Brock Purdy looks to stay hot despite his receiver injury issues, Jordan Love eyes up a plus road date in the Bucs, and Tyler Shough tries to prove he belongs in the top 12.
Other positions: Running Back | Receiver | Tight End/Kickers/Defense
Updated 10/4 at 11:45 AM ET. Dropped Bryce Young one spot.
Week 4 Quarterbacks
| 1 | Josh Allen | BUF | vs. NE |
| 2 | Patrick Mahomes | KC | at LV |
| 3 | Lamar Jackson | BAL | vs. TEN |
| 4 | Joe Burrow | CIN | vs. JAC |
| 5 | Trevor Lawrence | JAC | at CIN |
| 6 | Brock Purdy | SF | vs. DEN |
| 7 | Jalen Hurts | PHI | vs. LAR |
| 8 | Jared Goff | DET | at CAR |
| 9 | Dak Prescott | DAL | at HOU |
| 10 | Matthew Stafford | LAR | at PHI |
| 11 | Tyler Shough | NO | vs. ATL |
| 12 | Jordan Love | GB | at TB |
| 13 | Kyler Murray | MIN | vs. MIA |
| 14 | Bryce Young | CAR | vs. DET |
| 15 | Sam Darnold | SEA | vs. LAC |
| 16 | Bo Nix | DEN | at SF |
| 17 | C.J. Stroud | HOU | vs. DAL |
| 18 | Geno Smith | NYJ | at CHI |
| 19 | Justin Herbert | LAC | at SEA |
| 20 | Jacoby Brissett | ARI | at NYG |
| 21 | Kirk Cousins | LV | vs. KC |
| 22 | Michael Penix Jr. | ATL | at NO |
| 23 | Drake Maye | NE | at BUF |
| 24 | Marcus Mariota | WAS | vs. IND |
| 25 | Aaron Rodgers | PIT | at CLE |
| 26 | Daniel Jones | IND | at WAS |
| 27 | Malik Willis | MIA | at MIN |
| 28 | Deshaun Watson | CLE | vs. PIT |
| 29 | Tyson Bagent | CHI | vs. NYJ |
| 30 | Jalon Daniels | TB | vs. GB |
| 31 | Jameis Winston | NYG | vs. ARI |
| 32 | Cam Ward | TEN | at BAL |
QB Notes: It feels a little hasty to have Patrick Mahomes back in the top five on a weekly basis, but I’m not really sure what else I’m supposed to do. He is producing in his new-look offense while so many other quarterbacks have flopped to begin the season. Mahomes has provided multiple passing scores in each of his first three starts after it took him seven games to do so last year. … Subject to a number of strange game scripts through the season’s first three weeks — and his own strange decision to kneel down at the one-yard line with 8:47 remaining in Week 3 — Trevor Lawrence is merely a high-end QB2 by average points despite his strong “real life” play carrying over from 2025. That should change this week against a Bengals defense that has shown improvement but hardly looked like a shutdown unit. A modest road underdog with a game total north of 50, Lawrence might bag his first 300-yard performance of the year. … The ceiling just has not been there for Jalen Hurts. He has at least maintained his floor, making him a sensible QB1 for whom spiked weeks still seem like an inevitability despite the Eagles’ ongoing offensive dysfunction.
Brock Purdy is off to a ludicrously hot start despite the 49ers’ skill corps injury issues, to the point that only Josh Allen has more fantasy points. Absolutely crazy, though something that will be put to the test against the Broncos’ stingy pass defense with Mike Evans (ribs) potentially/likely on the shelf. It’s long past the point that Purdy must be considered an every-week QB1, but this is unlikely to be one of his gadzooks performances. … Matthew Stafford has been cooking even without Puka Nacua. The Rams’ erstwhile WR1 seems to have a decent shot at returning against the Eagles. Philly is playing solid enough pass D, but couldn’t contain Case Keenum on Week 3 Monday Night Football. To my admitted surprise, Stafford is thus far showing zero signs of regressing from his 2025 MVP form. … I’m still struggling with how seriously to take Tyler Shough, but the QB3 by average points has yet to finish lower than QB8. Now with Travis Etienne (hamstring) on the shelf, the shootout-prone Saints are not about to throw less. It feels unnatural, but Shough has barged his way into the top 12.
Jordan Love is not playing well. He’s also scoring fantasy points, providing multiple scores all three times out and exceeding 300 yards twice. This, after he did just two times all last season. The injury-ruined Bucs will not be creating shootout conditions on Sunday, but with the Packers’ run game in shambles, Love should provide a nice box score vs. a bad defense. … Bryce Young felt due to take a Week 3 step back after his initial two steps forward to begin 2026. Disappointing, but not terribly concerning. Of bigger issue was an already ankle-hobbled Jalen Coker picking up a quad ailment. He seems likely to miss Week 4 against the Lions. That projected game environment — a 51.5 total — is nevertheless enough to keep Young in the QB2 mix even if he’s missing his hot-streaking WR2. … Kyler Murray (concussion) made it through Week 3 unscathed. Justin Jefferson (ankle) did not. Murray still scratched out a victory by locking onto Jordan Addison. Murray has not shown enough to earn QB1 treatment in Minnesota. The jury will remain out until he and Jefferson manage to finish a game together.
With the Seahawks’ running game going nowhere, it is looking like Sam Darnold is going to have to throw a lot more than he did in 2025. To wit, his 45 Week 2 attempts would have been his most all of last season, including the playoffs. This, in the first game he finished this year. The crumbling Chargers could be a deceptively-inviting spot to tee off this weekend despite a modest 42.5-point game total. … I will admit to being surprised — no, stunned — Geno Smith is indeed carrying on like 2025 never happened. I have to “take the L” there. His Raiders environment really was that bad. Somewhat predictably, Smith still isn’t doing enough to create QB1 value of his own, but he is making it possible for his talented skill corps to get home, and that same talented skill corps creates a new QB2 floor for the Jets’ triggerman. … My Justin Herbert fades are feeling increasingly reactionary. Then again, they are reactionary. How could you not be making dramatic impulse drops of him in the ranks? That’s especially true for dates like this weekend’s road contest with the Seahawks. Herbert’s upside hasn’t been there in objectively good environments. We shudder to think of what might happen in this bad one.
Speaking of reactionary rankings, Drake Maye. I’m just not sure what I am supposed to do with a quarterback who has one touchdown and seven turnovers through his first three starts, especially as he operates without his No. 1 receiver on the road. The Bills could be the kind of defense that finally snap Maye’s increasingly-alarming slump, but that logic did not work out too well with Justin Herbert last weekend. You can quibble with the exact ranking, but the point is Herbert is unplayable in single-QB leagues until he shows something positive. … I will acknowledge Kirk Cousins’ existence. What I will not do is trust him as anything other than a low-ceiling QB2. … Michael Penix Jr.’s Green Bay showing was one of the nicest surprises of Week 3. With his mono threat and overall lack of volume, however, he still looked like a QB more likely to create fantasy value elsewhere rather than supply his own. … Although Jalon Daniels can run a little bit, his pre-draft concerns were accuracy and decision-making. He is the very definition of a desperation superflex option, one who should only be deployed if you are down to your fourth quarterback option following a series of injuries.
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