Everybody knows what a Bust is in Fantasy Football, but what is a Grenade? More than just a bad pick, a grenade could be a good player drafted at his absolute peak, buying all the risk. He could also be a late-round dart-throw pick whose upside is so low he’s just taking up valuable roster space. I’ll rate each player on a scale from 1 to 5 💥 (think of these as grenade blasts, since we’re fresh out of grenade emojis). One 💥 means minimal concern, while five 💥💥💥💥💥 signals a player you should steer clear of entirely.
Whether this is your first year playing fantasy or your fifteenth, we all make bad picks. But being able to spot the stinkers and throw those grenades at your opponents will help steer you towards that championship in 2026.
Before we dive into this year’s quarterback grenades, let’s take a look at last year.
Justin Herbert started the season en fuego, throwing 16 touchdowns in his first eight games before a beat-up o-line led to Herbert himself getting hurt. If it weren’t for the lack of health, Herbert likely would have made me look silly. I was wrong about Jim Harbaugh keeping his passing volume in check.
Verdict: Push
My thought process that Sean Payton would focus on RJ Harvey and J.K. Dobbins in the run game and lower Bo Nix’s rushing numbers was sorta true. But Nix took yuge strides as a passer and improved at completing passes downfield, allowing for spike weeks I didn’t see coming. At first, skipping him at his top-10 ADP seemed smart, but both his floor and ceiling were higher than predicted.
Verdict: Miss
Baker Mayfield was the best of the bunch. Well, the best at being the worst. He was predictably overdrafted as a top-10 quarterback after a career year, but as predicted, his outlier numbers returned to normal. His 7.3% touchdown rate from 2024 fell back to his usual 5%. The combo of Tristan Wirfs missing games, a new offensive coordinator, and a banged-up receiving core helped Mayfield slip back to the mid-QB2 range. More than the stats, the reasons for his drop were exactly what we thought
Verdict: Miss
Now, let’s take a look at my 2026 Fantasy Football grenades.
Note: I only found two QBs I’d consider grenades. I’m not going to force a name I don’t believe in to make nice round matching numbers. So this one is a little short, but I’m always gonna keep it 100 with you, as the kids say. No cap.
Malik Willis – Miami Dolphins
I gotta hand it to the guy. Malik Willis went full Matt Flynn to close out the 2025 season, landing himself lots of human monies and a starting job in Miami after… a little over a start and a half? Willis took over for a concussed Jordan Love in the 2nd quarter of the Week 16 matchup with the Bears and nearly led Green Bay to an OT victory. A week later, Willis left a shootout (you read that right) with the Ravens after aggravating a shoulder issue with about eight minutes left in the game.
So, in roughly six quarters, Willis went 27/32 for 409 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, and rushed 19 times for 104 yards and two touchdowns. He admittedly looked solid, but I simply don’t consent to the hype around a quarterback who’s made six career starts in five seasons with a 3-3 passing touchdown-to-interception ratio in those starts, and maybe looked above average in half of them. Willis has one start with over 200 passing yards and one start with over 50 rushing yards (Josh Jacobs was “active” but totaled four carries; Willis became the de facto RB1). Willis also goes from throwing to Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs, and Dontayvion Wicks with Emanuel Wilson in the backfield to… checks notes… Malik Washington, Jalen Tolbert and Tutu Atwell at receiver with De’Von Achane lining up behind him. He has seven total touchdowns in those six starts, nearly half of them coming in just one game:
- Week 17, 2025 vs. Baltimore Ravens: three total touchdowns (one passing, two rushing)
- All Other 5 Starts Combined: four total touchdowns (two passing, two rushing)
Per Yahoo ADP, Willis is being drafted ahead of CJ Stroud, Jordan Love, Baker Mayfield, Daniel Jones, Cam Ward, and Tyler Shough. Am I taking crazy pills here? There is a zero point zero chance I’d take Willis ahead of any of those six.
Willis’ Fantasy Grenade Rating:
💥💥💥💥💥 (5/5)
I get the allure of his rushing floor with the potential Blake Bortles-esque garbage time numbers. But the perceived upside with lack of proven production screams bust.
Drake Maye – New England Patriots
Go ahead, boo me. I get it. On the surface level, the idea of calling Drake Maye, the MVP runner-up who took the Pats to the Super Bowl in his sophomore season, a potential bust. Maye indeed had an MVP-worthy second season, finishing first in completion percentage, yards per attempt, and passer rating, as well as throwing the third most touchdowns in the league. The former Tar Heel accumulated 450 yards and four touchdowns on the ground as well. And while New England did make the Super Bowl, it may(e) have actually been despite him.
Maye had a 6:4 touchdown-to-interception ratio in the playoffs, losing four fumbles, and was sacked a record 21 times. The New England offensive line was pure poop in the playoffs, but the Pats spent the offseason wiping it up with a paper towel. They invested heavily in the o-line with the free agent addition of oldie but goodie Morgan Moses, oft-injured but infinite upside Alijah Vera-Tucker, and 1st round pick Caleb Lomu. The loss of Stefon Diggs was answered with the additions of Romeo Doubs and A.J. Brown, giving Maye the best weapons of his career.
So why is he in this article? Don’t hear what I’m not saying. Maye is easily a QB1 for fantasy. But he would have to match or improve on his MVP-caliber season to be worth drafting among the top four or five quarterbacks off the board. Add in the Mike Vrabel controversy swirling around this team, and it’s a situation that I’m avoiding at its current cost. According to Yahoo, Maye’s 2025 ADP had him coming off the board as QB16. Obviously, with the season he had, he’d jump that this season by a wide margin. But QB4? That’s a steep price to pay for a classic “buying all the risk” scenario.
Maye’s Fantasy Grenade Rating:
💥💥 💥 (3/5)
Had it not been for New England’s acquisition of A.J. Brown, I’d probably be fading Maye completely. It’s not his talent or his upside; it’s his acquisition cost.
Photo by Dustin Bradford | Adapted by Parker McDonald (@CarbonFoxGFX on Twitter/X)