2025 Fantasy Football Rookie QB Rankings: Top Prospects to Watch

Fantasy football season is inching closer, but those who play in dynasty leagues know the action never stops, and we’re still in rookie draft mode. We’re here to assist with our

2025 fantasy football rookie quarterback rankings

. In the updated rookie QB rankings below, check out where key players like
Jaxson Dart
,
Tyler Shough
,
Cam Ward
,
Shedeur Sanders
,
Jalen Milroe
,
Dillon Gabriel
, and
Will Howard
stand among other first-year signal-callers.

Continuous tweaks will be made to these rankings for
fantasy football rookies
all offseason long, so be sure to check back regularly for updates. In addition to this article, you should also be sure to check out our other
dynasty rookie rankings and analysis articles
, including in-depth coverage of various NFL rookie profiles. It’s important to identify studs, sleepers, and duds among first-year players in rookie drafts and 2025 fantasy football leagues, so we have you covered.

Four of our lead fantasy football analysts —
Phil Clark
,
Jackson Sparks,
Andrew Lalama
, and
Matt Donnelly
— have put together these fantasy football rookie rankings. In addition to these rookie rankings, in our
2025 fantasy football rankings
dashboard, you will also find our team’s
Dynasty League rankings
. Bookmark that page, and use it to prepare for all of your 2025 fantasy football dynasty league drafts. Now, let’s waste no more time diving into the rankings!

NFL Rookie Quarterback Rankings for Fantasy Football (Post-Draft)

Rookie rankings are from after the 2025 NFL Draft

Fantasy Football Outlooks for Rookie Quarterbacks

Jaxson Dart, New York Giants – Fantasy Football Outlook

The New York Giants traded back up into the first round to draft quarterback
Jaxson Dart
, who will likely take over the starting job by midseason this year. While the team also signed QB
Russell Wilson
in the offseason, his play has declined markedly since his glory years with the Seahawks, owing to his reduced mobility and unwillingness to challenge defenders in the middle of the field.

Wilson often pads his stats by taking check-downs, chucking the ball deep, and taking a million sacks rather than throwing to parts of the field where he’s more likely to risk an interception. That’s part of the reason his touchdown to interception ratio looks so good every year, but he’s not a priority free agent.

The biggest problem for Wilson is that stud WR
Malik Nabers
excels in the intermediate areas of the field. Wilson will likely be benched for Dart, who is the best QB prospect in this year’s class. Year 1 may be tough for him, as he’s a young player and the team has offensive line issues and doesn’t have a great WR corps outside of Nabers. But he will probably at least be the starter by Week 9, and he has the talent to develop into a quality starter.

– John Johnson,

Tyler Shough, New Orleans Saints – Fantasy Football Outlook

With the 40th overall pick in the second round of this year’s NFL Draft, the New Orleans Saints selected 25-year-old quarterback
Tyler Shough
out of the University of Louisville. Notably, Shough was the oldest player taken in the 2025 draft. His college career spanned seven years and three schools: two seasons at Oregon, three at Texas Tech, and a final year at Louisville. Despite a journey marked by setbacks, including two broken collarbones and a broken fibula, Shough flashed the tools of an NFL-caliber quarterback.

Shough’s 2024 transfer to Louisville marked his first full, uninterrupted season where he truly stood out. Starting 12 games for the Cardinals, he threw for 3,195 yards and 23 touchdowns while leading the team to an 8-4 record, his most productive season yet. Now in New Orleans, Shough finds himself in a prime position.
Derek Carr
(shoulder) unexpectedly retired this offseason, leaving the Saints’ starting quarterback position up for grabs.

As a mature, battle-tested rookie with pro-level tools and leadership qualities, Shough can earn the Saints’ starting quarterback position if he can outperform
Spencer Rattler
this offseason. If Shough wins the starting job and can stay healthy, he’ll have plenty of upside with weapons like
Chris Olave
,
Alvin Kamara
, and
Rashid Shaheed
at his disposal. At the very least, you’re likely getting a one-year starter if you select him.

– Jp Sticco,

Jalen Milroe, Seattle Seahawks – Fantasy Football Outlook

The former Alabama quarterback was a polarizing prospect in the lead-up to the NFL Draft. Milroe displayed big-time athleticism and play-making ability on the ground. He ran for over 1,200 rushing yards and scored 32 rushing touchdowns in the last two seasons as the Crimson Tide’s starting quarterback. That kind of rushing upside gives him the highest fantasy football ceiling among all the quarterbacks in this class.

Quarterbacks who score points on the ground have long been fantasy football cheat codes. More and more of the top fantasy quarterbacks are built in this mold. This makes Milroe such a tantalizing pick for dynasty gamers, particularly those who play in superflex leagues.

However, a major area of concern for Milroe is his accuracy and ability to play from the pocket. He struggled with accuracy during his collegiate career, and this caused him to fall to the third round of the NFL Draft. It’s worth pointing out, though, that concerns regarding his passing may have been overblown.

If Richardson hadn’t gone down the road he’s currently on, Milroe would have been viewed more favorably by NFL teams. Either way, he fell in the draft for these concerns, but landed in an interesting situation when the Seattle Seahawks selected him in the third round.

Seattle signed
Sam Darnold
to a three-year, $100.5 million contract this offseason. While that seems like a strong commitment, the specifics of the contract say otherwise. Seattle has an out in Darnold’s contract following the 2025 season. If his play in 2025 resembles anything close to what we saw in the final two games of 2024, it’s very possible he won’t get another year as the starter.

That’s where things could get interesting with Milroe. In the weeks following the NFL Draft, the Seahawks have discussed his intangibles and work ethic. They have also signaled they are committed to developing him as a passer. Milroe is already doing his part and has reportedly begun improving his mechanics.

It’s also possible Seattle struggles to begin the 2025 season and decides to give Milroe an extended look as a starter to see if they need to draft a quarterback from the loaded 2026 class. Given his rushing upside, Milroe should immediately return fantasy results in this scenario, and it could also present a good sell-high opportunity for dynasty gamers who wish to cash out.

Drafting Milroe carries risk, but he’s certainly worth a selection at the top of the third round in superflex rookie drafts. You get all the upside of an
Anthony Richardson
-type prospect but carry nowhere near the risk, given Milroe’s cost in drafts. The hit rate for picks in this area of rookie drafts is extremely low. Why not swing for the fences and take a chance on Milroe?

– Dave Ventresca,