Waiting on quarterback continues to be one of the most viable strategies in fantasy football. Last season provided another perfect example, as 66% of the quarterbacks who finished inside the top 12 were drafted after Round 7. While landing an elite quarterback can provide a weekly advantage, paying a premium at the position isn’t the only way to find difference-making production.
The 2026 quarterback pool might be even better for managers willing to wait. Trevor Lawrence and Justin Herbert are coming off top-10 seasons with reasons to believe their situations have improved, while Brock Purdy, Patrick Mahomes, Jared Goff, and Kyler Murray can all be drafted outside the top 12 despite established QB1 production. Instead of forcing quarterback early, these are six of my favorite targets after Round 7.
Trevor Lawrence – ADP QB10
Trevor Lawrence finally delivered the fantasy breakout managers had been waiting for during his first season with Liam Coen. Lawrence threw for 4,007 yards while accounting for 38 total touchdowns and finishing as a top-five fantasy quarterback despite Jacksonville’s receivers leading the NFL in dropped passes. He ranked fourth among quarterbacks in air yards, deep attempts, and red-zone passing attempts, showing that the Jaguars consistently put the ball in his hands when they needed explosive plays or touchdowns. Lawrence also added a career-high nine rushing scores, giving him another path to fantasy production that hadn’t consistently existed earlier in his career.
The most encouraging part is that Lawrence appeared to get better as he became more comfortable in Coen’s offense. He was the QB1 over the final 10 weeks of the season and now gets another offseason in the same system instead of starting over with another coaching staff. Jacksonville has also upgraded the environment around him while entering the year with the fourth-easiest projected quarterback schedule. Lawrence is already coming off a season in which he finished near the top of the position, yet he’s still available around QB10. If his late-season production carries over into Year 2 with Coen, Lawrence has legitimate overall QB1 upside without requiring fantasy managers to pay an elite-quarterback price.
Justin Herbert – ADP QB9
Justin Herbert quietly returned to the QB1 conversation last season, finishing as the QB9 while averaging 18.3 fantasy points per game. What made that performance particularly impressive was the situation around him. Los Angeles lost Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater to season-ending injuries, forcing Herbert to operate behind one of the NFL’s worst offensive lines. He compensated by becoming significantly more involved as a runner, finishing second among quarterbacks with 498 rushing yards. Herbert averaged approximately 24 fantasy points per game when Alt was healthy, providing a glimpse of what his ceiling could look like when Los Angeles isn’t constantly asking him to overcome protection breakdowns.
Now the Chargers are pairing a healthier offensive line with one of the offseason’s most significant coaching changes. Greg Roman is gone, and former Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel takes over an offense featuring Ladd McConkey, Omarion Hampton, Quentin Johnston, Tre Harris, Oronde Gadsden II, and David Njoku. McDaniel’s ability to manufacture space and explosive plays should fit Herbert significantly better than the offense Los Angeles ran last season. Herbert probably won’t need to approach 500 rushing yards again, but his willingness to run gives him another source of fantasy upside if it remains part of his game. At QB9, I’m betting on the talent finally being paired with an offensive environment capable of maximizing it.
Brock Purdy – ADP QB13
Brock Purdy’s injury-plagued 2025 season has created an opportunity to draft one of the NFL’s most efficient quarterbacks outside the QB1 range. Purdy was limited to nine games by shoulder and toe injuries, but he still threw 20 touchdowns and showed exactly what his fantasy ceiling looks like once healthy. From Weeks 15 through 17, Purdy averaged 298 passing yards while throwing 11 touchdowns against only two interceptions and adding another two scores on the ground. Since entering the NFL, he ranks first in both yards per attempt and success rate while ranking fourth in fantasy points per game among quarterbacks with at least 1,000 attempts.
