RADIO
Who should I draft for fantasy football in 2026? Fantasy football outlooks for MarShawn Lloyd, Ladd McConkey, Chris Olave, James Cook III, DeVonta Smith, De'Zhaun Stribling, Malik Nabers, Parker Washington, Breece Hall.
Who Should I Draft? Use this tool to assist you with some common 2026 fantasy football draft decisions regarding players like MarShawn Lloyd, Ladd McConkey, Chris Olave, James Cook, DeVonta Smith, De'Zhaun Stribling, Malik Nabers, Parker Washington, and Breece Hall. We are here to help make these calls and build winning teams in 2026. Draft your optimal fantasy football teams for 2026 with our Who Should I Draft? tool. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to draft... all free!
Compare up to four players and we'll tell you who to draft...
Fantasy Football Draft Outlooks
Below are some fantasy football outlooks written by our NFL team here at RotoBaller, bringing you their fantasy football analysis and advice on which players to consider drafting in 2026:
Ladd McConkey, Los Angeles Chargers
Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Ladd McConkey failed to build on his 1,149-yard, seven-touchdown rookie season in 2025, but the offensive changes taking place around him could make him a tremendous value entering year three. Under former offensive coordinator Greg Roman, the Chargers deployed three or more wide receivers on over 80% of their dropbacks, creating a crowded target environment that prevented any pass catcher from reaching 800 receiving yards.
New offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel arrives from Miami, bringing with him 2025's third-most-utilized fullback, Alec Ingold. Los Angeles also aggressively pursued and signed tight end Charlie Kolar in free agency and later added David Njoku, strongly hinting at a shift toward more heavy personnel packages and two-receiver sets. With veteran Keenan Allen no longer on the roster, McConkey is positioned to claim one of those starting roles, and his skill set mirrors many of the traits that allowed Jaylen Waddle to thrive under McDaniel in Miami.
Unlike Waddle, he ran fewer than 10% of his routes out of two-receiver sets last season. A shift toward heavier formations could dramatically increase that number and raise his route volume and target share in an offense that should see massive improvements under a more creative playcaller and with a healthier offensive line. Valued as RotoBaller's WR20, McConkey has a realistic path back to a WR1 finish at a discounted WR2 price.
Breece Hall, New York Jets
New York Jets running back Breece Hall enters 2026 as a strong bounce-back candidate after handling 243 carries for 1,065 yards and four touchdowns across 16 games in 2025. He also caught 36 of 48 targets for 350 yards and another score, finishing as the PPR RB19 while averaging 13.0 fantasy points per game. The overall production was solid, but the Jets' offensive struggles kept Hall's weekly ceiling inconsistent and limited his touchdown chances.
Hall signed a three-year, $45 million contract extension with the Jets this offseason. New York's move to Geno Smith at quarterback and Frank Reich at offensive coordinator should give Hall a cleaner offensive environment. At the same time, Garrett Wilson, Kenyon Sadiq, and Omar Cooper Jr. can help pull defensive attention away from the box. The concern is that Hall's receiving usage dropped sharply from 95 targets in 2023 to 48 in 2025, and Braelon Allen's return could create some goal-line competition.
On top of that, Jets head coach Aaron Glenn plans to use Hall, Allen, and Isaiah Davis as a three-headed monster in the team's backfield. Despite the committee concerns, Hall is the focal point of the Jets offense and is currently going 38th overall on Sleeper, which aligns closely with his 36th overall and RB18 ranking at RotoBaller. Hall is locked in and is a fair-cost RB2 with real bounce-back upside.
James Cook III, Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills running back James Cook III faced plenty of skepticism entering the 2025 season. Fantasy managers questioned whether he could replicate his 18-touchdown total from the year prior, which allowed him to finish as the overall RB8 in PPR leagues. Not only did he repeat his success, but he blew his 2024 fantasy production out of the water. Last season, Cook rushed for 1,621 yards, caught 33 passes for 291 receiving yards, and scored 14 total touchdowns. He played all 17 games, eclipsed 300 fantasy points (PPR) for the first time in his career, and ranked as the overall RB6.
Heading into 2026, Cook remains an RB1 with top-five upside at the running back position. His role remains unchanged after the Bills didn't make any major additions to their backfield, and he has shown that he can remain fantasy relevant despite the rushing upside of Josh Allen, who has 100+ rush attempts and 12+ rushing touchdowns in each of the last three years. At the running back position, managers should look for running backs with clear lead-back roles and a good offense. Cook checks both of those boxes, as DraftKings currently has the Bills' line set at 10.5 wins.
