If you are a degenerate dynasty fiend like me, then you already know that there is a LOT to keep track of when it comes to classifying players in our various leagues and scoring systems. When I was younger, and my brain worked better, I would do most of this in my head, on the fly. But that was before things like mortgages, kids' sports schedules, and remembering whether it's a recycling week when I take out the trash.
So now I like to write these things down. And this year I am going to do that with you, friends. Hopefully, you will find some of it useful as you work on curating your dynasty rosters through the spring and summer. If you don't, please send your concerns to Clayton Gray. It was his idea to subject y'all to this, after all. (Hi Clayton!)
Over the next four weeks, we'll examine my buckets for each of the four main fantasy positions, at least as they stand in May. There will be changes as off-season workouts, camp battles, and, unfortunately, injuries shake things up through the summer.
Remember, these are not rankings. These are buckets designed to give you a 3,000-foot view of where the talent and depth lie across positions in dynasty leagues. Use the Footballguys tiers noted within the buckets to zoom in a little further, and individual player rankings to get into the minute detail.
My dynasty rankings will be published later this month. Until then, you can check out our consensus Footballguys dynasty ranks here.
The Buckets
If you are as curious and skeptical of me as I am, you probably think, "Isn't bucket just another word for tier?" I think of buckets as a more general classification. Remember how old radios had a big knob that would help you tune into the general frequency and then a little knob that helped you fine-tune and sharpen the reception? Buckets are the big knobs, tiers are the little ones.
When we get to the roster-building part of the dynasty calendar, I like to put my players into these buckets to help me see where I need to get deeper or more talented. If you read the first part of our series on Decoding the Dynasty Calendar, then you're already familiar with these buckets. If not, go ahead and read it now. I'll be right here when you get back.
Done? Okay, good. Let's summarize.
- Starters: If I am comfortable starting the player, whether at a specific position or in a flex or superflex spot, I put them into this bucket.
- Rotation: Players I view as likely to be contributors in the upcoming season. These are guys who could be regulars in the lineup once bye weeks or injuries hit, but who, even without that, should have consistent fantasy-point-scoring roles on their NFL teams.
- Upside/Blocked: Generally, this bucket is for players in their third year or less who have not yet cracked regular playing time in real life. This bucket is for players with undeniable upside who have been blocked from regular playing time for some reason or another. Whether it's by injury, a veteran player, or some other reason, these young players haven't had enough of a chance to make me comfortable relying on them yet.
- Veteran Depth: Not starters, and not rotation pieces, this is your "break glass in case of emergency" bucket. These could be handcuffs to your starters or just veteran players blocked from regular playing time, similar to the young guys in the Upside bucket above. You might be uncomfortable with them in your weekly lineup, but they could hold value if circumstances fall just right.
- Scratch-off Tickets: This is a bit of a catch-all, but the notion is that this bucket holds the players you can't quite quit yet, the players you can squint your eyes and tilt your head just right and see value in. In short, the long-shot flag plants that make us dynasty degenerates feel alive.
If using this concept to assess your rosters, please remember that flexibility is key. Players can move pretty fluidly from bucket to bucket, especially as off-season activity ramps up in the NFL, injuries happen, and position battles unfold. I want most of my dynasty rosters to be composed of players in the first three buckets, but your specific league settings and personal playing style should determine what works best for you.
Quarterback Buckets
So with that explanation out of the way, and as we sit here in the first week of May, below you'll find quarterbacks grouped by bucket, along with the tier in which they currently reside in the Footballguys Dynasty Rankings for a little added fine-tuning.
RELATED: See Running Back Dynasty Buckets here.
RELATED: See Tight End Dynasty Buckets here.
Starters Bucket
- Josh Allen, BUF (1)
- Joe Burrow, CIN (1)
- Lamar Jackson, BUF (1)
- Patrick Mahomes II II, KC (2)
- Jayden Daniels, WASH (2) His value can't go much higher. My biggest question right now is whether he can sustain it. If he can, he will likely move up and become a Tier 1 quarterback for a long time.
- Caleb Williams, CHI (2)
- Jalen Hurts, PHI (2)
- C.J. Stroud, HOU (2) It seems unlikely Stroud will ever get Tank Dell back at 100% of what Dell could've become, a fact underscored by the work the Texans' front office did on the wide receiver room this year. Stroud's trajectory softened a bit from his rookie year, but he has the talent around him to pay off on that promise and increase his dynasty value again.
- Justin Herbert, LAC (2)
- Bo Nix, DEN (3)
- Jordan Love, GB(3)
- Drake Maye, NEP (3)
- Baker Mayfield, TB (3)
- Jared Goff, DET (3)
- Kyler Murray, ARI (3)
- Brock Purdy, SF (3)
- Dak Prescott, DAL (4)
- Michael Penix Jr., ATL(4)
- J.J. McCarthy, MIN (4) I don't have a single share of McCarthy in any dynasty league, but I am high on the young quarterback's ability to outperform his current ranking significantly.
- Cam Ward, TEN(5)
- Justin Fields, NYJ (5) Like McCarthy, I think Fields will be a riser as we close in on the beginning of the season. He didn't get significant competition and will have a full off-season to prepare to lead the team. He seems poised to get his chance.
Many of these players could be pushed into the Rotation bucket depending on whether a league is Superflex and other specific rules related to your league's scoring or starting lineups. As we sit here today, these are the players I am reasonably confident I could rely on in starting lineups for my dynasty teams over at least the next couple of years.
