My Favorite Picks for the 2026 Fantasy Football Draft.

Selecting my favorite player in each of the first 10 rounds based on current ESPN Rankings.

The league I play in is a 12-man league, so all rounds will assume 12 picks per round.

Round 1 – Picks 1 – 12: The first round in general is hard to find a ‘best pick’ because realistically everyone going in the first round should be good. In the spirit of the challenge though, I am still going to pick my favorite. Given his history, this should be a down year for Christian McCaffrey. He had an incredible year last year and he seems to go up and down every year. However, he has #1 fantasy player potential and he is currently going around pick 5. The 49ers offense is going to look a little different this year, with the addition of Mike Evans, but one thing will be consistent; McCaffrey. He is still going to get his checkdown passes, he’ll still lineup at receiver when needed, and he will still make explosive plays.

Round 2 – Picks 13 – 24: Overall, I have never been a big fan of second round picks, unless you have the 12-13 turn. These are players who get pushed out of the first round because they aren’t top guys, but they are still big names, previous fantasy stars, or people hype them up. You will also see top rookie running backs going in this round, like Jeremiyah Love, who was in consideration for me, however, I just don’t trust the Cardinals offense enough to love him. I am going to look a little farther down at pick 20, Omarion Hampton. This Chargers offense under Mike McDaniels could be dangerous. We saw what McDaniels was able to do with his running backs in Miami and I think Hampton could do the same with the Chargers. He’s a long shot at being the #1 fantasy player, but getting a long shot at pick 20 is pretty dang good.

Round 3 – Picks 25 – 36: Round 3, where players go to fall apart. Taking a look at my league’s 3rd round last year, only two players were selected who finished in the top 10 of their position. Jalen Hurts (7) and Kyren Williams (10). Historically I always feel not great about 3rd round picks. There is one player this year whose narrative has pushed him down into the 3rd round, who has a shot at being the wide receiver one…A.J. Brown…sitting at pick 29. The drama surrounding him and the Patriots has lead him to fall. Last year he was a second round pick, and only improved his situation. He now has a quarterback who isn’t afraid to throw the ball down the field and a coaching staff that will call plays for him. Ignoring the drama he caused in the locker room and the drama surrounding the coaching staff, A.J. Brown is still a top receiver in the league and is now playing with the best arm-talent in his career.

Round 4 – Picks 37 – 48: I know that he is going to go before this, just based on previous draft history in my league, but Josh Allen at 41 feels like a steal. He has better weapons this year, gets to play in a new stadium, gets to play a second place schedule since the Patriots won the division, and everything just looks to be trending up for him. In the past, I was reluctant to draft quarterbacks, I would wait until the last few rounds to grab someone. In recent years that attitude has changed since we added a SuperFlex position. I even went with Allen and Lamar back-to-back at picks 24 and 25 last year. That idea looked great to start the year with their week one battle, but didn’t pan out. Allen, falling from the 24th pick to the 41st just proves my point that he is a steal in the 4th round.

Round 5 – Picks 49 – 60: Two players really stick out to me here, butI am just unsure on who to go with; Jadarian Price at pick 54 and Luther Burden at pick 56. Price is going to get the bulk of the workload for a run first Seattle offense until Charbonnet is ready to return, but I fear he will lose his job by the time fantasy playoffs roll around. Luther Burden is being hyped up by his coach this offseason, but everyone is on him. If Ben Johnson is truly going to treat Burden like a number one then its a steal to pick him in the 5th, if he is just going to be a deep ball threat, I would probably wait. My head is telling me to go with Burden, but my gut is telling me to go with Price, and I am going with my gut. Jardian Price will come out hot to start the season. Getting a massive workload and making the most of it. By the time Charbonnet is ready to come back, Seattle will feel good enough with Price that Charbonnet will get eased back in until the playoffs. You could either try to flip Price before Charbonnet comes back, or hope that Seattle gives them an equal split.

Round 6 – Picks 61 – 72: I will give two answers here, one that I believe in, and one for people who don’t trust my bias. I really believe that Michael Pittman Jr. will thrive in Pittsburgh with Rodgers at QB. He is my best pick in this round, going at pick 65. I think his build, route running ability, hands, and toughness are a perfect fit for what Rodgers wants to do with the ball. Having DK Metcalf will clear space vertically for Pittman to work as well, which will help him after the catch. To those who are worried my loyalty to the Steelers blurs my judgement, my second pick would be Jalen Hurts at 69. I believe the Eagles will go back to their run first approach on offense and that will help Hurts calm down. He will get better looks downfield when they do throw and he will still get his rushing yards and touchdowns as an elite scrambler.

Round 7 – Picks 73 – 84: Looking at the rankings in ESPN it is crazy to see three straight Jaguars Wide Receivers. That shows you how unsure the public is on who will be the number one. My money is on Brian Thomas Jr sitting at pick 84. He has the best skillset out of any of the receivers on the team, and if he gets over his mental hurdles he would be the clear number one. Having two other quality receivers will help him get open more too. Defenses will have to choose who to target, and they won’t always pick BTJ. I like his value for being a potential number one on a high powered offense.

Round 8 – Picks 85 – 96: At the end of last season Michael Wilson just might have been the best fantasy wide receiver to have. Sitting at pick 96, if he were to have a full season like he did at the end of last year he would be the steal of the draft. He will have Jacoby Brissett throwing him the ball again, which is what led to him going off last year. Trey McBride is still there and Marvin Harrison Jr. will command attention, this will lead to Michael Wilson getting less attention from defenses. He is a tall physical receiver that is a deep ball threat. Brissett doesn’t mind throwing it down there, so hopefully he connects with Michael Wilson on a few of those.

Round 9 – Picks 97 – 108: Back to back rounds where the player I like is the last player in the round. Dallas Goedert at 108 has a chance to be Tight End #1 this year. He can have a larger target share with the departure of A.J. Brown and towards the end of the year he was getting more redzone targets and becoming an elite fantasy player. I expect him to continue that this year.

Round 10 – Picks 109 – 120: Sitting at pick 116 is the angry runner himself, Isiah Pacheco. He feels like a player Dan Campbell salivates over; a traditional pound-the-rock running back. Gibbs is still going to get the bulk workload in this offense, and he should, but we shave seen for several years the Lions are able to support two running backs in their offense. Montgomery and Gibbs did great together, and if you happen to have a top pick and select Gibbs, getting Pacheco in the tenth just makes so much sense. Anyone should be happy grabbing Pacheco here, even if its just a stash play for now.