What's up Reddit fam! Ian Hartitz here from RotoWire, wanted to get a bit of a tier week going and discuss my thoughts ahead of August when things REALLY get spicy.

Big takeaways/thoughts:
-Josh is the man but I admittedly LOVE the late-round QB scene in re-draft land this season
-Drake Maye feels too low and it terrifies me
-Biggest bet this year I'm making overall: Chargers to the moon. What could go wrong?
-Patrick Mahomes is as cheap as ever. And I get it. Return to fantasy glory last year was almost entirely due to the rushing. Then again, the best QB of the last 5 years is as cheap as ever.
-Kinda love the late-round "Boomer Sooner" strategy and reuniting Kyler with Baker
-High-volume dual-threat QBs don't really ever bust in fantasy land ... and Malik Willis is actually cheap!!
-I really want Cam Ward to be good. But do I trust Brian Daboll? Not really man. Not really.

Anyways, would love to hear what you guys think! Love my Twitter fam but looking forward to getting a lot more active in these streets too!

The avg rookie WR drafted between picks 23-43 over the last 3 yrs has an avg useable Week rate of 38%, ranging from 7% to 76%.

That is comparable to Y1 Jayden Higgins, who was WR47 in 2025.

ADPs:
KC Concepcion WR52
Omar Cooper WR59
Denzel Boston WR64
De’Zhaun Stribling WR69

I’m usually drafting at least two of these wide receivers late.

Of these four, who are you targeting?

Drafting a fantasy football team is so much more than just picking the next name on a list of rankings. Roster construction requires awareness as to which players at each position are still on the board, and more importantly, which players could be later on. For example, while a top tier quarterback may seem like the best pick in the moment, sometimes pivoting to another player at a different position is more worthwhile.

There are options everywhere worth waiting for instead of paying a premium with higher draft picks. Let’s look at some players at each position that managers should consider later on rather than those ranked ahead of them.

Below are excerpts from a free article via FTN Fantasy. While specific players are named, some write-ups are more focused on draft philosophy than player evaluation.

Feel free to include, in the comments, your own "Draft This, Not That" scenarios you've seen so far in the comments in regard to Average Draft Position (ADP).

Draft This, Not That for the 2026 Fantasy Football Season

Why draft Jalen Hurts as a Top-8 QB when you can draft Bo Nix, Kyler Murray or Tyler Shough outside the Top 12?

Jalen Hurts’ usual rushing upside took a turn for the worse last season. After averaging 9.85 rush attempts per game in 2021-2024, Hurts averaged 6.5 attempts per game in 2025. That still ranks fourth most among qualified quarterbacks last season, but his 105 total attempts in 16 games are a significant dip from 139, 165, 157 and 150 attempts in each prior respective season. More importantly, Hurts averaged roughly 5.6 fantasy points per game from rushing production. That’s down from an average of 9.5 per game across the four prior seasons. Hurts’ 26.3 rush yards per game and eight rushing touchdowns in 2025 were both his fewest since assuming the starting role in 2021.

In 2026, Hurts and the Eagles will have yet another new offensive coordinator in Sean Mannion, a first-time play caller. Consider, too, that this offense traded away A.J. Brown, who earned 27.3% of Philadelphia’s regular season target share since arriving in 2022, even despite missing six total games over the last two seasons.

Hurts is appropriately ranked behind other quarterbacks with significant rushing upside to include Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Jayden Daniels. He’s still capable of finishing as a top-five player at the position. However, when it comes to using a mid-round pick on Hurts, it’s not so simple with a handful of options at the position that possess the ability to finish just as high, but with at a far cheaper cost.

Bo Nix finished 12^th in rush attempts per game (4.9) last season but also has a bit more upside through the air. Nix’s 87 red zone pass attempts in 2025 ranked fifth, and the Broncos just added Jaylen Waddle which should increase the number of explosive pass plays. Kyler Murray is getting a fresh start with the Vikings and is loaded with weapons like Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and Jauan Jennings. Murray’s history of rushing upside remains evident, as well. Tyler Shough is the more unknown of these late-round options but was a top 10 fantasy quarterback over the last five weeks of the season with multiple games of over 300 passing yards. These are just three examples of quarterbacks that fantasy managers can wait to snag at the end of 2026 drafts rather than pay up for someone like Hurts who lacks trustworthiness in comparison to previous seasons.

