Drafting a highly-ranked rookie can be an exhilarating experience for a fantasy manager. Our fortunes rise and fall with their success. Playing a rookie early in the season is a gamble, but one that’s hard to resist. Which rookie quarterbacks are living up to the hype and who fell flat, failing to meet their projected targets?
When a rookie quarterback gets the starting assignment in week one, the coaches have confidence in their new quarterback and are willing to risk some growing pains in return for gaining NFL experience. Although the New England Patriots have chosen to wait on Drake Maye, the Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos, and Washington Commanders were eager to start their franchise quarterbacks. How are these rookies performing for their fantasy managers in their NFL debut?
Fantasy Football-Ranking the Rookie Quarterbacks
Caleb Williams-Chicago Bears Quarterback
As the number-one pick in the draft, Caleb Williams came into the league with a great deal of fantasy hype. In the off-season, the Chicago Bears made some big moves, providing their franchise quarterback with a wealth of supporting talent. Draft Sharks projected Williams to score 282. 3 fantasy points this year. Williams was set up for a terrific debut with a projected score of 18.52 points.
But Williams failed to live up to the hype. In week 1, he delivered a disappointing 7.22 points to his fantasy managers, completing only 14-of-29 passes for 93 yards with zero touchdowns or interceptions, and five rushes for 15 yards. However, thanks to the superior play of the Chicago defense that week, Williams got the 24-17 win over the Tennessee Titans. However, Williams has continued to struggle and the Bears are now at the bottom of their division at 1-2.
After three weeks, Williams has scored a total of 31.9 points with 17.32 of those points coming from last week’s game against the Indianapolis Colts. Given the wealth of talent from his supporting cast of wide receivers including D.J. Moore, Keenan Allen, and talented fellow rookie Rome Odunze, it’s hard to understand why Williams is performing so poorly.
After scoring his first two NFL touchdowns in week 3, hopefully, the worst of his growing pains are behind him. Despite the Bears’ 21-16 loss, it was Williams’ best game to date as he passed for 363 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Currently, Williams is in last place among the rookie quarterbacks. But it’s still early in the season and with his skill set and the level of complimentary talent surrounding him, there is every reason to believe he will improve. However, he has a lot of ground to make up before he can expect to rise in the rankings.
Jayden Daniels-Washington Commanders Quarterback
Unlike Williams, his fellow rookie quarterback, Jayden Daniels is off to a blazing start for the Washington Commanders. The number two pick in the 2024 draft is currently the number two quarterback in fantasy with a total of 69.66 points through the first three games. Veteran Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills is the only quarterback to score more points than Daniels with 92.6 points.
Daniels’ early fantasy impact has been astonishing and managers who drafted him as their starting quarterback are ecstatic. He has dominated the league as a dual-threat quarterback, passing 61/76 for 664 yards with two touchdowns and adding another 171 yards with three rushing touchdowns. But Daniels’ most impressive NFL performance came in week 3 in the Commanders game against Cincinnati.
Pitted against Joe Burrow, his fellow LSU alumna, and Heisman Trophy winner, most pundits favored the Bengals. It was to be expected. Despite a slow start to the 2024 season, Burrow and the talented Bengals are an experienced Super Bowl team and they had the hometown advantage that night. It was a lot for a rookie quarterback to overcome.
But instead of buckling under the pressure, Daniels had an almost perfect game completing 21 of 23 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns to give the Commanders the 38-33 victory. In addition to Daniels’ arm strength, his superior speed and agility provided another 39 yards on the ground and a rushing touchdown to raise the Commanders’ record to 2-1. Suddenly, Washington is looking a lot like a potential playoff team.
In Week 4, Washington will face an Arizona defense that has been better against the pass than the run in 2024. However, the Cardinals have been mediocre overall in terms of team defense, allowing 323.3 scrimmage yards per clash, which is 17th in the league.
Bo Nix-Denver Broncos Quarterback
Although Bo Nix got off to a slower start with the 1-2 Denver Broncos, he bounced back in a big way. Going with a more aggressive play-call style, Coach Sean Payton unleashed Nix against the favored Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Passing 25 of 36 for 216 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions, Nix added 47 rushing yards and scored his second touchdown of the season. The performance was his first NFL win. It was also good enough to warrant an NFL Rookie of the Week nomination and the Top Rookie Quarterback PFF score. But owing to his slow start, Nix has yet to make much of an impact in fantasy given a fantasy total of 38.7 points with 19.34 of those points coming from last week’s game.
Ranking the Rookies For Week 4
Nix and the Broncos will take on the New York Jets this week. ESPN Fantasy is projecting 14.6 points for Nix against a very tough Jets defense that’s allowed only 150 passing yards this season to opposing quarterbacks. Starting Nix is a risk this week and fantasy managers should proceed with caution.
The Bears take on the ailing Rams this week. Williams is projected to score 15.4 points and it’s a favorable matchup for him. The Rams’ defense has allowed their opposing teams to score multiple touchdowns in every game with only one interception this season. Williams could break out this week and have his best game of the season.
Washington will face a tough defense in Arizona this week but Daniels is a must start. He is projected to score 21.8 points. Even if the Cardinals’ passing defense limits him in the air, Daniels has the incredible agility and speed to score on the ground.
Main Image: Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images
