RADIO
John's top QB2 targets and sleepers for 2025 fantasy football Superflex drafts. Read the quarterback sleeper and draft target analysis, including Brock Purdy and more.
The second quarterback can often make or break Superflex teams in fantasy football leagues. Granted that most SF leagues have six-point passing touchdown scoring rules, QB is by far the most important position to nail. The best QB2s can easily outscore the best WR1s and RB1s in any given week.
It's much harder to rush for or catch three touchdowns than it is to pass for three. A team with two QBs who finish in the top eight in fantasy scoring has a massive advantage over any other, to the point where it can be almost insurmountable.
Yet, quarterbacks are often chosen very early in drafts for these leagues, so when all the good prospects have already been taken, it's harder to find talent that can elevate you to a championship. It's my job to help you do that, though! Let's dive in.
Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2025:- 2025 fantasy football rankings (redraft)
- Dynasty fantasy football rankings
- 2025 NFL rookie fantasy football rankings
- Best ball fantasy football rankings
- Quarterback fantasy football rankings
- Running back fantasy football rankings
- Wide receiver fantasy football rankings
- Tight end fantasy football rankings
J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings
I've been tooting McCarthy's horn for a long time now. He's a redshirt rookie since he suffered a meniscus injury and missed all of his first season with the Vikings. But he has serious potential and is in an elite situation for a quarterback.
The Vikings are an incredible team for a QB to play for, both in real life and from a fantasy football perspective. They have one of the league's better pass-protecting offensive lines and an elite system run by head coach Kevin O'Connell that allows even bad quarterbacks like Sam Darnold to thrive.
Vikings QBs Fantasy Scoring (In the KOC era)
2022 (Kirk Cousins): 18.2 FP/G (QB12)
2023 (Kirk Cousins): 19.8 FP/G (QB6)
2024 (Sam Darnold): 19.1 FP/G (QB9)2025 (JJ McCarthy): TBD (QB20 ADP)
— Dataroma (@ffdataroma) May 28, 2025
The entire NFL community completely changed its mind about Darnold after the 2024 season. Well, most of it at least. The last two games of the season were where Darnold cracked -- defenses finally realized that they could repeatedly send a ton of pressure, and he had no answer.
Darnold was terrible throughout his entire career until he landed with the Vikings. Then, he threw for 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. I'm a big believer in credit where credit is due, and I credit the coaching staff and supporting cast for his season.
JJ McCarthy is the Jayden Daniels of 2025. QB that hasn't played before that's getting drafted way too low that could easily finish as a top 5 QB in fantasy if he stays healthy. You should be targeting him a lot.
— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) May 15, 2025
McCarthy is a bit raw as a passer, but we already know that doesn't matter because Darnold can put up great numbers in that system. What truly makes McCarthy intriguing to me is his rushing upside. It's not entirely clear how much he'll run in 2025, but if he takes off at a decent rate, the results could be huge.
Can we PLEASE stop trying to say that JJ McCarthy doesn't have elite rushing upside for a quarterback? So what if he didn't run a lot in college? He's incredibly fast. I can think of one other reason why he's underrated as a rusher, though. https://t.co/Q3UHbbzajY
— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) May 29, 2025
I'm struggling to leave any of my drafts without McCarthy. Great coaches and supporting systems can produce fantastic quarterback seasons. Darnold's tape throughout the rest of his career should have convinced us that it was Minnesota that propped up his production.
For where he's going in Superflex leagues -- as the QB18 overall -- he's a solid bargain. Sorry to anyone who wanted to draft him lower, though, I guess, because I've been gassing him up for months now. I wonder how much that's caused his ADP to rise.
The community does pay attention to even lesser-known analysts such as myself!
Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
I'm never the biggest proponent of "throwing out" entire seasons for players. But that's probably exactly what we should be doing with Purdy. His 2024 was pretty abysmal, by his standards, at least. But a horrific rash of injuries to everyone on his offense pretty much screwed him over.
Wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. got pneumonia, and his play fell off a cliff. WR Brandon Aiyuk (knee) tore his ACL, MCL, and damaged his meniscus in Week 7. WR Ricky Pearsall got shot in the offseason, missing four games as a result, and likely hindering development.
Logan Ryan on what he expects from the 49ers this season:
"I think they pick up right where they left off, which is more 2022, 2023 and not with all the injuries they had last year… Winning the division is a goal. They play in a very tough division over there with the Rams, and… pic.twitter.com/oRGmUAHpl2
— Coach Yac 🗣 (@Coach_Yac) June 17, 2025
And running back Christian McCaffrey, notably a fantastic receiving back, missed nearly the whole season. Not to mention, the offensive line dealt with its fair share of injuries as well. Purdy had about as bad a worst-case scenario as he could have had. It wasn't ideal.
