NFL training camps open up this week, which means the fantasy football season is fast approaching. While most teams know who will be the starting QB come Week 1, others will be figuring that out in heated competitions. Yahoo analyst Matt Harmon poses the biggest QB questions for fantasy going into training camps.
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Of all the quarterback battles we’ll discuss here, the one taking place in Minnesota is the least likely, in my view, to be a real competition. The Vikings are insistent that J.J. McCarthy will get an even shot to be the QB1 over Kyler Murray but I’m highly skeptical. My sentiment isn’t unique.
Maybe Murray doesn’t hit as the starter; perhaps McCarthy can improve over an all-out flop season in his first showing as a pro. At this current moment, however, Murray, while a flawed player, is a better option heading into Week 1. McCarthy’s 4.31 adjusted net yards per pass attempt in 2025 ranked 40th out of 45 passers with 100-plus attempts. Murray ranked 37th with 4.72, by far the lowest mark of his career. Even in his worst season as a pro in a far inferior environment, Murray was objectively better than McCarthy.
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Unless McCarthy is just a dramatically improved version of the player we saw last year, I expect Murray to start the vast majority, if not all, of the games in 2026. As the starter, his rushing chops alone make him a clear QB1 candidate in fantasy but he’s also a strong fit in a Vikings’ passing game that’s extremely downfield-oriented, even if he won’t access the middle of the field as much as Sam Darnold did for Kevin O’Connell in 2024.
The Browns attempted to soft-launch the idea that Deshaun Watson would get another crack as their starter in 2026, despite missing all of last season. Coming out of OTAs, it sounds like Shedeur Sanders has closed the gap. That probably says more about Watson’s current lack of potency, which should be no shock considering how the last few years have gone for him.
Now, Sanders wasn’t great in his own right last season. His 35.5% dropback success rate ranked 43rd out of 45 qualifying passers last season, besting only Jets UDFA rookie Brady Cook and his teammate Dillon Gabriel. I can hear an argument that he’s slightly better than those numbers and could even take a step forward with improved talent around him and a better play-caller in Todd Monken installed as the head coach.
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My guess is we see both Watson and Sanders make starts for Cleveland this season. We may even get a Taylen Green start toward the end of the season if the Browns want to take a look at the highly-athletic quarterback; get ready to see him in sicko waiver wire columns, if so. All this means is the Browns don’t have their 2027 quarterback on the roster but we should still track this situation since they do suddenly have an abundance of interesting young weapons.
Other than the fact they’re both left-handed, it’s hard to get two more different stylistic passers than Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr.
Tagovailoa gets rid of the ball quickly and operates well over the middle, despite obvious arm strength limitations. Penix doesn’t throw over the middle much and has a laborious throwing motion but can access deep outside-the-numbers throws thanks to his aggressive mindset and howitzer of an arm.
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That sets the Falcons up for a quietly intriguing quarterback battle in camp, if Penix is healthy enough to push for the QB1 gig coming off an ACL tear. I’d bet that Tagovailoa opens the season as the starter, but we see Penix at some point. Given their disparate approaches to playing quarterback, it would be hard to argue that the specific starter won’t have an effect on how players like Drake London, Bijan Robinson and Kyle Pitts Sr. score fantasy points this season.
It’s a little bizarre that we’re set to open training camps and the Cardinals still don’t have an agreement in place that satisfies both their desires and what Jacoby Brissett wants in a raise.
While Brissett is still the odds-on favorite to open the season as the starter, if not play the vast majority of the games, his absence does leave the door open for others. The Cardinals signed backup Gardner Minshew and drafted Carson Beck in Round 3 this year. If Brissett starts slow because he still hasn’t learned the nuances of this offense —he’s never played under a Sean McVay-tree play-caller — it opens the door for Minshew to push for time or moves the clock up on Beck getting work.
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Fantasy gamers who want to roll out some of these pass-catchers should be looking for Brissett to earn and hold onto the starting job as long as possible.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Raiders’ intention “is for Kirk Cousins to be the starter at the beginning of the season, throughout the season and the end of the season.” That’s pretty standard coachspeak for a veteran quarterback at this time of the year.
I won’t totally discount it because Cousins has so much experience in this offense and No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza is a rookie coming from an RPO-heavy attack that didn’t mimic much of what he’ll see in Klint Kubiak’s system. That said, it will only take a few strong moments from Mendoza, who is clearly smart and dedicated, to convince the staff he’s ahead of schedule.
