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

Jamey Eisenberg explains why waiting on QB paves the way for stronger roster construction in half-PPR drafts Aug 13, 2026 at 9:55 am ET • 2 min read Imagn Images 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 Round By Round Round 1 Pos Team Player 1 Jake Grogins J. Gibbs RB DET 2 Thomas Shafer B. Robinson RB ATL 3 Jamey Eisenberg J. Chase WR CIN 4 Jack Capotorto J. Smith-Njigba WR SEA 5 Meron Berkson P. Nacua WR LAR 6 Adam Aizer C. McCaffrey RB SF 7 Dave Richard J. Taylor RB IND 8 Jake Winderman A. St. Brown WR DET 9 James Lamberts D. Henry RB BAL 10 Tommy Tran C. Lamb WR DAL 11 Dan Schneier J. Jefferson WR MIN 12 Jaclyn DeAugustino J. Cook RB BUF Round 2 Pos Team Player 13 Jaclyn DeAugustino D. London WR ATL 14 Dan Schneier C. Brown RB CIN 15 Tommy Tran A. Jeanty RB LV 16 James Lamberts S. Barkley RB PHI 17 Jake Winderman K. Walker III RB KC 18 Dave Richard D. Achane RB MIA 19 Adam Aizer O. Hampton RB LAC 20 Meron Berkson A. Brown WR NE 21 Jack Capotorto N. Collins WR HOU 22 Jamey Eisenberg B. Bowers TE LV 23 Thomas Shafer J. Jacobs RB GB 24 Jake Grogins G. Pickens WR DAL Round 3 Pos Team Player 25 Jake Grogins T. McBride TE ARI 26 Thomas Shafer R. Rice WR KC 27 Jamey Eisenberg J. Love RB ARI 28 Jack Capotorto M. Nabers WR NYG 29 Meron Berkson D. Smith WR PHI 30 Adam Aizer T. Higgins WR CIN 31 Dave Richard E. Egbuka WR TB 32 Jake Winderman B. Hall RB NYJ 33 James Lamberts C. Olave WR NO 34 Tommy Tran K. Williams RB LAR 35 Dan Schneier Z. Flowers WR BAL 36 Jaclyn DeAugustino G. Wilson WR NYJ Round 4 Pos Team Player 37 Jaclyn DeAugustino J. Williams WR DET 38 Dan Schneier L. McConkey WR LAC 39 Tommy Tran T. McMillan WR CAR 40 James Lamberts D. Adams WR LAR 41 Jake Winderman J. Waddle WR DEN 42 Dave Richard C. Loveland TE CHI 43 Adam Aizer J. Williams RB DAL 44 Meron Berkson Q. Judkins RB CLE 45 Jack Capotorto C. Skattebo RB NYG 46 Jamey Eisenberg D. Moore WR BUF 47 Thomas Shafer J. Allen QB BUF 48 Jake Grogins L. Burden III WR CHI Round 5 Pos Team Player 49 Jake Grogins P. Washington WR JAC 50 Thomas Shafer M. Evans WR SF 51 Jamey Eisenberg D. Swift RB CHI 52 Jack Capotorto T. Etienne RB NO 53 Meron Berkson B. Irving RB TB 54 Adam Aizer L. Jackson QB BAL 55 Dave Richard T. McLaurin WR WAS 56 Jake Winderman C. Watson WR GB 57 James Lamberts R. Odunze WR CHI 58 Tommy Tran T. Henderson RB NE 59 Dan Schneier T. Warren TE IND 60 Jaclyn DeAugustino B. Tuten RB JAC Round 6 Pos Team Player 61 Jaclyn DeAugustino J. Warren RB PIT 62 Dan Schneier D. Montgomery RB HOU 63 Tommy Tran J. Burrow QB CIN 64 James Lamberts J. Daniels QB WAS 65 Jake Winderman D. Maye QB NE 66 Dave Richard