The NFL preseason is finally over. After 15 games on Thursday night, we’re done with the exhibition part of the year and now head into the games that count. This is also the time of year when fantasy drafts kick into high gear and owners finalize their Week 1 starting lineups. It’s an exciting time to be a football fan.
Fantasy football performance of sleeper, bust quarterback candidates from preseason Week 4
The preseason wrapped up Thursday night, so let’s take some fantasy stock of the quarterbacks who played.
Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Not many starters played in the final preseason game — teams mostly have their depth charts figured out by now, and we mostly saw just deep reserves play on Thursday. So for the sleeper and bust candidates, we’ll examine only the players who took the field in the fourth game, along with some key injured players whose regular-season status remains uncertain.
Let’s take a look at the quarterbacks.
Potential sleepers
Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs — Mahomes couldn’t beat out Alex Smith for the Week 1 start, but he still showed off his huge potential Thursday night, playing the entire first half and dropping dimes all over the Tennessee Titans. Mahomes’ cannon arm and gunslinger mentality gives him a much higher upside than Smith in the long term. For now, he’s only a dynasty asset and bench stash in deeper fantasy leagues, but Mahomes looked like he’s ready to play right now.
Nathan Peterman, Buffalo Bills — Tyrod Taylor suffered a concussion last week and should be cleared for Week 1, but it certainly feels like he’s falling out of favor in Buffalo. The Bills have confirmed that Taylor is still the starter, but his leash could be short with a new coaching staff that didn’t draft him. At this point, Peterman is only a name to watch in two-quarterback leagues, but there’s a window of opportunity for him.
Potential busts
Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago Bears — Trubisky didn’t do anything to put heat on Mike Glennon in the last preseason game. He did the opposite, in fact, completing just 2 of 5 passes for 10 yards and failing to score any points against the Cleveland Browns’ backup defense. Trubisky may yet be a fantasy factor this season, but it probably won’t be happening any time soon. Either QB would be a bottom-barrel asset in a dysfunctional Bears offense that’s now missing Cameron Meredith.
Josh McCown, New York Jets — The Jets inexplicably started McCown on Thursday, despite already naming him the regular-season starter. He then got hurt on a sack and got taken out shortly afterward. This is yet another reminder of the 38-year-old’s increasing fragility and that the Jets could find new levels of futility this season.
Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts — It’s safe to say that Luck isn’t playing Week 1 and might be out for even longer than that. This makes it impossible to gauge his fantasy value at the moment, because drafting him requires that you’ll need another QB on the roster for however long Luck is out. He’s just way too risky to invest in right now, even with his obvious talent. Scott Tolzien was dreadful in the preseason and the Colts’ entire offense should be faded without Luck under center.
