4 Best Late-Round Quarterbacks Picks for 2025 Fantasy Football Drafts

Spending an early draft pick on an elite fantasy quarterback like Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson is the easiest path toward locking in one of the position's top scorers, and players like Allen and Jackson are among the handful of QBs who can realistically finish as the overall QB1.

But we annually see signal-callers who vastly exceed expectations and end up cracking the top 10 or sometimes even top 5 in fantasy points among quarterbacks. Taking the opposite approach and waiting to take your guy can pay huge dividends.

Looking back at FantasyPros' average draft position (ADP) data in 2024, Jayden Daniels (drafted as QB12), Jared Goff (QB15), Baker Mayfield (QB21), and Bo Nix (QB23) all went outside the top 100, and Daniels was the only one drafted as a borderline starter in 12-team formats. Yet all four finished inside the top seven in QB fantasy points, with Mayfield and Daniels both averaging 21+ points per game.

Even Sam Darnold, a total afterthought picked outside the top 30 QBs last season, finished as the QB9.

Of course, figuring out who the latest diamonds in the rough will be is the tricky part. Let's look at four quarterbacks with an ADP outside the top 100 who could fit the mold in 2025.

Best Late-Round Quarterback Picks in Fantasy Football

Brock Purdy, 49ers

ADP: 105.0 (QB11)

In traditional 12-team formats, Brock Purdy is shaking out as a solid late QB1 option.

Although Purdy dropped from the QB6 in 2023 to QB14 in total points last year, his per-game average took just a slight hit from 19.2 to 18.6. That's notable in a lost 2024 campaign for the San Francisco 49ers that saw its offense get decimated by injuries, including significant missed time for Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk, and Trent Williams.

After posting a league-high 7.0% touchdown rate in 2023 and an even higher 7.6% when he emerged in late 2022, it wasn't surprising to see Purdy regress to the mean in this department, particularly with the injuries to his supporting cast. He logged a 4.4% clip in 2024, leading to only 20 scores.

However, he still remained efficient through the air, as he produced 8.5 yards per attempt, 0.15 expected points added per dropback and a 50.7% passing success rate, per NFL Next Gen Stats. With his touchdown rate likely falling somewhere in between his 2022-23 and 2024 marks, his efficiency and a healthier offense should get those TDs back up again.

Best of all, Purdy added a running element to his game, rushing for 5 TDs while averaging 4.4 rushes and 21.5 yards per game. That might not seem like much, but he finished 11th in QB rushing yards (323) despite missing two games.

FanDuel Research's Jim Sannes also highlighted Purdy as an undervalued quarterback, noting that he's on one of just six teams with a double-digit win total on FanDuel Sportsbook.

According to FantasyPros' consensus projections, Purdy is averaging out as the QB9, another sign that he's a good value at his ADP.

Drake Maye, Patriots

ADP: 122.0 (QB18)

For the first time in years, there's some positive buzz surrounding the New England Patriots, and while they're still a ways away from sniffing anything close to the glory days, Drake Maye is a big reason for that optimism.

Despite the deck being stacked against Maye a disastrous one-and-done campaign under coach Jerod Mayo, he still managed to show signs that he could be the guy to pull the franchise out of the gutter.

The best way to demonstrate this might be by comparing his metrics to Jacoby Brissett, who began last year as the Pats' starter. Below is a chart of Brissett's 5 starts compared to Maye's 11 (minus Week 18), excluding relief appearances where they wouldn't have prepared for a start.

At face value, most of Maye's numbers don't point to immediate stardom, but the way he vastly outperformed the veteran as a rookie under the same dire circumstances has to be viewed as a big positive.

And that supporting cast has nowhere to go but up. Total revamps to the O-line, wide receiver room, and coaching staff should at least give Maye a fighting chance of turning this into a league-average offense that can support him as a fantasy asset.

Additionally, Maye has that rushing upside we so crave from our fantasy signal-callers, averaging 4.9 rushes and 36.3 yards per game in those starts. Even in an abridged season, his 421 rushing yards put him in the same area as season-long starters Nix (430) and Caleb Williams (489), and over a full campaign, it wouldn't be outlandish to envision him rushing for for 500+ in the Josh Allen and Kyler Murray range.

Our Austin Swaim has his eye on Maye in fantasy drafts this offseason, as well.

J.J. McCarthy, Vikings

ADP: 123.0 (QB19)

Unlike our previous two entries, we're working off of zero NFL snaps when it comes to evaluating J.J. McCarthy, but he enters 2025 in an excellent situation with the Minnesota Vikings.

After all, this is the same team that resurrected Sam Darnold's career from the dead -- remember, Darnold was last year's QB9 -- and the combination of head coach Kevin O'Connell and a strong pass-catching group led by Justin Jefferson should give McCarthy a chance to be effective right away after missing all of last year to injury.

While Minnesota's season went out with a whimper following a nine-sack performance by Darnold in the postseason, the offensive line should be a plus for McCarthy entering 2025, too, as PFF ranks the o-line as the seventh-best unit this offseason.

Plus, it's clear the Vikings are high on McCarthy after taking him 10th overall in the 2024 NFL Draft and then letting the aforementioned Darnold walk after his bounce-back season. Going into that draft, Jim Sannes' model ranked McCarthy as the second-best prospect statistically in that class between Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix -- and we saw how those guys did as rookies.

FantasyPros' consensus projections are also rather bullish on McCarthy, ranking him 13th in projected fantasy points at quarterback.

Obviously, despite a lot of potential positives, there are a wider range of outcomes for a first-year starter -- but the upside definitely outweighs the risk at such a low cost.

Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars

ADP: 135.0 (QB22)

After a promising finish as the QB8 in 2022, Trevor Lawrence has underwhelmed in the two seasons since, causing his draft stock to plummet. After getting drafted as the 8th quarterback in 2023, that dropped to 16th in 2024, and we're now at 22nd in 2025.

Still, in a similar vein as McCarthy, Lawrence's environment might be able to lift him up.

New Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen is fresh off helping Baker Mayfield to a career year as the offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which should immediately give us hope for Lawrence. The former No. 1 overall pick will also have an intriguing wide receiver duo in Brian Thomas Jr. and rookie Travis Hunter. Thomas burst onto the scene as a rookie in 2024 -- despite Lawrence missing much of the year to injury -- and has vaulted up draft boards as the WR8 this offseason.

Lawrence also ran less often in 2024, and a return to the 4.4 carries and 21.2 yards per game he averaged in 2023 would be a nice boost. Considering Mayfield had easily the best rushing numbers of his career under Coen, it isn't far-fetched to think Lawrence could once again be a plus as a runner.

This is still just the 25-year-old's fifth season, and we're not far removed from him averaging nearly 18 fantasy points per game in 2022. That would've put Lawrence firmly in the low-end QB1 mix last season, and he's now being drafted as a low-end QB2.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.