- A large fourth tier: Over half the league’s starting quarterbacks have shown they can be fantasy starters if the matchup is right. Waiting at quarterback and picking two quarterbacks late should be a popular strategy in August.
- Fernando Mendoza lands at QB25: Rookie quarterbacks tend to have slow starts for fantasy purposes unless they have significant rushing upside or a proven offense. The Las Vegas Raiders quarterback has neither.
Most quarterback situations are settled heading into the 2026 season. Most teams retained their starter from last year, while Kyler Murray joined the Minnesota Vikings, Malik Willis landed with the Miami Dolphins and Geno Smith signed with the New York Jets. The NFL Draft introduced one new projected starter, with Fernando Mendoza selected first overall by the Las Vegas Raiders.
As a result, these quarterback rankings closely resemble how the position looked in 2025 and should be similar to how rankings appear in August. Here are my top 40 quarterbacks, broken into tiers. Analysis for the top five players can be found at the end of the article.