Fantasy Football's Biggest Winners and Losers from 2026 NFL Draft

The 2026 NFL Draft is in the books. Beginning with Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza to the Las Vegas Raiders, 257 players now know where their professional careers will begin. Some will be stars. Some will be scrubs. Some will fall in-between.

But while things may have ended in Pittsburgh, for fantasy managers they are only just beginning. Because once the NFL Draft is over, fantasy draft season begins in earnest.

In the early-going, most of those fantasy drafts will be dynasty startups and rookie drafts. But even in redraft formats, folks are going to start getting the itch. And one of the first steps in properly scratching that itch is identifying how the NFL Draft affected the fantasy prospects of this year's incoming rookie class.

Talent is of course critical to the potential fantasy success of rookies, but situation matters, too. For early-round picks it means the difference between a massive Year 1 impact or a muted one. For mid-round prospects, it can mean the difference between early snaps and watching from the sidelines.

And for fantasy drafters, it can mean the difference between targeting them as values or avoiding them as potential busts.

Winner: RB Jadarian Price, Seattle Seahawks

AP Photo/Michael Woods

Starting your NFL career as a first-round pick is every young prospect's dream. Doing so for the defending Super Bowl champions is all the better.

Not bad for a running back who wasn't even the top guy on his own team.

Jadarian Price spent the 2025 season as the Robin to Jeremiyah Love's Batman at Notre Dame. But the Seattle Seahawks saw enough from the 5'11", 203 pounder to make him the final pick of the draft's first day.

And as Michael-Shawn Dugar wrote for the Athletic, with Kenneth Walker III now in Kansas City and Zach Charbonnet recovering from an ACL tear suffered in last year's playoffs, Price could see a big workload right of the gate.

"The Seahawks let an explosive offensive weapon in Ken Walker III leave in free agency. So, they used their top pick in the draft on an explosive offensive weapon," he said. "Price averaged 6 yards per carry last season while splitting time with Love. Price and Love were considered the top two running backs in the draft and the type of ball carriers capable of making an immediate impact in the NFL. Seattle needs that type of immediate impact, given the loss of Walker and the fact that Charbonnet is only a few months removed from having his ACL surgically repaired."

Price wasn't a factor as a pass-catcher in South Bend—just 15 catches over three seasons. But if he can improve that aspect of his game, there's a non-zero chance that Price could lead all rookie running backs in fantasy points in 2026.

You read that right.

Loser: RB Jeremiyah Love, Arizona Cardinals

AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

Listen, there's no denying the talent that Jeremiyah Love possesses. The 6'0", 212-pounder averaged almost seven yards per carry last year and flirted with 1,400 rushing yards. There's no aspect of the game where Love isn't capable of performing at an elite level. Theres' a reason that Arizona made Love the highest-drafted running back since Saquon Barkley went second overall in 2018.

New Arizona head coach lauded Love's skill-set while addressing the media.

"I've said this with running backs; they do come in all shapes and sizes," he said. "What's unique about him, in my opinion, is all in three phases. And what I mean by all three phases is the run game, the pass game, and protection. He has the ability to mix it in all those, you know. You guys see all the explosive stuff, that's all there, but he didn't have that weakness in my opinion in any of those phases, so you can put him in those situations."

The problem for fantasy managers is that we just saw this movie a year ago with Ashton Jeanty and the Las Vegas Raiders.

The Cardinals' selection of Carson Beck on Day 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft doesn't answer Arizona's questions under center. Per Zoltan Buday of PFF, the Cardinals finished the 2025 campaign with the seventh-worst offensive line in the league.

Yes, Arizona has better passing-game weapons than the Raiders did a year ago. But Love is going to be a focal point for opposing defenses. Add in the negative game scripts that come with playing for a bad team, and just like Jeanty in 2025 Love is a prime candidate to be overvalued in fantasy leagues this year.

Winner: WR Carnell Tate, Tennessee Titans

AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

One of the bigger surprises of the early portion of Round 1 of the 2026 draft was that linebacker Arvell Reese wasn't the first player from The Ohio State University drafted. Neither was safety Caleb Downs or linebacker Sonny Styles. No, that honor went to wide receiver Carnell Tate, who was selected one pick after Love at No. 4 overall.

