Sleeper QB Candidates for 2022 Fantasy Football

Everyone loves a good sleeper QB pick who pops off in fantasy football. Last year, it was Jalen Hurts (and somehow Tom Brady, if we’re going based on ADP).
We’re always on the hunt for a good sleeper QB because waiting on a QB on draft day is still a popular strategy.
Below, we’ll run through some of the more known sleeper candidates this year, but then we’ll go further into the bag of tricks for some deep sleeper QB candidates for 2022.

(Check out more: QB Busts | RB Sleepers | RB Busts | WR Sleepers | WR Busts | TE Sleepers | TE Busts)

Justin Fields, Chicago Bears
Trey Lance, San Francisco 49ers

I’m lumping these two together because a lot already has been — and will continue to be — written about them. That includes:

• An entire article I wrote examining Trey Lance’s viability as a fantasy QB1 next year.
• Featuring Justin Fields as the No. 1 player to trade for in dynasty this offseason

The bottom line is that these are two potential fantasy goldmines who hardly had a chance to shine last year, so the hype isn’t quite where it should be. Of QBs regularly drafted outside of the top 12, these two easily have the best chance to smash ADP.

Derek Carr, Las Vegas Raiders

The addition of Davante Adams to Derek Carr’s arsenal is huge for Carr’s fantasy appeal. It’s why he’s one of the biggest winners of the free agency period so far, even if it wasn’t a free agency move that got him there. Carr has always been a better fantasy QB than real QB (though in truth, not great at either), but that trend may reverse in 2022.

Carr has averaged only 24 TDs per season throughout his career. Adams has averaged nearly half that (11.5) by himself over the last six seasons. Adams in the Raiders offense should be enough to push Carr into more bankable fantasy territory. The ceiling is Carr as a as a viable streamer with weekly upside, and he could crack the late QB1 class if everything breaks just right.

Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee Titans

Ryan Tannehill face-planted in 2021 and looked a lot more like old Ryan Tannehill than supposedly new Ryan Tannehill. He threw just 21 TDs against 14 INTs with a passer rating of 89.6 — stats aligned with his lackluster 2012-2018 Dolphins career. The result is that Tannehill, who was drafted as a tail-end QB1 for fantasy last year, is now off the map entirely.

While that’s certainly the right move from a 30,000-foot view, it does also make Tannehill a favorite post-hype sleeper candidate. He did throw 55 TDs and 13 INTs in 1.5 seasons prior to the 2021 flop. The Titans nuclear of Derrick Henry and A.J. Brown still exists, and the team swapped out Julio Jones for Robert Woods in the first few days of the new league year. 

He’s obviously not a sure thing, but there is still a more-than-he’s-given-credit-for chance that the 2019-2020 version of Tannehill returns next season.

Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars

Looking for straightforward stats that make Trevor Lawrence’s rookie season look decent feels futile. He flopped. He threw for just 12 TDs against 17 INTs with a putrid 71.9 passer rating.

But Urban Meyer was his coach for much of the year, and that stench was strong enough that people haven’t giving up on Lawrence just yet. 

The Jags invested a ton to give Lawrence more weapons, adding Christian Kirk, Zay Jones and Evan Engram despite losing D.J. Chark. Travis Etienne is also due back after missing his rookie year with an injury. 

Consider Lawrence another post-hype sleeper. Heralded as the best QB prospect since Andrew Luck, a bounce back season in 2022 in a new system is not hard to envision. 

Mitchell Trubisky, Pittsburgh Steelers

Yeah, I wrote it.

Mitchell Trubisky should be the QB on an ultra-talented Steelers offense featuring Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool, Najee Harris and Pat Freiermuth. It’s by far Trubisky’s best supporting cast of his career. 

Trubisky has produced fantasy QB1 results in about one-third of his career games. That’s obviously not great, but it also doesn’t require that much more for Trubisky to become a legitimate weekly streaming option (QBs need to hover in the 50% range for that to be the case). It sounds like a joke, but he could be a name you see pop up often if you like to stream QBs.