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Fantasy football rankings - quarterbacks (QB) Week 1 rankings early edition for 2026. Read the top-accuracy fantasy football QB rankings.
After a long wait, Week 1 is here! For fantasy managers who didn't draft a set-it-and-forget-it quarterback such as Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, or Drake Maye, our updated quarterback rankings for Week 1 will help with important start-sit or streamer decisions. Find out where key quarterbacks such as Jaxson Dart, Bo Nix, Patrick Mahomes, Jared Goff, and Tyler Shough are listed in our early fantasy football quarterback rankings for Week 1.
Our quarterback fantasy football rankings for Week 1 are put together by Nick Mariano. Below the rankings, you will also find a summary of the important QB fantasy football news for this week. There are always key injuries and developments to keep track of, so check back throughout the week for updates.
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Week 1 Quarterback Rankings for Fantasy Football
Bookmark our PPR rankings, Half-PPR rankings, and standard (non-PPR) rankings
| QB Tier |
QB Rank |
Player Name |
Pos. |
| 1 | 1 | Joe Burrow | QB |
| 1 | 2 | Lamar Jackson | QB |
| 1 | 3 | Josh Allen | QB |
| 2 | 4 | Justin Herbert | QB |
| 2 | 5 | Jalen Hurts | QB |
| 2 | 6 | Trevor Lawrence | QB |
| 2 | 7 | Jayden Daniels | QB |
| 3 | 8 | Baker Mayfield | QB |
| 3 | 9 | Dak Prescott | QB |
| 3 | 10 | Jared Goff | QB |
| 3 | 11 | Drake Maye | QB |
| 3 | 12 | Caleb Williams | QB |
| 4 | 13 | Jaxson Dart | QB |
| 4 | 14 | Matthew Stafford | QB |
| 4 | 15 | Brock Purdy | QB |
| 4 | 16 | Tyler Shough | QB |
| 4 | 17 | Patrick Mahomes II | QB |
| 5 | 18 | Bo Nix | QB |
| 5 | 19 | Kyler Murray | QB |
| 5 | 20 | Malik Willis | QB |
| 5 | 21 | Jordan Love | QB |
| 5 | 22 | C.J. Stroud | QB |
| 5 | 23 | Daniel Jones | QB |
| 5 | 24 | Sam Darnold | QB |
| 6 | 25 | Jacoby Brissett | QB |
| 6 | 26 | Cam Ward | QB |
| 6 | 27 | Kirk Cousins | QB |
| 6 | 28 | Aaron Rodgers | QB |
| 6 | 29 | Geno Smith | QB |
| 6 | 30 | Bryce Young | QB |
| 6 | 31 | Tua Tagovailoa | QB |
| 6 | 32 | Deshaun Watson | QB |
| 6 | 33 | Shedeur Sanders | QB |
| 6 | 34 | Haynes King | QB |
Week 1 Quarterback News
Tua Tagovailoa, Atlanta Falcons
According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Atlanta Falcons have named quarterback Tua Tagovailoa their starter for their Week 1 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The former Miami Dolphins quarterback joined the Falcons in the offseason and was competing alongside Michael Penix Jr. for the starting job. However, with Penix still recovering from a torn ACL, Tagovailoa had the edge for much of the competition.
Despite this, fantasy managers should keep a close eye on his production, as Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported last week that the Falcons may not give Tagovailoa a long leash if he were to struggle early in the season. In 2025, Tagovailoa appeared in 14 games for the Dolphins and posted a modest 20:15 TD:INT while averaging 190 passing yards per game. Given his inconsistencies last season, Tagovailoa should be viewed as a low-end QB3 in Superflex formats in Week 1.
Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield has given fantasy managers a few more reasons to buy into a bounce-back. His numbers slipped to 3,693 passing yards and 26 touchdowns last season after the 4,500-yard, 41-score campaign he put together in 2024, but he also played through several injuries and still ran for a career-high 382 yards. Things have gone smoothly enough with new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson that Mayfield said in August the Bucs were in a good place with the new system.
Chris Godwin Jr. has helped, too. Tampa Bay's camp coverage said Godwin had returned to peak form, and Mayfield called him the best version of himself after leaning on him throughout camp. There are still questions with Emeka Egbuka and Jalen McMillan banged up and Mike Evans gone, so this is not suddenly a top-end QB1 case. Still, RotoBaller's positional rankings moved Mayfield from QB17 in August to QB16 in the Sept. 3 update. It's a small bump, but the summer has gone well enough to justify it.
Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (knee) has undergone rehab from a torn ACL and LCL he suffered in December, the worst injury of his career, and as Sam McDowell of the Kansas City Star writes, Mahomes went into his rehab with a unique goal in his mind.
"He wanted to walk before his baby daughter, 11-month-old Golden". McDowell went on to write that after a training camp practice, Golden, now 20 months old, ran toward Mahomes for a hug, and Golden's running rather than walking was a surprise, but "Mahomes beat her to it, by the way, barely."
The Chiefs have been quiet about Mahomes' potential return to action, but Chiefs receiver Xavier Worthy reportedly told reporters, "He's back," and Sean Payton has reportedly been preparing the Broncos for the Week 1 matchup with the Chiefs, assuming Mahomes will play.
Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy was a very strong fantasy option when healthy last year, and he is expected to raise his ceiling even higher in 2026. First of all, Purdy reportedly has increased mobility this year. It was previously reported that he's going to run more, building on his last year's average of 16.3 rushing yards per game. We're not expecting this major transformation into a run-first quarterback, but any sort of increased mobility should help his fantasy stock. Second, Purdy continues to play in a 49ers offense full of talent. Even after losing Jauan Jennings to free agency and Ricky Pearsall (knee) to injury, San Francisco's receiver room still features Mike Evans, Deebo Samuel Sr., and De'Zhaun Stribling. Plus, he has one of the league's best tight ends in George Kittle and one of the best running backs in Christian McCaffrey. Purdy has so many talented options to target on any given play, giving him a high ceiling in fantasy football. The 26-year-old ranks as the QB11 in RotoBaller's latest redraft rankings. He has an ADP of 110.4, which corresponds to the 10th round of fantasy drafts and makes him the 13th quarterback off the board.
Who Should I Start Tool
Compare up to four players and we'll tell you who to start...
Week 1 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players: Drake Maye, Jaxson Dart, Bo Nix, Patrick Mahomes, Brock Purdy, Jared Goff, Tyler Shough, Baker Mayfield, and Tua Tagovailoa. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 1.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player name. In the second box, search for the second player name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our 'Who Should I Start?' tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, stats, projections, strength of schedule, player news, and enhanced search results with data to compare with a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week, our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do is select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circle), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Week 1 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 1 (2026)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 1 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Start tool for Week 1 for Drake Maye, Jaxson Dart, Bo Nix, Patrick Mahomes, Brock Purdy, Jared Goff, Tyler Shough, Baker Mayfield, and Tua Tagovailoa:
More Fantasy Football Analysis
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