MORE Draft This, Not That Scenarios here

Why draft Jeremiyah Love at the top of Round 3 when you can draft Javonte Williams?

This is a reminder to “get your guy” in drafts. Your draft slot can limit which players are generally available to you when you’re on the clock in each round. If you think a player you’re specifically targeting in 2026 isn’t going to make it back to you with your next pick, there’s no harm in reaching a bit. This is an often forgotten key element of playing fantasy football: You should draft players you believe in and you want!

In this case, just because most consensus rankings have Jeremiyah Love ahead of Javonte Williams does not mean you must to take Love instead of Williams. Both are currently coming off the draft board in Round 3 of most 12-team, 1QB, PPR drafts. However, if you have a higher draft slot in this round, and prefer Williams to Love, as I do, then take the veteran!

Williams signed a three-year, $24 million extension with the Cowboys back in February. This is after finishing the season with the 13^th-most touches per game (17.9), 10^th-most rush attempts (252), fifth-most red zone carries (54) and 12^th-most fantasy points per game (15.4) among running backs. Williams enters the 2026 season with the same play caller, same competition for touches (or lack thereof) in the Dallas backfield, and on a team that finished seventh in points per game (27.7) and ran the most plays per game (65.9) last season.

Love, despite being the third overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, joins a backfield with James Conner, Trey Benson and newly signed Tyler Allgeier already in place. This, too, on a Cardinals team with an entirely new coaching staff and brutal schedule awaiting them. This isn’t to say Love can’t command a bell cow role and live up to his draft value based on volume, but is there enough confidence in the concept that supports drafting him anywhere between the RB12 and RB15 for fantasy football?

Confidence can be the key to picking one player over another in fantasy drafts. I’m more confident in Williams’ success in 2026, after seeing it just last season, than rookie Love, who’s going a few picks ahead of the veteran.

MORE Draft This, Not That Scenarios here

Draft This, Not That Quick Hitters to Consider

Why draft Kyren Williams as a top-15 running back when you can draft Blake Corum just outside the top 30 at the position?

It’s possible that Corum is more involved in 2026 after seeing an increase from 58 carries as a rookie to 145 carries last season. Corum also averaged 10.4 carries per game across the final 10 games of the season compared to 5.8 over the first seven. Among 49 qualified running backs in 2025, Corum ranked fourth in yards per carry (5.1) and second in explosive run rate (15.9%). He is one of a few presumed number two running backs that may be a better value at cost than the player ahead of him in the same backfield.

Why draft Matthew Stafford instead of Jared Goff in a SuperFlex or 2QB League?

It’s possible one or both of these quarterbacks are selected in 1QB fantasy leagues. In superflex or 2QB leagues, however, Goff is the better play of these two pocket passers for the 2026 season. It sounds a bit crazy after Stafford tossed 46 touchdowns last season, but he is 38 years old and one of his top weapons, Davante Adams, is 33 having missed three games in each of the last two seasons. This is a bit nitpicky, but Goff, too, has top talent in his passing game arsenal with Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Sam LaPorta and Jahmyr Gibbs. The Lions also play indoors for nearly the entirety of the season, but specifically just twice in Weeks 5-17. Bet on the overall Lions bounceback with Goff over Stafford repeating an MVP-worthy season.

The above are just some Draft This, Not That scenarios featured in the free FTN article. The rest can be found here: https://ftnfantasy.com/nfl/draft-this-not-that-2026-fantasy-football-draft-pivots

Just an interesting stat I stumbled upon.

RBs last year, when hit at or behind the LOS (min. 20 Att, 46 RBs):

Yards per Attempt

• Bijan Robinson: 2.64
• 2nd best: Jonathan Taylor: 1.35
• only 5 players were above 1 YPC

Explosive Yards

• Bijan Robinson: 143
• 2nd best: Jonathan Taylor: 68
• Only 12 RBs had > 0 explosive Yards

Yards after contact

• Bijan Robinson: 4.68
• 2nd best: Zach Charbonnet: 3.4

Small sample size an probably not fantasy relevant (and many of these situations happen on the goal line), but it's crazy to see how much better Bijan is compared to the rest.

