2026 NFL Draft Winners for Fantasy Football

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  • By Anthony Quaranta

    Last Updated on April 29, 2026 12:04 pm by Jon Mosales | Published: April 29, 2026

    What a whirlwind of a week it’s been for football. The NFL draft recently wrapped up, and now we’ve had a few days to speculate, dream, and dread the idea of our favorite fantasy player’s changing value based on where these rookies landed. If you play best ball, your portfolio either already has an edge or you need to re assess during post draft tournaments. For you dynasty heads out there, hopefully your pre NFL draft trades were fruitful and the players you got didn’t get replaced. Re-drafters, you’re likely not terribly worried about this right now. To you I say: it’s never too early to start talking ball. Specifically in this article, I’ll be highlighting the veteran players who are winners based on the outcome of the NFL draft.

    Quarterback

    Arizona Cardinals Jacoby Brissett (pictured)

    I’ve seen some Twitter buzz that Brissett is a draft day loser. Maybe I’ll eat crow on this one, but I view him as a winner. The team was link to Alabama star QB Ty Simpson in scenarios where they traded into the back end of the first round. The Rams taking Simpson at 13 killed that dream, and ultimately saved Brissett’s fantasy value this year. At three, the team landed running back Jeremiah Love to pair with an already deep room. This should help keep pressure off the pass game and keep teams honest. Now, the Cards did take QB Carson Beck at the top of the third round, however he projects more as a developmental guy who may need a year or two in order to hone in on his decision making, especially under the pressure NFL defenses can bring. Once the veteran signal caller took over full time last season in  week six, he was the QB7 overall and QB9 in ppg (19.9). He’s known to be relatively safe with the football, which bodes well for a first year coach trying to establish a winning culture.

    Cleveland Browns Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson

    Another surprising outcome is that the Browns didn’t take a quarterback at all. Instead newly minted HC Todd Monken is gearing up for a good ole fashion QB competition between a$230 million disaster and a polarizing 5th round pick from a year ago. We love the offense, as Monken was able to help Lamar Jackson win multiple MVP’s. Of course, a lot of his work is predicated on the ground game being a threat, and that part of his game is electric. Neither Sanders nor Watson are that guy, but both have some mobility. The team surrounded themselves with talent on offense, drafting receiver KC Concepcion in the first round and receiver Denzel Boston in the second. Add that to a good running back room, promising second year tight end, and late blooming veteran receiver Jerry Jeudy, and this offense may be on to something here. Not sure I have a real preference here, I like stacking both in best ball as QB2 and QB3.

    Running Back

    Houston Texans  Woody Marks (pictured)

    After the Texans traded for veteran running back David Montgomery, it was clear that he would have a role regardless of how the draft turned out. That left the second year player coming off of a solid rookie campaign on the hot seat all weekend. Marks played in at least 50% of the snaps in eight games last season, and was able to work his way into the low end RB2 range by seasons end. Marks didn’t show a whole lot in his rookie year as a receiver, but in college he caught over 250 passes during his five year career. This should allow him to be an ideal compliment to his veteran counterpart while maintaining upside as a high powered handcuff. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Marks works his way into a true timeshare either, especially with no added competition.

    New York Giants Cam Skattebo and Tyrone Tracy

    I have both listed as winners because the Giants were heavily rumored to be taking running Back Jeremiah Love with the 5th overall pick should he have fallen that far. If that was the case, Skattebo likely turns into a compliment and Tracy a distant third option. They only fully played together in a handful of games last season, with each missing some time due to injuries. However, it was looking towards trending to a general 50/50 split. After missing out on Love, the Giants chose not to address the running back room with any of their seven draft picks. Tracy has been going about 90-100 picks after Skattebo in best ball drafts, and is my current preference for Giants running backs when factoring in cost.

    Tennessee Titans Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears

    Both appear to have come out of the draft safe, although I do like 5th round pick Nick Singleton out of Penn State. The problem is, he is dealing with a foot injury. The bigger news here is that the Titans missed out on Notre Dame star turned Cardinals running back Jeremiah Love. Pollard has declined every year since 2022, going from RB7 to finishing 2025 as the RB24 in half-PPR, hanging onto RB2 value. He’ll head into the season as the starter, but if the downward trend continues, Spears should be given the opportunity to earn more work and take over as the leader rusher. Maybe we see a DeMarco Murray to Derrick Henry type handoff here, not that Pollard/Spears compare to Murray/Henry, but you catch my drift. The fact that the Titans took WR Carnell Tate with the 4th overall picks should help open things up, allowing for more rushing lanes that both of these backs can take advantage of. With Spears going later in drafts, I’ll lean that way when deciding how to prioritize this backfield, but I’ll likely plan to end up with similar exposure rates amongst best ball drafts.

    Chicago Bears Kyle Monangai

    I don’t think D’Andre Swift’s role was ever in doubt entering the draft, but there was certainly some sweaty palms from Monangai bag holders about some added competition. The second year player had a nice rookie season but a 7th round pick is easily replaceable, especially at a position that is generally replaceable outside the top end talent. Considering they didn’t even take a late round flier (like Monangai the season before) means we have a clear top 2 in Chicago, and in the Ben Johnson offense, both backs can provide a ton of value simultaneously. If you need reminded, just look at the 2024 and 2025 Lions backfields.