B. Thomas Jr. WR JAC 67 Adam Aizer C. Tate WR TEN 68 Meron Berkson S. LaPorta TE DET 69 Jack Capotorto J. Price RB SEA 70 Jamey Eisenberg T. Pollard RB TEN 71 Thomas Shafer M. Harrison Jr. WR ARI 72 Jake Grogins R. Stevenson RB NE Round 7 Pos Team Player 73 Jake Grogins J. Tyson WR NO 74 Thomas Shafer K. Pitts TE ATL 75 Jamey Eisenberg C. Godwin WR TB 76 Jack Capotorto T. Kraft TE GB 77 Meron Berkson C. Sutton WR DEN 78 Adam Aizer J. Downs WR IND 79 Dave Richard J. Brooks RB CAR 80 Jake Winderman R. Dowdle RB PIT 81 James Lamberts A. Pierce WR IND 82 Tommy Tran H. Fannin Jr. TE CLE 83 Dan Schneier Q. Johnston WR LAC 84 Jaclyn DeAugustino D. Prescott QB DAL Round 8 Pos Team Player 85 Jaclyn DeAugustino D. Goedert TE PHI 86 Dan Schneier C. Williams QB CHI 87 Tommy Tran M. Lemon WR PHI 88 James Lamberts C. Hubbard RB CAR 89 Jake Winderman G. Kittle TE SF 90 Dave Richard J. Hurts QB PHI 91 Adam Aizer I. Likely TE NYG 92 Meron Berkson J. Herbert QB LAC 93 Jack Capotorto W. Robinson WR TEN 94 Jamey Eisenberg J. Mason RB MIN 95 Thomas Shafer D. Metcalf WR PIT 96 Jake Grogins D. Samuel WR SF Round 9 Pos Team Player 97 Jake Grogins S. Diggs WR WAS 98 Thomas Shafer M. Wilson WR ARI 99 Jamey Eisenberg J. Addison WR MIN 100 Jack Capotorto T. Lawrence QB JAC 101 Meron Berkson J. Croskey-Merritt RB WAS 102 Adam Aizer B. Corum RB LAR 103 Dave Richard M. Pittman WR PIT 104 Jake Winderman J. Meyers WR JAC 105 James Lamberts J. Ferguson TE DAL 106 Tommy Tran K. Monangai RB CHI 107 Dan Schneier J. Reed WR GB 108 Jaclyn DeAugustino T. Dell WR HOU Round 10 Pos Team Player 109 Jaclyn DeAugustino T. Spears RB TEN 110 Dan Schneier J. Dobbins RB DEN 111 Tommy Tran K. Concepcion WR CLE 112 James Lamberts R. Harvey RB DEN 113 Jake Winderman K. Gainwell RB TB 114 Dave Richard J. Coker WR CAR 115 Adam Aizer T. Kelce TE KC 116 Meron Berkson R. White RB WAS 117 Jack Capotorto T. Tracy Jr. RB NYG 118 Jamey Eisenberg C. Rodriguez Jr. RB JAC 119 Thomas Shafer X. Worthy WR KC 120 Jake Grogins Z. Charbonnet RB SEA Round 11 Pos Team Player 121 Jake Grogins J. Dart QB NYG 122 Thomas Shafer M. Andrews TE BAL 123 Jamey Eisenberg M. Golden WR GB 124 Jack Capotorto D. Boston WR CLE 125 Meron Berkson D. Stribling WR SF 126 Adam Aizer J. Higgins WR HOU 127 Dave Richard M. Lloyd RB GB 128 Jake Winderman R. Doubs WR NE 129 James Lamberts K. Shakir WR BUF 130 Tommy Tran W. Marks RB HOU 131 Dan Schneier T. Allgeier RB ARI 132 Jaclyn DeAugustino I. Pacheco RB DET Round 12 Pos Team Player 133 Jaclyn DeAugustino R. Shaheed WR SEA 134 Dan Schneier K. Mitchell RB LAC 135 Tommy Tran O. Cooper Jr. WR NYJ 136 James Lamberts J. Nailor WR LV 137 Jake Winderman A. Jones RB MIN 138 Dave Richard