2020 was nothing short of crazy, considering this year featured lots of disruptions. Through all this chaos, the whole NFL season was completed and all 256 games were played. With all those games played, it meant that the tradition of fantasy football continued on rather smoothly. With the end of fantasy football, there always has to be an evaluation of players. The title of this article states fantasy quarterback studs and duds which is exactly what is below in the list.
I will explore the studs and duds of the fantasy football season at the quarterback position. The factors that lead to these quarterbacks being labeled as studs or duds, is their consistency, notable performances, and preseason expectations, especially those that relate to their draft position. Listed below are the studs and duds of the 2020 fantasy football season at the quarterback position.
Fantasy Quarterback Studs and Duds
Studs
Aaron Rodgers
The first quarterback of these fantasy quarterback studs and duds is Aaron Rodgers. During the preseason, many people were concerned with Aaron Rodgers. After the draft day debacle, many people feared that Rodgers might have one of his worse seasons. That idea was completely washed away by Rodgers.
Aaron Rodgers played an MVP-caliber season and he is actually leading the race for that award. This season, Rodgers was the second-highest scoring fantasy quarterback in the league with over 380 fantasy points. Additionally, Aaron Rodgers’ consistency was through the roof as he averaged 24 fantasy points a game, with him having only three games where he scored less than 20 points. Rodgers proved many people wrong, and he brought fantasy wins to those who drafted him in the later rounds.
Deshaun Watson
Every fan of the NFL knows that Deshaun Watson is a fantastic quarterback. The loss of his top target DeAndre Hopkins stirred fans away from drafting Deshaun Watson early. Those who passed up on Deshaun Watson, unfortunately, made a mistake, because Deshaun Watson exploded.
Without his trustworthy wide receiver, Watson led the league in passing yards with 4,823 and had a career-high in touchdowns. That all accumulated to him scoring the fifth-most fantasy points and averaging 23.1 fantasy points a game. Speaking of the number 23, Watson scored over 23 fantasy points in nine of his games which is very impressive, especially for a younger quarterback. With all that said, fans have to wonder how great of a season Watson would have had if Hopkins was still with the Houston Texans.
Josh Allen
Josh Allen was probably one of the most surprising players this season. After throwing for 20 touchdowns and 3,089 passing yards with poor accuracy in 2019, not many people expected Josh Allen to do much. Well, Josh Allen most certainly exceeding expectations, as he passed for 4,544 passing yards and 37 touchdowns, landing him in the MVP conversation.
From a fantasy perspective, Josh Allen was the highest-scoring fantasy quarterback in the league. The most amazing accomplishment of his season was scoring at least a whopping 30 fantasy points in six out of his 16 games. This accomplishment, including him scoring 37.66 fantasy points, which is a number that isn’t associated with quarterbacks very often.
To conclude, Josh Allen’s great development helped the Buffalo Bills clinch their first AFC East title since 1995. Fantasy-wise, his development has now brought him into consideration of being one of the first quarterbacks to be drafted in next seasons’ fantasy draft.
Duds
Carson Wentz
Many fans of fantasy football drafted Carson Wentz with high hopes after seeing his previous successful season. Additionally, his being dual-threat was also appealing to those who drafted him. Unfortunately, those hopes were shattered by Carson Wentz, who had an awful season.
He got benched in the latter half of the season after he had only thrown for a mere 16 touchdowns and on the other side, 15 interceptions, which led the league. Wentz finished the season with less than 200 total fantasy points. He only had three solid fantasy performances this season, and the rest were very poor. In fact, in six out of his 12 games played, he scored less than 15 fantasy points.
That is certainly not the caliber of a top-10 fantasy quarterback, which he was once considered to be. Carson Wentz has fractured his relationship with the Philadelphia Eagles and is most likely looking for a new home, so for now, his great fantasy days are over.
Lamar Jackson
Lamar Jackson, overall, had a good season, as he put up a solid 332.78 fantasy points. He is considered a dud though because many people drafted him in the first two rounds, and him being the tenth-highest scoring quarterback is just not good enough when being drafted that early.
In his first 10 games, Lamar Jackson scored over 25 fantasy points only three times, while he scored less than 20 points in six of those games. Lamar Jackson was just too inconsistent, and when being drafted as high as the first round, being that inconsistent makes his season a dud.
Now to be fair to him, he did have a fantastic last five games, and that brings hope for a better season next year. Lamar Jackson concludes fantasy quarterback studs and duds.
Fantasy Quarterback Studs and Duds Conclusion
An eventful 2020 fantasy football season brought upon the studs and duds listed above. Now of course there are more studs than listed above, like Justin Herbert or Tom Brady, but the three listed above, in my eyes were the very best fantasy-wise. On the duds side, there were only two listed, even though there are more, its just that they were the two most popular duds. A full fantasy season evaluation can’t just stop at fantasy quarterback studs and duds, so in the next week, the studs and duds at the running back position will be revealed.
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