Fantasy Football Draft Strategy: Quarterback By Committee (2025)

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While the 2025 NFL regular season is still a few months away, it is never too early to prepare for the fantasy football season. Every year, the fantasy football industry discusses the depth of the quarterback position. Yet, there are always a few elite quarterbacks everyone wants on their team. There are five elite quarterbacks this year.

Those five quarterbacks are Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Jayden Daniels, Joe Burrow, and Jalen Hurts. The order is up for debate, especially depending on the scoring system. They are also the top five quarterbacks drafted according to the FantasyPros ADP. All five have an ADP inside the top 40 picks. Meanwhile, there are 14 quarterbacks with an ADP inside the top 100.

Ideally, fantasy players can land one of those five quarterbacks without using one of their first three draft picks. However, there are plenty of productive fantasy quarterbacks between picks 40 and 100. Furthermore, fantasy players shouldn't worry if they can't land one of those top-five quarterbacks.

The quarterback-by-committee strategy can become your best friend if you miss out on those top five players. Thankfully, FantasyPros has the ultimate tool to help you with this draft strategy.

While everyone would love to have Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, or Joe Burrow on their roster, fantasy experts love the later-round quarterback approach. The reason is the quarterback by committee (QBBC) finder tool.

This tool will help fantasy players find the best possible pairing of quarterbacks at almost any area in the draft. Select the range of the ADP you want to target, and it will show you the best pairings possible. The tool will account for bye weeks and the strength of schedule. It will also provide an estimated average number of points scored per week by the duo.

One reason fantasy experts love to wait on quarterbacks is the weekly variance at the position. Even the top quarterbacks like Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, and Jalen Hurts have weeks where they don't finish inside the top 12. Similarly, there are weeks where low-end starters and even injury-replacement players end the week as a QB1.

For example, the top 12 Week 1 quarterbacks last year included Josh Allen, Jayden Daniels, Lamar Jackson, and Jalen Hurts. However, it also included Baker Mayfield (QB2), Derek Carr (QB6), Jordan Love (QB11), and Matthew Stafford (QB12).

Similarly, we had a mixed bag of results in Week 17 last year. Four of the five elite quarterbacks ended the week as a QB1. The lone exception was Jalen Hurts, who missed the final two games of the season with a concussion.

Meanwhile, Baker Mayfield, Drew Lock, Brock Purdy, Patrick Mahomes, Jared Goff, Sam Darnold, Justin Herbert, and Tyler Huntley rounded out the remaining QB1s for fantasy championship week. Yet, a few of those quarterbacks went undrafted in 1QB leagues, while Lock and Huntley weren't picked in superflex leagues.

Therefore, fantasy players can find weekly starters off the waiver wire in Week 1 or Week 17. When you play in a superflex league, finding quarterbacks becomes more difficult. However, finding options in a 1QB league is easy.

Fantasy players want to leave their draft with two quarterbacks with this strategy. The good news is that you can load up everywhere else on your roster and wait until the final few rounds to address the quarterback position. For the sake of this article, I will only include quarterbacks outside the top 12 of FantasyPro's ADP.

Ideally, you want a stable QB1 and someone to play the matchups when your stable quarterback has a tough opponent or his bye week. However, another way to use this strategy is by pairing an early-season quarterback with a favorable schedule with another player.

The early-season quarterback will get you off the ground early in the year while you see how your roster shapes out. Whether you need to stream the position starting midseason or have the depth to make a blockbuster deal for an elite quarterback, the early-season stable QB1 will give your team options.

However, let's assume you don't have the depth needed to make a blockbuster deal for an elite quarterback. Fantasy players can use this QBBC strategy to pair an early-season quarterback with a mid or late-season option. The logic behind this move is to get ahead of the streaming teams and have two quarterbacks on your roster who can provide your team with a weekly QB1 finish.

Despite being the QB21 in the FantasyPros ADP, J.J. McCarthy is an appealing late-round fantasy quarterback option and one of my favorite sleeper targets. Unfortunately, he missed his rookie season because of a knee injury. Yet, the Minnesota Vikings threw their confidence behind the former Michigan star, letting Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones walk in free agency. More importantly, McCarthy has arguably the best receiving core and offensive line in the NFL.

The second-year pro is my ideal QB1 when using the QBBC strategy because of his early-season schedule and ADP. McCarthy has an unfriendly matchup against the Chicago Bears in Week 1. However, he faces the Atlanta Falcons and Cincinnati Bengals in Week 2 and Week 3 in matchups that should be fantasy-friendly. Both teams have capable offenses, but two of the worst defenses in the NFL. Thus giving McCarthy the perfect situation to get into shootouts and put up fantasy points.

Furthermore, the former Michigan star has several other appealing fantasy matchups in 2025, including during the playoffs. McCarthy faces the Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, and Detroit Lions in Week 14 through Week 17. While all four have improved defenses from last year, none of the matchups should share fantasy players from starting the young quarterback.

With McCarthy locked out as my early-season starter and potential sleeper turned league-winning candidate, which quarterback will I pair with him? The answer depends on the type of pairing I want to create.

Fantasy players who want to get the best possible matchups early in the year should pair J.J. McCarthy with Jordan Love. The former Utah State star had a down season because of injuries. However, he is healthy, and the Green Bay Packers significantly improved their receiving core this offseason. Furthermore, Love has fantasy-friendly matchups against the Detroit Lions in Week 1 and Dallas Cowboys in Week 4 when McCarthy faces the Chicago Bears and Pittsburgh Steelers.

Furthermore, Love has an excellent matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 6 when McCarthy has his bye week. Fantasy players will want to target the Bengals when picking streamers in 2025 because their defense should be one of the worst in the league. Therefore, don't be surprised if multiple quarterbacks have top-five finishes when facing Cincinnati, including Love in Week 6.

Let's look at another scenario for fantasy players. Fantasy players don't need to pair an early-season quarterback with J.J. McCarthy if they aren't worried about playing him against the Chicago Bears in Week 1. However, the former Michigan star has an unfriendly schedule in the middle of the season. He faces the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 4, the Cleveland Browns in Week 5, his bye in Week 6, and the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 7. None of those matchups is ideal for fantasy players.

However, Brock Purdy is the perfect midseason quarterback to pair with McCarthy. The former Mr. Irrelevant pick has an excellent stretch of games when McCarthy is facing multiple talented defenses. Purdy faces the Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Atlanta Falcons in Week 4 through Week 7. Don't be surprised if he is one of the top-scoring fantasy quarterbacks over those four weeks.

Fantasy players can start McCarthy or Purdy in Week 8, as both have decent matchups. However, McCarthy faces the Detroit Lions in Week 9 and the Baltimore Ravens in Week 10. Meanwhile, Purdy faces the Arizona Cardinals in Week 11 and the Carolina Panthers in Week 12. The two quarterbacks combine for three excellent matchups during those four weeks, making them an outstanding midseason pairing.

Last but not least is the Yin and Yang or early and late pairing. Fantasy players who want to get their two quarterbacks for the year and play the matchup should pair J.J. McCarthy with Matthew Stafford. While the fantasy football playoffs are still several months away, it's never too early to prepare.

The Future Hall of Famer has an excellent end-of-season and fantasy playoff schedule. Stafford faces the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Carolina Panthers, Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions, Seattle Seahawks, and Atlanta Falcons from Week 12 through Week 17. The only games he will play outdoors are against the Panthers and Seahawks. More importantly, none of his six final opponents during the fantasy season is a matchup that should scare off fantasy players.