
Dave's top five quarterback sleepers and draft targets. His top value picks based on fantasy football ADP for 2025, including Dak Prescott, and more.
Quarterback is arguably the most important position in all of professional sports. If a team can find a stud quarterback, it makes their life much easier. This applies to fantasy football managers and their teams as well.
While paying up for a quarterback is a necessity in the NFL, it’s not always the most prudent approach in fantasy football drafts. Year after year, we find value in the quarterback position. There are always signal-callers available later in drafts who outperform their cost. Today, we’re going to look at several quarterbacks who can outperform their ESPN ADP (average draft position) and be great value picks for fantasy football managers.
Make sure you’re following RotoBaller on X, and check out RotoBaller.com for all your fantasy football needs. Here are five quarterbacks set to outperform their ADP in 2025 fantasy football leagues.
Editor's Note: Discover RotoBaller’s top Fantasy Football Sleepers to gain an edge in your drafts. Our free who to draft tool and expert picks spotlight undervalued players, breakout candidates, and late-round gems for all league formats.
Dak Prescott - Dallas Cowboys
ESPN ADP: 143.5 Overall, QB14
Unfortunately, Prescott’s 2024 was cut short due to a torn hamstring. While last year wasn't Prescott's best season, he still has multiple high-end fantasy seasons to his name and has thrown for 30+ touchdown passes multiple times in his career.
No connection quite like @dak and @_CeeDeeThree 🎯
📺: #DALvsWAS on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/X0vcyHUoyR pic.twitter.com/B3aYD0l9hf— NFL (@NFL) January 7, 2024
There is some uncertainty regarding the offense, with Brian Schottenheimer taking over as head coach. However, Dallas did acquire former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens in a trade this offseason. Pickens gives Prescott a legitimate number two target behind CeeDee Lamb, which should mean good things for his fantasy outlook.
Dallas' running game could also struggle in 2025 as the team's main running backs are currently Javonte Williams, Miles Sanders, and 2025 seventh-round pick Jaydon Blue. If this is the case, Dallas will be forced to throw the ball more frequently, and that would also help Prescott's fantasy value.
This is a good opportunity for gamers to bet on a Prescott bounce-back at a very affordable cost. He's an ideal target if you wait on a quarterback and can also be paired with other names on this list.
J.J. McCarthy - Minnesota Vikings
ESPN ADP: 146.2 Overall, QB16
McCarthy enters the 2025 season as Minnesota's unquestioned QB1 after missing his rookie year with a meniscus injury. He is a bit of an unknown for fantasy football purposes.
However, he was a top-10 pick a year ago in the 2024 NFL Draft and Minnesota head coach Kevin O'Connell has pegged him as the team's quarterback of the future. McCarthy has a strong offensive head coach in O'Connell, as well as a plethora of weapons (Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson) at his disposal. That could lead to a strong 2025 season for the former Michigan Wolverine.
J.J. McCarthy to Trishton Jackson for the 45 yard TD!
And @JJettas2 LOVES it!
📺: #LVvsMIN on @NFLNetwork
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/QmEKsnabMz— NFL (@NFL) August 10, 2024
It could all go horribly wrong if McCarthy is Zach Wilson-like bad, but there are enough positives about McCarthy's situation that this is probably not the case. It shouldn't be too surprising to see McCarthy post a strong first season as a starter.
Gamers should feel confident rolling the dice on McCarthy later in drafts.
Drake Maye - New England Patriots
ESPN ADP: 152.5 Overall, QB18
Maye sat on the bench for the first few games of 2024. When he got a chance to play, though, he showcased some tantalizing upside for fantasy football.
DRAKE MAYE. 17-yard rushing TD for the rookie!
📺: #NYJvsNE on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/QCLpeTf9xG— NFL (@NFL) October 27, 2024
New England severely lacked pass-catchers last year, and that dragged down Maye's passing output. What makes Maye such an intriguing sleeper is his rushing upside. Maye ran for 421 rushing yards across 13 games last year. Suppose we project that over a full 17-game season, he would have run for over 550 rushing yards. That would have been the fifth-most rushing yards among all quarterbacks last year and puts Maye in QB1 territory.
By signing Stefon Diggs and drafting rookies Kyle Williams and TreVeyon Henderson, the team is doing its best to surround Maye with better weapons. If these additions help, then Maye should see an increase in passing production this year to go along with a safe floor, thanks to his rushing.
All of that means Maye is a great late-round option who can easily surpass his QB18 price tag.
Jordan Love - Green Bay Packers
ESPN ADP: 156.7 Overall, QB19
Love's 2024 season was a disappointment compared to his QB5 finish in 2023. This has led to some claims that he regressed as a player in 2024. However, nothing could be further from the truth.
after spending the entire weekend researching & writing about the Packers 2024 season I 100% disagree w this
on early downs among 46 QBs, Love ranked:
#4 in YPA
#5 in EPA/att
#8 in successand that's despite being injured/playing thru injury half the year
then on 3rd down... https://t.co/iATM6chesB
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) June 2, 2025
Love dealt with groin and knee injuries last year but still managed to throw 25 touchdown passes and post a 5.9% touchdown rate.
Every Jordan Love passing touchdown from last season. pic.twitter.com/9cBv1YtvZ4
— Nick Penticoff (@NickPenticoff) June 16, 2025
Green Bay ran the football more than expected last year, and Love only averaged 28.3 pass attempts per game compared to 34.1 in 2023. However, it's likely that Green Bay was aware Love was not 100% healthy and was playing hurt. So, the team decided to tweak its offense and call more running plays to help him stay upright.
Love enters 2025 fully healthy, and the team added wide receiver Matthew Golden in the 2025 NFL Draft. His presence adds to an already strong receiving corps. The team's constant chatter of making tight end Tucker Kraft a bigger part of the offense also suggests Green Bay is prepared to air the ball out more compared to 2025.
With Love no longer dealing with nagging injuries, we should expect to see Green Bay put more on his plate and run the offense through him once again in 2025. He has posted an above-average touchdown rate through his first two seasons, and this suggests Love is eventually capable of posting a huge outlier touchdown season at some point down the road.
If you don't want to pay a premium on the top quarterbacks in your draft, then Love is one of your best bets to find a top-5 signal-caller in the later rounds. He's done it before and is capable of doing it again.
Trevor Lawrence - Jacksonville Jaguars
ESPN ADP: 168.2 Overall, QB25
Lawrence has been a borderline bust since he entered the league in 2021. He does have a QB8 finish in 2022 to his name, but he has struggled to be a consistent producer over the last few years.
Jacksonville added receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter in the 2025 NFL Draft. He joins Brian Thomas Jr. to give Lawrence one of the best young 1-2 receiving duos in the NFL.
Liam Coen also takes over as head coach in 2025. He served as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' offensive coordinator last year and helped guide Baker Mayfield to a career year. Coen comes from the Sean McVay coaching tree and brings a much more modern offense that should help make things easier on Lawrence.
The additions of Coen and Hunter should help Lawrence rebound in 2025. It won't take much to beat his current QB25 price tag, and there is sneaky potential for a breakout season.
THIS TREVOR LAWRENCE THROW 🤯
Great toe-tap from Jamal Agnew too 😮
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/WTJsD6guwR
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 1, 2021
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