Jalen Hurts Fantasy Football Value For 2026 After Losing A.J. Brown
Fantasy

Jalen Hurts Fantasy Football Value For 2026 After Losing A.J. Brown

After a down 2025 and the loss of his WR1, what should we expect out of Jalen Hurts for fantasy football purposes in 2026?

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What the heck happened to Jalen Hurts last season? Hurts has never been a gunslinger at the NFL level, but he took a clear step back in 2025-26. For fantasy purposes, he averaged 19.1 points per game after averaging 21.3, 21.9 and 25.6 in the previous three years.

Now, Hurts is going to have to try to bounce back without his top receiver. A.J. Brown may have been a malcontent in 2025-26, but he’s been Hurts’ favorite target ever since landing in Philadelphia. He’s posted a target share of at least 30% in each of the past three seasons, so the Eagles’ passing attack is going to look far different in 2026.

That said, the cupboard isn’t exactly bare. The Eagles return DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert, and they added a trio of receivers in the offseason. They used their first-round draft pick on Makai Lemon, while they traded for Dontayvion Wicks and signed Hollywood Brown. It gives Hurts arguably the deepest collection of pass catchers he’s ever had, even if they’re missing a true No. 1.

What does this mean for Hurts for fantasy purposes? Let’s dive in.

PHI_eagles-logo.svgJalen Hurts 2026 Fantasy Football Value

For starters, it’s worth taking a slightly longer look at Hurts’ numbers from last year. While it felt disastrous at times, it wasn’t quite as bad as you probably think. He actually had more passing yards and touchdowns than he did the year prior, albeit with slightly worse efficiency. He averaged 8.4 adjusted yards per attempt in his two best passing seasons, and he was at 7.6 last year.

The bigger difference was actually what Hurts did with his legs. He averaged just 6.6 attempts per game, which was the lowest mark of his career. He was at 10.0 attempts per game two years ago, so he had significantly less volume.

Hurts was also less impactful with his rushing attempts. He averaged just 4.0 yards per carry, and he scored way fewer touchdowns than usual. Hurts had just eight rushing scores in 2025-26 after racking up at least 13 TDs in each of the previous three years. With that in mind, the removal of Jason Kelce might actually hurt more than the removal of Brown. Hurts has always derived most of his fantasy value from his ability to get pushed into the end zone, and it doesn’t matter who his receivers are in that situation.

When Hurts does take to the air, losing Brown is definitely going to hurt. Hurts was at his best last season when throwing the ball deep downfield. He averaged 13.1 yards per attempt with nine touchdowns and one interception on throws that traveled at least 20 yards last season. He had a 90.1 PFF grade in that split, compared to 82.8 on intermediate throws and 72.2 on short throws.

Brown hauled in nine catches for 285 yards and four touchdowns within that deep split last season. Smith is also excellent on deep balls—he had eight catches for 335 yards and two scores—but losing Brown will hurt in that area. Lemon is not the same type of receiver as Brown, so Hurts is going to have to show some development in the other parts of the field to make things work with him.

Should You Draft Jalen Hurts In 2026 Fantasy Football Drafts?

This is the cheapest that Hurts has been for fantasy purposes in a number of years. He’s currently coming off the board as QB6 on Underdog, with a fantasy football ADP of 69.8.

Our experts think that’s a very fair price tag. All four have Hurts inside the top six at the position, with Dwain McFarland having him all the way up at QB3. Kendall Valenzuela and Ian Hartitz have Hurts as QB4 and QB5, respectfully, so Hurts stands out as a very reasonable target in our consensus fantasy football rankings.

Ultimately, Hurts’ value is going to be determined more by his legs than anything else. The Eagles’ offense took a major step back last year, but they’ve been a top-eight unit in terms of points and yards per game in the three previous seasons. If they can get back to that level, it should give Hurts more touchdown opportunities than he had last year. If he can post double-digit rushing TDs, something he’s done in four of the past five years, he should be able to bounce back for fantasy purposes.

Players Mentioned in this Article

  1. Jalen Hurts
    JalenHurts
    QBPHIPHI
    PPG
    18.2
    Proj
    316.6

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