NFL fans rejoice as we head into July. Training camps will be opening soon, preseason football games not long after that, and redraft leagues are beginning to fill.
To help you prepare for the upcoming draft season, I will be breaking down how I will be approaching each position on draft day. This four-part series will feature redraft rankings, targets, fades, sleepers, and overall strategy for each of the positions (QB, RB, WR, TE).
The series begins with quarterback. Discussions assume 1QB redraft. Targets, fades, and sleepers are all based on how I see a player’s value in relation to their current ADP.
There are very few players that I am completely out on. There is almost always a point where a player would slide far enough in a draft where I would feel comfortable selecting him. However, based on ADP, there are several players at each position that I am not likely to roster in a single league; those players make up my “fade” list.
In the same way, my “targets” and “sleepers” are players I see as being undervalued, and as such, I am bound to be heavily invested in them this year, barring a significant change to their ADPs.
Don’t agree with some of the rankings or advice—let us know your thoughts on our message board, found at the end of the article.
Rankings
Targets
Brock Purdy
Brock Purdy missed seven of the first nine games, but once he was able to return to action in Week 11, he was masterful, finishing as the overall QB4 from weeks 11-17 (including a Week 14 bye).
Heading into the 2026 season, a healthy Purdy gets a new go-to receiver in Mike Evans, as well as Christian Kirk to man the slot. If George Kittle and Ricky Pearsall can stay healthy, and Christian McCaffery continues his excellence out of the backfield, Brock Purdy could see career highs in attempts and completions, potentially finishing higher than he did in 2023, when he was fantasy’s QB6.
Dak Prescott
The addition of George Pickens to a Dallas Cowboys offense that already featured CeeDee Lamb paid off as a healthy Dak Prescott finished as the QB5 on the season. Elite fantasy production is nothing new to Prescott as he was fantasy’s QB7 in 2021 and the QB3 in 2023. Despite the weapons and track record of success, Prescott is still undervalued as the QB10 on the FantasyPros Expert Consensus Rankings (ECR) and the QB8 by Dataforce ADP.
Fades
Jaxson Dart
Jaxson Dart finished at the QB18 last season. He currently is expected to put up low-end QB1 numbers in 2026 based on both his Dataforce ADP (QB12) and ECR (QB11). The projected leap does not make sense to me based on concerns about the health of his go-to receiver, Malik Nabers, as well as New York’s desire to run the football (second in rushing attempts with 511 in 2025).
Dart’s cost is too high for his limited ceiling. I would much rather target Matthew Stafford, Bo Nix, Jared Goff, and Brock Purdy, all of whom go later in DataForce drafts.
Patrick Mahomes
Time to put aside what you know about Patrick Mahomes and look at this upcoming season through a realistic lens. Mahomes suffered a torn MCL and LCL on December 15th. He is expected to start Week 1 but it is not unreasonable to expect a slow start to the season as he works towards a full recovery. This may include lower rushing totals. While Mahomes has never been Vick-like in his running ability, he did rush for 422 yards with five touchdowns last season and has surpassed 300 yards on the ground every year since 2020. The addition of Kenneth Walker, along with questions surrounding the receiving corps, means Mahomes is a fade for me at his Dataforce ADP of QB10.
Sleepers
Baker Mayfield
A quarterback who has posted three straight top-12 seasons, including a QB4 finish in 2024 should really not be considered a sleeper…but based on where Baker Mayfield is going in drafts, it appears that he is being completely overlooked going into 2026.
I understand that the departure of Mike Evans was not ideal, but Chris Godwin is healthy and Emeka Egbuka looks like a potential superstar. Baker Mayfield has proven to be one of the league’s most effective and productive pocket passers and this season should not be any different. His QB19 Dataforce ADP is his floor and makes him a fine second or third quarterback in superflex or best ball.
Sam Darnold
I don’t know what it is about Sam Darnold, but fantasy gamers just seem to have trouble pushing the button on the Seattle quarterback that has finished the past two seasons as the QB7 and QB14 and could be taking on a larger role this season with the backfield in transition. He has the luxury of throwing to one of the league’s finest receivers in Jaxon Smith-Njigba, as well as productive deep threat, Rashid Shaheed. His Dataforce ADP of QB24 makes little sense and it one of the easiest late-round selections in best ball and superflex.
Overall Strategy
When it comes to best ball, I tend to favor 3QB builds made up primarily of quarterbacks from the teens and early twenties of my rankings, quarterbacks that are expected to start Week 1 and keep their job all season. That “larger tier” features enough quarterbacks with rushing upside and/or lead high-volume passing attacks, that any one of my three quarterbacks can return value, any given week. This build has allowed me to load up on wide receivers and running backs early. If Brock Purdey and/or Dak Prescott drop, as has often been the case, I am thrilled to secure them at value, but for the most part, I simply don’t like having to give up the opportunity to draft the RB’s and WR’s available when top-12 quarterbacks come off the board.
In traditional redraft, I am looking to select one of the top 12 quarterbacks from my rankings if I wanted to be comfortable just rostering one quarterback heading into the season. If I were to employ a committee, I would target a pair in my top twenty. As detailed earlier, Brock Purdy and Dak Prescott appear to be the best values heading into traditional redraft season and are likely to be on many of my redraft teams.
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Matthew Hill
Fantasy Sports Writer
Interesting stuff. Love the insights. How do you feel about other analysts who are saying Josh Allen is in a tier by himself, and they have no problem if you want to jump up and take him in the back of the first round/early second in 1QB redraft? In any drafts I have where I’m picking late first round, I might pull the trigger on that build.