As long as he stays healthy -- which has not been an issue in the past -- Cook will remain one of the top running backs in fantasy football. As such, he's worth drafting near the middle to end of the first round in 2026 drafts.
DeVonta Smith, Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith is poised to enjoy a career season in 2026 following the departure of A.J. Brown. Throughout his career, Smith has operated as the primary No. 2 option in a run-heavy offense, with Brown seeing the majority of the targets from Jalen Hurts. However, with Brown now in New England, Smith is slated to operate as the clear WR1 in this offense, with first-round rookie Makai Lemon slated to slide in as the No. 2 option.
Despite often sharing targets with Brown, Smith has still been very productive for fantasy, finishing as the overall WR20 in PPR scoring last season and the WR27 the year prior. In 2025, Smith saw 113 targets and brought in 77 of them for 1,008 yards and four touchdowns. Even though his touchdown total was the lowest of his career, this was Smith's second-highest target total of his career and third time over his last four seasons in which he exceeded the 1,000-yard mark in a season.
The former Alabama standout has remained an elite option for Hurts downfield, as he has brought in at least 14 receptions of 20+ yards in each of his five NFL seasons and at least four passes for 40+ yards in three of his last four.
Given that Brown saw 121 targets in 2025, Smith could be in store for a career-high in usage, even with Lemon joining the offense and the team re-signing tight end Dallas Goedert. Even if Hurts and the Eagles lean on their rushing attack (11th-most rushing attempts in 2025), his high projected target share makes him worthy of a selection at his current Sleeper ADP of 49.0 (WR23). Managers should expect his ADP to continue to steadily climb over the summer.
Chris Olave, New Orleans Saints
New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olave is coming off the best season of his career and entering 2026 as a low-end WR1 for fantasy. During the 2025 season, Olave emerged as the true WR1 in this offense, drawing an impressive 156 targets (the fifth-most in football) and catching 100 of them for 1,163 yards and nine touchdowns.
Given that New Orleans lacked many proven pass catchers opposite Olave for most of the season (after trading Rashid Shaheed), Olave was given a large share of the passing attack.
His production was also very impressive, as Olave appeared in just eight games the previous season due to several concussions. Seeing him quickly regain his WR1 floor and post the best season of his career was an excellent sign. However, Olave's volume does carry some question marks heading into 2026. In the opening round of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Saints addressed their No. 2 WR position by selecting Jordyn Tyson out of Arizona State. Tyson has dealt with injuries in college as well, but is more than capable of emerging as an every-down option at the professional level.
While the Saints offense under Kellen Moore will often opt to push the ball downfield in 2026 (sixth-most pass attempts last season), the signing of Travis Etienne Jr. will give them a stable rushing attack, and the addition of Tyson will draw targets away from Olave.
However, Tyson is set to miss roughly two months due to a hamstring injury, which should allow Olave to see a hefty target share once again to open the 2026 season, serving as Tyler Shough's primary option. Olave could carry WR1 upside for much of the early going while Tyson remains on the shelf.
Who Should I Draft - Fantasy Football Tool
Read more about the Who Should I Draft tool here:
2026 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players - MarShawn Lloyd, Ladd McConkey, Chris Olave, James Cook, DeVonta Smith, De'Zhaun Stribling, Malik Nabers, Parker Washington, Breece Hall. These are some common searches for 2026 fantasy football drafts.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player name. In the second box, search for the second player name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Draft? button to see who the recommended draft picks are based on fantasy football rankings, projections, and more.
Improvements For Who Should I Draft? You may have noticed our Who Should I Draft? tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your 2026 fantasy football drafts. You'll see NFL player tiles with bye weeks, stats and projections, ADPs, strength of schedule, enhanced search results with data to compare, and a slick interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Our RotoBaller staff puts together their preseason fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research, and update it constantly throughout the preseason. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players that are ranked.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do is to select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circles), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Draft Searches. Curious to see some tough draft decisions for 2026? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Draft? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Player Comparison Searches - Who To Draft
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Draft tool for 2026 drafts for MarShawn Lloyd, Ladd McConkey, Chris Olave, James Cook, DeVonta Smith, De'Zhaun Stribling, Malik Nabers, Parker Washington, Breece Hall:
More Fantasy Football Analysis
Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App
Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy football app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, rankings, starts/sits & more. All free!
