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Josh Allen is the new king of the hill at quarterback in Fantasy Football. Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson -- in some order -- are in close proximity. That's according to the initial 2024 Fantasy Football rankings provided by me and my colleagues, Jamey Eisenberg and Heath Cummings.

Those four figure to be the first four signal-callers taken in drafts this coming fall. No surprise here as they're also the consensus top four in our Fantasy Football rankings following our debut in mid-March. 

In a down year for Fantasy quarterbacks, Allen averaged 26.5 Fantasy points per game (six points per touchdown) to lead the way. That includes a 26.9 average after the Bills changed offensive play callers with seven games to play. The 26.5 paled in comparison to what he averaged in 2022 (29.1, which wasn't quite the best QB average) but was on par with his 2021 average (26.9). 

So if you think anyone's going to challenge Allen for the top spot, you have to envision them averaging at least 27 Fantasy points per game. To add a little context, Hurts and Mahomes each did that once over their past three seasons while Lamar Jackson hasn't averaged even 25 Fantasy points per game since his 2019 MVP season. Allen's dual-threat game is boosted by his big arm, leaving him unique among the group. That's why he's the consensus No. 1. 

There's another consensus in the rankings after these first four: Joe Burrow at five and Dak Prescott at six. What's kind of crazy is that Burrow has similar characteristics to Hurts and Mahomes (one year of over 26 Fantasy points per game in his past three -- 26.3 in 2022), while Prescott has posted two seasons with at least 24 Fantasy points per game in his past three. Burrow was close to 24 points per game once he got his calf right last season but then hurt his wrist and was put on Injured Reserve. Prescott meanwhile posted a 29 Fantasy point average in 11 games after the Dallas bye -- if he were able to play like that again in 2024 then he'd obviously be the best Fantasy value at QB. 

Right away, Fantasy managers should feel pretty good about the first six quarterbacks who will get nabbed in drafts. All of them have rich potential with only modest downside. That means in most redraft leagues, at least half of the managers will get a very good quarterback. If you like to prioritize the position, you should find one to your liking before the end of Round 4. 

If you don't prioritize the position, no worries. The next two quarterbacks in our consensus aren't bad consolation prizes. C.J. Stroud and Jordan Love are ranked seventh and eighth -- I like Love's upside more than Stroud's as of now. They're both young without more than one year of success, but they all have galactic upside. And, best of all, they can be drafted a little later on than the first six quarterbacks, making them awesome values. 

I would argue that those first eight quarterbacks could be draft-and-set players who you may never need to replace. If you disagree, you could always consider taking a second passer later on Draft Day. 

Our consensus ninth-ranked player is second-year dual-threat quarterback Anthony Richardson. Obviously, it's based on his rushing prowess and not based on what he did in pieces of four games last year. There will be some Fantasy managers who won't consider Richardson because his rookie season was lost, but he's a consensus top-100 pick for us including a top-85 pick for Jamey Eisenberg. He does profile as one of those quarterbacks you should carry a backup with. 

There's far less consensus once you get to 10th in our quarterback rankings. Brock Purdy (10th for me) is a top-12 passer for all of us, as is Kyler Murray (10th for Jamey Eisenberg). Tua Tagovailoa is 10th for Heath Cummings. Justin Herbert is only a top-12 QB for me. This might be the spot where we have to dig a little deeper to find reasons for or against a specific player. If you do this and can't come to any concrete conclusions on your own, or if you don't want to do the work and don't like our answers, then perhaps you should focus on taking one of the first eight or nine quarterbacks in your draft. Admittedly, that's what I plan on doing in my leagues. 

The final takeaway: Check out the quarterbacks who are not at all part of any of our top-12 rankings. Kirk Cousins, Deshaun Watson, Jared Goff, Matthew Stafford and Trevor Lawrence are all in this mix. I know none are ideal Fantasy starters, but the case could be made for some to be useful for at least portions of the upcoming campaign. I think there's a ton of potential value in this group (Cousins will be my top choice once he is fully healthy) and would not be opposed to drafting one as a backup. 

I also would add Caleb Williams if he were in Chicago and Jayden Daniels if he were in Washington to this group. Both rookies have rich potential to be solid Fantasy contributors as soon as this October.