Top 5 Mid-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. Here are five quarterbacks available in the middle rounds of fantasy football drafts that expert Pat Fitzmaurice loves to target.

2026 Fantasy Football Draft Advice: Mid-Round Quarterbacks to Target

Here are quarterbacks Pat Fitzmaurice loves to target in the middle rounds of fantasy football drafts.

Justin Herbert (LAC)

Over the first three years of his NFL career, Justin Herbert averaged 287.5 passing yards and 1.9 TD passes per game. Over the last three years, he’s averaged 233.3 passing yards and 1.5 TD passes per game. There hasn’t been a discernible difference in Herbert’s passing efficiency over those two periods. The downturn can be traced to (at various times) conservative play-calling, offensive line injuries, or a shortage of quality pass catchers. Those problems appear to have been resolved, and Herbert could have a banner season in tandem with new Chargers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel (under whom Tua Tagovailoa led the league in passing yardage three years ago).

Trevor Lawrence (JAC)

As the 2025 regular season reached its conclusion, Trevor Lawrence was playing the best football of his five-year NFL career under first-year Jaguars head coach Liam Coen. Over his first 10 games, Lawrence averaged 215 passing yards, 1.1 TD passes and 16.6 fantasy points per game. He averaged 6.4 yards per pass attempt over that span, and his passer rating was 79.4. Over his last seven regular-season games, Lawrence averaged 265 passing yards, 2.6 TD passes and 26.6 fantasy points per game. He averaged 8.4 yards per pass attempt over those seven games, and his passer rating was 108.6. Lawrence also had his most productive season as a runner, with 359 rushing yards and nine TD runs. With Brian Thomas Jr., Jakobi Meyers and Parker Washington (and perhaps occasional contributions from Travis Hunter), Lawrence has a good set of wide receivers. Now, we’ll see if T-Law can pick up where he left off.

Brock Purdy (SF)

Brock Purdy‘s pass-catching corps will look a lot different in 2026. Free-agent addition Mike Evans is expected to be Purdy’s new No. 1 receiver, and the 49ers added WR Christian Kirk in free agency as well. Ricky Pearsall is still around, but Jauan Jennings and Kendrick Bourne are gone. TE George Kittle is recovering from a torn Achilles and might not be ready for the start of the season. A nagging turf toe injury limited Purdy to nine starts in 2025. He threw 20 TD passes despite missing all that time, but he also threw 10 interceptions. Purdy has ranked inside QB1 range in fantasy points per game in each of his three full seasons as a starter. Consider him a low-end QB1 in 2026 fantasy drafts.

Dak Prescott (DAL)

One of the best pure passers in the game, Dak Prescott seems primed for another big season. He has a solid offensive line in front of him and perhaps the best WR tandem in the league in CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens. If the Dallas defense is subpar again, Prescott could be thrust into a lot of shootouts in which he’s forced to match opponents score for score. Over the last three years, Prescott has averaged 263 passing yards, 1.8 TD passes and 19.1 fantasy points per game. He’s led the league in completions in two of the last three years, and he might have gone 3-for-3 had he not missed the last nine games of the season with a hamstring injury. Although he managed to finish QB5 in fantasy scoring last season, Prescott offers little value as a runner, with only seven TD runs over the last five years.

Matthew Stafford (LAR)

Matthew Stafford is coming off an MVP season in which he led the league in passing yards (4,707) and TD passes (46) while throwing only eight interceptions and taking just 23 sacks. He finished QB3 in fantasy scoring despite rushing for one yard all season and zero touchdowns. Stafford dealt with back issues last summer but played all 17 regular-season games plus three playoff games. The 38-year-old Stafford was feeling good enough to sign a contract extension that should keep him around for at least two more seasons. With offensive wizard Sean McVay as his head coach and the dynamic duo of Puka Nacua and Davante Adams at wide receiver, Stafford seems well positioned for another big season.

View the Best Fantasy Football Team Names