April 4, 2026
Cleveland Browns running back
Dylan Sampson was mostly overshadowed by
Quinshon Judkins last season, but the former did flash significant upside when he got on the field. Sampson had eight catches for 64 receiving yards when Judkins missed Week 1, and he finished the year with the 23rd-most receptions among running backs despite playing just 23.2% of the offensive snaps. Judkins suffered a dislocated right ankle last December, and while he should be ready for the 2026 season opener, Sampson would be in line for a large role if he's not ready to go. Even if Judkins does have a clean bill of health, Sampson could carve out standalone value given his impact as a receiver. He profiles as a third-down back who could be a low-end RB3/flex in PPR leagues, and he would jump to the RB2 tier if Judkins misses time.
--Andersen PickardSource: RotoBaller
April 4, 2026
Houston Texans wide receiver
Jaylin Noel may remain in the fourth spot on the depth chart ahead of the 2026 season. During his rookie campaign in 2025, Noel typically operated as the No. 4 receiver behind
Nico Collins,
Jayden Higgins, and
Christian Kirk, finishing the year with a modest 26 catches, 292 yards, and two touchdowns. Kirk has departed for the Bay Area, but he'll likely be replaced next season by a healthy
Tank Dell (knee). While Year 2 is a common time for wide receivers to break out, Noel may struggle to get meaningful playing time if Collins, Higgins, and Dell are all healthy. He's merely a hold in dynasty leagues right now; although he does have long-term upside, he faces an uphill battle to achieve consistent fantasy relevance in 2026.
--Andersen PickardSource: RotoBaller
April 4, 2026
Veteran wide receiver
Keenan Allen remains a free agent as we turn the calendar to April. The 33-year-old has spent 13 seasons in the NFL, including a dozen with the Los Angeles Chargers. He essentially shared No. 1 receiver duties with
Ladd McConkey last year and ultimately led the team with 81 catches. He also tallied 777 receiving yards and four touchdowns, ranking as the overall WR29 in PPR leagues. Allen has previously said he only wants to play in Los Angeles, but his stance may have changed this deep into free agency. If he's open to playing elsewhere, several NFL media personalities have identified the Las Vegas Raiders as a potential landing spot. Vegas currently doesn't have an established No. 1 receiver, and Allen could be a great veteran target for rookie quarterback
Fernando Mendoza, the projected first overall pick. Allen doesn't have much value in dynasty trades, so he's purely a hold for now. Depending on the landing spot, he could be an intriguing buy-low receiver with short-term value.
--Andersen PickardSource: RotoBaller
April 4, 2026
Arkansas running back
Mike Washington Jr. had a top-30 visit with the Atlanta Falcons on Friday, sources told Jordan Schultz of FOX Sports. Washington also has visits in the next two weeks lined up with the Tampa Buccaneers, Green Bay Packers, and Seattle Seahawks. The 6-foot-1, 223-pounder ran an eye-opening 4.33-second 40-yard dash at the scouting combine in late February and is projected to be a Day 2 pick in this month's NFL draft. The Falcons already have stud RB
Bijan Robinson, and although they lost highly productive backup
Tyler Allgeier to free agency, they signed
Brian Robinson Jr. as their RB2 this offseason. Washington would likely open his NFL career as the RB3 in Atlanta. In his lone season with the Razorbacks in 2025, Washington had 1,070 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on 167 carries, adding 28 catches for 226 yards and another score in 12 games played. He also had eight rushing touchdowns on 157 carries in 12 games in 2024 with New Mexico State after spending three seasons at Buffalo.
--Keith HernandezSource: FOX Sports - Jordan Schultz
April 4, 2026
The Ringer's Todd McShay reports that someone in the Arizona Cardinals building is "pushing really hard" to draft Notre Dame running back
Jeremiyah Love at the end of April. The Cardinals have the No. 3 overall pick in this year's draft, but they also have pressing needs on their offensive line and at defensive end. They could trade back a few spots in the first round if they think they'll still have a chance to draft the consensus top RB in this year's class. The Cardinals already have
James Conner (foot),
Trey Benson (knee), and
Tyler Allgeier in their backield, though, so Love landing in Arizona would be bad news for his short- and long-term fantasy football value. The Tennessee Titans (No. 4 overall) and New York Giants (No. 5) have also been rumored to be looking at drafting Love early in the first round this year. Love has the potential to be a three-down start at the next level after leading his conference in rushing yards in each of the last two seasons, with a total of 2,497 rushing yards and 35 touchdowns on 362 carries in 28 games. He also had 55 catches for 517 yards and five additional touchdowns as a receiver.
