.jpg?w=1280 "NFL Draft Football")
Fantasy Football 2026 Dynasty Rookie Rankings, 1st-Round Mock After NFL Draft
NFL Draft season is over, which means fantasy football managers can start preparing for their own drafts.
It's still a bit early for redraft leagues, but dynasty players will soon be locked in to their own rookie drafts. After poring over scouting reports and understanding the talent in this year's draft class, we now have landing spots to consider.
Jeremiyah Love came into the draft as the most exciting fantasy football prospect and that didn't change because he's been dropped in a fairly deep backfield in Arizona. The fact that they took him with the third overall pick speaks to a plan to utilize him heavily.
The top receivers in the class went a little earlier than expected, speaking to their immense potential as well. Carnell Tate went fourth overall to the Tennessee Titans while Jordy Tyson went eighth to the New Orleans Saints.
Overall, it's an exciting year to need some receiver help in your dynasty leagues while finding running backs could be a bit tougher. Here's a look at how things stack up after the draft.
Dynasty Rookie Rankings (Next 4 Years)
1 of 2.jpg?w=684 "NFL Draft Football")
Here's a look at how each position stacks up with an eye on their value over the next four years.
Top 5 Quarterbacks
Top 10 Running Backs
Top 10 Wide Receivers
Top 5 Tight Ends
Jeremiyah Love did not necessarily wind up in the best spot for his 2026 redraft value. They did sign Tyler Allgeier and already have James Conner and Trey Benson on the roster.
Love should vault those players on the depth chart, but both Allgeier and Conner are tough runners who could vulture touchdowns. On the bright side, the Cardinals offensive line was ninth in yards before contact and added Isaac Seumalo this offseason before drafting Chase Bisontis.
The receivers are where opinions will start to diverge. Carnell Tate takes the No. 1 spot here, in large part, because he has the easiest path to becoming his team's WR1.
Tyson will have to overcome Chris Olave for that honor and we still haven't seen a large sample size of Tyler Shough to know if he can support two viable options. Lemon will likely be the second option behind DeVonta Smith if A.J. Brown gets traded and the Eagles are always going to be a little run-heavy with Jalen Hurts at quarterback.
Drafting Kenyon Sadiq and Omar Cooper Jr. in the first round might have been good for the New York Jets, but it wasn't great for their fantasy stocks. We probably won't know who their long-term quarterback is until 2027 and Geno Smith isn't going to help them reach their rookie potential.
Cutting the list down from the top 15 to the top 10 wasn't easy as there were plenty of Day 2 wide receivers with paths to meaningful roles. Malachi Fields and Antonio Williams could easily become the second option in emerging offenses, rounding out the top 10.
At running back, Kaelon Black hits the top 10 based on draft capital alone. The Niners made him the only running bac selected on Day 2 of the draft, although their track record for picking mid-round running backs isn't great at this point.
Overall, there were some talented backs who were not helped by their landing spot. Mike Washington Jr. is one of the most physically gifted backs, but he'll be behind Ashton Jeanty on the Raiders depth chart. The same could be said for Emmett Johnson who is now behind Kenneth Walker in Kansas City.
First-Round Mock Draft
2 of 2.jpg?w=684 "NFL Draft Football")
Here's what a projected first-round draft could look like in a PPR 12-team Superflex league:
| 1.01 | RB Jeremiyah Love, Arizona Cardinals |
| 1.02 | QB Fernando Mendoza, Las Vegas Raiders |
| 1.03 | WR Carnell Tate, Tennessee Titans |
| 1.04 | WR Jordyn Tyson, New Orleans Saints |
| 1.05 | WR Makai Lemon, Philadelphia Eagles |
| 1.06 | RB Jadarian Price, Seattle Seahawks |
| 1.07 | TE Kenyon Sadiq, New York Jets |
| 1.08 | WR KC Concepcion, Cleveland Browns |
| 1.09 | WR Omar Cooper Jr., New York Jets |
| 1.10 | WR Chris Bell, Miami Dolphins |
| 1.11 | QB Ty Simpson, Los Angeles Rams |
| 1.12 | WR Denzel Boston, Cleveland Browns |
The biggest takeaway here is that this is not a good year to need a running back. Every year there are Day 3 backs that end up being fantasy relevant, but it isn't clear who those backs are going to be at this point.
Teams around the league weren't confident in the class of backs to make more than one a Day 2 pick. Jeremiyah Love remains the biggest slam dunk in the class and should be going No. 1 in rookie drafts regardless of format.
The scarcity of quarterbacks in Superflex formats should be enough to make Mendoza a top-three pick while keeping Simpson in the first round. The Rams decision to take him with the 13th pick was controversial, but it sets up a scenario where he gets handed the keys to an explosive offense in the next few seasons.
Chris Bell could be a sneaky good pick beyond the first-round names at receiver. The Dolphins just hit the reset button on offense and his biggest competition for targets might be Malik Washington.
If he puts together a strong summer he could hit the ground running as the Dolphins top target. He does his best work after the catch so he could become a favorite of Malik Willis early.
"He is an explosive athlete after the catch. When Bell secures a pass in the open field, he shifts gears quickly and erases pursuit angles. He displays strong spatial awareness during the transition from receiver to runner," Dame Parson wrote in his scouting report.
This was already a running back class with serious questions. The fact that multiple backs went to less-than-ideal situations should make wide receivers even more popular in the first round of these drafts.
.jpg?w=256)
.jpg?w=480)
.jpg?w=480 "Panthers Young Football")
.jpg?w=600 "Saints Trade for Raiders DE ⚜️")
.jpg?w=600 "McVay Explains Viral Presser")
