There's no right or wrong way to draft a fantasy football team. As information becomes more accessible to the average fantasy manager, Average Draft Position (ADP) only gets sharper. While that might mean that sleepers are harder to come by, the advantage is that it gives sharp drafters more flexibility in roster construction.
But I've found a way to navigate this year's draft boards and build balanced rosters packed with upside.
I am a high-volume and high-stakes fantasy player. I did my first high-stakes draft this year immediately following Round 1 of the NFL Draft. I'll max out two of the biggest best ball contests in the world: DraftKings $20M Best Ball Tournament and Drafters Main Event. I already have 18 entries in NFFC's Footballguys Online Championship and plan to enter about a dozen more before the season kicks off. And that doesn't include the countless redraft and dynasty leagues I play in with friends, coworkers, and colleagues around the industry. As for my rankings, they are battle-tested and sit in the top five in FantasyPros multi-year Expert Consensus Rankings. I draft a lot of fantasy football teams and have a proven process for my rankings. As I draft these teams all offseason, I watch player values shift and pockets of value open and close.
Over the next two weekends, the vast majority of fantasy football teams will be drafted. The dust from ADP shuffling has mostly settled. Now we can develop a concrete draft guide and rankings to help you prepare.
For the sake of this article and the ADPs I reference, assume a 12-team, single-quarterback PPR league with two running backs, two wide receivers, a tight end, and a flex.
For rankings more specific to your league, check out our Rankings, which allow league syncing and create customized rankings for every league you're in. The number of teams, roster spots, and scoring settings will radically change rankings, and our platform will customize a cheat sheet just for you.
Before we get into the nitty-gritty, here's a big-picture overview of my 2026 fantasy football draft tenets.
- Let the value fall to you early.
- Prioritize early WRs relative to ADP.
- Don't force RB early - attack the Round 5-8 RB pocket.
- Get one of the elite/upper-tier TEs.
- Wait on QB. Wait. And wait some more.
- Use late picks almost exclusively on high-upside RBs.
- Prioritize contingent value over safe bench players.
- Double up on QB and TE if you miss the top guys.
Now let's get into it.
If you've got a top-seven pick this year, your job is easy. Fill up your queue in this order:
- Jahmyr Gibbs
- Bijan Robinson
- Puka Nacua
- Ja'Marr Chase
- Amon-Ra St. Brown
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba
- Christian McCaffrey
Whoever is atop the queue when you're on the clock should be your selection.
At pick eight, you'll have to decide whether you want to lean into the available running backs or wide receivers. James Cook III, Chase Brown, and Jonathan Taylor are a tier of running backs I'm happy to dip into. Justin Jefferson and CeeDee Lamb are the wide receivers I like in this range. Depending on your league platform, Brown is likely the lowest in ADP. If you can walk out of Round 2 with any of those two players mentioned, you should feel pretty good. Drafting one running back and one wide receiver gives you flexibility heading into your next picks, but don't be afraid to double-tap either position if you have conviction on any player in this range.
Once those players are off the board, I'm likely to land on one player I like a bit more than the consensus: Brock Bowers. After a record-breaking rookie season, Bowers' Year 2 was marred by injuries. But now he has an improved quarterback situation and (most importantly) Klint Kubiak. Kubiak's scheme has a history of building around their top weapon, hitting that guy deep downfield with opportunities to create after the catch. We saw it last year with Jaxon Smith-Njigba, in 2024 with Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed (when healthy), in 2023 with Brandon Aiyuk, and in 2022 with Justin Jefferson. Bowers is next up for that role, and that positional advantage he can give you is what Value-Based Drafting is all about.
