"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." - Eleanor Roosevelt.
"A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality." - Yoko Ono
"Follow your dreams. You can reach your goals. I'm living proof. Beefcake! BEEFCAAAAAKE!" - Eric Cartman
Truly inspiring words from some of history's greatest thinkers. You might be wondering what they're doing atop a fantasy football column. The simple answer is that they were non-sequitur quotes about dreams in a column about best fantasy dream fits. If you have a better correlation, I'm all ears.
Let's talk quarterbacks. This list is based on situations that seem like plausible landing spots for the top prospects. Sure, Josh Rosen staying in Los Angeles and slinging passes to Brandin Cooks and Robert Woods seems like a lot of fun ... but it ain't happening. Are we all good on this? Here we go.
Josh Allen, Wyoming
Best fit: New York Giants
The Bills are rumored to be enamored with Josh Allen and his rocket right arm but why should Allen play in New York when he can play under the bright lights of New Jersey?
However you feel about Allen's pro prospects, nearly everyone agrees that he could be a project in the short term. That's okay because the Giants are committed to Eli Manning for at least one more season. Even if Manning gets hurt or the season goes sideways, there won't be immense pressure on Allen to get Big Blue to the promised land right away.
(What am I saying? It's New York. The spotlight's always on. Sorry, Josh.)
Perhaps more than any other quarterback in this class, Allen will need to be surrounded with pass-catchers who can help him. The "but his receivers at Wyoming dropped everything" narrative has been a big part of Allen's draft journey so far. Having him throw to Odell Beckham Jr. (if he's still there), Sterling Shepard, and Evan Engram would eliminate those concerns.
Allen would be a huge upgrade over Manning when it comes to the vertical passing game because of his arm strength. Though in truth, Allen has an advantage over a slew of quarterbacks in that respect. But considering Manning's declining arm strength, Allen would re-inject some life into Big Blue's deep passing game.
Sam Darnold, USC
Best fit: Buffalo Bills
The prevailing opinion right now is that the Cleveland Browns will spend the No. 1 overall pick on Darnold, which certainly wouldn't be a terrible move. But in the dream world we've set up here, Darnold doesn't end up as the Factory of Sadness' newest foreman.
Instead, how about Darnold setting up shop on Lake Erie's eastern shore? Josh Allen is cool, but is it really the best idea to pair a quarterback who's struggled with collegiate accuracy alongside a receiving corps that is bereft of any real depth? That's gonna be a no for me, dawg.
To be sure, Darnold had his share of poor throws and questionable decisions during his two seasons at USC. However, he sported an appreciably greater completion percentage than Allen. (This is the part where Draft Twitter shouts at me for leaning on completion percentage to make a point. Miss me.) While Darnold isn't the rushing threat that Tyrod Taylor was, the USC product can extend plays with his legs while in the pocket but is also a fairly dangerous runner when things break down.
Darnold does have a couple of advantages over Taylor, the first of which is his height. There had always been talk that Taylor's (lack of) height prevented him from seeing the middle of the field. At 6-foot-3, Darnold has few such concerns. The other advantage is Darnold's fearlessness. It's a trait that borders on recklessness at times but is quite unlike Taylor's apparent fear of going deep, something that irked Bills fans to no end. If Tyrod could make this offense productive last season, Darnold should be able to do that and a little more.
Lamar Jackson, Louisville
Best fit: Jacksonville Jaguars
If there has been a day during this draft season that hasn't involved a heated online argument over Lamar Jackson, I certainly missed it. The former Heisman Trophy winner might be the most talked about QB prospect in this draft. He is certainly the most athletic.
In that case, why not have him take snaps in the Jaguars backfield alongside Leonard Fournette? The Jags offense
flourished
excelled
moved the ball effectively with Blake Bortles executing numerous RPOs. Read that again. Blake Bortles was essentially asked to run the option. If he can do it, how much better would it be with a quarterback who averaged, 1,586 rushing yards in his final two seasons at Louisville.
Of course, Jackson is more than just read-options and end runs to the end zone. He's made it abundantly clear with his desire to be seen only as a quarterback. Like Allen, Jackson had his issues with accuracy and drops but time in Nathaniel Hackett's offense could ease some of those troubles. Last season, Bortles made hay with high-percentage short and intermediate throws. With similar opportunities and his nightmarish ability to threaten defenses with his foot speed, Jackson could have a Deshaun Watson-like impact.
Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma
Best fit: Denver Broncos
John Elway says the Broncos are happy with their signing of Case Keenum. And I believe him. Sort of. In the short-term, Keenum might be the answer. But it's also fair to remember that he was a journeyman who was an afterthought on his own team until Sam Bradford got hurt early in the season. Keenum went on to post career numbers but you'll be forgiven if you're skeptical about his ability to do it again.
Regardless, it was painfully apparent after last season that the Broncos needed an upgrade at quarterback after struggling to generate offense with Trevor Siemian. Mayfield outpaces Siemian in his ability to deliver the ball on-target. If there's one thing you've heard about Baker Mayfield during this process, it's that he's accurate throwing the football.
If there's another thing you've heard about Mayfield, it's that he's short. Or at least he's not tall. Because of his skill in anticipating routes coming open, he didn't seem to have a problem throwing over the middle of the field during his time in Norman. Hopefully, it won't impact him in the NFL, either. But if for some reason it becomes an issue, Mayfield in Denver means throwing to Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders who ran a majority of their routes near the boundary.
Finally, Mayfield displays an aggressiveness with the football that Siemian didn't have for much of his tenure as the starter. That's definitely good news for Sanders, who can still stretch defenses when needed.
Josh Rosen, UCLA
Best fit: Cleveland Browns
While some might not think Rosen has the blue-collar appeal needed to succeed in Cleveland (spoiler alert: Sam Darnold's hometown of Capistrano Beach, while lovely, isn't exactly a blue-collar stronghold), I think Browns fans will learn to love a quarterback who might currently be the most complete signal-caller in this class.
Rosen has the combination of football smarts and pinpoint accuracy that could make him the franchise quarterback that the Dawg Pound has coveted since ... well, since the last time they were the Cleveland Browns. He is the kind of player who should be able to fit in nicely with a young(ish) and talented group of pass-catchers that won't force him to play hero ball all of the time -- a trait which got him into trouble at UCLA.
The key for the Browns will be building a wall in front of him. Rosen took a lot of hits during his tenure with the Bruins and, not surprisingly, he had a tendency to look antsy in the pocket. He also struggled to maintain the same level of accuracy when he's forced to move around too much in the pocket. The Browns struggled to protect their quarterbacks last season, giving up 50 sacks (sixth-most). If they can keep Rosen upright, he could be the key to unlocking the Browns offensive potential.
Marcas Grant is a fantasy editor for NFL.com and a man who believes that 2018 should be the year we ask why? (shrug emoji) #why. Send him your semi-snarky queries via Twitter @MarcasG. If you read all of that, congrats. Follow him on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat (marcasg9).
