• From potentially undrafted to fantasy league-winner: Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence defied the odds by finding success with Parker Washington and company as his top wide receivers, finishing the year as a top-five fantasy quarterback, including top-15 weekly finishes in 12 of his 16 games.

• Lamar Jackson didn’t replicate his usual fantasy stardom: Injuries were a major factor for the Ravens’ starting quarterback, but it was still a disappointment that he wasn’t able to make good on his top-three quarterback ADP.

• Get PFF+ for 30% off: Use promo code HOLIDAY30 to unlock the PFF Player Prop Tool, Premium Stats, fantasy dashboards, the PFF Mock Draft Simulator, industry-leading fantasy rankings and much more — everything you need to win your season.

Estimated Reading Time: 7minutes

Every NFL season is full of good and bad surprises, and 2025 was no exception. Plenty of fantasy football assets emerged seemingly out of nowhere to become quality starting options, while others let us down, either due to injury, poor play, inefficiency or benching.

In this article, we’ll look at some of the pleasant surprises and surprise disappointments at quarterback from 2025, leaving out players who missed significant chunks of time due to injury.

Editor’s note: Fantasy points/rankings are from Weeks 1-17

Pleasant Surprise: Drake Maye, New England Patriots

• Finish: QB2
• ADP: QB18

Maye entered year two as a potential breakout candidate at quarterback after a solid rookie season and several overall improvements to his supporting cast. The hope was that he could crack the top 12 fantasy quarterbacks for the season, which would still make him a value compared to where he was being drafted — typically well outside that range (QB18 on Sleeper).

Not only did Maye prove to be a value based on his ADP, but with all the quarterback injuries and his breakout, he delivered a top-three finish at his position, averaging a strong 21.0 points per game — up significantly from his 13.6 average in 2024.

Maye’s overall performance jump as an NFL quarterback was also arguably the best in the league this past season. He went from a 64.9 PFF passing grade as a rookie, which ranked 31st among qualifying quarterbacks in the regular season, to an 85.0 mark in 2025, a top-five figure at the position. 

Maye delivered just over 400 rushing yards to go along with his 4,203 passing yards, both of which were top-six marks for the position. Thanks to his consistent production, Maye finished outside of the top 15 weekly fantasy quarterbacks only twice all season. His rushing ability was always a big part of his fantasy potential, but seeing him deliver as an elite passer in year two should only add to his encouraging long-term fantasy profile heading into 2026 and beyond.

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Pleasant Surprise: Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams

• Finish: QB3
• ADP: QB23

Stafford is coming off the second-best fantasy season of his 17-year NFL career, and his best since 2011. His performance has put him in contention to win the NFL MVP, headlined by a career-best 93.2 PFF overall grade through 17 weeks. If not for a down Week 17, in which he threw three interceptions, Stafford would likely be in contention for most valuable fantasy quarterback, as well, when considering that he was either going undrafted or taken outside the top 20 players at his position in fantasy drafts this preseason.

With Puka Nacua and Davante Adams as his top receiving weapons, Stafford was able to bounce back nicely from just a QB19 finish in 2024, as he ended up throwing for a career-high — and league-high — 42 touchdowns this season.

Making this season even more of a pleasant surprise is that Stafford is doing all of this at 37 years old. He also paces the league in PFF passing grade (93.1), big-time throws (46), and big-time-throw rate (7.8%). 

We’ll have to watch for signs of regression in 2026 for Stafford’s high-volume passing ability, although he’s unlikely to be drafted overly early this coming offseason. Adams is also a potential free agent, while Nacua will be looking for a new contract — two crucial situations for the Rams to sort out. If they’re both locked in and ready to go, then Stafford’s fantasy expectations heading into 2026 will be far higher than this past offseason.

Pleasant Surprise: Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars

• Finish: QB4
• ADP: QB20

With Liam Coen taking over at head coach for the Jaguars this past offseason, there was an overall expectation that the team’s offense would greatly improve. But Lawrence’s ADP showed that fantasy managers had some skepticism about his potential to be a weekly fantasy starter.

Lawrence has been a solid fantasy starter for most of this season for those who added him early following the campaign’s many quarterback injuries. Lawrence finished the year as a top-five fantasy quarterback, including top-15 weekly finishes in 12 of his 16 games, a top-12 finish nine times and a top-five finish three times.

Arguably most impressive is that he did so without standout wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. contributing much at all, and with the team’s No. 2 overall pick, wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter, getting injured in Week 7 and missing the rest of the year.

Unlike Matthew Stafford, who had Puka Nacua and Davante Adams for most of the season, Lawrence was able to produce high-end numbers with Parker Washington leading the team in receiving yards (760) and Travis Etienne, a running back, leading the team in receiving touchdowns (six) in 2025.

For a quarterback who was often undrafted or selected well outside the top 15 players at his position heading into the year, Lawrence was a pleasant surprise for fantasy managers.

Pleasant Surprise: Daniel Jones, Indianapolis Colts

• Finish: QB7 (Weeks 1-13)
• ADP: QB34

Jones is more of an honorable mention on this list, as he unfortunately suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in Week 14. He went widely undrafted this year, considering his QB34 ADP on Sleeper, as there was some question about whether he would hold the Colts’ starting job all year with Anthony Richardson lurking behind him. However, Jones performed well and had the team rolling early to a 7-1 start through the first half of the year, quickly ending any such concerns about his job security.

Jones has found fantasy success in his career previously, although a big part of that has come from his rushing ability, which wasn’t as big a contribution to his success in 2025. Jones logged more than 30 rushing yards in a game just once and averaged 13.3 rushing yards per game this season — by far the lowest mark of his career.

He truly surprised through the air, setting a career high in passing yards per game (253.4), up nearly 40 yards from his career average (213.0). Unfortunately, the road back isn’t an easy one for Jones, so expectations for next season will likely be low again. But perhaps he can surprise us once more in 2026.

Surprise Disappointment: Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens

• Finish: QB20
• ADP: QB2

After finishing 2024 as the overall QB1, Jackson was drafted no worse than QB3 at his position almost across the board this preseason, as the expectation would be that he’d produce weekly QB12 finishes or better for the majority of the year.

While the season started great for Jackson, featuring three consecutive top-five fantasy finishes for the position, that dissipated quickly due to injury and some missed time, as he would not reach those highs again for the rest of the year. Jackson missed four games, and in his eight games since returning from his first injury, he finished outside the top 15 weekly fantasy quarterbacks six times.

Injuries were obviously a major factor for Jackson this season, but he still qualifies for this list, having played 12 games this season. His play dropped off dramatically this year, especially compared to his MVP-level 2024 season. Jackson’s 65.4 PFF passing grade is his lowest mark since his rookie year, just one season after he set a career high in that regard (92.6).

Jackson will ideally bounce back in 2026, although there are now rumors that he is a potential trade candidate, which will add an interesting wrinkle to his potential fantasy resurgence in the years ahead.