When To Draft A Quarterback – June 2026 Edition 

One of the questions I receive most often is when a fantasy team should draft a quarterback. Whenever I prepare the Fantasy Football Almanac, I view quarterbacks as more replaceable than other positions unless you’re participating in the inaugural draft of a new dynasty league or playing in a two-QB/Superflex format. 

The bulk of this article is going to discuss quarterbacks in one-year, “redraft” formats. But let me knock out the two exceptions first. 

When To Draft a QB in a Two-QB / Dynasty Format 

I’ll make this easy for you. Draft them early. 

Whenever I play in these formats, I try to make my first three picks quarterbacks. The reason is simple. If you’re in a 10 or 12-team format, there is major positional scarcity. Because you can start two QBs, you have a built-in flex player capable of producing consistent scoring every week. If you roster three starting quarterbacks, there’s a good chance you’ll have the position covered all season.  

Accounting for Injuries 

You also need to consider injuries in this format. If a quarterback is expected to miss multiple games—or even an entire season—having multiple starting QBs provides depth so the injury isn’t as damaging. More importantly, it gives you the flexibility to trade an extra quarterback to a desperate team. 

Dynasty Formats 

I don’t mind splurging on a QB, but it’s important to remember that rookies today are much better than they were five to ten years ago. There’s a good chance the top QB in the 2029 season isn’t even in the league yet.   

I don’t mind missing out on elite QBs at all when playing in a dynasty format. Although I can’t argue with taking Josh Allen fairly early to lock in his 40+ touchdowns for the next five to ten years, I only warrant taking a quarterback prior to Round 3 if they are truly can’t-miss players. 

This year, that means Josh Allen (and only Josh Allen). I have enough questions about the next tier of QBs like Lamar Jackson (is he properly motivated?), Jayden Daniels and Joe Burrow (can they stay healthy?), and Jalen Hurts (what happens if the league changes the tush push rules?) to make me hesitate. 

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When To Draft A Quarterback In 2026 – Redraft Leagues 

For me, the answer is easy: wait. 

I love Josh Allen, and if he were available late in Round 3, I’d certainly consider him. But I have a hard time leaving the third round this year without either one RB and two WRs or two RBs and one WR. I’ll dig into overall roster construction strategy more in future articles. 

I think it’s best to look at this purely from a math point of view. I don’t want to “nerd” this column up too much, but let me do my best to explain this simply. Here’s a look at the top four fantasy QBs from last year (scoring taken from ESPN’s standard scoring rules): 

• Josh Allen – 364.62 points – 2025 ADP: 24th overall 
• Drake Maye – 351.96 points – 2025 ADP: 125th overall 
• Matthew Stafford – 351.88 points – 2025 ADP: 160th overall 
• Trevor Lawrence – 338.18 points – 2025 ADP: 137th overall 

If you read the 2025 Almanac, you know that Trevor Lawrence was one of my favorite QB sleepers. If you played in a 10-team league in 2025, the difference between taking Josh Allen in the early third round and Trevor Lawrence in the late 14th round was roughly three points per game. 

Three points more per game is nice, but you also have to consider the player you’re passing up. Again, if you read the Almanac and signed up for updates, you’ll remember that I gave Jaxon Smith-Njigba one of my rare “do not pass on him” grade for teams picking late in the second or early in the third round. You could have had him instead of Allen. Making that pick would have given your roster MUCH more than a three-point-per-game advantage. 

When To Draft Quarterbacks In 2026 

So back to my thoughts in 2026. If you’re in a 10-team league and can get Josh Allen with an early fourth-round pick, I wouldn’t mind that (though I’ll believe it when I see it). I’m seeing a major drop-off in wide receiver talent after Round 3 when I run through mock drafts. 

Rather than simply telling you to wait on quarterbacks, I wanted to demonstrate what your roster actually looks like when you take Josh Allen early versus when you wait and build depth at the scarcer positions. 

