As per tradition, our first fantasy football roundtable of the summer will spotlight the QB position. For this exercise, we have enlisted a standout crew of contributors to The Athletic fantasy football, including Jake Ciely, Michael Salfino, Andy Behrens and Dalton Del Don.

Which elite-level quarterbacks are you willing to pay up for? Who are the non-elites at those positions who have you most intrigued? Who is the biggest QB X-factor? Read on for our answers to these questions, and stay tuned in later this week for our running back, wide receiver and tight end roundtables!

Note: All ADPs mentioned below are from Fantasy Pros.

Which top-tier QB would be your target based on ADP: Josh Allen (No. 23 overall); Lamar Jackson (No. 24); Jayden Daniels (No. 30); Joe Burrow (No. 36); Jalen Hurts (No. 42)?

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Ciely: Jalen Hurts, far and away. Joe Burrow is in a tier of his own for me, below the other four in Tier 1. So, if the ADP comes at a discount because of whatever worry people have over Hurts’ rushing value, I’ll buy all day. Do you know the last time Hurts hasn’t rushed for 10+ touchdowns or averaged 20+ FPPG? Oh, just his rookie season, before he was the starter. All four years since then … check and check.

Salfino: The only plausible pick here is Burrow, going to the Ja’Marr Chase manager for the stack. Maybe add Tee Higgins, too, with the first three picks. That’d be scary to face. All the other early-round QBs are less stackable and are just bad choices in 1-QB leagues. What problem are you solving? If you’re Flex 9 (two WRs and a flex, three WRs max), you are behind the eight ball at RB and must leave the draft with a top RB room. If you are Flex 10 (three WRs and a flex, four-plus WRs), you are a top receiver short. For what? QBs have basically even touches, and thus their scoring is within a narrow range, and a QB emerges from the late rounds/waivers to be a top scorer every year. Lean into this!

Behrens: With all due respect to Jayden Daniels, Burrow and Hurts, I’ve got Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson in a tier of their own at QB. Those two have combined to deliver several all-time scoring seasons at the position. Jackson’s two best years have been historic outliers. I’ll happily take him at the top of the third round.

Del Don: Hurts. Regression is coming for the Eagles’ passing attack after Philadelphia posted the second-lowest pass rate since 2011 last season. Plus, the tush-push is a TD cheat code.

Funston: Daniels. His ability to keep his offense on the field — Commanders led NFL with 66 plays per game, and Daniels was second to Hurts among QBs with 55 rushing first downs — was remarkable and certainly maddening for opposing defenses. I reserve the right to change my mind if Washington doesn’t solve for Terry McLaurin soon, but assuming Scary Terry is in the lineup come September, I absolutely think Daniels has No. 1 overall QB potential — he produced at that elite level over his final eight full games of his rookie campaign (including the postseason and excluding his half-game in Week 18).

Which QB is this year’s biggest fantasy X-factor — widest range of plausible floor-to-ceiling outcomes?

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Ciely: It’s easily Justin Fields. The last time Fields played 15 games, he averaged 19.6 fantasy points and was the QB6 overall and in FPPG. That was also the only season Fields played more than 13 games. So, there is your risk. I’m not even bringing passing into the conversation because 1) in fantasy, you don’t need to be a great passer to be a fantasy stud and 2) Fields is better than people give him credit for (as in, he’s not terrible). If Fields throws for mid-2000 yards (no, not even 3000+ yards) with high-teen touchdowns (again, not even 20+), he’ll be a Top 10 quarterback with his added rushing. However, he could also get hurt a few games in and be lost for the season.

Salfino: It’s obviously Anthony Richardson. He could be out of the league, essentially, by Week 4, or the QB6 or so in fantasy for as many weeks as he can manage to stay healthy. However, he doesn’t seem to have the body to absorb the punishment he’ll take as a runner.

Behrens: Well, the floor for Caleb Williams involves dozens of sacks, stalled drives, disgusting possessions and perhaps a potential benching to reset. But the ceiling in Ben Johnson’s offense seems pretty fantastic — potentially the greatest passing season in Bears history (a shockingly low bar), along with rushing upside. I can imagine anything from QB28 to QB5.

Del Don: Richardson still somehow had the fifth-most fantasy points per dropback during a nightmare season last year, and he’s just three days older than Cam Ward. Richardson still possesses legit fantasy-QB upside, but his scary floor is being benched for Daniel Jones.

Funston: Fields. Jake has already laid out the case for Fields’ floor/ceiling volatility range, but it’s worth also mentioning that if the Jets feel like they have an otherwise competitive team, and Fields is holding them back from the wins column, Tyrod Taylor is a very experienced backup who notably has produced a better winning percentage in his starts than his team’s winning percentage in games he didn’t start in every season he’s made starts in his career.

Which QB do you have ranked most above ADP consensus?

