Josh Allen has been the gold standard at quarterback in fantasy football for the better part of a decade. There is no debate about who the best option at the position is. The debate is whether you should actually pay what it costs to get him. Fantasy managers face a real opportunity cost decision with Allen in 2026.
Should I Draft Josh Allen in Fantasy Football?
Let me start with the obvious. Allen has been the clear best quarterback in fantasy for six years running. Last season, he averaged 21.4 fantasy points per game, and that was actually his lowest finish over that entire stretch. Think about what that means. His floor across six seasons is a number most quarterbacks would kill for.
Since his 2020 breakout, Allen has never finished lower than the overall QB3 in points per game. He has been top two at the position in five of the past six seasons. There is no player in fantasy football at any position who offers this kind of certainty. If you want to remove a variable from your roster, Allen is how you do it.
START PREPARING: PFN’s FREE Fantasy Draft Simulator
What makes it more impressive is the offense he does it in. The Buffalo Bills do not want to throw the football. Allen has averaged just 27.7 pass attempts per game over the past two seasons. For comparison, he was at 37.9 attempts per game during his career-best 2021 campaign. He is putting up the best quarterback numbers in fantasy on roughly 10 fewer throws per week than his peak.
That is the part people gloss over. Allen is already the best quarterback in fantasy, and there is still untapped upside sitting right there. If Buffalo ever decides to open things up, we are looking at a season nobody else at the position can touch.
So what is the problem? You have to draft him in the third round.
Quarterback is as deep as it has ever been this year. There are as many as 20 quarterbacks with top-12 upside, which fundamentally changes the calculus on paying a premium for any of them. The question is not whether Allen is the best. He is. The question is how much better he needs to be to justify the cost.
Is Allen two rounds better than Lamar Jackson? Is he four rounds better than Jayden Daniels? Is he 10 rounds better than Malik Willis? Every one of those picks you spend on a quarterback is a running back or wide receiver you are not getting, and those are the positions where the depth runs out fast.
FANTASY RANKINGS: PFN’s FREE Fantasy PPR, Half-PPR, and Non-PPR Rankings
For me, the opportunity cost is too steep. Allen is my QB1 and he is the QB1 by ADP. Obviously. I have no argument with the ranking whatsoever. I simply will not be rostering him anywhere this season, because I would rather take a quarterback five or 10 rounds later and spend that third-round pick on a position where the drop-off actually hurts.
None of this is a knock on the player. If you use that third-round pick on Allen, you know precisely what you are getting, and you are getting the safest asset in fantasy football. I cannot blame anyone for that. It just is not the way I am building rosters in 2026.
Katz’s QB Fantasy Rankings 2026
- Josh Allen | BUF
- Lamar Jackson | BAL
- Drake Maye | NE
- Jayden Daniels | WAS
- Jalen Hurts | PHI
- Joe Burrow | CIN
- Jaxson Dart | NYG
- Justin Herbert | LAC
- Caleb Williams | CHI
- Trevor Lawrence | JAX
- Dak Prescott | DAL
- Brock Purdy | SF
- Patrick Mahomes II | KC
- Bo Nix | DEN
- Kyler Murray | MIN
- Jared Goff | DET
- Matthew Stafford | LAR
- Malik Willis | MIA
- Jordan Love | GB
- Tyler Shough | NO
- Baker Mayfield | TB
- Sam Darnold | SEA
- C.J. Stroud | HOU
- Bryce Young | CAR
- Daniel Jones | IND
- Jacoby Brissett | ARI
- Cam Ward | TEN
- Geno Smith | NYJ
- Tua Tagovailoa | ATL
- Michael Penix Jr. | ATL
- Deshaun Watson | CLE
- Kirk Cousins | LV
