Fantasy Football: 5 Must-Have Quarterbacks to Draft (2026)

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 experts love to target in 2026 fantasy football drafts.

2026 Fantasy Football Draft Advice: Must-Have Quarterbacks

Here are quarterbacks our experts love to target in 2026 fantasy football drafts.

Drake Maye (NE)

Drake Maye had a wonderful breakout season last year as the QB3 in fantasy points per game, and he could equal or surpass that this season. This offseason, New England gave Maye new weapons that could take this offense to another level with the additions of Romeo Doubs and A.J. Brown. The Pats were ninth in neutral passing rate last season and could bump that up some more with Doubs and Brown in town. I’m painting the fever dream outcome for Maye, but none of this is impossible or even improbable. Maye will continue to add fantasy points weekly with his legs on top of the passing upside. Last year, Maye was 12th in rushing yards per game and seventh in red zone carries per game among quarterbacks. As a passer, he was outstanding, ranking first in yards per attempt, seventh in highly accurate throw rate, eighth in hero throw rate, and fourth in fantasy points per dropback (per Fantasy Points Data). Maye should be considered a strong top-five fantasy quarterback option with the ability to push Josh Allen for the QB1 spot if everything goes his way in 2026.
– Derek Brown

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.
– Pat Fitzmaurice

Dak Prescott (DAL)

Last year, Dak Prescott directed an offense that was 13th in neutral passing rate and ninth in neutral pace en route to a QB7 finish (Weeks 1-17) in fantasy points per game. Among 45 qualifying passers, Prescott was tenth in yards per attempt, eighth in highly accurate throw rate, and 13th in hero throw rate (per Fantasy Points Data). With CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, Jake Ferguson, and Javonte Williams all still in the fold, I don’t see a reason to expect Dallas or Prescott to slow down this season. Prescott had only a 5% passing touchdown rate last year, so there’s still some meat on the bone for Prescott to be even better this season for an offense that was fifth in points per game and red zone scoring attempts per game (16th in red zone touchdown percentage). Prescott is a locked-in QB1 that could be a top-five option if they can put more touchdowns in the end zone in 2026.
– Derek Brown

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 and Deebo Samuel in free agency as well. Ricky Pearsall is out for the year with a knee injury, and Jauan Jennings and Kendrick Bourne are gone. TE George Kittle is recovering from a torn Achilles and might not be full go at 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.
– Pat Fitzmaurice

Malik Willis (MIA)

Is Malik Willis in a tough spot in Miami? Sure. Could this offense outperform expectations in a number of ways? Absolutely. Greg Dulcich was outstanding on a per-route basis last year. Their receiver room is unproven and full of castoffs, but talented rookies like Chris Bell and Kevin Coleman Jr. could open some eyes in 2026 along with Willis. I know the starting resume for Willis is limited. I get it. What he have seen in limited doses over the last two years has been outstanding, though. Over the last two seasons, Willis has posted a 5.6% big-time throw rate (118 dropbacks, per PFF), 10.9 yards per attempt, and averaged 44.8 rushing yards per game. Last year, among all quarterbacks with at least 110 dropbacks, that big-time throw rate would have ranked eighth-best behind Caleb Williams, and his yards per attempt mark would have led the NFL. That rushing yardage mark per game over the last three years would have ranked first, fourth, and third among quarterbacks. Willis’s running prowess should have him flirting with QB1 production this year alone. If he and this offense surpass lowly expectations through the air, Willis would be a strong QB1 with upside in 2026.
– Derek Brown

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