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Week 1 Quarterback Rankings for 2026 Fantasy Football Season
Last Updated on September 9, 2026 5:09 pm by Jon Mosales | Published: September 9, 2026
Everyone loves to sleep on the QB position in fantasy football. In one QB leagues, you can draft a QB last and still get a top-10 option. The position has never been deeper, but that doesn’t mean it’s less valuable. It’s simply harder to be right with so many options. The key if you don’t draft Josh Allen is flexibility. Have a couple of options and rotate them based on matchups.
- Josh Allen – Bills – despite a difficult matchup with the Texans, he’s still the top rated quarterback in fantasy football, we’ll see how quickly he and new wide receiver DJ Moore can get on the same page.
- Jalen Hurts – Eagles – a home game with one of the worst defenses in the league a year ago. He no longer has A.J. Brown but Devonta Smith appears healthy enough to go this weekend
- Justin Herbert – Chargers – Another quarterback with a very favorable home matchup as the new look Charger offense welcomes to the Cardinals to town
- Lamar Jackson – Ravens – Last time he came off an injury plagued season, he bounced back and won a unanimous MVP award. He gets an opening week favorable matchup against the Colts to start the 2026 campaign.
- Matthew Stafford – Rams – we’ll see whose travel strategy works best but the reigning MVP heads to the land down under with all of his pass catchers available going against a 49ers defense that struggled to get sacks last year
- Joe Burrow – Bengals – Finally healthy and gets an early shot to make a statement against a team that struggled defensively in 2025
- Baker Mayfield – Buccaneers – With a fresh new contract in tow, Mayfield will get to see a little bit of a revamped Bengals’ defensive line with the addition of Dexter Lawrence but he could have a field day with the rest of that defense showing no tangible improvement on paper from the previous season
- Trevor Lawrence – Jaguars – Coming off a career year, he gets to open the season against the Browns, who no longer have the most feared defensive player of this generation on their side
- Jayden Daniels – Commanders – Daniels will look to rebound from an injury plagued 2025 in Philadelphia this week. The Eagles defense did well against the Commanders last season, but that was only after Washington had been mathematically eliminated and Daniels had been shut down due to injury
- Caleb Williams – Bears – A road date in Carolina to start. The Panthers were one of the most improved teams in the league last year, made some significant additions on the defensive side of the ball, but this was still a team who mostly peaked at mid in fantasy last year
- Jared Goff – Lions – Goff gets an early home game where he put up no fewer than 16 fantasy points from Week 9 on last season. This is a game with an upstart Saints offense that could turn into a very fun shootout as well.
- Dak Prescott – Cowboys – A Sunday night game against a new look Giants defense but with the familiarity of having all his skill players back in the fold. I’ve said this could be a monster year for Dak, he could make a statement on opening night.
- Drake Maye – Patriots – The first ever Wednesday night opening game against a difficult team in a difficult building. We’ll see if last year’s breakout quarterback can build off of a stellar season or if he starts 2026 like he finished 2025…with a dud.
- Tyler Shough – Saints – Shough came on strong last year with multiple games of 17+ fantasy points at the end of the season. The new look Saints get an early test in Detroit against a Lions defense trying to recapture some of its identity after a down year last year.
- Brock Purdy – 49ers – The 49ers head to Australia with a full team available on offense. They will get the first look at the Rams with Myles Garrett in tow. We’ll see how quickly Mike Evans can impact the 49ers offense and if George Kittle can get back to looking like himself.
- Bo Nix – Broncos – An opening week test sends Nix and the Broncos to Kansas City for Monday Night Football against the Chiefs. The Chiefs made Nix’s life extremely difficult in Kansas City last year, we’ll see if they can do the same to start 2026.
- Patrick Mahomes – Chiefs – he returns just nine months removed from major knee surgery and gets a home game against a very tough Broncos defense. We’ll see what the former MVP and Super Bowl MVP looks like in his return to action.
- Jaxson Dart – Giants – yes the Cowboys defense struggled for a good chunk of last season but it improved once they acquired Quinnen Williams. With a couple of big additions in the draft as well, this matchup could be a little more problematic for Dart than most think.
- Aaron Rodgers – Steelers – Rodgers begins the final chapter of a storied career going against the Falcons who will be without their top two pass rushers, a very favorable matchup to open the year for the Steelers
- Kirk Cousins – Raiders – Cousins is the starter in Las Vegas for now, he gets a nice matchup with a Dolphins defense that has a new coach and a number of new players. Good time to catch this group early
- Sam Darnold – Seahawks – A Wednesday night home game with the Patriots. Despite beating them in the Super Bowl just a few months back he only completed 50% of his passes and threw for a little over 200 yards in that game. Not ideal fantasy numbers.
- Jordan Love – Packers – An early season test in Minnesota where Love has had mixed results in his short career thus far.
- Malik Willis – Dolphins – Willis gets his first full time starting gig against a new look Raiders team that will be searching to establish its own identity on the defensive side of the ball as well.
- Kyler Murray – Vikings – Time to find out if a new coach, new playmakers and new system can work for the Ex-Cardinals signal caller against
- Daniel Jones – Colts – Jones was a legitimate MVP candidate for the first half of 2025. He is coming off of a torn Achilles and he will get a date with an improved Ravens’ defense to open the year
- CJ Stroud – Texans – Stroud fresh off a brutal 2025 year and turning down a massive contract extension, 2026 is a prove it year for Stroud and he will have a chance to start it on the right foot at home.
- Jacoby Brissett – Cardinals – Brissett has a new contract in hand but will get a tough early test against the Chargers, who have been solid defensively in their first two seasons under Jim Harbaugh
- Geno Smith – Jets – Smith returns to the place where his career started and he will get a chance to go against a Titans defense headed by Robert Saleh now, but one that only had one top 10 finish in the final eight weeks of 2025.
- Cam Ward – Titans – The second year signal caller will get a chance to show what’s in store for year two against the Jets who added a top end pass rusher in the draft but the remainder of the defense having significant question marks.
- Bryce Young – Panthers – Young will look to show continued improvement in 2026 as the reigning NFC South Champions take on the Bears to open the season.
- Tua Tagovailoa – Falcons – Tua will get a chance to start with the team not yet ready to let Michael Penix Jr. back on the field. Tagovailoa will have his hands full with TJ Watt and the Steelers
- Deshaun Watson – Browns – Watson won the starting quarterback job out of camp but in highly unimpressive fashion. He struggled throughout the preseason and until he proves it with his play that he’s better than the 32nd ranked quarterback, he will likely live here each and every week.
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