The biggest question is whether San Francisco’s reshaped receiving corps can give him enough consistency. Jauan Jennings is gone, Ricky Pearsall has dealt with injuries, Mike Evans is entering his age-33 season, and George Kittle is returning from a torn Achilles. But Kyle Shanahan remains one of football’s best offensive play callers, Christian McCaffrey remains an elite receiving weapon, and Purdy has quietly added more rushing production to his fantasy profile. He has accumulated 470 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns over his last 24 games, giving him more upside than his reputation as a pocket passer suggests. There are legitimate risks here, but QB13 is cheap for a quarterback who has already demonstrated top-five efficiency when everything around him is functioning.
Patrick Mahomes – ADP QB15
Patrick Mahomes being available at QB15 is one of the biggest examples of recency bias in fantasy drafts. Before tearing his ACL and LCL in Week 15, Mahomes was the QB2 in fantasy points per game while throwing for 3,587 yards and accounting for 27 total touchdowns across 14 appearances. He led the NFL in money throws while ranking fifth in EPA and sixth in QBR despite Kansas City’s supporting cast ranking near the bottom of the league in efficiency. Mahomes also produced a career-high 422 rushing yards and five touchdowns, providing considerably more fantasy production with his legs than we’ve traditionally seen from him.
There are obvious reasons to expect that rushing production to decline following knee surgery, but his recovery has progressed well enough that he’s been fully cleared entering the season. Kansas City also improved the offense around him by adding Kenneth Walker while bringing back Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, and Travis Kelce. Fantasy managers are essentially betting that a quarterback who has never finished worse than QB11 as a starter will suddenly become a mid-range QB2 immediately after producing like the QB2. At QB15, I don’t need Mahomes to return to his MVP peak for this pick to smash. If he’s simply healthy and remains Patrick Mahomes, the discount has gone too far.
Jared Goff – ADP QB16
Jared Goff continues to be treated like a replaceable fantasy quarterback despite doing almost nothing but produce since arriving in Detroit. Goff has thrown for more than 4,000 yards in four consecutive seasons while averaging 4,551 passing yards and 32.5 touchdowns over that stretch. Last season was viewed as somewhat disappointing for Detroit’s offense, yet Goff still threw for 4,564 yards, 34 touchdowns, and only eight interceptions. He’s now produced four consecutive top-10 fantasy finishes and hasn’t missed a game since 2021, making him one of the safest quarterbacks available in the later rounds.
There isn’t much reason to expect Detroit’s offensive environment to suddenly collapse either. Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Sam LaPorta, and Jahmyr Gibbs remain one of the deepest collections of skill-position talent in football, while new offensive coordinator Drew Petzing takes over a unit that has finished inside the top five in total offense every year since 2022. Goff also draws the third-easiest projected quarterback schedule this season. His lack of rushing production makes it difficult for him to compete with dual-threat quarterbacks for the overall QB1, but that’s not what we’re asking from someone available at QB16. Goff keeps getting priced like a streamer despite consistently producing like a weekly starter.
Kyler Murray – ADP QB17
Few quarterbacks are being discounted more aggressively than Kyler Murray. He has averaged at least 30 rushing yards per game in all seven seasons of his NFL career and has finished outside the top 12 quarterbacks in fantasy points per game only once when making at least five starts. That rushing production has consistently given Murray one of the strongest floors at the position, but last year’s injury-shortened season has pushed him all the way down to QB17. Fantasy managers are now able to draft a quarterback with an extensive history of QB1 production at a price that treats him like a backup.
Minnesota might also give Murray the best offensive situation of his career. Kevin O’Connell has consistently built quarterback-friendly passing attacks, and Murray now gets Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and Jauan Jennings as his primary receiving weapons. The Vikings also enter the year with the second-easiest projected schedule for fantasy quarterbacks. Murray doesn’t need to suddenly become an elite pocket passer to destroy this ADP; he simply needs to stay healthy and continue providing the rushing production that has defined his fantasy career. At QB17, the downside is already built into his price, while a return to the top five at the position remains firmly within his range of outcomes.