P. Mahomes QB KC 139 Adam Aizer R. Davis RB BUF 140 Meron Berkson D. Sampson RB CLE 141 Jack Capotorto D. Kincaid TE BUF 142 Jamey Eisenberg M. Stafford QB LAR 143 Thomas Shafer C. Douglas WR MIA 144 Jake Grogins J. Coleman RB DEN Round 13 Pos Team Player 145 Jake Grogins C. Allen WR KC 146 Thomas Shafer B. Robinson Jr. RB ATL 147 Jamey Eisenberg J. Goff QB DET 148 Jack Capotorto A. Kamara RB NO 149 Meron Berkson T. Tucker WR LV 150 Adam Aizer J. Blue RB DAL 151 Dave Richard B. Strange TE JAC 152 Jake Winderman J. McMillan WR TB 153 James Lamberts H. Henry TE NE 154 Tommy Tran B. Purdy QB SF 155 Dan Schneier D. Wicks WR PHI 156 Jaclyn DeAugustino J. Jennings WR MIN Round 14 Pos Team Player 157 Jaclyn DeAugustino K. Allen RB WAS 158 Dan Schneier T. Bigsby RB PHI 159 Tommy Tran J. Jeudy WR CLE 160 James Lamberts K. Murray QB MIN 161 Jake Winderman K. Sadiq TE NYJ 162 Dave Richard J. Johnson TE NO 163 Adam Aizer R. Bateman WR BAL 164 Meron Berkson M. Washington WR MIA 165 Jack Capotorto B. Mayfield QB TB 166 Jamey Eisenberg G. Holani RB SEA 167 Thomas Shafer M. Washington Jr. RB LV 168 Jake Grogins P. Bryant WR DEN Team by Team Jake Grogins Rd Pk Player 1 1 J. Gibbs RB DET 2 24 G. Pickens WR DAL 3 25 T. McBride TE ARI 4 48 L. Burden III WR CHI 5 49 P. Washington WR JAC 6 72 R. Stevenson RB NE 7 73 J. Tyson WR NO 8 96 D. Samuel WR SF 9 97 S. Diggs WR WAS 10 120 Z. Charbonnet RB SEA 11 121 J. Dart QB NYG 12 144 J. Coleman RB DEN 13 145 C. Allen WR KC 14 168 P. Bryant WR DEN Thomas Shafer Rd Pk Player 1 2 B. Robinson RB ATL 2 23 J. Jacobs RB GB 3 26 R. Rice WR KC 4 47 J. Allen QB BUF 5 50 M. Evans WR SF 6 71 M. Harrison Jr. WR ARI 7 74 K. Pitts TE ATL 8 95 D. Metcalf WR PIT 9 98 M. Wilson WR ARI 10 119 X. Worthy WR KC 11 122 M. Andrews TE BAL 12 143 C. Douglas WR MIA 13 146 B. Robinson Jr. RB ATL 14 167 M. Washington Jr. RB LV Jamey Eisenberg Rd Pk Player 1 3 J. Chase WR CIN 2 22 B. Bowers TE LV 3 27 J. Love RB ARI 4 46 D. Moore WR BUF 5 51 D. Swift RB CHI 6 70 T. Pollard RB TEN 7 75 C. Godwin WR TB 8 94 J. Mason RB MIN 9 99 J. Addison WR MIN 10 118 C. Rodriguez Jr. RB JAC 11 123 M. Golden WR GB 12 142 M. Stafford QB LAR 13 147 J. Goff QB DET 14 166 G. Holani RB SEA Jack Capotorto Rd Pk Player 1 4 J. Smith-Njigba WR SEA 2 21 N. Collins WR HOU 3 28 M. Nabers WR NYG 4 45 C. Skattebo RB NYG 5 52 T. Etienne RB NO 6 69 J. Price RB SEA 7 76 T. Kraft TE GB 8 93 W. Robinson WR TEN 9 100 T. Lawrence QB JAC 10 117 T. Tracy Jr. RB NYG 11 124 D. Boston WR CLE 12 141 D. Kincaid TE BUF 13 148 A. Kamara RB NO 14 165 B. Mayfield QB TB Meron Berkson Rd Pk Player 1 5 P. Nacua WR LAR 2 20 A. Brown WR NE 3 29 D. Smith WR PHI 4 44 Q. Judkins RB CLE 5 53 B. Irving