4 Quarterbacks Experts Love 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 quarterbacks our fantasy football experts love to draft.

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2026 Fantasy Football Draft Advice: Quarterbacks Experts Love

Here are the quarterbacks our experts love to pick in fantasy football drafts.

Brock Purdy (SF)

If you’re not respecting Brock Purdy as a strong QB1 at this point, I really don’t know what to tell you. Over the last three seasons, he has finished as the QB5, QB10, and QB6 in fantasy football points per game. In his four years in the NFL, he has finished with a passing touchdown rate lower than 7.0% only once. Last year, among 38 qualifying quarterbacks, Purdy was sixth in passing yards per game, ninth in yards per attempt, 12th in highly accurate throw rate, and third in fantasy points per dropback (per Fantasy Points Data). Purdy will again be a QB1 that goes far too late in drafts in 2026.

Tyler Shough (NO)

Tyler Shough is a wonderful late-round quarterback who could be a QB1 in 2026. Last year, in Weeks 12-18, Shough was the QB6 in fantasy points per game while averaging 25 rushing yards per game. That rushing yardage mark per game would have placed him at 12th-best last year had he kept it up for the entire season. In Weeks 12-18, among 30 qualifying quarterbacks, Shough ranked 12th in yards per attempt and in highly accurate throw rate, 9th in hero throw rate, and 7th in passing yards per game (per Fantasy Points Data). With Travis Etienne, Bryce Lance, Oscar Delp, and Jordyn Tyson added to the offensive firepower this offseason, I expect the Saints offense to take another leap this season if Shough is up to the task, which his strong finish to last season says he is primed for.

Check out all of DBro’s top fantasy football draft picks to target

Trevor Lawrence (JAX)

It took Trevor Lawrence a while to digest the scheme implemented by first-year Jaguars head coach Liam Coen, but once Lawrence got it down, the results were dazzling.

Over his first 10 games of 2025, Lawrence averaged 215.1 passing yards, 1.1 touchdown passes and 16.7 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 265.1 passing yards, 2.6 touchdown passes and 26.3 fantasy points per game. He averaged 8.4 yards per pass attempt over those seven games, and his passer rating was 108.6. Lawrence was the fantasy QB1 over that span.

Lawrence also had his best season as a runner, establishing career highs in attempts (82), yards (359) and touchdowns (nine).

It took Lawrence a while to fully arrive, but with Coen’s help, the splendidly long-haired quarterback has finally become a top-10 quarterback. There’s high-end QB1 potential here — as we saw late last season — and yet Lawrence is being drafted as a low-end QB1, according to average draft position (ADP).

Check out all of Fitz’s top fantasy football draft picks to target

Justin Herbert (LAC)

Justin Herbert finished the 2025 season as the QB10 in PPG, mostly on the back of his rushing production (6th in rushing yards per game at 31.1). The 28-year-old QB hit career highs in rushing yards and carries. He also tied Josh Allen for the most boom finishes (4). But the losses on the offensive line and his own injuries crushed his ceiling. With a healthier OL in 2026, Herbert can flirt with elite fantasy QB status. Five games with Joe Alt in 2025: Hebert averaged nearly 24 PPG (23.9). Twelve games without Alt? 16.2 PPG.

With Mike McDaniel coming in as the new OC, Herbert’s ceiling is sky-high behind a healthy offensive line. The interior blocking up front has been revamped with Tyler Biadasz, Cole Strange, and Jake Slaughter. A 12-personnel deployment with the TEs should also provide more help in blocking and keeping Herbert healthy. The Chargers have a wide array of weapons for Herbert to throw the ball to – Omarion Hampton, Ladd McConkey, Quentin Johnston, Tre Harris, Oronde Gadsden, and David Njoku – along with speed depth to burn between Keaton Mitchell, KeAndre Lambert-Smith, Brenen Thompson, and Derius Davis.

And the schedule is a recipe for success. Two lay-up matchups to start the year versus ARI and LV. Then the shootouts will start coming. The Chargers’ schedule is going from the 13th to the 21st (29th in Mike Clay’s 2026 projected Strength of Schedule) versus last season. The defense is primed for negative regression with the loss of DC Jesse Minter. As the 2nd-most-injured team in the AFC last year, they are also a prime candidate to have better luck staying healthy (specifically on offense).

Although Lawrence is my preferred target at cost in 1QB leagues, I’m not afraid to pull the trigger on Herbert in Round 7 or 8 (if he falls). Also very much into him in Superflex 2QB formats.

Check out all of Erickson’s top fantasy football draft picks to target