You might not want to draft Bowers that early. That's fine. You can find tight end value later. Here are my other primary targets in Round 2:
- Drake London
- Malik Nabers
- A.J. Brown
- De'Von Achane
- Saquon Barkley
- Nico Collins
- Rashee Rice
- Derrick Henry
You may have noticed that I left out a couple of names: Ken Walker III, Omarion Hampton, and Ashton Jeanty. It's not that I dislike those players, but they are a bit riskier than ADP would suggest. We'll talk about some running backs I prefer later in drafts, but there are guys with similar projections you can get rounds later, and I prefer the safety of my targets listed above, most notably the receivers. But use judgment here. If a guy you like falls below ADP, you can select them. But with early-Round 2 price tags of those running backs, I find myself passing on them.
Once in Round 3, there are also some very tantalizing names available.
These guys all have paths to elite finishes at their respective positions, not far off from the guys going in Round 2.
And wouldn't you know it? Round 4 also has some quality targets. We're starting to see a bit of a tier falloff at this point, but there are still running backs and wide receivers with safe floors and elite upside available.
- DJ Moore
- Tetairoa McMillan
- Jameson Williams
- Tee Higgins
- Ladd McConkey
- Josh Jacobs
- Breece Hall
- D'Andre Swift
- David Montgomery
Now you might be asking yourself, "Dave, there are players in your rankings that are listed that you haven't talked about as targets so far." I am highlighting the guys that stand out in my rankings relative to ADP as targets. Yes, Jeremiyah Love is my RB16, ahead of Breece Hall, D'Andre Swift, and David Montgomery. But with an ADP of RB13, he's not a player I find myself drafting often. If he falls below ADP, I'm happy to take him, but it rarely happens. Below are my full rankings, and you can use them as a better guide during drafts. This introduction is meant to help you visualize how to build a well-rounded roster.
Through Round 4, your roster should look something like this...
- 1-2 RBs
- 2-3 WRs
- Maybe Bowers, McBride, or Loveland
I prefer going with more wide receivers early because there is a honey pot of running backs available in Rounds 5-8 that I love dipping into. Because starting RB-RB starts were the most lucrative strategy last season, people are trying to replicate last year's results while failing to realize that it was a season with outlier running back health. Many drafters are starting running back-heavy early, opening up early-round receiver value and mid-round running back value. I want to draft multiple running backs from this cluster in every draft this year; all are readily available in Rounds 5-8.
- Cam Skattebo
- Quinshon Judkins
- Bucky Irving
- Jadarian Price
- Rhamondre Stevenson
- Jaylen Warren
- Bhayshul Tuten
- TreVeyon Henderson
- Jonathon Brooks
- J.K. Dobbins
- RJ Harvey
This cluster has obvious risk, but also immense upside.
And there are also plenty of great receivers to target in this range as well; teams with a lean towards early running backs should prioritize these players.
- Rome Odunze
- Carnell Tate
- Brian Thomas Jr.
- Marvin Harrison Jr.
- Parker Washington
- Quentin Johnston
- Christian Watson
- De'Zhaun Stribling
- Jordan Addison
Again, please don't read what I'm not saying. I don't hate Mike Evans or Davante Adams. They are just going much earlier in drafts than my rankings would recommend. If you like them, take them!
In these same middle rounds, assuming I didn't get Bowers, McBride, or Loveland earlier, I absolutely want to leave with a tight end. It feels like there's a delineation this year after the top seven. And if fantasy leagues will be separated into "haves" and "have-nots" based on tight ends, I want to be among the haves. These are the tight ends going a bit later in drafts that could easily finish among the top of the position.
You've probably been reading for a while now and wondering why I haven't discussed quarterbacks yet. The position is deep this year. There will almost assuredly be guys drafted outside the top 12 who will finish QB5 or better. It happens every year, and patient drafters are often rewarded. I regularly load up my bench with running back and wide receiver depth before looking at quarterback. Here are some other mid-round targets (a bit later than the guys above) that I'd be interested in drafting before a quarterback.
- Blake Corum
- Kyle Monangai
- Chris Rodriguez Jr.
- Chuba Hubbard
- Mike Washington Jr.
