If you’re dead-set on drafting a quarterback early, then maybe this is not your space.

I will never grab a quarterback early in fantasy football drafts, so that necessitates finding value with quarterbacks. And much like other years, 2017 was no exception in finding solid quarterback value. Quarterbacks who were either a low-end QB1 or on the QB2 radar entering 2017, like Alex Smith, Jared Goff, Matthew Stafford, Philip Rivers and Kirk Cousins finished in the top-12 in scoring.

Even if you don’t love those players’ consistency, streaming quarterbacks was an option I took last year with decent success. So why waste an early pick on a bona fide QB1? Here’s the best QB2-rated quarterbacks, according to FantasyPros, entering the 2018 fantasy football draft. For this exercise, this includes only players ranked 13th or worse.

Jameis Winston is a good bet in the week 1 NFL picks as an underdog. Flickr/Keith Allison

Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, ranked: 14th

Boy, I hitched my entire fantasy football trailer on Winston last year with very little success. But just to show how little value the quarterback position features, I still won both of my fantasy football leagues.

I’m not like every other fantasy football owner. Even if I’ve been bitten before, I may test the waters again.

Winston showed flashes of promise toward the end of the season in 2017, throwing for at least 285 yards in each of the final four games and going for seven touchdowns.

So I’m getting yards and touchdowns with Winston, which is a plus. What has to happen for Winston to sneak into that QB1 discussion, though, is to cut back on turnovers. In those same four games, he turned the ball over nine times, including four fumbles.

He’s been in the league long enough now that he should start turning the corner on taking care of the football. If he can keep a hold of the ball, he can easily be a viable, weekly fantasy option.

Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs, ranked: 17th

We don’t have much information from Mahomes, other than the Chiefs letting veteran Alex Smith go to Washington in favor of starting Mahomes.

We’ve heard the hype of how he has a big arm and is already a better player than Smith. The last time Smith was let go in favor of a backup, Colin Kaepernick could still play and was dynamic.

Kansas City’s offense has been stagnant for years, but showed some glimmers of hope last year, with Smith being pushed by Mahomes. In the past, Andy Reid has had an offense capable of producing a solid QB1 in fantasy football. That’s why there should be some hope with Mahomes, especially at this level.

Don’t expect the dink and dunk style left over from Smith. Mahomes can air it out, so if the hype is true, he could easily be one of the biggest steals in the 2018 fantasy football draft.

Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys, ranked: 19th

I would hate to be a fantasy football expert’s friend. Every year, we see the same story. One bad season is a referendum on a player’s entire future. Imagine being judged on a few mistakes here and there?

We saw it with Todd Gurley entering 2017 (that worked out great, didn’t it?) and now we’re seeing it with Prescott.

Don’t worry Deshaun Watson (ranked No. 4), you’re next.

Prescott wasn’t near the player in his sophomore campaign as he was in his rookie season. And now he’s lost Dez Bryant and Jason Whitten in the offseason. So of course, the fantasy football world is selling Prescott’s stock.

Naturally, that means I’m buying. Prescott still has a dominating offensive line and can score inside the red zone. He was still able to use his feet last year and I expect that to continue. That’s not to mention he still finished 11th in fantasy scoring last year among quarterbacks.

He’s another year older and will be taken so low in the fantasy football draft, he is definitely worth a roster spot.

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