3 Fantasy Football Busts to Avoid: Quarterbacks (2026)

When you hear the word ‘bust’ in fantasy circles, it doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t draft a player. But maybe don’t draft them where everyone else is. Below are a few quarterbacks whose current ranking appears higher than where they’ll actually end up this season.

Fantasy Football Quarterbacks to Avoid

Brock Purdy (QB – SF)

FantasyPros Ranking: QB11

49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is one of those players who is better in the real NFL than in fantasy leagues. Ever since becoming the 49ers starter four years ago, he’s won 2/3 of the games he’s started and led the team to a Super Bowl appearance. Yet, he’s had only one year where he finished as a top-12 fantasy quarterback. Right off the bat, Purdy finishing as QB11 would be a novelty. But there’s other factors that make it unlikely Purdy finishes as a QB1 this season.

Brock Purdy is one of the only 49ers (as of this writing) that hasn’t been injured during training camp. Electrical substation or not, the 49ers are continuing their trend of being one of the most afflicted teams in the league. From newly signed Mike Evans‘ quad strain to prior injuries to George Kittle, Ricky Pearsall and more, the San Francisco offense will be starting the season at less than full capacity. We already know Pearsall is done for the year; Kittle is recovering from a torn Achilles and is hoping to be ready by Week 1, but he’s 32 and perpetually injured; luckily the injury to Evans and others is not as serious, but it still makes 49er fans and fantasy managers nervous.

Even if everyone was healthy, his supporting cast is just not the same as it was in 2023 when he made the Pro Bowl and finished in the top four in MVP voting. That year, he had Brandon Aiyuk in his prime totaling a career-high 1,342 yards; George Kittle played in all 16 games for just the second time in his career; and former All-Pro Deebo Samuel was a third option. Oh yeah, and Christian McCaffrey was the Offensive Player of the Year that year.

All that to say that Purdy would need a lot of things to go right, including everyone staying healthy, to get close to a QB11 fantasy finish.

Jaxson Dart (QB – NYG)

FantasyPros Ranking: QB12

Statistically, Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart had one of the better rookie seasons in recent memory. After taking over the starting job in late September, Dart threw for 2,200-plus yards and 15 touchdowns and ran for another 487 yards and nine touchdowns, the latter tied for second among quarterbacks in the entire league. From Week 4 on, Dart was the QB12 in fantasy scoring.

However, for Dart to replicate that output in his sophomore season, he’ll have to overcome a few red flags heading into the season. Perhaps the biggest was his propensity for being concussed or at least suspected. He had to be tested four times in his rookie season and missed multiple games due to a concussion suffered in Week 10. He can thank his gung-ho style of play, where his legs are both a gift and a curse. It’s to the point that the Giants are hoping he can play smarter this year to avoid getting hit as much but at what cost to his rushing stats?

Another factor that might cost Dart fantasy points is who’s calling the plays. The Giants hired Matt Nagy to be John Harbaugh’s offensive coordinator which doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence. Nagy hasn’t called an offense that’s finished in the top-10 in scoring since 2018, his first year as head coach in Chicago. Even in his last three years back in Kansas City, his offenses finished no better than 15th in scoring and that was with Patrick Mahomes II.

On top of all that is the lack of weapons Dart will have. Sure, he didn’t have a lot last year but there also wasn’t a lot of improvement either. The Giants did sign former Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely to be Dart’s safety valve, but he would count as the only upgrade. Receiver Malik Nabers‘ return is still TBD with receivers like Darius Slayton and Calvin Austin slotted behind him.

Dart is very talented but it will take a lot of work to get to a QB1 level this year.

Malik Willis (QB – MIA)

FantasyPros Ranking: QB21

Expectations are understandably high for new Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis this season. That’s what you get when you sign the richest free agent contract for a quarterback in the offseason to the tune of $67.5 million over three years. What’s more impressive is what Miami is basing this investment off of. Drafted in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft, Willis ended up starting three games his rookie season in Tennessee, before spending the 2023 season as a backup until he moved on to the Packers to back up Jordan Love. He’s made a grand total of three starts in Green Bay ( two in 2024; one last year) and threw for a grand total of three touchdowns and rushed for three more. The team did go 2-1 in those starts and he didn’t turn the ball over but it’s still a very small sample size for Miami to determine they wanted him as their starter.

Nonetheless, here we are and the reports so far are…not great! Now that Willis is a full time starter, defenses will be able to plan all week for him and have more tape to analyze. There’s also the issue of his supporting cast. Running back De’Von Achane is a great player to have in the backfield but the pass catchers around Willis leave a lot to be desired. The leading pass catcher returning from last year (outside of Achane) is Malik Washington who turned 65 targets into 46 receptions for 317 yards and three touchdowns. The signed Jalen Tolbert and Tutu Atwell to fill out the receiver room who, between the two of them, didn’t crack 400 receiving yards combined. They did draft receiver Chris Bell, who may already have the most talent of the bunch, but a torn ACL at the end of last season means we’ll have to wait and see how he can help Willis.

As for Willis’ legs, the offensive line will need to do much better than last season both on the field and at staying on the field. They did add guard Kadyn Proctor in the first round, and it will help, but it’s a lot for any team and quarterback to ask a rookie to start contributing right away.

There’s a lot going against Willis that make it hard to see him as a top-20 fantasy quarterback on a weekly basis.