- Jayden Reed
- Stefon Diggs
- Courtland Sutton
- Michael Wilson
- Michael Pittman Jr.
- Josh Downs
- Wan'Dale Robinson
By now, you should feel good about your roster, and it should look something like this...
- No QB
- 2-4 RBs
- 3-5 WRs
- A plug-and-play TE1
And now we can finally dip into the quarterback pool. All of these quarterbacks are going as QB9 or later, and all have elite upside.
See why you want to wait? You can have a loaded roster dripping with flex depth, and then add a potentially elite QB1. Look at ADP and compare the cost of different positions. Would you rather have Josh Allen and Rachaad White or Bo Nix and Javonte Williams? Josh Allen and Romeo Doubs or Bo Nix and Malik Nabers? When you start looking at the value you're giving up later in drafts to pay up for a quarterback, it becomes very obvious why you should wait. And if you missed out on this tier, don't worry. There are still great options late.
If you missed out on the recommended tier of tight ends, you can still find value here, although these players are much riskier.
Once in these later rounds, address weaknesses. If you ended up with more running backs than wide receivers through this point, draft extra receivers. And if you are receiver-heavy, load up on running backs.
Here are some late-round wide receivers I like. Remember, we aren't laying down a bunt here or hitting for a single. We're swinging for the fences. You want pure upside with these late-round picks.
- Denzel Boston
- Matthew Golden
- Travis Hunter
- Tre Tucker
- Jerry Jeudy
- Adonai Mitchell
- Rashod Bateman
- Caleb Douglas
But really, you should be saving these late-round picks for as many injury-away running backs as you can. I'm not being hyperbolic when I say I want almost my entire bench full of these guys. Like the receiver above, floor doesn't matter. You're swinging for upside. If the guys ahead of any of these running backs go down, you could stumble into a potential RB1. It's not uncommon for me to spend the last five picks in my drafts exclusively on these players.
- Zach Charbonnet
- Keaton Mitchell
- Dylan Sampson
- Tyjae Spears
- Tank Bigsby
- Ray Davis
- MarShawn Lloyd
- Kaytron Allen
- Tyler Allgeier
- Kaelon Black
- Emmett Johnson
- Jonah Coleman
- Seth McGowan
- Najee Harris
- Nicholas Singleton
- Demond Claiborne
- Adam Randall
- Jaylen Wright
Remember when I mentioned late-round quarterback options that will be available? These guys should all be sitting free at the end of your drafts, and could be weekly starters. I'd recommend drafting two if you go this route, doubling your chances of hitting on this year's league-winner or letting you stream matchups.
Guys like Cam Ward, C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young, Geno Smith, Fernando Mendoza, and Jacoby Brissett are regularly going undrafted this year. There will be in-season options to figure out your quarterback position. Don't sweat this too much.
At the end of your draft, your team should look something like this.
- Late-round QB
- Round 1-2 RB
- Mid-to-late-round RB
- Round 1-2 WR
- Round 2-3 WR
- Top-7 TE (maybe)
- Mid-to-early-round RB/WR in flex
- 1-2 depth WRs on bench
- 5+ upside RB stashes on bench
- Backup QB or TE (maybe)
That's the league-winning formula this year.
If you're a visual learner, I executed this strategy to perfection in Wednesday night's livestreamed draft. While I didn't dip into my preferred "running back honey pot," I caught a sliding Jeremiyah Love, showing the flexibility you need while drafting. I let the value fall early, got my primary tight end and quarterback targets, and built depth dripping with upside.
As Bruce Lee famously said, "Be water, my friend."
Over the last month, I've been dropping my positional tiers and rankings article, with big-picture takeaways on every position and the tiers inside my rankings. Since then, though, injuries have happened. Players have retired. Others have suffered season-ending injuries. Rookies have struggled to get up to speed, and others have surprised. You can check out all of those articles here:
Below are my updated positional rankings, with fresh notes on every player. Best of luck this year!