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Ciely: Outside of Fields? It’s Williams and (deep breath) Richardson. With Williams, it’s simply a matter of chasing upside. I never aim to draft QB10 or 12. I want someone with a Top 5 ceiling, even if they bust. Unless you’re in SuperFlex, I’m going Ricky Bobby — “First or last.” I’ll draft a top-tier QB or wait until the end game and double-dip with a Williams, Drake Maye, Jordan Love, even Richardson, who, if healthy, is Fields 2.0 (actually with even more passing concerns but great rushing upside).

Salfino: Trevor Lawrence. He has elite weapons and a top QB coach. Why is Williams ranked ahead of him? Everything you can convince yourself about Williams, you can say about Lawrence, and Lawrence has already had a year as the QB7 in fantasy. Williams doesn’t want to run. Look for Lawrence in Liam Coen’s system to have more rushing yards than Baker Mayfield did for Coen last year (378 with three rushing scores).

Behrens: No one wants to hear it, but Lawrence has sneaky appeal. Everyone seems bullish on Brian Thomas, Travis Hunter and Brenton Strange, yet nobody wants their quarterback. Lawrence has never had a receiving room as good as this year’s version. He’s also finished as high as QB7 in his career, so it’s not as if he’s never helped us.

Del Don: J.J. McCarthy (+6) just edges out Fields (+5). McCarthy gets a Kevin O’Connell offense indoors with terrific weapons. Vikings quarterbacks have been fantasy’s QB6 over the past three seasons, and McCarthy has more rushing upside than Kirk Cousins or Sam Darnold.

Funston: McCarthy. I already wrote about McCarthy’s sleeper appeal, but in that write-up, I didn’t mention that the draft community is buying Justin Jefferson as the WR2, Jordan Addison as WR37 (despite an impending three-game suspension) and T.J. Hockenson as TE6. Faith is shown in the Vikings’ skill position players, though McCarthy (QB19) isn’t seeing the same love. Kevin O’Connell turned a washed-out Sam Darnold into QB6 last year and made him rich. O’Connell’s track record with QBs is exemplary. McCarthy is the best kind of fantasy “backup” in 1-QB leagues, where you’ve waited until late to address your QB room.

Which QB do you have ranked most below ADP consensus?

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Ciely: Justin Herbert and Tua Tagovailoa. Back to my Top 5/not wanting the QB12 argument, neither brings a Top 5 ceiling without major changes and high-HIGH-volume passing. The first two years of Herbert aren’t needed and won’t be how the Chargers’ offense runs. Tagovailoa’s peak is 17.8 FPPG, which doesn’t even crack the Top 10 most years; Herbert hasn’t cracked the Top 10 since his second season.

Salfino: Of course, my rankings are in pencil at the moment, though my rationale in the profiles isn’t. Adjusting for ADP, where smaller differences are way more meaningful near the top of the queue, I’ll say Patrick Mahomes (ADP: 6, my QB12). He’s the reverse Tom Brady, who was a fantasy non-factor despite being great the first six years of his career, then exploded into a fantasy force. Mahomes started that way, and now he is basically 2004 Brady. Meh. He has four 25+ point fantasy games the past two seasons combined. Brock Purdy has seven. Justin Herbert has four and goes roughly three rounds later in drafts.

Behrens: Someone is always willing to pay a Top 8 price for Bo Nix, but that’s much too rich for me. He was often a rough watch last season, and not just in the early weeks. I simply don’t think he did enough to separate himself in fantasy terms from the other rookie QBs last season, excluding Daniels. It won’t surprise me in the least if Nix is outscored by Drake Maye in 2025.

Del Don: Jared Goff is due for touchdown regression, and he’ll find life harder without OC Ben Johnson and center Frank Ragnow, while playing many more games outdoors in 2025. Paying for quarterbacks who don’t run at all is a risky bet, especially following an outlier season like Goff’s.

Funston: I doubt I will have any shares of C.J. Stroud. He, undoubtedly, throws a beautiful ball. But aesthetics aside, he’ll likely be playing behind one of the league’s worst offensive lines again, and his backfield support is on shaky ground, given Joe Mixon’s foot injury. Stroud was one of the most pressured QBs last season, leading to the second-most sacks (52) and fourth-most interceptions (12), and his best weapon, Nico Collins, is such an obvious threat that I don’t see how he doesn’t see as much defensive attention as any WR in the league. Stroud’s ceiling for 2025 reminds me of the movie “Being John Malkovich” …

In a SuperFlex league, what QB duo represents how you would draft at the position?

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Ciely: Fields and Love (or Purdy)

Salfino: Fields and Lawrence

Behrens: Dak Prescott and Maye

Del Don: Fields and Purdy

Funston: Daniels and Love

(Top photo of Joe Burrow: Bill Streicher / Imagn Images)