Fantasy Football Week 1 Quarterback Rankings Update: Jalen Hurts, Trey Lance the key players to watch

Chris Towers' QB rankings for Week 1

By Chris Towers

Sep 11, 2022 at 9:31 am ET • 2 min read

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The Week 1 Fantasy Football QB rankings look a lot like the season long rankings for me, because generally speaking, there's a lot of overlap between season-long and weekly upside at the position. However, there are a few situations I'll be watching closely this week to see whether the assumptions I'm making about how teams are planning to play will hold up.

I think chief among them are the 49ers, Bengals, Eagles, and Vikings. We're assuming the Bengals, Eagles, and Vikings will all be more pass-happy than they were last season, which is why Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts, and Kirk Cousins are all more or less being ranked higher than they actually finished last season -- Cousins is actually generally being ranked right around where he finished last season, though that's kind of par for the course at this point.

Hurts may not have to pass much to beat the Lions, so if the Eagles come out with a more aggressive approach on offense, that could certainly signal good things on that end. Similarly, Burrow and the Bengals won't likely need to throw to keep up with what we're expecting to be a pretty middling Steelers offense, so a more aggressive play-calling approach would be welcomed. It'll certainly be easier to buy into those breakout candidates if their offenses make the changes we're anticipating.

We'll be keeping an eye on the opposite with the 49ers -- they've been one of the most run-heavy offenses in the league over the past few years, but with the more mobile Trey Lance at QB, this is expected to be one of the least pass-friendly teams in the league. That raises questions more about whether the likes of Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, and Brandon Aiyuk can live up to expectations, but it's also something we'll be keeping an eye on with Lance as well -- he's got some incredible playmakers who could help him put up big passing numbers if they give him the chance. Week 1 could be tougher in that regard, with Kittle likely out, but Lance is still a viable starter -- more than that, if you ask Jamey Eisenberg.