    Detroit Lions Isiah Pacheco

    Pacheco signed with Detroit after a down year to try and replace the void left by David Montgomery. We all saw Jamaal Williams score 17 touchdowns in this offense in 2022 and said “that can’t happen again.” Then we saw Monty score 13 and 12 touchdowns respectively the following two seasons in the same role. You aren’t going to catch me saying that Pacheco is the same player as Monty, because he’s simply not. However, the newly acquired Lion has shown some production in the NFL with 12 touchdowns in his first two seasons. Injures affected his third and fourth seasons, so if he can stay healthy in 2026 there’s upside for 10+ touchdowns, and/or a few multi touchdown games.

    Wide Receiver

    Las Vegas Raiders Jalen Nailor and Tre Tucker (pictured)

    You couldn’t have convinced me the Raiders wouldn’t use a day one or two (or both) draft picks on a pass catcher. Yet, that’s exactly what happened. Instead, they elected to wait until pick 195 in the 6th round to draft a receiver. Nailor signed this offseason for three years, $35 million to join Tre Tucker as the leaders in the clubhouse. Tucker just set career highs across the board with 92 targets, 57 receptions, 696 yards (40.9 ypg) and five touchdowns. Now he gets a perceived upgrade in QB play over whatever the 2025 version of Geno Smith was, and a much more appealing offensive scheme under new head coach Klint Kubiak. Nailor hasn’t had quite the same success, but that’s largely because he’s played next to Justin Jefferson and/or Jordan Addison in Minnesota for the last four years. Tough to carve out a bigger role behind those dudes. He’ll now have an opportunity to be a top target earner for the first time in his career. I’d prefer Tucker over Nailor straight up, and Tucker is going about 20 picks later. *Sidebar: Brock Bowers is going to go absolutely nuclear this season. He may be the actual winner here.

    Indianapolis Colts Alec Piece and Josh Downs

    Choosing not to address the receiver room until the 7th round after moving Michael Pittman (PIT) and AD Mitchell (NYJ) over the past year is certainly a choice. It’s also a vote of confidence in Pierce coming off ankle surgery, and for Downs to step into a larger role. Outside of tight end Tyler Warren, Pierce and Downs are two of the clear three target earners in this offense. Perhaps Steichen is going back to more of a condensed offense a la his time with the Eagles. Pierce and Downs are both buys who could see 100 targets each in what was the top scoring offense (31 ppg) before QB Daniel Jones went down. Pierce is currently going ahead of Downs in terms of ADP, and I’d pay the price of admission.  He’s my preferred Colts receiver due to his big play ability and chemistry with Daniel Jones.

    Los Angeles Rams Davante Adams

    The Rams were heavily linked to a first round receiver leading up to the draft. The thought was really going for it one last time with Stafford at the helm and the current core in tact. It was shocking to everyone when they decided to secure their future QB1 at pick 13 instead. Adams led the league in receiving touchdowns in 2025 with 14, and he’s a strong bet to be near the top of that category again in 2026. Without a notable addition in the room as whole, we may even get a couple vintage volume games from the 13 year veteran. Lock him into the top 24 receivers for what may be the last time.

    Kansas City Chiefs Xavier Worthy

    It would have been easy to see the Chiefs making a significant move at the receiver position. Rashee Rice, though productive, has almost constantly been embroiled in off the field controversy. Behind him, Worthy is the most intriguing name, but hardly someone who’s earned a starting role without some competition. When Kansas City hammered defense early and often, they elected to use just one pick on a pass catcher, and that didn’t come until the 5th round. So, it looks like the Chiefs are content with running the passing game back exactly how it was last season. The third-year speedster gets another chance to prove he can be a productive, every down player that we all hoped for when the Chiefs traded up to get Worthy in the first round.

    Tight Ends

    Pittsburgh Steelers Pat Freiermuth

    Now that we got that weird Arthur Smith Jonnu Smith love affair out of the way, we can get back to the regularly scheduled programming of the Muth being atop the depth chart in the Steel City. New HC Mike McCarthy loves a good tight end, getting the best out of the likes of Dalton Schultz, Jake Ferguson, Martellus Bennett and Jermichael Finley over the years. The most important analysis I can give though is this trend in Freiermuth’s production since entering the league. Here are his fantasy finishes by year: 2021 – TE14; 2022 – TE8; 2023 – TE29; 2024 – TE10; 2025 – TE24. Next up, a top ten finish in 2026 loading.

    Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cade Otton

    Otton has been providing spot start value for a couple years running now, and I was a bit worried he’d get replaced by one of the talented rookies from a deep positional class. Tampa decided to wait until their final pick to select Bauer Sharp in the 6th round, who projects to be nothing more than a depth piece. While there are a lot of mouths to feed in Tampa, We’ve seen Otton explode for stretches when given the chance. He should continue to have that same opportunity again this season.

    Cincinnati Bengals Mike Gesicki

    The Bengals have it all as far as offensive skill pieces. Two elite receivers, a top flight running back, and a superstar quarterback to lead it all. It would have made perfect sense for Cincy to take a top tight end to round the whole thing out. Instead they focused on defense and OL with four if their first five picks. A 7th round rookie is hardly a threat in April, so Gesicki stands to be the the guy.

    April 29, 2026, 11:53 am