At first glance, Tate landing with a team that ranked 30th in passing offense last year might not offer much appeal to fantasy managers. But as Adam Pfeifer wrote for Fantasy Life, Cam Ward's penchant for chucking it deep meshes perfectly with what Tate does best.

"Ward, who ranked 12th in the league with 54 deep pass attempts last year, is going to love Tate," he said. "Easily the best vertical route-runner in this class, Tate possesses tremendous fluidity and precision down the field. According to Sumer Sports, go routes made up over 26% of his deployment this past season. And when the ball is in the air? Good luck. Tate hauled in over 80% of his contested targets last year, the highest rate in college football."

Yes, Tate played in the shadow of Jeremiah Smith last year in Columbus. The 6'2", 192-pounder never had 1,000 yards in a season in college. But Jaxon Smith-Njigba spent most of his career at Ohio State as a secondary option, and Chris Olave never had a 1,000-yard season with the Buckeyes.

Things turned OK for them in the NFL, and Tate has the talent to follow them to stardom.

Loser: Omar Cooper Jr., New York Jets

AP Photo/Heather Khalifa

There's no question that the New York Jets had to add passing-game weapons in this year's draft. Headed into the festivities in Pittsburgh, the team's depth chart at wide receiver consisted of Garrett Wilson and more scrubs than a box of Brillo pads.

In that regard adding Indiana's Omar Cooper Jr. was a good get—a hard-nosed 6'0", 199-pounder who scored 13 touchdowns for the Hoosiers in 2025. Jets general manager Darren Mougey told reporters that trading back into the back end of Round 1 to add Cooper was a no-brainer for the team.

"Omar Cooper was a guy that we had good grades on and when we saw him there towards the end, an opportunity to give up a comp fifth, pick 179, to get back up and get the fifth-year option and just make sure we got our guy, we felt really good about," Mougey said. "Again, to add another weapon, a guy that's got racks, strong hands, can insert blocks, has a little versatility to play inside and outside. So, I feel really good about those two additions for the offense."

However, as Mougey alluded to, Cooper wasn't the only pass-catcher the Jets added Thursday—the team also drafted Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq at No. 16. Last year, the Jets were the only team in the NFL that averaged less than 150 passing yards per game. Only two teams completed fewer passes. And with Geno Smith slated to start for the Jets under center this year, things aren't going to get markedly better.

Cooper's future mat be bright. But the present is cloudy at best.

Winner: WR Antonio Williams, Washington Commanders

AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman

It wasn't exactly a state secret that the Washington Commanders needed to add wide receiver help opposite Terry McLaurin this year. And in Round 3 the team did just that, settling on Clemson's Antonio Williams at Pick No. 71.

While speaking to reporters, Washington general manager Adam Peters said that he believes that the 6'0" 187-pounder could make an NFL impact right off the jump.

"The precision and the quickness in and out of breaks. He doesn't look like a college guy out there," Peters said. He's super competitive. He's super tough. Played through broken ribs last year in 2024. Really fought through a hamstring injury this year, which really limited his production, but played through the whole thing. So, this guy's a tough kid."

It's a landing spot that has created some "sleeper" buzz around Williams, including from Michael Fabiano of SI.

"Williams was widely considered a possible rookie sleeper among the wideouts, and he landed in a terrific spot with the Commanders," Fabiano said. "In fact, he'll have every chance to earn a starting role opposite Terry McLaurin—he'd have to beat out Treylon Burks, Van Jefferson and Dyami Brown—in Year 1. If he looks good in camp and during the preseason, Williams could warrant some late-round attention in fantasy redraft leagues."

Talent matters of course in fantasy football. But so does opportunity. And with a relatively easy path to starting his first season as the Commanders No. 2 wide receiver, Williams has no shortage of both.

Loser: WR Denzel Boston, Cleveland Browns

AP Photo/Kyusung Gong

From an NFL perspective, fans of the Cleveland Browns have to be pleased with what the team did on offense over the first two rounds of this year's draft. A wide receiver room that was sorely lacking in talent added a slot speedster in Texas A&M's KC Concepcion and then drafted a big-bodied boundary wideout in Round 2 in Washington's Denzel Boston.