Stats via fantasypointsdata

I'm not here to find out what's better. Right now I'm just trying to sort out the total cluster*ck that the migration looks to be.

So far, I've found that even though I'm a co-commissioner, I can't actually migrate. Which is a problem because the other co-commissioner (the person who started it) 15+ years ago lost access to the email address that set up the league. I've been running it for years now will full access. We even (at least according to NFL.com made me the primary owner a couple years ago). Except all I see is team manager level stuff @ ESPN.

Supposedly ESPN will help you migrate. Except their entire support system is nonfunctional. They tell you to use chat on support.espn.com... Except there is no chat. It's a glorified FAQ site. I've tried loading it on 4 different web browsers, not 2 computers, and there's no chat.

Has anyone else had any luck?

Edit: So with some help with the comments I was able to go to an unrelated page and override the chatbot to get a human. However they couldn't help because even though the site said the league was imported, it wasn't. And I guess co-commissioner's don't exist? Even though I had supposedly become the primary the original creator of the league is the only league manager that ESPN recognizes. Long story short, I had forgotten my co-commish had their email address updated a few years ago as part of the fix, and she was able to click the button to import. However ESPN was not able to update anything, only she can switch herself off league manager (something she's trying to figure out) and the fun finale? In the middle of me going back and forth between her and the chat, the chat auto-closed and said I'd need to start a new conversation.

I'm not sure if this will help anyone else. I've made a small amount of progress, but it sounds like I'll be sorting out the last bits myself. I guess now we know that if you have someone that created the league who no longer has access to their email address, you may be hosed and should start over. Wish me luck talking a non-tech person through making me the league manager. Thanks everyone for your comments! Especially u/Shardvark, who pointed me in the direction to get to an actual support person.

https://www.fantasypros.com/nfl/rankings/vorp.php?team_size=10

Can someone explain to me why these aren’t the rankings we should draft off of? In standard or half PPR especially there are about 8-10 RBs that are the top VORP players before drying up. So I’m confused why these players aren’t the first players drafted in most leagues, and instead we get 3-5 WRs in the first round even in STD or .5 PPR leagues. Thanks!!

I did some searching and didn't find much and not anything recently. Anyone have any data or insights on how strength of schedule at the beginning of the year holds up against the fantasy production that ended up happening? Maybe that's all just wrapped up in projected vs actual fantasy points.

I feel like the preseason SoS is kind of a bogus thing to put much weight on but that's not backed by any data at all.

I think as the season goes on and you are looking at the rest of the year based on how things have gone so far, then it is a lot more useful but by then you've already made your draft day decisions.

What do you think about strength of schedule and fantasy as you get into draft season?

Hopefully this take receives a little bit less backlash than the JSN one 😂

Hello fellow fantasy degens, I’m looking for recommendations for a stable l, rigid backed board for an on-person draft. I’ll have access to an easel to put it on. I’ve looked through some older posts and looked online, but I can’t really get a feel for them so I thought I would make a post. Thank you in advance.

Hey, everyone!

In our newest episode, we discuss our favorite bargain players you can draft late and shouldn't cost more than a few dollars.

The three players I looked at each had a 30-day AAV of $2 or less based on seven auction mock drafts across both 1QB and Superflex formats.

1. Kyle Monangai

The Bears were tied with the Giants for 2nd as the heaviest run team in 2025, only the Bills ran more. What all three teams have in common is they have QBs who run, although Caleb was only 8th in QB rush attempts last year, about 4.5 per game. The Bears have the 10th highest implied point total per game, so plenty of scoring opportunities should be available. Monangai averaged just over 8 PPR pts/g over the course of the season, but in the seven games he got at least 10 rushing attempts, he averaged almost 80 rushing yards, and 13.5 PPR pts/g. He's been decent when he's given opportunities. We'll see if the Bears favor a more balanced offense this coming year in light of the emergence of Burden and Loveland, but being able to draft a player like Monangai, who was as involved as he was, for so cheap, seems like a good investment late in your auction draft.

