 2023. The free-agent market is headlined by three former top two picks who flamed out in their first go around. What should you do for your dynasty team? Let's look at the names in this free agency QBs class and examine for your dynasty leagues.
Other than Winston – the top FA QB’s are Teddy Bridgewater, Mitchell Trubisky & Marcus Mariota. pic.twitter.com/U77IrsYOpj
— David J. Gautieri (@GuruFantasyWrld) February 12, 2022
The... Headliners?
Let me preface this by saying, if you play in a single QB league, this article is likely talking about solely backups to waiver fodder types. The stars of the 2022 free agent QB class are, in order of my preference, Mitchell Trubisky, Marcus Mariota, and Jameis Winston. Also available are the likes of Ryan Fitzpatrick, Andy Dalton, Teddy Bridgewater, Tyrod Taylor, and Jacoby Brissett. Let's get into them.
Mitchell Trubisky, Age 27
I feel like this might be a bold take to have him over Mariota and Winston, but he has shown to be capable of giving top 15 fantasy numbers without competent coaching. In case you missed it, here is some of the reporting on the Nagy/Trubisky relationship. He spent 2021 in Buffalo backing up Josh Allen and learning from him. If given a shot, he could be a mid-range QB2 and competent NFL QB.
Where could Trubisky go? Well, the Bills made it clear he's welcome back in 2022 if he doesn't find a shot to compete somewhere. If he wants to have a shot to play, I think the Giants make a lot of sense. My favorite fits are Denver, Washington, or Pittsburgh. Denver and Pittsburgh have all the weapons he could need and Washington tried to get him at the deadline and has solid guys at all their skill spots.
If he lands in one of those three spots where he's the 2022 starter from the beginning, there's a chance that the team finds him their long-term answer. He has a career 29-21 record and has completed over 64% of his career attempts. His best season was 2018, where he went 11-3, threw for 3,223 yards, 24 touchdowns, and ran for 421 yards and 3 more scores. I'm buying Trubisky, especially in SuperFlex.
Marcus Mariota, Age 28
Mariota, former second overall pick in 2015, never got a fair shake in Tennessee. He battled injuries yearly, and never had the weapons surrounding him to be a successful NFL QB. In his final season there, when he lost his job to Ryan Tannehill, then-rookie WR A.J. Brown wasn't unleashed until Mariota was on the bench, seeing under 60% of snaps in five of six games with Mariota and zero games with Tannehill.
Where are good landing spots for Mariota? Similar to Trubisky, I like all of Denver, Washington, and Pittsburgh. All have solid weapons surrounding whoever is under center. I could see him in Houston as competition for Davis Mills, which isn't ideal for fantasy with what figures to be a conservative offense. Finally, I could see him heading to Carolina, which I want to highlight.
Which 2022 Free Agent QB has the highest likelihood of starting for a team in 2022 ?
— Dave Heilman (@DynastyDorks) January 24, 2022
Sam Darnold clearly isn't the answer for Carolina, and everyone knows that. The defense and skill players are built to win now. So they can draft a QB with their sixth overall pick or an OT at six and go with the veteran QB competition route. I view the OL guys as a better bet that high. In Carolina, Mariota should better his 2016 numbers, 3,426 yards, 26 touchdowns, and another 349 and two on the ground. Again, buy cheap now in SuperFlex.
Jameis Winston, Age 28
Winston hits the market for a third straight offseason and is likely looking for more stability. While each of the last two years brought him to New Orleans, my guess is Sean Payton's sabbatical will have the QB looking elsewhere. Even though he's had the best fantasy season of the three to date, I'd expect teams to be leery of handing the keys over to the only 30 TD 30 INT player in NFL history.
Where are some potential landing spots for the enigmatic QB? I think that Pittsburgh and Washington make sense again (if Denver wanted this type of player, they can start Drew Lock). The Steelers are particularly enticing with how much Roethlisberger threw it last year. He would also have some great offensive weapons and Chase Claypool would rocket up rankings. I have one other option though, and I wrote about it before...
The Bucs have a Tom Brady-sized hole at QB, and if they're unsatisfied with the growth of Kyle Trask, I think their top free agency target should be a reunion with Winston. He and Mike Evans have a strong rapport, and the same with Chris Godwin (assuming he re-signs). No need to guess about stats here, 5,109 yards and 33 scores was his 2019 line and I'd expect similar in 2022, though little long-term security.
The Best of the Rest
As highlighted above, some other options are Ryan Fitzpatrick, Andy Dalton, Teddy Bridgewater, Tyrod Taylor, and Jacoby Brissett. Of this group, I view Dalton, Bridgewater, and Taylor as likely to become backup QBs. Brissett and Fitzpatrick might be able to secure bridge locations. If they land somewhere without competition I'd expect a highly drafted rookie to follow in the draft.
One name who's a restricted free agent that's worth mentioning is Dwayne Haskins. While unlikely, if Pittsburgh doesn't address the position, he has to be a better option than Mason Rudolph. It's also doubtful he changes teams since the Steelers are likely to place an original round tender (i.e. first-rounder) on the QB.
Thank you for reading my article! Please remember to follow me for more content via Twitter @FFFBallers and @IDPGuys as well as check out my IDP Guys author page and the IDP Guys website.