--Keith HernandezSource: The Ringer - Todd McShay
April 4, 2026
The Cleveland Browns have publicly praised quarterback
Deshaun Watson (Achilles) this offseason, but The Athletic's Zac Jackson said he feels "stronger than ever" that
Shedeur Sanders, not Watson, is the "favorite to win the starting job." Sanders wasn't Cleveland's first choice in 2025 and might not be their first choice for the future, either, but giving him every chance to win the job and to make real progress is "clearly the best option right now." The 24-year-old fifth-rounder is signed for three more seasons, and Jackson thinks that the best path to escaping the Watson mess is to let Sanders take the job and provide "at least league-average QB play." There will be a true competition between Sanders and Watson in training camp this summer after Sanders was highly inconsistent in his rookie season in 2025, throwing for 1,400 yards, seven touchdowns, and 10 interceptions in eight games (seven starts). The former Colorado star has been working on getting stronger this offseason and is the Browns' "best option" at the position. Fantasy managers in dynasty/keeper leagues looking for help at QB might want to consider buying low on Sanders.
--Keith HernandezSource: The Athletic - Zac Jackson
April 4, 2026
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport says that the money that the Las Vegas Raiders gave veteran quarterback
Kirk Cousins indicates that he "could or maybe should end up being the starting QB" to begin the 2026 regular season. Somehow, Cousins will be guaranteed $20 million in 2026, with almost half of the money being paid by the Atlanta Falcons, who released the 37-year-old at the start of the new league year. Even though the Raiders are expected to take Indiana QB
Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick at the end of April, Cousins is expected to be the team's Week 1 starter as they let Mendoza sit and learn early on in his first year in the NFL. The four-time Pro Bowler played in 24 games (22 starts) in his two years in Atlanta and completed 65% of his passes for 5,229 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 21 interceptions. At best, he'll be a low-end QB2 option for those in superflex fantasy leagues in 2026, and his run as Vegas' starter could be short-lived, depending on his performance and Mendoza's development.
--Keith HernandezSource: NFL Network - Ian Rapoport
April 4, 2026
The Jacksonville Jaguars signed defensive end Travon Walker to a four-year, $100 million contract extension on Friday, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. The deal includes $77 million guaranteed and $50 million fully guaranteed at signing. The 25-year-old is heading into his fifth NFL season in 2026 after racking up 200 tackles (101 solo), 27.5 sacks, 36 tackles for loss, 57 QB hits, one interception, seven pass breakups, three forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries (one returned for a touchdown) in 63 games (60 starts). Walker had back-to-back 10-sack seasons in 2023 and 2024 before totaling just 3.5 sacks last year in 14 games (12 starts). The Jaguars are hoping that the former first overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft out of Georgia can bounce back in the sack department in 2026 in his fifth year in the league after his big extension.
--Keith HernandezSource: ESPN - Adam Schefter
April 4, 2026
Seahawks running back
George Holani has handled 25 career carries since joining Seattle as an undrafted free agent in 2024, and yet he was a popular dynasty waiver add in the early offseason. Super Bowl MVP
Kenneth Walker III left for Kansas City in the opening hours of free agency, and
Zach Charbonnet, who tore his ACL in a Divisional Round playoff win, is unlikely to be ready for the start of the season, which briefly left Holani and 2023 seventh-round pick
Kenny McIntosh as the healthiest options at the top of the depth chart. Seattle has since signed former Packer
Emanuel Wilson to a modest one-year deal, and the team is expected to address the position early in the NFL Draft. The Seahawks have already met with Washington's Jonah Coleman on a local visit and will reportedly host Arkansas'
Mike Washington Jr. on a 30-visit in the coming weeks. Whoever Seattle targets with early draft capital will likely rise to the RB2 spot behind
Jeremiyah Love in most rookie drafts, while Holani's dynasty value could settle outside the top-100 at the position after a sudden offseason spike.
--Patrick McGrathSource: RotoBaller
April 4, 2026
Browns tight end
Harold Fannin Jr. was selected in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft after an unfathomably productive college career at Bowling Green, and in his rookie season with Cleveland, it was more of the same. His 72 receptions on 103 targets ranked second among all rookies and eighth among NFL tight ends. A case could be made that Fannin benefited from one of the weakest wide receiver cores in the league, with
Jerry Jeudy the only other Cleveland player to top 35 catches or 50 targets. The Browns are expected to return the same quarterback room from 2025, with hopes hinging on either a meaningful second-year leap from
Shedeur Sanders or a return to form from
Deshaun Watson, now five years removed from his last impactful season. Additionally, the team holds the sixth pick in the NFL Draft and is expected to spend early capital on the wide receiver position. That said, Fannin finished his rookie season as the TE6 in half-PPR formats, behind two 30+ year olds in
Travis Kelce and
Dallas Goedert, as well as
Kyle Pitts, whose TE2 finish was propped up by the single most productive game by a tight end in NFL history. Fannin is RotoBaller's TE6 in dynasty rankings, but could easily crack the top five if the Browns are unable to add significant target competition through the draft.
