The beauty of drafting early in fantasy football is getting insane discounts on players. It’s even easier with a position as deep as quarterback. The depth at the position allows you to target 2026 fantasy football quarterback sleepers, rather than bypassing premium picks early.
How much you care about undervalued fantasy quarterbacks tends to depend on the type of league you’re in. If you’re in SuperFlex or 2QB leagues, then yeah, it matters a lot. Standard leagues, maybe not so much.
However, regardless of how your league drafts and what your settings are, certain quarterbacks are still going long after all the others. Value is in the eye of the beholder, but I view a value as someone who can easily outperform their expected projection.
It’s subjective, but the following fantasy quarterbacks appear to be severely undervalued. I’d be aiming to target them in most drafts, and I’ll detail why each stands out.
Jaxson Dart – New York Giants (QB11)
Dart is my favorite 2026 fantasy quarterback sleeper due to his immense upside. I know, everyone hates a Matt Nagy-run offense, but I tend to think some pieces in this New York Giants offense can thrive despite his presence.
For one, new head coach John Harbaugh likes to implement a run-centric offense. I know he’s not an offensive coach, but he still has final say on the team he wants to put on the field. With a young passer entering just his second season, there’s no doubt the G-Men will deploy a run-heavy system and also cater to Dart’s strengths.
That’s one big reason why Cam Skattebo’s 2026 fantasy outlook looks so promising.
We saw last year that Dart can extend plays and work some magic with his general mobility. He also made a huge impact as a pure rusher, turning 86 attempts into 487 rushing yards and nice scores.
Dart’s dynamic game was good for QB14 overall as a rookie, and that was despite missing three games, dealing with a concussion, and not having his top weapons for over half the season.
The ceiling is massive with Dart and you’re not being forced to draft him at an ADP that really suggests that’s the case. In fact, with all the negativity surrounding Nagy’s presence and Dart’s pro-MAGA outlook, it’s possible you can get him even cheaper once we get to August.
Tyler Shough – New Orleans Saints (QB21)
Not sure about taking the plunge with Dart? I get it, there’s a lot of noise on Fantasy Twitter about Nagy’s imprint on this offense, plus Dart isn’t dirt cheap or anything.
Luckily, there’s someone who could offer a similar ceiling and you can get him way later in redraft leagues. I’m talking like at the end of your draft.
That’d be New Orleans Saints passer Tyler Shough, who was sensational in just a half of a season as a rookie in 2025. It’s fair to knock his competition or note that his games were largely meaningless, but Shough still cooked down the stretch, finishing inside the top-10 from weeks 9-18.
The only real knock on Shough, in my opinion, is age. In redraft, we don’t care about that. What we should care about is draft capital (he was a 2nd round pick), what his coaches say about him (they love him), what he did last year (he crushed), and how he projects in 2026 (like a god).
And boy, can this kid make some throws.
This guy is fun to watch, but he’s also talented and displayed an ability to be quite productive.
Shough’s play down the stretch last year has me hooked. Over his final six games he topped 19+ fantasy points every time, and delivered 20+ fantasy points five times.
Blessed with underrated mobility, Shough’s floor and ceiling get a significant boost from his ability to damage on the ground. Throw in his stellar system and bevy of offensive weapons, and I am expecting big things (and a very cheap price) in 2026.
Malik Willis – Miami Dolphins (QB22)
One more 2026 fantasy football quarterback sleeper I am extremely high on is Malik Willis. There are other values in the mid-range of your draft that obviously look great, but the play here is to spend very little on the position, but still have a real shot at top-10 numbers.
Willis definitely gives us that chance. We saw his upside last year when he dropped 30+ fantasy points against the Baltimore Ravens, while his rushing history suggests this is a very good athlete who will not hesitate to run, and he’ll do it extremely well.
The passing ability remains a work in progress in terms of anyone actually knowing how good Willis is. The 27-year old was arguably overdrafted by the Tennessee Titans initially, and he’s been riding the bench ever since.
Despite previous inconsistency and a small sample size of seeing him execute in the pocket, Willis does have the necessary arm strength and throwing ability to excel at this level.
The real red flags stem from Miami’s system and surrounding talent. However, Miami has loudly said they want to run the football this year.
While a good chunk of that points to De’Von Achane, the Dolphins would be silly if they didn’t lean into what Willis does best.
After seeing what this guy did at Liberty as a rusher – and later what he’s done in the NFL – it isn’t crazy to project an obscene rushing stat line. What that actually ends up being is anyone’s guess, but Willis is in the mold of a Justin Fields.
Yes, there are questions regarding his supporting cast and actual passing ability, but the rushing floor can’t be questioned. And given the investment Miami has made in Willis, it’s difficult to see him failing – especially at this insanely discounted price.
If Willis was being drafted as a top-10 quarterback, this wouldn’t be a conversation. The risk would be too great for the price. But he’s not. Instead, he’s perhaps the best QB sleeper in all of fantasy football this year.
Finding Fantasy QB Sleepers in 2026
True fantasy football sleepers offer upside without costing an arm and a leg. Jaxson Dart will need to be taken earlier than the other two guys on my QB sleeper shortlist, but none of these passers are very expensive.
Will they all make their way into the top-10? No, of course not. But they’re all dynamic players with elite rushing ability and proven production.
They’re also arguably set up for success. All of these guys will be allowed to use their legs to insulate their fantasy scoring, and Dart/Shough both have strong weapons to work with. There’s a certain level of risk involved with each of these guys, to be fair, but that’s typically something we can say for all fantasy sleepers.
Sleepers or not, see which of these guys actually make it into my top-10 in my 2026 fantasy quarterback rankings.
Playing DFS since the days of DraftStreet, Kevin knows the ins and outs of DFS, specifically for NFL and NBA. He’s also been helping people win in fantasy football leagues for 15+ years and is one of many experts featured at FantasyPros.
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