Week 1 Fantasy QB Rankings 2026: Patrick Mahomes Outside the Top 15? Week 1 Brings Some Major Surprises
· Yahoo Sports
Week 1 fantasy football quarterback decisions can be tricky, especially with new offensive systems, changing supporting casts, and several high-upside matchups across the league.
Our Week 1 QB rankings sort through the entire starting landscape, from elite options like Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson, and Josh Allen to more volatile plays such as Jaxson Dart, Bryce Young, and Malik Willis. Below, we break down the quarterbacks you should feel best about starting, along with a few players whose Week 1 matchups could push them above their usual season-long value.
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Week 1 Fantasy Football QB Rankings
1) Joe Burrow | CIN vs TB
2) Justin Herbert | LAC vs ARI
3) Lamar Jackson | BAL @ IND
4) Josh Allen | BUF @ HOU
5) Jalen Hurts | PHI vs WAS
6) Drake Maye | NE @ SEA
7) Dak Prescott | DAL @ NYG
8) Caleb Williams | CHI @ CAR
9) Jared Goff | DET vs NO
10) Jaxson Dart | NYG vs DAL
11) Baker Mayfield | TB @ CIN
12) Jayden Daniels | WAS @ PHI
13) Trevor Lawrence | JAC vs CLE
14) Matthew Stafford | LAR vs SF
15) Kyler Murray | MIN vs GB
16) Patrick Mahomes II | KC vs DEN
17) Bo Nix | DEN @ KC
18) Jordan Love | GB @ MIN
19) Malik Willis | MIA @ LV
20) Bryce Young | CAR vs CHI
21) Aaron Rodgers | PIT vs ATL
22) Daniel Jones | IND vs BAL
23) Brock Purdy | SF @ LAR
24) Tyler Shough | NO @ DET
25) Deshaun Watson | CLE @ JAC
26) C.J. Stroud | HOU vs BUF
27) Sam Darnold | SEA vs NE
28) Jacoby Brissett | ARI @ LAC
29) Cam Ward | TEN vs NYJ
30) Kirk Cousins | LV vs MIA
31) Geno Smith | NYJ @ TEN
32) Tua Tagovailoa | ATL @ PIT
Which QBs Should You Start In Fantasy Football This Week?
Jalen Hurts | PHI (vs WAS)
Talk about a soft landing spot in a season that is going to come with plenty of pressure.
In 2025, the Commanders ranked 27th or worse in scoring defense, opponent passer rating, and opponent YPA. They were the second-worst red zone defense in the league (67.7%) and allowed Hurts to complete 73.3% of his passes in his lone start against them.
And therein lies the question. In that game, AJ Brown led the Birds in targets, receptions, and receiving yards and was the only player on this team with a 20+ yard catch on the day.
Chicken or egg?
Personally, I think Hurts is a real-life asset, but that doesn’t mean big things are coming in fantasy world. Replacing an All-Pro with a rookie is naturally going to require a learning curve, and when that’s the situation for a team that pretty clearly wants to run the ball in bulk, his ability to put counting numbers on the board is a real concern.
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I was low on Hurts this season. If you didn’t listen to me, that’s fine. If you’re regretting not listening to me, I think you get a week to rectify that. He’s a strong start in this matchup, and if he can show a connection with Makai Lemon, it’s very possible that managers in your league are back on him as a Tier 1 threat.
We can circle back to that if it happens, but I can already tell you that I’m going to be on the “sell him” side of that discussion. The Eagles get the Seahawks and Texans in Weeks 15-16, putting him in position to fail at the worst possible time.
Jared Goff | DET (vs NO)
This is certainly on the list of games that could lead the Week 1 slate in points and that locks Goff into QB1 status, even without any semblance of mobility.
As a Lion, Goff’s Splits
- Over/Under is 46+ points: 17.9 PPG
- Over/Under is sub-46 points: 13.4 PPG
The Saints allowed the second-lowest pass TD rate in 2024, a ranking that crashed to 20th a season ago. I don’t see much of a path for this defense to rank much better this year, and given the additions on the other side of the ball, this is a shootout team hiding in plain sight.
Goff cracks my top-10 at the position this week, one of two pocket passers to do so (Joe Burrow vs. TB) and a spot that checks in well ahead of where I have him ranked for the season as a whole.
Jaxson Dart | NYG (vs DAL)
Less than 12 months ago, Russell Wilson got caught up in a shootout with Dak Prescott. Dallas won 40-37 in overtime, and Wilson threw three touchdown passes in one of the more fun games of the season.
Those were his only three TD tosses of the season.
He retired in June.
I’m not fitting Dart for a gold jacket, but I do think the current version of him with his weapons all active is better than the version of Wilson that we saw last September.
I feel good about that.
Dat had five straight games last season with a rushing TD and had a 12+ yard run in six of his final seven starts. He can be sporadic, and I don’t expect the chaos to be taken out of his game. I don’t want it to be taken out; that’s a big part of what gives him special potential.
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I was bullish on his profile before the positive Malik Nabers health reports this summer, and that just added fuel to my fire. He impressed from a fantasy point of view as a rookie … a rookie who was only able to throw three passes to his potentially generational WR1.
We drafted him as a backend QB1, and he should be even better than that to open the season. Drake Maye gets the Seahawks and Josh Allen the Texans. If Dart is going to push for a top-5 week, this is as good a spot as any.
If he goes bonkers, I’d resist the urge to sell high. Sure, the Rams are on the books next Monday night, but the Titans, Cardinals, Commanders, and Saints come after that. If your strategy is to cash in this chip, that’s fine; just make sure you’re maximizing the asset. The schedule toughens a bit after that, thus making a mid-October move more the angle I’d recommend.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.