Fantasy Football

Fantasy Football QB Index: Week 12

Who are the top rated passers in the NFL?

By Paddi Cooper@PaddiCooper Nov 29, 2018, 11:00am EST

NFL: Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals

After what was a rare down week for this season’s quarterbacks in Week 11, Week 12 got us back on track. The average QB Index rating this week came in at 57.4%, some six percentage points up on Week 11 and was the third highest rated week of the season. Season to date the average rating sits at 54.1% against 49.8% through Week 12 last season. The completion rates continue to sit at unprecedented levels, with Week 12 seeing the average completion rate at 68.7%, with 16 quarterbacks over 70% and two over 90%. Philip Rivers broke an NFL record for completion rate when attempting 20 or more passes, completing 28 of 29 passes for a 96.6% completion rate.

In terms of the standout performances from Week 12, the QB Index was led by Baker Mayfield for the second time in three weeks, as he posted a 92.4% rating as the Browns picked up their fourth win of the season in defeating the Bengals. Mayfield has back to back games with over 90% ratings, only the fourth player since 1970 to perform such a feat and the first rookie ever to do so. Mayfield has moved up to be the 17th overall quarterback in 2018 and is now inside the top-20 passers in fantasy points per game and will be an interesting streaming option for the rest of the season, though he faces the number one fantasy defense against quarterbacks in the Texans in Week 13.

Russell Wilson had his second highest rating of 2018 as he led the Seahawks to victory on the road in Carolina. Wilson’s 81.8% rating means he now sits as a top-10 quarterback in QB Index rating, and his fantasy points per game have steadily increased, with Wilson posting at least 18.7 points in each of his last 7 games.

Despite the Titan’s loss on Monday Night Football, Marcus Mariota posted his best rating of 2018, with an 80.3% rating. Mariota was near perfect, completing 22 of 23 passes, though the six sacks he took means he has the highest adjusted sack rate in the NFL, as he is being sacked on 12.8% of his dropbacks.

Both Kirk Cousins and Tom Brady had their highest ratings of 2018, posting matching 77.3% ratings as the Vikings and Patriots won in Week 12. For Cousins, it was his highest fantasy score since Week 4 with 27.38 points, the second most of Week 12 (DeShaun Watson 29.40 points).

At the bottom of the rankings, it was a rough week all round for Blake Bortles. He followed up his lowest rating of the season last week but going even lower in Week 12 with a 16.7% rating. Bortles has now found himself benched in Week 13 in favor of Cody Kessler. Kessler has a career QB Index rating of 46.2%, slightly higher than Bortles’ 43.0%.