RB TB 6 68 S. LaPorta TE DET 7 77 C. Sutton WR DEN 8 92 J. Herbert QB LAC 9 101 J. Croskey-Merritt RB WAS 10 116 R. White RB WAS 11 125 D. Stribling WR SF 12 140 D. Sampson RB CLE 13 149 T. Tucker WR LV 14 164 M. Washington WR MIA Adam Aizer Rd Pk Player 1 6 C. McCaffrey RB SF 2 19 O. Hampton RB LAC 3 30 T. Higgins WR CIN 4 43 J. Williams RB DAL 5 54 L. Jackson QB BAL 6 67 C. Tate WR TEN 7 78 J. Downs WR IND 8 91 I. Likely TE NYG 9 102 B. Corum RB LAR 10 115 T. Kelce TE KC 11 126 J. Higgins WR HOU 12 139 R. Davis RB BUF 13 150 J. Blue RB DAL 14 163 R. Bateman WR BAL Dave Richard Rd Pk Player 1 7 J. Taylor RB IND 2 18 D. Achane RB MIA 3 31 E. Egbuka WR TB 4 42 C. Loveland TE CHI 5 55 T. McLaurin WR WAS 6 66 B. Thomas Jr. WR JAC 7 79 J. Brooks RB CAR 8 90 J. Hurts QB PHI 9 103 M. Pittman WR PIT 10 114 J. Coker WR CAR 11 127 M. Lloyd RB GB 12 138 P. Mahomes QB KC 13 151 B. Strange TE JAC 14 162 J. Johnson TE NO Jake Winderman Rd Pk Player 1 8 A. St. Brown WR DET 2 17 K. Walker III RB KC 3 32 B. Hall RB NYJ 4 41 J. Waddle WR DEN 5 56 C. Watson WR GB 6 65 D. Maye QB NE 7 80 R. Dowdle RB PIT 8 89 G. Kittle TE SF 9 104 J. Meyers WR JAC 10 113 K. Gainwell RB TB 11 128 R. Doubs WR NE 12 137 A. Jones RB MIN 13 152 J. McMillan WR TB 14 161 K. Sadiq TE NYJ James Lamberts Rd Pk Player 1 9 D. Henry RB BAL 2 16 S. Barkley RB PHI 3 33 C. Olave WR NO 4 40 D. Adams WR LAR 5 57 R. Odunze WR CHI 6 64 J. Daniels QB WAS 7 81 A. Pierce WR IND 8 88 C. Hubbard RB CAR 9 105 J. Ferguson TE DAL 10 112 R. Harvey RB DEN 11 129 K. Shakir WR BUF 12 136 J. Nailor WR LV 13 153 H. Henry TE NE 14 160 K. Murray QB MIN Tommy Tran Rd Pk Player 1 10 C. Lamb WR DAL 2 15 A. Jeanty RB LV 3 34 K. Williams RB LAR 4 39 T. McMillan WR CAR 5 58 T. Henderson RB NE 6 63 J. Burrow QB CIN 7 82 H. Fannin Jr. TE CLE 8 87 M. Lemon WR PHI 9 106 K. Monangai RB CHI 10 111 K. Concepcion WR CLE 11 130 W. Marks RB HOU 12 135 O. Cooper Jr. WR NYJ 13 154 B. Purdy QB SF 14 159 J. Jeudy WR CLE Dan Schneier Rd Pk Player 1 11 J. Jefferson WR MIN 2 14 C. Brown RB CIN 3 35 Z. Flowers WR BAL 4 38 L. McConkey WR LAC 5 59 T. Warren TE IND 6 62 D. Montgomery RB HOU 7 83 Q. Johnston WR LAC 8 86 C. Williams QB CHI 9 107 J. Reed WR GB 10 110 J. Dobbins RB DEN 11 131 T. Allgeier RB ARI 12 134 K. Mitchell RB LAC 13 155 D. Wicks WR PHI 14 158 T. Bigsby RB PHI Jaclyn DeAugustino Rd Pk Player 1 12 J. Cook RB BUF 2 13 D. London WR ATL 3 36 G. Wilson WR NYJ 4 37 J. Williams WR DET 5 60 B. Tuten RB JAC 6 61 J. Warren RB PIT 7 84 D. Prescott QB DAL 8 85 D. Goedert TE PHI 9 108 T. Dell WR HOU 10 109 T. Spears RB TEN 11 132 I. Pacheco RB DET 12 133 R. Shaheed WR SEA 13 156 J. Jennings WR MIN 14 157 K. Allen RB WAS