This season, even with Samuel now gone, if things just go a little better for the 49ers in the health department, we should see Purdy bounce back. His 31-touchdown, 11-interception season with 4,280 passing yards should be more in line with what we expect. In addition, his rushing ability took a step up last season.
Brock Purdy's passing stats were way down last season. But Brandon Aiyuk, Ricky Pearsall, and Christian McCaffrey all got hurt. Importantly, he improved measurably as a rusher. 49ers have the easiest schedule in the league in 2025. Career year is loading. pic.twitter.com/IvFuAZO3wH
— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) June 17, 2025
If his offense can stay healthier and he continues to develop as a rusher, we could easily see him have the best year of his career. He finished as the QB6 in normal PPR scoring in 2023, and with the 49ers having easily the softest schedule of any team in the league in 2025, we should see a huge year from No. 13.
Passer Rating Leaders since 2022:
• 106.1, Lamar Jackson
• 104.9, Brock Purdy
• 102.7, Jared Goff pic.twitter.com/LY0FJem5Mb— Coach Yac 🗣 (@Coach_Yac) June 16, 2025
One thing that does give me pause is Aiyuk's injury. He's likely to miss some time, and when he comes back, probably won't be 100 percent. This will be an all-hands-on-deck thing from the team's other receivers. Pearsall, Jauan Jennings, tight end George Kittle, and McCaffrey will all have to be on top of their game.
Still, it's a good thing San Francisco used a first-round pick on Pearsall. He's a talented route runner who could at least provide a portion of what Aiyuk did in 2023, before his holdout and subsequent injury in 2024. But the emergence of Jennings, and the continued elite play of Kittle and McCaffrey, give me some confidence.
The 5 most important fantasy football stats I found from QB Strength of Schedule:
1. Brock Purdy draws the 3rd-easiest QB schedule in 2025…
…while Vegas projects the 49ers’ opponents for the fewest wins of any team.
Purdy averages 20.3 FPG in wins over the past 3 seasons. pic.twitter.com/2rXa9kkgcS
— Ryan Heath (@RyanJ_Heath) May 27, 2025
Either way, at the price of QB15, Purdy is a bargain because I imagine he finishes as a top-10 QB easily. Purdy is generally fantastic in his team's wins, scoring over 20 fantasy points per game in victories. This should be a cakewalk for this team's offense. I'm all in on Purdy for 2025.
Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars
Lawrence is easily the least popular candidate to have a surprisingly good season among the players on this list. To this point, he's been very inconsistent in his career, often showing flashes of brilliance, accompanied by his team blowing it in big games and down the stretch.
It's important to remember, as I explained is the case with McCarthy, that quarterback production is not always just a product of their own abilities. It's heavily dependent on the talent surrounding them on offense and the offensive coaching staff designing and calling the plays.
TREVOR LAWRENCE TO BRIAN THOMAS JR BOMB 🚀 pic.twitter.com/P1qsQxciMF
— PFF (@PFF) October 20, 2024
Isn't a player who shows flashes of greatness but is largely inconsistent exactly what we'd expect from a good quarterback who's dealt with horrendous coaching his entire career? That's exactly what Lawrence has dealt with. He's had Darrell Bevell and Press Taylor as his offensive coordinators.
In addition, the abomination of Urban Meyer's tenure as the head coach for the Jags looms large in Lawrence's history. Those days are behind him -- Jacksonville hired Liam Coen, the offensive coordinator who designed and called one of the league's best offenses in 2024 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Genius of Liam Coen offense 🎥
This is from 3 straight weeks.
•Knowing the defense have scouted this TE cheat motion.
•Makes it look identical, but runs 3 totally different unique plays to confuse the defense.
•3 Touchdowns.
Jax has missed this type of creativity ‼️ pic.twitter.com/jI7aVge8pg
— N F L (@DTWD904) January 30, 2025
Coen's magic in TB helped quarterback Baker Mayfield throw for 13 more pass TDs than he ever had in his career previously. Additionally, Bucs offensive tape is littered with examples of Coen's masterpieces -- there are tons of examples of plays in which it's his scheme that creates scoring opportunities.
WR Jalen McMillan is a perfect example of this -- he didn't have a very good rookie season, and his film shows more of a highlight reel of Coen than it does of himself because he was often running into absolutely wide-open spaces freely for touchdowns.
A Liam Coen chart pic.twitter.com/DKjstekXoY
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) June 15, 2025
And the Jaguars secured the best wide receiver prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft class, Travis Hunter, for Lawrence to have. He now has two WRs who are massive stressors to opposing defenses -- Hunter won the Biletnikoff Award as college football's best wideout despite practicing mostly as a cornerback.
Lawrence will have the best season of his career in 2025 if he stays healthy, and at QB16 overall in Superflex ADP, he should pay off. All three of the guys on this list are likely to finish as top-10 QBs, and I wouldn't even hate drafting all three of them!
Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App
Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy football app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, rankings, starts/sits & more. All free!
More Fantasy Football Analysis