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The Raiders are a fascinating fantasy team this year, despite not projecting as even a league-average offense. They have two players who go in the top 20 overall picks and then employ a ton of other options who likely won’t be drafted in most standard leagues, outside of deep sleepers at wideout. Even if we’re not expecting much from the entire unit, it’s paramount that Brock Bowers has someone who can get him the ball and Ashton Jeanty has a field general who can keep the offense on schedule better than what we saw in 2025.
Malik Willis’ viability as a fantasy quarterback will almost exclusively be derived from his rushing ability. It’s only been in small samples, but he’s looked like one of the premier runners at the position each time he’s taken the field the previous two seasons. He’s going to push for fringe QB1 status and priority streamer just on those skills alone.
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At the same time, if the Dolphins are going to field a viable offense — low bar but likely necessary for Willis to put up viable stats — someone needs to emerge out of one of the murkiest receiver rooms I can remember. While Jalen Tolbert and Tutu Atwell are the veteran names, the better bets are young players like Malik Washington, who has flashed in spurts, or more likely, Round 3 rookies like Caleb Douglas and Chris Bell. The latter was more of a high Day 2 pick than his draft slot indicated but he fell due to an ACL tear that may keep him sidelined for large parts of training camp, if not into the season. Another interesting name is TE Greg Dulcich, who was productive on a per-route basis for this team late in 2025.
Rushing cheat code aside, Willis will need some passing acumen to be a true fantasy starter. Right now, the Dolphins don’t present any clarity on that front. This will be an all-out battle in training camp with no real obvious favorites.
Is Geno Smith a viable bounce-back candidate?
The actual answer to the question is a total unknown. Geno Smith captained a team that picked first overall and ranked 39th in adjusted net yards per attempt and 33rd in dropback success rate among 45 qualifying quarterbacks last year. Typically, we don’t bet on rebirth seasons for a player who will turn 36 years old in October, but that’s not exactly what we need from Smith.
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All we’re looking for out of Smith is to be an acceptable starting quarterback who can distribute the ball to Garrett Wilson, keep the offense out of the basement overall and maybe even allow young talent like AD Mitchell, Omar Cooper Jr. and Kenyon Sadiq to flash what they can do. It’s a low bar to clear.
Again, the outright answer won’t come from camp, even if he gets positive reviews. However, if Jets beat reporters are constantly writing about struggles, it’s best not to ignore it, like so much of the community did when Justin Fields was the subject of those reports this time last year.
What’s the health status of entrenched starters coming back from injury?
Bo Nix has no concern over the ankle injury that kept him out of the AFC Championship game but you can’t deny that the offseason wasn’t completely full of clean news. The Broncos passer has some swelling because of bone spurs and had to undergo a cleanup second surgery. It’s at least worth tracking to see if Nix is at all limited as he works under a new play-caller and with Jaylen Waddle for the first time.
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Patrick Mahomes is gearing up to be a full participant once we get closer to Week 1 and is a notorious timeline-beater. So much of his value is derived from his rushing ability in 2025, so even if he’s active for the first game, those scrambles are likely to decrease. I’m watching to see Mahomes’ participation levels and if there are any signs of style change for the Chiefs offense. It’s needed.
Daniel Jones, much like Mahomes, sounds as if he’s planning to be out there for the Colts in Week 1. That’s a tight turnaround for a guy who tore his Achilles in December. It’s paramount to track whether there are any limitations for Jones, who is also highly reliant on his mobility, that may force structural changes to the Colts offense.
How are these QB1s taking to new offenses?
Lamar Jackson is looking to rebound after his worst season as a pro. He’ll do that under the watch of first-time play-caller Declan Doyle. I’m bullish on the type of offense he should be looking to install but I’m curious how he projects to a new job and how Jackson takes to his third major scheme shift.
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Justin Herbert will be the subject of much intrigue as the hype train for the Mike McDaniel Chargers offense is all gas and no brakes. I’m most curious to track the possible playing time distribution for Herbert’s teammates in the passing game.
Jalen Hurts is set to watch the Eagles offense undergo a serious shift, if Philadelphia’s offseason moves are any indication. Hurts is a specific type of passer and he’ll need to change his style to blend with what Sean Mannion will bring to the table.
Jaxson Dart was the apple of Brian Daboll’s eye but I think the young passer needs to be pushed into a new playing style to reach his potential as a pro. I’m skeptical if Matt Nagy is that guy at OC, even if John Harbaugh will bring a new air of professionalism to New York.
Jayden Daniels will play without Kliff Kingsbury for the first time in his career. I think this is a good move to develop Daniels further as a quarterback, and even if David Blough is unproven, I like a lot of what he’s said about his philosophy so far.