2023 Fantasy Football: Week 2 Quarterback Rankings

What a wild opening week for quarterbacks! Jared Goff got things started with an upset over the Kansas City Chiefs. Tua Tagovailoa dropped 466 passing yards and three touchdowns on the Chargers and joined Mac Jones and Jordan Love as the week’s top three quarterbacks. What?! On the flip side, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, and Joe Burrow all finished with fewer than 10 fantasy points, and Aaron Rodgers suffered a season-ending Achilles tear on the Jets’ opening drive. There’s a lot of ground to cover for the Week 2 quarterback rankings and notes, so let’s get to it!

Quarterback Notes

• Geno Smith underwhelmed last week, but he should be able to rebound in a favorable matchup against the Lions in Week 2. Detroit was the worst defense against quarterbacks last season and gave up the third-most passing yards to the position. Additionally, Smith dominated the Lions in 2022. He totaled 369 yards and three touchdowns against them in Week 4 — his best performance of the season. Smith is a top-8 option for me this week.
• There’s no getting around the atrocious play of Daniel Jones and the Giants in Week 1. However, there’s room for optimism this week. Jones takes on a Cardinals defense that coughed up the second-most passing touchdowns last season while finishing as a bottom-10 unit against quarterbacks. Sam Howell faced Arizona in Week 1 and finished with 15.2 fantasy points, ranking as the week’s QB12. Buy a Daniel Jones bounce-back this week.
• Anthony Richardson made some noise in Week 1, blowing my QB17 ranking out of the water. He completed 24-of-37 pass attempts for 224 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He also rushed 10 times, tacking on another 40 yards and a touchdown to finish as the week’s QB4. Richardson gets a tough matchup this week against a Houston defense that allowed the fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks last season. They also limited Lamar Jackson to 6.6 fantasy points in Week 1. Richardson lands just outside my top 12 this week.
• Brock Purdy may be one of the steadiest quarterbacks in the league. Sure, he plays on a run-first offense. And yes, he’s thrown under 250 yards in all but one game since Week 13 of last season. But he’s also thrown at least two touchdowns in each game during that seven-game span, including last week. Plus, it was encouraging to see Purdy throw the ball 21 times in the first half in Week 1 — when the 49ers were leading. San Francisco is one of the most complete teams in the league and Purdy is at the helm. He’s a high-end QB2 who can sneak into QB1-territory in good weeks.
• Baker Mayfield could surprise in Tampa’s home opener this week. He’s fresh off a QB11 performance and now gets a juicy matchup against a Bears defense that allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to the position last season. Oh, and let’s not forget that Jordan Love just hung 245 yards and three touchdowns on them in Week 1. Mayfield is a solid QB2 with upside this week.

Week 2 Quarterback Rankings

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