Rotation Bucket
- Sam Darnold, SEA (4)
- Trevor Lawrence, JAX (4)
- Tua Tagovailoa, MIA (4)
- Bryce Young, CAR (4)
- Geno Smith, LV (5)
- Matthew Stafford, LAR (5) I will never, ever doubt Matthew Stafford's ability to get on the field and make a difference. I am mostly just looking for an excuse to link to this moment, one of my favorites in my long and tortured history as a Lions fan.
During the season, there is a pretty steady flow between the Rotation and Starter buckets. In a 12-team Superflex league, some of these guys will have to be starters, and that's okay. I might prefer them in the Rotation bucket, but if I have to start them on any given Superflex roster, I am good with it for now. Darnold, Lawrence, and Tagovailoa could all be borrowed time. Darnold needs to show that he can maintain the improvement we've seen from him under coaches like Kyle Shanahan and Kevin O'Connell, or risk Seattle giving Jalen Milroe a shot and never looking back. Lawrence has shown flashes, but he is running out of time to make himself into the type of quarterback dynasty managers are happy with plugging into the lineup rather than constantly looking to upgrade. I can't trust Tagovailoa as a starter on my teams just because his concussion history makes his health much more fragile than I want from a player I plan to depend on.
Upside/Blocked Bucket
- Jaxson Dart, NYG (5)
- Jalen Milroe, SEA (5)
- Joe Milton III, DAL (FA)
These days, this bucket tends to be shallow for quarterbacks. More and more, NFL teams are drafting quarterbacks and expecting them to be able to play right away. The few quarterbacks in this bucket all sit behind veterans, but all have the potential to become a top-12 dynasty starter if things break the right way for them.
Veteran Depth Bucket
- Russell Wilson, NYG (5). He will likely start the season as the quarterback in New York. Whether he stays in that position will depend on how well he plays and how fast Dart can develop.
- Kirk Cousins, ATL (FA): I still think he'll stay in Atlanta, but if a team like Pittsburgh winds up with him as a starter, he jumps at least to the Rotation bucket for the coming season.
- Aaron Rodgers, FA (FA) See Cousins, Kirk, re Pittsburgh possibilities.
- Derek Carr, NOS (FA) This presumes he is a confirmed starter in New Orleans or elsewhere. If not, he isn't much better than a Scratch-Off.
- Jameis Winston, NYG (FA)
- Gardner Minshew II, KC (FA)
- Aidan O'Connell, LV (FA) Young, veteran Geno Smith insurance.
- Sam Howell, MIN (FA) Young veteran J.J. McCarthy insurance. But you won't need it.
- Andy Dalton, CAR (FA) Veteran Bryce Young insurance.
I'm only rostering these guys if I am a contender and one of these scenarios is true:
- I need them to fill a spot because I can't find a better option.
- I'm also rostering the player in front of them and keeping them as insurance.
I'm also probably playing in a league with deep rosters. Today, I might like Winston the most in this bucket simply because with Wilson and Dart in town, he seems the most likely to be sent to a quarterback-needy team as the off-season progresses. If I am in a rebuild, this is an easy bucket to cut from so I can roster younger players with upside from the Scratch-Off bucket below.
Scratch-Off Tickets Bucket
- Anthony Richardson, IND(5)
- Daniel Jones, IND (FA)
- Tyler Shough, NOS (FA)
- Spencer Rattler, NOS (FA)
- Shedeur Sanders, CLE (FA)
- Dillon Gabriel, CLE (FA) Sanders and Gabriel both feel like bettable long shots to me right now.
- Will Howard, PIT (FA) I mean, what if they don't sign Rodgers or trade for Cousins or Winston?
- Will Levis, TEN (FA) Could still find himself with a shot at starting somewhere in the next year or two.
- Malik Willis, GB (FA) Young, veteran Jordan Love insurance with upside, and he is in a good situation with respect to the system and coach.
- Kenny Pickett, CLE (FA)
- Joe Flacco, CLE (FA) Flacco or Pickett could win the job in Cleveland and move into that Veteran Depth or Rotation bucket for contending dynasty teams.
I didn't have much faith in Richardson coming out, so I might not think it's as crazy as others that he finds himself in this bucket. It's a little jarring that it has happened so fast, but I think that's just what happens when you are a quarterback who struggles so mightily to complete passes. Still, the winner of the Richardson/Jones competition probably jumps to the Rotation bucket once the season rolls around. A similar situation could be unfolding in New Orleans with Shough and Rattler. If Carr has played his last snaps as a Saint, one of these guys is likely to emerge as next year's starter. That player also probably heads up to the Rotation bucket. Some of the players in this bucket could add some value to your dynasty rosters if only because you might be able to acquire them for less today than what they might be worth 3-6 months from now. Others will be off of many dynasty rosters by then.
Conclusion
I like to organize the players on my rosters into these buckets to help me get a clear picture of whether I should be contending or rebuilding, and what buckets I might need to fill depending on what I decide. This time of year it is especially helpful to get an idea of which players might be poised to rise or fall a bucket or two as off-season work ramps up and NFL depth charts begin to take shape.
Thanks for playing along. As always, if you adopt any of these concepts, remember to be flexible with them and to pick and choose the parts that work best for your leagues and your style of play. This works for me, but I encourage you to take it and make it better. Check in next week for running back buckets.
