A few years ago, I made the decision to track where I had ranked Dynasty players throughout their careers on a monthly basis. This has a few uses for me personally, but it also allows me to show you guys how the landscape has changed in the last calendar year. The one side effect I didn't foresee was that when I was wrong about a guy, I also gave you guys a chance to see how dumb I was. In this month's quarterback update, I saw that in my way-too-low rankings of Drake Maye and Jaxson Dart a year ago. They exceeded everyone's expectations in 2025 and surged in the rankings. I mostly missed out on their success.
But all is not lost, even in that revelation. Because it gives us a lens through which we can try to project who will be next year's big risers. One quarterback immediately sticks out for his similarities to Maye and Dart: Cam Ward. No, Ward doesn't run as much as Maye or Dart; he may not even be stylistically similar. But like Maye, he is a second-year quarterback with great pedigree and a new coaching staff. Like Dart, he'll be running a Brian Daboll offense.
Ward had eight touchdowns and only one interception in the final four games of his rookie season. He also saw his sack rate, which plagued him earlier in the year, drop significantly. He looked promising at the very least. And Daboll isn't the only new addition who should make him look better. First-round pick Carnell Tate could be a true No. 1 wide receiver, and no one knows how to play the slot better in Daboll's system than Wan'Dale Robinson.
I think there should be near-universal agreement that Ward has a great chance to take a leap as a passer. The hesitation some have is that Ward only ran 39 times for 159 yards last year. The leap he would need to take as a passer is simply too big if that is how much he is going to run. Well, recently we've heard of Ward losing weight to be a better runner, and Daboll's system has always had designed runs for the QBs. Daboll's QBs have averaged 116 rush attempts per season over the last five years. Ward won't have that many, but his rush attempts could double, which significantly raises his floor and ceiling.
I don't expect Cam Ward will be jumping to QB2 like Maye did. But I would not be surprised at all if he jumps into Dart's range. He has the coaching staff, the weapons, and the traits. He just has to put it all together.
The most recent episode of Fantasy Football Today Dynasty was a one-man mailbag. I answered questions about A.J. Brown in New England, trading Christian McCaffrey for future picks, and more. Check it out:
One other big riser I noticed from the last year was Trevor Lawrence. Lawrence had been a consensus top 12 guy for several years, but never quite delivered. Then he got paired up with Liam Coen and went to the moon in the second half of the season. Like Lawrence, Kyler Murray was a consensus top 12 for a long time, fell even further, and is now paired up with Kevin O'Connell. If a vet makes a move up the rankings like Lawrence did, I would bet on Murray being that guy.
Here are my updated Dynasty Fantasy Football Quarterback Rankings:
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