I’m going to publish two separate mock drafts below. I ran both of these scenarios this week. Though I usually play in 12-team leagues, I ran this draft as a 10-team league. Also, I’m just going to go “chalk” here in terms of what is available for me via Sleeper. These wouldn’t necessarily be my real selections if I was on the clock.  I’ll talk much more about sleepers and undervalued players when we get into July and August, but I don’t want to distract from this QB discussion. 

Josh Allen’s ADP this year in a PPR format is 27th overall. I’ll set my draft selection at No. 3 overall so that I can select him with my 23^rd overall pick. 

Mock Draft 1

Quarterbacks: 

• Josh Allen (3^rd round) 
• Patrick Mahomes (11^th round) 

Running Backs:  

• Omarion Hampton (2^nd round) 
• Breece Hall (4^th round) 
• Quinshon Judkins (7^th round) 
• Jadarian Price (13^th round) 

Wide Receivers: 

• Ja’Marr Chase (1^st round) 
• Ladd McConkey (5^th round) 
• Mike Evans (6^th round) 
• Jakobi Meyers (9^th round) 
• Jordan Addison (10^th round) 
• Romeo Doubs (14^th round) 

Tight Ends:  

• Tucker Kraft: (8^th round) 
• George Kittle: (12^th round) 

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Mock Draft 2

Quarterbacks: 

• Trevor Lawrence (9^th round) 
• Brock Purdy (11^th round) 

Running Backs:  

• Saquon Barkley (2^nd round) 
• Derrick Henry (4^th round) 
• Javonte Williams (5^th round) 
• Aaron Jones (10^th round) 

Wide Receivers: 

• Ja’Marr Chase (1^st round) 
• Chris Olave (3^rd round) 
• Mike Evans (6^th round) 
• Christian Watson (7^th round) 
• Brian Thomas (8^th round) 

Tight End: 

• Travis Kelce (12^th round) 

Key Takeaways

I decided to wait on TE a bit in the second mock draft, knowing that Kittle would likely still be waiting for me later. Kelce should score well enough, and if he’s available in the 110s, I don’t mind waiting on him while padding my WR depth. 

I’ll delve into mock draft scenarios more throughout the offseason, but when it comes to quarterback, the bottom line is this: I’d much rather start my roster with two WRs and two RBs through my first four rounds because there is a lot of quality at TE and QB in the middle and late rounds. That may change as we get later into July and August. But for now, that’s what I’m seeing. 

I can also tell you that I did not like my WRs at all in the first mock draft. I don’t like McConkey or Evans being my WR2. Those guys should really be thought of as flex players. In my opinion, scooping up a guy like Olave in Round 3 (the best WR in an offense that will throw for 4,000 yards this year) will give my team significantly more points-per-week advantage compared to selecting Allen (or Daniels, Hurts, or Burrow later). 

Anyway, that’s my take. As of now, I’m seeing much more value in stacking WRs in the early rounds. I would go as far to say that you should earmark 3 WRs and 3 RBs in your first six picks.  But I’ll continue to test that theory throughout the summer. 

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About The Fantasy Football Almanac  

The Fantasy Football Almanac is an independent fantasy football publication built on structured analysis, tier-based rankings, and disciplined draft strategy. Every season, we evaluate coaching changes, offensive scheme shifts, usage trends, historical hit rates, and risk profiles to create a comprehensive draft framework designed to reduce mistakes and increase long-term consistency. The Almanac is not driven by hot takes or weekly hype cycles — it is built around probability, roster construction principles, and value-based decision-making.  

While the analysis is detailed enough for experienced fantasy managers, the system is intentionally structured so beginners can apply it immediately. In fact, many first- and second-year players have used the Almanac’s tier models and draft frameworks to compete with — and often outperform — long-time league veterans. Whether you’re drafting from the early slot, managing turn picks, or navigating positional runs, the Fantasy Football Almanac provides a clear, repeatable process from Round 1 through your final pick.  

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