2020 Fantasy Football QB Rankings: Can anyone battle Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes for top quarterback spots?

Lamar Jackson or Patrick Mahomes? It's a question that will be debated in fantasy football circles (and real-life football circles) for years to come, and heading into the 2020 season, we side with Lamar, placing him atop our QB rankings. But it's not as if Jackson and Mahomes are the only quarterbacks destined to put up big stats this year. Plenty of other studs, sleepers, and potential breakouts dot the various tiers of our QB rankings, and you can bet at least a few will challenge for the top spot. 

Last season, Mahomes actually finished eighth among QBs. He missed a few games due to a knee injury, but his TD and yardage pace were already noticeably down from 2018 before being sidelined. This isn't meant as a jab at the Super Bowl MVP, but it just shows that the likes of Dak Prescott (No. 2 last season), Russell Wilson (4), Deshaun Watson (5), Josh Allen (6), and Kyler Murray (7) all have viable claims to be placed in the top tier. (The No. 3 QB last year is someone slated to start this season as a backup -- Jameis Winston.)

You'll notice these same QBs make up our top seven heading into this season, which means we expect remarkable consistency or that we're remarkably uncreative. Perhaps it's a little of both. While these seven QBs could all put up QB1-worthy numbers, odds are someone else will crash the party and jump ahead of at least a few of them. We can never count out a big yardage/touchdown seasons from classic pocket QBs like Drew Brady, Tom Brady, or Matt Ryan, but the biggest fantasy QB seasons often come with at least a little rushing juice, so players like Carson Wentz (243 rushing yards last year), Daniel Jones (279), Joe Burrow (368 yards last year at LSU), and Cam Newton (488 yards in 2018) are higher-ceiling candidates even if their floors might be lower because of injury/experience concerns. 

The bottom line is that there is no shortage of high-quality QBs, both in terms of floor and ceiling. "Waiting on QB" has become cliche draft advice from fantasy experts, but it makes sense in single-QB leagues. Sure, it would be nice to have Jackson or Mahomes, but you only have to play against them maybe once or twice a season, so you can get by with whoever you pick as your starter. And if you don't get a top-five guy, don't hesitate to draft a high-upside backup relatively early to maximize your chances at this year's big breakout. 

We'll continue to update our QB rankings throughout the preseason. Check back for the latest player movement, as well as analysis of individual players. 

2020 Fantasy Football QB Rankings

Scoring based on four-point passing TD leagues