New Fantasy Football 2026 Cheat Sheet for Sleepers and Busts Heading into Your Draft

The 2026 NFL season is fully operational.

Well, the preseason portion of it is, at least.

The campaign's first football-filled weekend is in the books, meaning all 32 teams have had at least one trial run by now. If your brain hasn't shifted into fantasy football mode by now, that's a blaring alarm to get started.

You've clearly done that, though, by coming here, so let's keep the thought train chugging along with cheat sheet-style PPR rankings, plus sleeper and bust picks at the marquee positions.

PPR Player Rankings

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Top 40

1. Ja'Marr Chase, WR, CIN
2. Bijan Robinson, RB, ATL
3. Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, DET
4. Puka Nacua, WR, LAR
5. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, SEA
6. Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR, DET
7. CeeDee Lamb, WR, DAL
8. Justin Jefferson, WR, MIN
9. Christian McCaffrey, RB, SF
10. Jonathan Taylor, RB, IND
11. Ashton Jeanty, RB, LV
12. James Cook III, RB, BUF
13. Drake London, WR, ATL
14. Nico Collins, WR, HOU
15. Saquon Barkley, RB, PHI
16. Derrick Henry, RB, BAL
17. Trey McBride, TE, ARI
18. Brock Bowers, TE, LV
19. De'Von Achane, RB, MIA
20. Jeremiyah Love, RB, ARI
21. Chase Brown, RB, CIN
22. Chris Olave, WR, NO
23. George Pickens, WR, DAL
24. Omarion Hampton, RB, LAC
25. Kenneth Walker III, RB, KC
26. Josh Allen, QB, BUF
27. A.J. Brown, WR, NE
28. Tee Higgins, WR, CIN
29. Lamar Jackson, QB, BAL
30. Josh Jacobs, RB, GB
31. Zay Flowers, WR, BAL
32. Breece Hall, RB, NYJ
33. Emeka Egbuka, WR, TB
34. Malik Nabers, WR, NY
35. Drake Maye, QB, NE
36. Garrett Wilson, WR, NYJ
37. DeVonta Smith, WR, PHI
38. Kyren Williams, RB, LAR
39. Tetairoa McMillan, WR, CAR
40. Rashee Rice, WR, KC

Sleepers

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QB: Brock Purdy, SF

RB: David Montgomery, HOU

WR: Wan'Dale Robinson, TEN

TE: Mark Andrews, BAL

If you're the type of manager that prefers to wait on a quarterback, Purdy might need to be a priority target. He has legitimate QB1 upside only without an automatic QB1 price tag (ADP: 13th at the position, per FantasyPros). The offseason additions of Mike Evans, De'Zhaun Stribling, Christian Kirk and Deebo Samuel Sr. could potentially prime Purdy for his best season yet—and he's already delivered a 4,280-yard, 31-touchdown effort.

Montgomery went from sharing a backfield with Jahmyr Gibbs to now splitting carries with Woody Marks. And Houston needs its ground game to click to take some heat off of quarterback C.J. Stroud. Montgomery, who scored 33 touchdowns the past three seasons, could be in line for the kind of volume hike that helps him settle in as a viable RB2.

The Titans gave Robinson a $78 million deal and reunited him with offensive coordinator and ex-Giants coach Brian Daboll. Clearly, expectations are large for Robinson in Tennessee, even with the club spending the No. 4 pick on Carnell Tate. Robinson had 90-plus catches on 140 targets each of the last two seasons; he could be a PPR machine.

If you aren't paying a premium at tight end, you can do a lot worse than throwing a dart at Andrews. Isaiah Likely is gone, and Baltimore isn't exactly brimming with target-hogging receivers. Andrews scored 17 touchdowns over the past two seasons and is obviously someone whom Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson trusts.

Busts

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QB: Lamar Jackson, BAL

RB: Christian McCaffrey, SF

WR: Tetairoa McMillan, CAR

TE: Harold Fannin Jr., CLE

While Jackson's upside is enormous, his draft cost (ADP: second among quarterbacks) forces managers to pay for all of the potential reward without accounting for any risk. And there's quite a bit of risk here. He has missed four-plus games in three of the past five seasons, he just had his worst campaign as a ball-carrier (26.8 yards per game, two touchdowns) and his pass-catchers are questionable beyond Zay Flowers and Mark Andrews.

A healthy McCaffrey can be a league-winner, but let someone else pay the astronomic price for his risk-reward profile (ADP: third among running backs in PPR). He is a 30-year-old running back with a long injury history who just went through a 413-touch season. And his 5.1 yards per touch were the second-fewest of his career. All of your typical running back alarms are sounding off here.

McMillan was a head-turner as a rookie (1,014 receiving yards, seven touchdowns), but the follow-up could be—as many sequels are—a disappointment. There's only so much volume to go around in a Bryce Young-led offense, and McMillan could be pushed for targets by the now-healthy versions of Jalen Coker and Jonathon Brooks.

Fannin was a fantasy gold mine last season. That doesn't mean he'll be the same this time around. His draft price is way up (seventh at the position in PPR leagues), as is his competition for targets by way of rookie wideouts KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston. Throw in Cleveland's ongoing questions at quarterback, and there's just too much risk here to ignore.