The 2026 Parker Washington Pageant
This was my working title. I posted my rankings and commentary in early June and picked 10 wide receivers from my list who I am more bullish about than the consensus.
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When it comes to late-round/UDFAs, I've often remained patient about their potential and haven't been shy about touting them. Washington, Michael Wilson, and Kayshon Boutte are three receivers who emerged in 2025 that I've been touting for multiple years.
The reasons why I've remained patient are simple: Film study of their NFL and college performances and low-risk/high-reward draft capital.
At the same time, I've also taken stances on receivers with early- and middle-round draft capital in recent seasons. Ladd McConkey and Luther Burden III are good examples during the past two years.
Burden didn't work out early, but he was WR23 in PPR formats after Week 9. McConkey delivered as a borderline WR1 I projected at this time two years ago.
This year, let's examine 10 receivers from every phase of re-drafts who I consider bargains. This list should help you refine your draft plans. You can determine which potential values fit your strategy, or tweak your plan, if some of my arguments in their favor are compelling enough.
The 2026 Parker Washington Pageant will begin in order of highest to lowest value in my rankings. There will be links to previous deep dives with film clips on these options.
Some of these players I've touted before, but they remain bargains for various reasons you'll learn about here.
The Early-Round Bargains
Ladd McConkey
In year two of his career, McConkey finished as WR29 in PPR leagues, just a spot below 33-year-old Keenan Allen. Quentin Johnston finished as WR32, which was a third-year emergence after two years where he struggled with drops.
Mike McDaniel brings a quick-hitting offensive scheme to the Chargers that will utilize tricky alignments and pre-snap movement to create early holes in opposing defenses. McDaniel had two elite open-field wide receivers in Miami with Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill.
Hill and Waddle were among the league's best receivers in yards after the catch (YAC) during McDaniel's tenure:
- 2022 (Waddle 5th and HIll 10th)
- 2023: Hill 1st and Waddle 26th (14 games)
Hill and Waddle didn't manage top YAC production in 2024 because Tua Tagovailoa only played 11 games. Compounding the issue was the QB depth chart. The Dolphins lacked a proven veteran backup after Jacoby Brissett and Teddy Bridgewater left the organization.
During this tandem's peak years, they delivered strong production before injuries. Hill and Waddle's YAC would have been even better if Tagovailoa hadn't missed a combined 10 games during this 2-year span.
They are elite options as ball carriers on film, but they lacked talent, experience, and/or reliability at quarterback for nearly a third of this span. In addition to injuries, Tagovailoa lacked the velocity with specific throws. Once opposing defenses learned this from the film, they could overplay the quick game because Tagovailoa couldn't make them pay.
Justin Herbert is a superior arm talent to Tagovailoa, and he's an aggressive vertical thrower when given the chance. The Chargers have a strong offensive line when healthy, and the additions of David Njoku and Charlie Kolar are massive upgrades to L.A.'s tight end room.
Njoku's and Kolar's versatility as blockers and pass-catchers will make the offense far more unpredictable. Their presence will enhance both the ground game and the quick passing game.
The scheme and the supporting cast will create a lot of quick-hitting targets for McConkey and Johnston. McDaniels will implement routes designed to create YAC. This was McConkey and Johnston's wheelhouse as college receivers: screens, slants, crossers, return routes, flat routes, whip-ins, and drags.
Hill and Waddle were fantasy football's WR2 and WR8, respectively, in 2022. Hill was WR2 in 2023, and Waddle was WR18 based on fantasy points per game among receivers with at least 14 starts.
It begs the question: who plays the Hill role, McConkey or Johnston? My bet is McConkey, because he's the superior route runner, and he has an excellent rapport with his quarterback.
McConkey and Herbert are often on the same page with pre-snap reads of coverage. They are also known for adjusting to each other in the red zone when plays either go off-script or there's a slight change with the coverage during the scripted part of the play.
Even if Johnston winds up the massive bargain and delivers Hill-like fantasy production, I have McConkey projected in Waddle's peak fantasy range while in Miami, and that's still a round higher than consensus at this point.
McConkey is a WR1 at a second-round cost. That's significant for drafters at the 1/2 turn or GMs with a middle draft spot, and McConkey falls to them.
Michael Wilson
The consensus isn't buying that Michael Wilson is here to stay as the top-10 fantasy receiver. Some will believe he's a one-year wonder because he lacked great NFL Draft capital. There's still public sentiment that Marvin Harrison Jr. will figure out how to meet the public's premature billing of him as an elite option.
Others will note concerns about the Cardinals organization. Jacoby Brissett may have been QB6 during his starts in 2025, but a 1-11 win-loss record won't keep Brissett in the starting lineup in 2026.
Arizona will want to see what they have in rookie Carson Beck. If Beck struggles, it's likely most of the receiving corps will, too. Who knows if Beck will have enough rapport with Wilson to get the most from the relationship.
There's also a negative connotation around Wilson generating much of his production from garbage-time game scripts, but the Cardinals are a bad team, and bad teams are often behind in games. A prominent garbage-time concern is that opposing defenses aren't playing with the same intensity and skill.
