3 Early-Round Quarterbacks to Draft (2026 Fantasy Football)

When preparing for your fantasy football drafts, knowing which players to target and which to avoid is important. The amount of information available can be overwhelming, so a great way to condense the data and determine players to draft and others to leave for your leaguemates is to use our expert consensus fantasy football rankings compared to fantasy football average draft position (ADP). In this way, you can identify players the experts are willing to reach for at ADP and others they are not drafting until much later than average. Let’s dive into a few notable early-round quarterbacks expert Pat Fitzmaurice targets in fantasy football drafts.

2026 Fantasy Football Draft Advice: 3 Early-Round Quarterbacks to Draft

Pat Fitzmaurice shares three quarterbacks he’s willing to target early in fantasy football drafts.

Josh Allen (BUF)

Josh Allen is once again the consensus QB1 in fantasy. He finished QB1 in fantasy scoring last season for the fourth time in the last six years. After down years from Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts, the gap between Allen and other fantasy QBs seems to have widened. And yet, there are at least a few small gray clouds dotting Allen’s profile. In 2025, he hit a six-year low in passing yards per game (215.8), TD passes (25), and fantasy points per game (22.0). A lack of pass-catching weaponry has been a problem. Khalil Shakir led the Bills with 719 receiving yards in 2026, and Buffalo hasn’t had even a 900-yard receiver since Stefon Diggs left after the 2023 season. The Bills traded for D.J. Moore in March in an attempt to give Allen additional help. But what really anchors Allen’s fantasy value is his rushing. He ran for 579 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2025 – his third consecutive season with double-digit TD runs. Over the last five years, Allen has averaged 640 rushing yards and 10.8 TD runs.

Lamar Jackson (BAL)

Injuries and a steep decline in rushing production cratered Lamar Jackson‘s fantasy value in 2025. After finishing QB1 in fantasy scoring in 2024, Jackson plummeted to a QB20 fantasy finish last season and was QB16 in fantasy points per game at the position. Jackson lost three games to an early-season hamstring injury and one game to a late-season back injury. He also dealt with knee, ankle, and toe issues that may have contributed to the sharp drop-off in his rushing numbers. In his first six seasons as a full-time starter, Jackson averaged 10 rushing attempts and 63 rushing yards per game. In 2026, he averaged 5.2 rushing attempts and 26.8 rushing yards per game. Jackson has been an elite fantasy scorer at the position for so long that it’s reasonable to think better health will propel him to another high-end QB1 season. It’s worth noting, however, that Jackson will be working with a new offensive coordinator, 29-year-old Declan Doyle, a former assistant to Bears head coach Ben Johnson.

Drake Maye (NE)

In only his second NFL season, Drake Maye finished QB2 in fantasy scoring, averaging 21.1 fantasy points per game. Maye was sublime as a passer last year, leading the NFL in completion percentage (72.0%), yards per pass attempt (8.9) and passer rating (113.5). Maye finished a close second in the MVP balloting behind the Rams’ Matthew Stafford. Aided by the tailwinds of a favorable regular-season schedule, Maye produced 4,394 passing yards and 31 TD passes. He also chipped in as a runner with 450 rushing yards and four TD runs – and his bountiful college rushing stats suggest there’s still more meat on that bone. Maye got a rude wakeup call in the playoffs, completing 58.3% of his throws and averaging 207 passing yards per game and 6.9 yards per attempt in a four-game run against the Chargers, Texans, Broncos and Seahawks – all among the best pass defenses in the league. Despite the sour ending, Maye’s second NFL season was a triumph. He’s a top-five fantasy quarterback moving forward.

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