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Joey Pollizze's 5 early-round fantasy football wide receiver draft targets for 2026. His must-draft wide receivers include Chris Olave, Emeka Egbuka, and more.
The fantasy football season is almost here. We are just a few weeks away from the regular season starting. If you are reading this article, that means you are starting to prepare for your upcoming fantasy football draft. Luckily, RotoBaller has you covered with daily articles and news to help you get as prepared as possible for your fantasy draft.
In this article, we will dive into the best early-round wide receivers to draft. Each of these wide receivers is going within the first five rounds and has the potential to be an elite fantasy option in 2026. For the sake of this article, we decided not to include Puka Nacua, Ja'Marr Chase, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba because they are obviously must-draft wide receivers.
Let's dive into the five early-round must-draft wide receivers for 2026.
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Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit Lions
There has been no wide receiver in fantasy football more consistent than Detroit Lions playmaker Amon-Ra St. Brown in recent years. St. Brown is the only player to finish as a top-3 fantasy wide receiver in three consecutive seasons. He has finished as the overall WR3 in both PPR and half-PPR formats in three straight years.
That consistency makes him a must-draft early-round wide receiver. He will be a strong fantasy option again in 2026 and is one of the safest selections in the middle-to-late first round. St. Brown will once again be the top option on an elite Lions offense while playing most of his games indoors. Detroit will play only one outdoor cold-weather game from Week 5 onward, which comes in Week 17 against the Bears at Soldier Field.
.@amonra_stbrown 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/pZpm1Rns29
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) August 7, 2026
There's just so much to love about St. Brown in the first round. Last year, the Lions playmaker scored above 13 PPR fantasy points in 13 of his 16 full games, and scored in single digits in PPR formats just twice all season. He's a target hog (31.6% target share) and is Jared Goff's favorite target in the red zone (37.5% target rate in the red zone). He also led all WRs in red zone targets (33) in 2025.
Fantasy managers can't go wrong with drafting St. Brown in the middle of the first round. He's a consistent high-floor WR option who has a great chance to finish as a top-3 fantasy WR for the fourth consecutive year.
Chris Olave, New Orleans Saints
New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olave is coming off the best season of his career in 2025. Olave caught 100 passes for 1,163 yards and nine touchdowns across 16 games last year. Those strong numbers helped the former Ohio State star emerge as an elite fantasy option. He finished as the overall WR6 in PPR formats while averaging 16.8 PPR fantasy points per game.
Olave was really a strong fantasy option for most of the year, but really took his game to another level once Tyler Shough took over as the Saints' starting quarterback. The 26-year-old averaged 18.8 PPR fantasy points from Week 9 onward with Shough, which included averaging 27.7 PPR fantasy points in the fantasy football playoffs (Week 15 to Week 17).
Tyler Shough 63-yard completion to Chris Olave!
NOvsTEN on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/OlVRsH6aHF
— NFL (@NFL) December 28, 2025
Now with Olave entering his first full season with Shough in this up-and-coming New Orleans offense, the sky is the limit. His target share (28.4%), receptions, reception touchdown rate (12.5%), receiving air yards per game (127.8), red zone catch rate (50%), and yards per reception (13.8) all rose with Shough under center.
Even though the Saints selected Jordyn Tyson in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft, there are enough targets to go around in this Saints offense. Olave is still the primary target and should continue to thrive in a high-tempo, fast-paced Kellen Moore-led offense. With an early Round 3 ADP, Olave is a smash pick.
Emeka Egbuka, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Emeka Egbuka has the potential to fully break out in 2026. While Egbuka showed some of his upside last year, he failed to really put together a full season. The Ohio State product averaged 20.5 PPR fantasy points in the first five weeks before scoring in double figures in PPR formats just once over the final 12 weeks.
However, Egbuka's situation has improved this year. Mike Evans left in the offseason after signing with the San Francisco 49ers. Although Evans missed nine games due to injuries last year, Egbuka doesn't have to worry about an Evans-type player in this offense anymore. In games where the veteran missed, the 23-year-old's target share (28.3%), route participation (90.6%), and receiving air yards share (42.3%) all rose.
If there is a wide receiver who can be this year's Smith-Njigba, it's Egbuka. He's young, could step in as the top pass catcher in this Tampa Bay offense, has a solid quarterback in Baker Mayfield, and has the advanced metrics to take that next step. The Buccaneers playmaker ranked second in deep targets, second in unrealized air yards, 15th in yards after the catch, eighth in EPX, and 13th in first read targets among all WRs in 2025.
Egbuka is an easy selection at his early Round 4 ADP. What he did to start his rookie campaign could be the norm for him in 2026.
DeVonta Smith, Philadelphia Eagles
For the first time since his rookie season in 2021, DeVonta Smith is going to be the top wide receiver in this Philadelphia Eagles offense again. A.J. Brown got a lot of the attention in this offense over the years, but Brown is now gone after being traded to the New England Patriots a few months ago. That opens the door for Smith to be an alpha in this offense in 2026.
In games in which Brown has missed over the past two years, Smith has been a solid fantasy option. In 2024, Smith had a 20.6 PPR fantasy point performance against the Falcons in Week 2 (10 targets, seven catches, 76 yards, one touchdown) and a 14.9 PPR fantasy point day against the Saints in Week 3 (10 targets, seven catches, 79 yards). In 2025, he had a six-catch, 84-yard game against the Giants in Week 8 (14.4 PPR fantasy points).
DeVonta Smith had four catches for 69 yards tonight.
Three of them were for either 3rd down conversions or a TD 🙌 pic.twitter.com/h3hk3RxBZR
— NFL (@NFL) November 11, 2025
It might only be a small sample size, but the opportunity is there for the 27-year-old to really go off this season. His target share (26.3%), receiving yards per game, red zone opportunities, and receiving air yards share are all up when Brown is not on the field. It's hard to skip past Smith in drafts knowing that he will be the top receiving option on an Eagles offense that has an upgraded play caller in Sean Mannion.
Smith is a nice high-floor selection. He should provide solid WR2 numbers throughout the season while having WR1 upside. The 6-foot wide receiver is finally going to be the focal point in Philadelphia.
Ladd McConkey, Los Angeles Chargers
Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Ladd McConkey was a popular early-round draft pick last season following a strong rookie campaign. McConkey finished as the overall WR13 in PPR formats behind an 82-catch, 1,149-yard, seven-touchdown campaign in 2024. The expectation was that the young playmaker would take another step forward in 2025.
But a lot went wrong for McConkey last year. The Chargers signed Keenan Allen one month before the season, and losing most of the offensive line to injuries didn't really help. That resulted in a poor year for the former Georgia Bulldog. He finished as the WR30 in PPR formats while totaling only 66 catches for 789 yards and six touchdowns.
Things have now changed in McConkey's favor for the 2026 season. Allen is gone, the Chargers' offensive line is back at full strength to give Justin Herbert some time in the pocket, and Los Angeles brought in Mike McDaniel as its offensive coordinator. No play caller has utilized pre-snap motion more than McDaniel over the years. It so happens that McConkey is at his best when he is put in motion before the play.
When McConkey is used in pre-snap motion, his numbers increase massively. His first-read target share jumps to 41.1%, his yards per route run sit at 1.89, his first down per route run sit at 0.90, and his points per route run sit at 0.42. If McDaniel actually utilizes McConkey in that pre-snap motion, the 24-year-old could have his best fantasy season yet. He's worth grabbing at his ADP in the early rounds.
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