2026 Fantasy football half-PPR mock draft: Matthew Stafford rewards an extreme wait-on-QB strategy

It's going to be fun drafting quarterbacks this season. The position is deep, and you don't have to reach for one early on Draft Day.

In our latest 12-team, half-PPR mock draft featuring members of our CBS Sports staff, the quarterback value was fantastic. Josh Allen fell to No. 47 overall. Drake Maye was selected in Round 6. And Jaxson Dart fell to Round 11.

Now, before we continue, you should know that quarterbacks tend to slip in analyst drafts. But even the CBS Sports Average Draft Position data shows that quarterbacks are solid value picks this season. The only quarterback being drafted in the first three rounds is Allen at No. 19 overall. Lamar Jackson is next at No. 39. And on and on it goes.

In this draft, I had the chance to draft Allen in Round 4 but opted for D.J. Moore instead. I also passed on Jackson for D'Andre Swift in Round 5. My toughest decision was Jordan Addison or Trevor Lawrence in Round 9, but I wanted to see what my team would look like by waiting on a quarterback as long as possible.

Finally, in Round 12, I drafted Matthew Stafford. I was the last manager in this league to draft a starting quarterback, and it worked out well since Stafford was the No. 1 quarterback in 2025.

I followed that up with Jared Goff in Round 13, and I love Goff this season. His schedule is fantastic with only five outdoor games through Week 17.

Other quarterbacks drafted in Round 13 or later included Brock Purdy, Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield. And quarterbacks who didn't get drafted were Bo Nix, Tyler Shough, Malik Willis and Jordan Love.

While Allen, Jackson and Maye are studs, there's so much value at quarterback this season. But for this strategy to work, you have to love the rest of your roster. And I'm pretty excited about this team.

The strength of my squad is at receiver and tight end with Ja'Marr Chase, Moore, Chris Godwin, Addison, Matthew Golden and Brock Bowers. I waited until Round 3 to draft my first running back, but I still have a solid corps with Jeremiyah Love, Swift, Tony Pollard, Jordan Mason, Chris Rodriguez Jr. and George Holani.

If the Stafford-Goff pairing works out as well as I expect, then this team should compete for a playoff spot. I'm planning to wait for a quarterback a lot this season.

As a reference point for this mock draft, all touchdowns are worth six points, and we award one point for every 10 yards rushing and receiving and one point for every 25 yards passing. We also award 0.5 points for every reception. We feature a starting lineup of QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, TE and FLEX (RB/WR/TE) with six reserves for a 14-round draft.

Our draft order is as follows:

1. Jake Grogins, CBS Sports HQ Production Staff
2. Thomas Shafer, FFT Podcast Producer
3. Jamey Eisenberg, Senior Fantasy Writer
4. Jack Capotorto, CBS Sports HQ Producer
5. Meron Berkson, CBS Sports HQ Senior Coordinating Producer
6. Adam Aizer, FFT Podcast Host
7. Dave Richard, Senior Fantasy Writer
8. Jake Winderman, CBS Sports News Editor
9. James Lamberts, CBS Sports HQ Producer
10. Tommy Tran, CBS Sports HQ Host
11. Dan Schneier, Senior Fantasy Editor
12. Jaclyn DeAugustino, CBS Sports HQ Host