Fantasy Football Video: Why Drake Maye, Trevor Lawrence were able to shine as sleeper QBs this season
Waiting to draft a quarterback in fantasy football isn't a new strategy. It's something managers have been practicing for years. But after this season, we may see a shift in the norm. Fantasy football analysts Matt Harmon and Justin Boone went over some impressive performances from sleeper QBs this season on a recent episode of the Yahoo Fantasy Forecast.
The two start off by talking about Patriots QB Drake Maye, who they were touting before the season as a potential sleeper late in drafts. Harmon was high on Maye but didn't see this type of season coming from the second-year signal caller.
Maye, who is among the favorites to win NFL MVP, finished the regular season as the QB2 overall in fantasy. He threw for 4,394 yards with 31 touchdowns to just eight interceptions. Maye also provided value with his legs, rushing for 450 yards and four scores. He led the NFL in a slew of passing metrics, including completion percentage (72%), QBR (77.2) and passer rating (113.5). Maye was selected at pick 105.8 on average in Yahoo drafts going into this season.
Boone points out that Maye really didn't have any bad weeks for you. From Weeks 1-17, Maye only had three games below 17 fantasy points.
As for Lawrence, the Jaguars QB ended up thriving not for reasons Harmon pointed out prior to the season. Brian Thomas Jr., Travis Hunter and Dyami Brown were all tracked by Harmon back in August but none of them ended up being big difference-makers this season for Jacksonville in the first year under HC Liam Coen.
Lawrence got off to a slow start but as he got more comfortable in Coen's offense, we saw it all come together. Lawrence would finish as the QB4 overall in fantasy scoring, thanks widely to career highs in rushing yards (359) and rushing TDs (9). Lawrence also threw for just over 4,000 yards with 29 TDs. He peaked late in the season when managers needed him most in the playoffs, averaging just over 33 fantasy points per game in Weeks 15-17.
If Lawrence and Coen can keep this going, Boone believes that the Jags QB can be a perennial QB1 in fantasy moving forward.