We're past the first full slate of preseason games. It's just over three weeks until the New England Patriots travel to Seattle to face the Seahawks in a rematch of Super Bowl LX to start the 2026 regular season, followed by the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers playing on a Friday morning, except the game will be televised on Thursday night because Roger Goodell has somehow acquired a TARDIS.
Don't ask me how they're going to fit two teams and all their equipment in that thing—I don't science much.
Anyway, the point is that the closer we get to the beginning of the NFL season, the more momentum that fantasy draft season builds. Many "slow" drafts have already begun. The next few weekends will feature thousands of live drafts at sports bars, in basements, and online.
Lord knows this analyst has a few lined up. Just a few—dozen.
We are in it now. And as fantasy managers prepare for the biggest day on the fantasy calendar, the landscape is shifting under our feet, because of course it is. There have already been a depressingly large number of injuries. With every training camp practice and exhibition contest, opinions on many players have changed—for better and for worse. Last week's treasure is this week's trash—and vice versa.
Tectonic plates are moving, people! We are taking seismic activity!
Yep. Just like that.
So, because in addition to being the most knowledgeable analyst in fantasy football I am also the most helpful (it's true, just ask me), I have decided to help you avoid being swallowed by an abyss of fantasy misery with a column that's a little bit of everything—some strategy tips given what we've learned so far in drafts this year, some stars (in the eyes of this writer, at least) and some numbers that should matter to fantasy drafters in 2026.
I'm awesome. I know.
You're welcome.
Strategies
There Goes My Hero
Full disclosure—I am not a "Zero RB" guy. That isn't to say that it isn't a valid draft strategy—there is no shortage of fantasy pundits who extoll the virtues of "Zero RB," and the truth is, just about any draft strategy can work. But in order for those strategies to work, drafters have to be comfortable implementing them.
And if this analyst doesn't have a running back rostered by the end of Round 2 (and two by the end of Round 4, more often than not), my left eye is going to start twitching.
By the time you hit the Round 2/Round 3 turn, that's where Jeremiyah Love's ADP was—before the rookie suffered a high-ankle sprain that leaves his Week 1 availability in doubt. By the end of Round 3, it's the massive cloud of uncertainty swirling over Josh Jacobs of the Green Bay Packers. By the Round 4/Round 5 turn, it's the likes of Quinshon Judkins of the Browns and Tampa's Bucky Irving.
Yippee! More questions! "RB Dead Zone" time!
Crassly put, the "depth" at running back this year is trash.
And those mid-round values at the position you're targeting? So is everyone else, Sparky.
Don't You Dare
It hurts my feelings that I have to keep telling fantasy managers this year after year. It makes me feel ignored. Unheard. Unloved. I get enough of that at home.
Don't draft a quarterback early. It is a perennially putrid plan.
Look Ma! I'm alliterate!
This isn't to say that you should never draft an elite signal-caller like Buffalo's Josh Allen or Baltimore's Lamar Jackson. I do a lot of industry drafts with other analysts. Quarterbacks tend to be faded in those leagues. At some point, the asking price vs. upside ratio swings in the right direction.
That point is not at No. 27 overall, which is Allen's ADP.
There's just no value there. For a quarterback drafted that early to be worth it, just finishing as the No. 1 quarterback isn't enough. Said signal-caller has to dominate the rest of the position. That doesn't happen very often.
Last year, Allen outscored Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams by about a fantasy point per game.
Stafford's ADP a year ago was in Round 13.
Stars
OK, so these aren't "stars" in that they are all high-end fantasy picks. They are stars because their value burns brightly in the night sky. A beacon leading you to glory.
Besides, "Strategies, Values and Stats" doesn't have the same ring to it.
Again, I'm showing off my illiteracy.
Wait, that doesn't sound right.
QB Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville
Lawrence was fourth in fantasy points among quarterbacks last year, the second straight season that a Liam Coen offense produced a top-five fantasy option. The Jaguars are deep at wide receiver. Lawrence was also a top-10 quarterback last year in rushing yards and had nine scores on the ground.
QB Jared Goff, Detroit
Goff offers fantasy managers about as much rushing upside as a streetlight. But the 31-year-old has thrown for over 4,500 yards and tossed at least 30 touchdown passes in each of the past three seasons and hasn't finished lower than seventh in fantasy points at the position over that span.
RB Javonte Williams, Dallas
In his first season with the Cowboys last year, Williams averaged a career-high 4.8 yards per carry, topped 1,200 rushing yards, scored 11 touchdowns on the ground, and finished as a top-12 fantasy running back. If you can't resist the urge to go WR/WR to start a draft, Williams has to be on the target list in Round 3.
RB David Montgomery, Houston
Two years ago, Joe Mixon topped 300 touches, eclipsed 1,400 total yards, scored 12 total touchdowns, and was a top-10 running back in PPR points per game as the lead back in Houston. The only time Montgomery has had 300 touches in a season, he was a top-five fantasy back. History repeats in 2026.
WR Jaylen Waddle, Denver
When Waddle is at his best, he has shown he can be elite—including over 100 catches as a rookie, a league-leading 18.1 yards per catch the following season, and averaging over nine yards per target each of the past four years. Waddle is going to be Denver's No. 1 receiver in 2026—and crack the top-10 in PPR points at the position.
WR Chris Godwin Jr., Tampa Bay
The Buccaneers are one of the teams that has been bitten by the injury bug—Emeka Egbuka has a toe injury that totally isn't turf toe unless it's turf toe. Godwin has an injury history of his own, including more games missed than played in the past two years. But getting a No. 1 (maybe) wideout with Godwin's resume in the eighth round looks more like a risk worth taking by the day.
TE Isaiah Likely, NY Giants
Fun fact—for whatever reason, I appear to be fading tight ends in more drafts than not in 2026. There have been nine times in Likely's career when he has been targeted six or more times. In eight of those games, he scored at least 12.5 PPR points. Average that over an entire season, and we're talking about a top-five tight end.
TE Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia
Goedert is inspiring about as much enthusiasm from fantasy managers as letting a Bison kick you in the junk—four times. But while the veteran caught just 60 passes and failed to hit 600 yards last year, he scored 11 touchdowns and was sixth in PPR points among tight ends. He's going to be a bigger part of the Eagles offense in 2026 than many think.