While talking to reporters, Cleveland general manger Andrew Berry said the team was trying to build a well-rounded group of pass-catchers.

"I think with receiver rooms, you can have maybe a ball-dominant player, or you can essentially build a basketball team with different skill sets," Berry said. "We prefer the second approach. Now, don't get me wrong: I'll take Calvin Johnson if he's out there, but we feel like we have a nice, well-rounded room with speed, (run after catch), contested catch ability and separation. So, we're really pleased with the youth and talent in that group."

There are, unfortunately, multiple issues with Boston landing in Cleveland. The first is a room that went from barren to crowded—Boston will be at best the third option in Cleveland's passing attack. That "attack," per Sharp Football, completed a league-low 58.2% of their passes for 6.0 yards per pass attempt (31st), a 3.2% touchdown rate (30th), a league-high 3.5% interception rate, and took a sack on 8.1% of their dropbacks (25th).

Add in the questions about Boston's ability to separate at the professional level that caused him to fall into the draft's second day to begin with, and it's hard to get too excited about Boston's fantasy prospects for the foreseeable future.

Winner: WR Caleb Douglas, Miami Dolphins

AP Photo/Julio Cortez

Exactly zero people were surprised that the Miami Dolphins drafted wide receiver help this year. No team in the NFL needed it more after the Dolphins released Tyreek Hill and traded Jaylen Waddle in the offseason.

However, some eyebrows went up when Miami waited until Round 3 to take a wideout. Even more were raised when the first receiver the Dolphins selected was Texas Tech's Calb Douglas.

Douglas certainly looks the part—a 6'4", 206-pounder who ran a sub-4.4-second 40-yard dash at the combine. But Douglas didn't post big numbers in college, and drops were an issue.

Miami director of college scouting Matt Winston told reporters that the Dolphins like what Douglas brings to the team's offense.

"Caleb brings some size to the room, a good athlete can run the full route tree, Winston said. "He's got some dynamic traits. We vetted him from Florida. High marks across the board. He brings size and athletic ability. He's got the movement skills to do everything we want and asking the wide receivers to do."

The Dolphins also added Chris Bell of Louisville in the third round, but Bell tore his ACL late in the 2025 season and could miss a chunk of his rookie season. Douglas is a work in progress, and he has to hang on to the ball, but Malik Willis has to throw the ball to someone. The Dolphins are going to be playing from behind approximately always.

And Douglas could open his rookie season as the WR1 in Miami.

Loser: RB Mike Washington Jr., Las Vegas Raiders

AP Photo/Michael Woods

It was a rough draft for the running back position. Just three running backs were drafted in the first two days—the fewest of the Common Draft era. The third back taken (Indiana's Kaelon Black) wasn't even invited to the combine.

Given that, there were a number of backs available on Day 3 who could have considerable fantasy upside if they landed in the right spot. Guys like Mike Wahington Jr. of Arkansas.

At 6'1" and 223 pounds, Washington offered an intriguing blend of size, speed and receiving ability. The Las Vegas Raiders saw something they liked—the team moved up in Round 4 to take him.

If only Ashton Jeanty weren't in Sin City.

While addressing the media after he was picked, Washington said he can't wait to share a backfield with last year's sixth overall pick.

"I'm super excited to get rolling with him," Washington said. "All I could think of is thunder and lightning, so I'm super excited to be the one-two punch with him and to really, like I said before, be a sponge and learn from him at the same time."

The problem is that this probably won't be a timeshare like what Klint Kubiak employed a year ago with Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet in Seattle. Jeanty is an every-down workhorse. A guy who gets better as the game wears on. Washington will spell him, not split the backfield with him.

In say Tennessee, Washington could have been an NFL starter and legit fantasy asset.

Now, he's a late-round handcuff for Jeanty. No more.

Gary Davenport is a two-time Fantasy Sports Writers Association Football Writer of the Year. Follow Gary on X at @IDPGodfather.