QB · Washington · 2026 outlook
Marcus Mariota is a proven spot starter who protects the ball well enough to have held a job for a decade. He is buried on the depth chart with almost no standalone fantasy value in a normal week.
How is Marcus Mariota doing in fantasy this year? This is gamedai's editorial 2026 projection for Marcus Mariota, not measured production. See the full breakdown below.
Mariota saw real playing time in 2025, appearing in 10 games and taking snaps on 74.5 percent of Washington's offensive plays. Over that stretch he threw 227 passes for 1,695 yards, 10 touchdowns and 7 interceptions, and he added 50 carries for 297 yards and a rushing score. The interception rate is the number that stands out. At just over 3 percent of his attempts, it is high enough to explain why coaches have never handed him a full-season starting job despite his athletic profile. What he does well is create with his legs, and that rushing floor is real: 297 yards on 50 carries is nearly 6 yards a rush, a mark few pocket passers can touch.
Entering 2026, Mariota is a backup, and the fantasy math follows from that fact more than from any skill question. Barring an injury to the player in front of him, he is not on the field on Sundays, which is why the projection here sits in deep-league territory. If he is forced into extended duty, his rushing ability gives him a higher weekly ceiling than a typical backup, closer to a low-end streaming option than a total non-factor. Absent that scenario, leave him on waivers in redraft leagues and revisit only if Washington's starter goes down.
No. Mariota is a backup entering 2026. He appeared in 10 games in 2025 and played extensively when given the opportunity, but he sits behind the incumbent starter on the depth chart, not ahead of him.
Across 10 games, Mariota completed passes for 1,695 yards with 10 touchdowns against 7 interceptions on 227 attempts. He also rushed 50 times for 297 yards and a touchdown, and he played 74.5 percent of Washington's offensive snaps in the games he appeared in.
It is the best part of his profile. His 297 rushing yards on 50 carries in 2025 works out to close to 6 yards a carry, and that mobility gives him a real weekly floor if he is ever forced into extended playing time.
Not in a standard-sized league. He projects in the QB32 to QB40 range because he is not the starter, and there is no path to consistent snaps unless the player ahead of him is out. He is only relevant as a deep bench stash in two-quarterback or superflex formats.
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