Wilson's work didn't match that myth at all last year. Wilson was PFF's No.2 receiver in contested catch rate, "tied with Pickens for second-most in the league," and with fewer targets.
Wilson is slated to have the Puka Nacua role in the Cardinals' new scheme. This means we'll see more quick-hitting targets, and primary receiver volume directed Wilson's way.
Should we expect Wilson to earn 9.79 targets per game that we've seen from Nacua during his career in the Rams' offense? Yes.
This may come as a surprise to you, but consider the data. Wilson averaged 4.4 targets per game with Kyler Murray during his first two seasons in the NFL.
Last season, with Jacoby Brissett under center for 12 of those games, Wilson averaged 7.4 targets per game. When playing specifically with Brissett, Wilson averaged 9 targets per game. After Week 9, Wilson averaged 10.55 targets per game, but that was when Harrison missed Weeks 11, 12, 14, and 15.
Some may be concerned that in Weeks 9 and 10, Harrison earned 22 targets and Wilson 11. If the Cardinals kept the same staff and offense, that would be a legitimate concern.
The new offense and the roles befitting the two receivers' skill sets are game-changers. Harrison is not a strong contested-catch receiver when facing the quarterback. His route game is more limited than Wilson's, and he's neither as quick nor as agile in the open field as Wilson.
Wilson is the WR1 in this offense. He's performing with a veteran quarterback, and even when the Cardinals go to Beck -- whether it's early or late in the season -- Wilson will be the first read in a lot more reps.
The offense will be designed for strong target volume regardless of the starting quarterback. The consensus has Wilson two rounds lower than I do. If that remains the case in August, you're getting a primary WR I'd value on par with receivers at the 1/2 turn but at a price of a late-third/ early-fourth.
Carnell Tate
My scouting report on Tate from last November at Footballguys compares Tate favorably to Justin Jefferson. Cam Ward will inundate Tate with intermediate targets while using Wan'Dale Robinson as the featured check-down and quick-game option over the middle and on screens and RPOs.
Both receivers will deliver starter fantasy production, but Tate is a consensus third-round value with a first-round ceiling that's more realistic than the consensus is willing to believe this summer. Let's examine Brian Daboll's offenses for supporting evidence.
Malik Nabers averaged 8.5 targets per game in 2025 before he got hurt. That figure was 11.3 in 2024. Robinson earned 140 targets in both of those seasons -- 8.48 targets per game.
In Buffalo, Daboll was on the ground floor with Josh Allen and was still looking for receiving talent, so take this into account when evaluating his slot and primary outside receivers between 2019 and 2021.
Targets Per Game for Brian Daboll's Top Boundary and Slot WRs
- 2019: John Brown (7.6) and Cole Beasley (6.9)
- 2020: Stefon Diggs (10.5) and Cole Beasley (7.1)
- 2021: Stefon Diggs (9.7) and Cole Beasley (7)
Let's presume the range of targets per game outcomes for Robinson is between 6.9-8.5 and Tate's is between 7.6-11.3. Projecting 120-140 targets for Robinson seems logical at this point.
Tate is the bigger variable as a rookie new to Daboll's system. At 7.6 targets per game, Tate will earn 129 targets. Last year's top rookie receiver, Tetairoa McMillan, earned 122 targets and caught 57 percent of them.
I have projected a higher catch rate for Tate than McMillan's rookie year based solely on the quality of Tate's attack technique at Ohio State versus McMillan's at Arizona. McMillan has good pass-catching skills, but Tate's technique is a tier higher.
It's likely some of that lower catch rate for McMillian had to do with Bryce Young. For the sake of projecting a low-end outcome, let's say Cam Ward will factor into a 57 percent catch rate for Tate. If that's the case, Tate earns 73 catches.
Daboll's primary outside receivers averaged 12.96 yards per catch -- a conservative figure that would be 13.26 yards per catch if I counted Darius Slayton in relief of Malik Nabers last year. The low-end projection for Tate's yardage would be 947 yards.
Daboll's primary outside receivers of note averaged 1 TD per 19.8 targets in Buffalo and New York. Low-end, we can expect Tate to earn 6.5 scores.
A 129-target, 73-catch, 947-yard, and 6.5 TD season for Tate is a 193.7-point fantasy season. This is what Emeka Egbuka earned as WR24 in PPR formats last year.
I'm projecting Tate to catch 65 percent of 120 targets and average 15.9 yards per catch, equaling 244.3 fantasy points. This would have placed Tate just below Zay Flowers as WR8 last year -- an aggressive projection.
A tempered outlook that acknowledges Tate is a better pass-catcher while acknowledging that his starting quarterback is still acclimating to the league would be to split the difference between the two projections. In this scenario, Tate catches 61 percent of his 129 targets and averages 14.5 yards per catch -- 79 catches, 1146 yards, and 6.5 touchdowns for a total of 219.6 fantasy points -- just above Wan'Dale Robinson last year at WR13.
I have Tate at WR15 in the late half of the third round. In June, you can get him in the back half of the fifth round because of Tate's rookie status and perceptions about Cam Ward. I doubt this status changes more than 1-1.5 rounds during the summer.