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The quarterback position is absurdly stacked in 2026 fantasy football drafts. We’ve got the usual elite names at the top, and then there’s an absolutely massive tier of players with real league-winning ceilings. Earlier this offseason, I identified four particular QB2s with top-five upside: Brock Purdy, Kyler Murray, Matthew Stafford and Malik Willis.
I still love all four as high-ceiling picks, but I’m not going to feature them again today. In most seasons, that would make it hard to write this article. Not this year. Here are three more quarterbacks with genuinely league-winning upside despite an average draft position (ADP) outside of the top 12 at the position.
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Fantasy Football QB2s With Top-5 Potential
Below are three quarterbacks being drafted outside of the top 12 who could finish inside the top five in 2026.
Patrick Mahomes (QB – KC) | ADP: QB13
Do I even need to explain myself here? Yes, the Chiefs’ offense hasn’t been as dominant in recent years, and yes, Patrick Mahomes himself is coming off a season-ending ACL injury. But we’re still talking about one of the greatest fantasy football quarterbacks of all time.
Mahomes has finished among the top five quarterbacks in fantasy points per game in five of his eight seasons. That includes not one but two of the top 10 fantasy seasons ever. It also includes last season.
Even as Kansas City sputtered toward its first non-playoff season of the Mahomes era, he averaged a whopping 21.1 fantasy points per game. That number was good for second in the league, tied with MVP candidates Drake Maye and Matthew Stafford.
Of course, we can’t ignore the injury. Mahomes is reportedly on track to play in Week 1, but there’s no guarantee he is his usual, magic-making self. This is particularly concerning because Mahomes, who has always added at least some fantasy value with his legs, relied more on rushing production than he ever has before in 2025.
At the peak of his fantasy dominance between 2018 and 2022, Mahomes added around 2.8 points per game on the ground. Last season, that number was a massive 5.2 points, easily the most of his career.
We can’t expect that level of rushing production to continue into 2026. Not only will Mahomes’ mobility potentially be limited in his return from injury, but the addition of Kenneth Walker III should mean that the Chiefs’ run game is less disastrous, taking work off the franchise quarterback’s plate.
With reduced rushing upside, Mahomes will need to ratchet up the passing production to be a top-five fantasy option. But if anyone can do that, it’s him. The return of offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy should help Kansas City’s offense, and the Chiefs are bound to be out for revenge after a hugely disappointing 2025.
Whether Mahomes, Andy Reid, Travis Kelce and Co. actually have it in them to return to former dominance remains to be seen. But if they do, it will come with plenty of sweet, sweet fantasy points.
Jordan Love (QB – GB) | ADP: QB18
Like Patrick Mahomes, it doesn’t take much projection to show that Jordan Love can be a top-five fantasy quarterback: He’s done it before, finishing as the QB5 in points per game in 2023, his first season as the Packers’ starter. Over the last two seasons, Love has performed more like a high-end to middling QB2, but there are reasons to believe 2026 could be a bounce-back season.
Arguably the biggest obstacle standing between Love and top-tier fantasy production is his own head coach. Over the last two seasons, Matt LaFleur has leaned heavily into a Josh Jacobs-led run game as the engine of the Packers’ offense.
Green Bay was third-lowest in the NFL in pass rate in 2024, and fifth-lowest in 2025. They were also in the bottom 10 in terms of pass rate versus expected in both seasons.
Meanwhile, Love has remained elite on a rate basis. He was seventh-highest in fantasy points per opportunity in 2024, and 15th-best last season. That may not sound too impressive, but this metric isn’t kind to relatively immobile pocket passers like Love.
That 15th ranking last season left him tied with Dak Prescott and Joe Burrow, two excellent fantasy options who simply saw more per-game volume. In adjusted net yards per attempt, a more straight-up passing efficiency stat, Love ranked fifth in both of his “down” seasons.
And there are some reasons — albeit mostly circumstantial — to believe the Packers will take a more aggressive approach this season.
For one, LaFleur himself has stated that they need to “strip everything down and start like it’s year one all over again“ on offense. For another, Jacobs, who has carried the load in both of the last two seasons and is still the only proven running back on the Packers’ roster, showed signs of slowing down last season.
The Packers also ranked second in expected points added (EPA) per dropback (0.273) last year and just 21st in EPA per rush (-0.076). Obviously, a lot of that passing efficiency is based on play action, which in turn relies on the threat of the run game (at least in theory). But that difference is stark, and if you and I know about it, you can bet LaFleur does.
It’s by no means guaranteed, but Green Bay’s offense might take a more pass-heavy approach this season. If it does, all we need is Love to maintain something close to the genuinely elite per-attempt numbers he has consistently posted throughout his career. Then we could be looking at a true fantasy QB1 who is available at the very end of fantasy drafts.
Bo Nix (QB DEN) | ADP: QB15
Unlike the previous two names on this list, Bo Nix has never been a top-five fantasy quarterback. On the other hand, his fantasy resume over just the last two seasons is more impressive than either Mahomes’ or Love’s. He has finished as exactly the QB7 in each of his first two seasons in the NFL.
Nix also has something else going for him that neither Love nor the now-hobbled Mahomes has: Genuine dual-threat upside. Since he entered the league in 2024, Nix has racked up 132.6 fantasy points with his legs. Only Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, Jayden Daniels and Lamar Jackson — otherwise known as the league’s premier dual-threat quarterbacks — have more over that time span.
To be fair, I should note that Nix is helped by his perfect health record in that stat. On a per-game basis, his 3.9 rushing points per game land him closer to players like Brock Purdy, Daniel Jones and Drake Maye than the genuinely game-breaking rushing options. But 3.9 points per game on the ground is nothing to scoff at.
Meanwhile, Nix’s passing outlook is trending in the right direction. With all due respect to Courtland Sutton, offseason addition Jaylen Waddle is immediately by far the best weapon Nix has had in his young career. And Sutton himself hasn’t gone anywhere, leaving Denver with a very solid receiver duo. That’s not to mention other young receiving playmakers like Troy Franklin, Pat Bryant and RJ Harvey.
Looking at things another way, Mike Clay’s preseason projections have Nix as the fantasy QB8. He’s behind only the aforementioned dual-threat demigods, Burrow, Maye, and Jaxson Dart (whose own rushing ability would have earned him a spot in this article if his ADP wasn’t just too high at QB12).
Nix’s combination of solid passing efficiency — even if it’s more thanks to Sean Payton and an excellent offensive line than his own ability — and non-negligible rushing production gives him a very safe floor. If Nix takes a step forward with Waddle in town, or even just gets lucky on the touchdown front (passing or rushing), his path to top-five production is wider than you might think.
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Ted Chmyz is a fantasy football contributor for FantasyPros.com. Find him on Twitter and Bluesky @Tchmyz for more fantasy content or to ask questions.
