Each NFL team uses just one quarterback per game (ideally) and the incidence of producing one of the best eight games allowed by a defense is less difficult than the other fantasy positions that employ several players in the same position per game.
Below shows how often a player logged the best game allowed by a secondary (Top-1), one of the four best performances allowed (Top-4), and one of the best eight performances (Top-8). With 17 games played, a Top-8 game is “above average” among the best quarterbacks from each opponent. Notable too is that players only face 14 teams per year, three division mates are played twice and cannot give them more than one “Top-1.”
The “Better than Average” (BTA) score is a weighting of those games.
See Also: Better than average
Running backs | Wide receivers | Tight ends
Bottom line: This is a true measurement of how productive a quarterback once the schedule influences are removed. It compares them to other quarterbacks that faced that same defense. If a player rates higher here than they did with 2023 fantasy points, it means they were limited by a schedule and are better than their last year’s stats suggest.
A high number of Top-8 performances indicate the consistency of their big games. A dozen quarterbacks turned more than half of their games as one of the eight best performances versus a defense. Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts were the true leaders in the metric and both were Top-3 in 2023.
Patrick Mahomes fell dramatically in this ranking because he only once managed to post the most points that a defense allowed, and yet was still solid with nine games of Top-8 performances. He just failed to produce those big games we were used to and rated No. 1 last year after producing a position-leading seven No. 1’s in 2022.
C.J. Stroud and Jordan Love were newcomers to the ranking and remember that Stroud missed two games in his rookie season. He obviously already belongs in the elite tier.
This is the list of quarterbacks that posted the best fantasy game allowed by an opposing defense all year for 2023.
Stroud again impresses, tying Jackson for the NFL-best three games where they posted the most fantasy points that defense allowed last season. Interesting too is that Sam Howell and Joshua Dobbs were in this elite grouping and yet are both backups for different teams this year.