--Patrick McGrathSource: RotoBaller
April 4, 2026
With the Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver room among the league's most ambiguous offensive units, it's easy to forget that it was tight end
Brenton Strange who finished third on the team in both receptions and receiving yards despite missing five games in 2025. A case could be made for any of
Jakobi Meyers,
Brian Thomas Jr.,
Parker Washington, or
Travis Hunter to be the Jaguars WR1 heading into 2026, but a similar case could also be made that one of those players might not be on the roster by training camp, and another could be playing defense. While gameplans and opponents could drastically affect how Jacksonville deploys its wide receivers, Strange might be locked into the safest role of any of the team's pass catchers, and with
Travis Etienne Jr. vacating almost 50 targets from last season, a good share of that work could go the tight end who saw nearly 78% of his targets within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage.
--Patrick McGrathSource: RotoBaller
April 4, 2026
A rash of injuries has limited New Orleans Saints running back
Kendre Miller to only 21 games through his first three years in the league, and when he has found the field, he's done little to prove he can be anything more than a committee back. The 2023 third round pick has averaged less than four yards per carry to this point in his career and has yet to spring a run for more than 18 yards, and with the Saints spending big in free agency for
Travis Etienne Jr., Miller could be left battling for scraps behind a back who has carried the ball more than 250 times in three of the past four seasons.
Alvin Kamara is still on the roster, and
Devin Neal showed flashes in his three late-season starts, making Miller a cut candidate in all but the deepest dynasty leagues.
--Patrick McGrathSource: RotoBaller
April 4, 2026
Cardinals wide receiver
Marvin Harrison Jr. was largely viewed as one of the safest prospects in years when Arizona made him the fourth overall pick and the first non-quarterback selected in the 2024 NFL Draft. Through his first two years in the league, he has yet to make good on that promise, totaling just under 1,500 yards on 103 career receptions. While a concussion, a heel injury, and an emergency appendectomy caused him to miss five games in 2025, he spent much of his sophomore season third in line for targets behind All-Pro tight end
Trey McBride and third-year breakout
Michael Wilson. Both players return to an offense helmed once more by
Jacoby Brissett, and with free agent acquisition
Tyler Allgeier joining a backfield that should see returns to health from
James Conner and
Trey Benson, the Cardinals' overall passing volume could see a steep decline. Before ever taking a snap in the NFL, Harrison was viewed as a consensus top-three dynasty wide receiver, but RotoBaller currently has him ranked at WR20, and the current landscape in Arizona could make it difficult for him to see a meaningful rise.
--Patrick McGrathSource: RotoBaller
April 4, 2026
Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver
Marquise Brown doesn't currently occupy a fantasy-relevant role, but he could get onto the fantasy radar if teammate
A.J. Brown is traded this offseason. Marquise Brown inked a one-year deal with the Eagles after ranking as the WR43 with 49 catches, 587 yards, and five touchdowns last year. He's the No. 3 receiver in Philadelphia behind
DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown, but he'd jump to No. 2 on the depth chart -- and become a WR3/flex candidate -- if the latter is dealt before Week 1. The 28-year-old is no stranger to playing for competitive teams, spending time with the Ravens, Cardinals, and Chiefs. If he does take on a larger role, he could benefit from a new-look Eagles system that is expected to throw the ball more efficiently under offensive coordinator
Sean Mannion.
--Andersen PickardSource: RotoBaller
April 4, 2026
New York Giants wide receiver
Darnell Mooney will compete for an opportunity to be
Jaxson Dart's No. 2 target behind
Malik Nabers. There are a lot of players in the mix for bigger pass-catching roles, and Mooney will have a chance to compete for a path to significant volume if he can stay healthy and productive throughout training camp. Mooney was seen as a potential breakout candidate prior to the 2025 season, but he ultimately fell quite short with just 32 catches, 443 yards, and one touchdown, ranking as the WR79 in PPR leagues. This offseason, he took his talents to New York, where his biggest competition will be
Calvin Austin III,
Darius Slayton,
Theo Johnson, and
Isaiah Likely. Dart is arguably more capable of supporting multiple fantasy-relevant receivers than Mooney's last quarterback,
Michael Penix Jr., so that's an encouraging sign for 2026. It's too early and too bold to say that he'll be a consistent WR3/flex in 2026, but he certainly has the upside. He had 996 yards just two years ago, and he's an intriguing buy-low candidate in dynasty leagues this offseason after a down season.
--Andersen PickardSource: RotoBaller
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