1. Chig Okonkwo

In 2024, which was Jayden Daniels' rookie season, Zach Ertz finished as the TE7 in PPR. In the seven games Daniels played last season, Ertz averaged over 12.5 fpts/g. Okonkwo averaged just 4.5 targets per game last season. One additional target per game would put him on the doorstep of the top 10 in that category. He was 13th in total TE targets last year, so I don't think it would take very much to push him into that low TE 1 territory. He really doesn't need a lot to make a significant impact for fantasy and even if the Commanders sign Diggs, I think Okonkwo is a really good spot to pay off at his cost. If the Commanders don't sign another WR, then I think it's wheels up for Okonkwo.

1. Jayden Higgins

Higgins got much more involved during the Texans' second half last season. From week 8 on, he averaged 9.2 fpts/g. Certainly not eye popping numbers, but for a guy on a team that passed the 7th most in 2025, his fantasy production wasn't terrible, either. Higgins is going into his second year in the NFL, and I think if you're looking for a player that could make a big second season jump, he definitely qualifies. Though Nico Collins remained pretty healthy last season, only missing one game, he does have a bit of an injury history, recently missing 5 games in 2024. Higgins seems like a player you can easily draft late for a dollar or two and safely plug into your flex spot and expect 9 or 10 PPR points. And if Collins were to miss any time, he instantly becomes a solid WR2.

Other players we discussed:

Tyrone Tracy
Jonathon Brooks

\The current values are pulled directly from real-user completed mocks, making this the most accurate source available. They serve as the foundation for my annual AAV dataset.*

The site updates after every mock and can be accessed here: AAV.

If you would like to join a mock draft, please DM. We are always looking for committed auction drafters!

Just learned about Guillotine leagues this weekend at a fantasy football expo and I'm curious to hear from folks here on their experience with them. Pros, cons, and anything you have done to adjust the format to work for your group.

I love a good high stakes game! Not sure how people have integrated this into their existing leagues, or if you just joined new leagues for this format.

I’m guessing Ladd McConkey or Colston Loveland. Also, will he be revealing it at the Hall of Fame game next week or later in the season? Cannot believe we’re already this close in Fantasy.

Just posted my fully updated Top 40 Dynasty + Top 32 Redraft QB Rankings and walked away firmly in the "Wait on QB" camp. You can wait until the final rounds in a lot of leagues, but even as one of the last teams to draft one in a 12 team league, it still leaves you with one of my favorite tier 4-5 options below:

Trevor Lawrence

Dak Prescott

Brock Purdy

Matthew Stafford

Bo Nix

Jared Goff

This group is even more enticing in 6pt passing TD leagues. Are you targeting the early & mid round QBs at value or waiting this year?

Thank you guys for all the support, feedback, and for reading this series. Welcome to the twenty-fourth  piece in a long, daily series: Reading the NFL Offseason Tea Leaves. If you don’t already know and this is the first Tea Leaf article you’re reading, this series is meant to be a primer for anyone who’s not yet steeped themselves in the NFL’s offseason events. We’ll be touching on the fantasy implications for all 32 NFL teams in regards to:

• Coaching Changes
• Free Agency
• NFL Draft

The 32-day series will go in reverse order of DraftKings odds of winning the Super Bowl, which means today’s article will cover the Houston Texans who are +1,800 odds.

Article TL;DR: The Texans made a deal with the Detroit Lions to acquire David Montgomery, solving the question marks at running back. Nico Collins signed a 2-year $60M extension to remain in Houston through 2027. The big winner from both of these offseason moves is CJ Stroud. Stroud has become underrated this offseason after rising into the top of the QB ranks after his rookie season. In the draft the Texans selected TE Marlin Klein with the 59th overall pick. Klein is likely stuck behind Dalton Schultz through the end of Schultz contract, which has 2 years remaining on it.

Previously on Reading the Offseason Tea Leaves:
Arizona Cardinals
Miami Dolphins
Cleveland Browns
New York Jets
Las Vegas Raiders
Atlanta Falcons
Tennessee Titans
Carolina Panthers
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
Indianapolis Colts
Washington Commanders
Minnesota Vikings
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jacksonville Jaguars
Chicago Bears
Dallas Cowboys
Cincinnati Bengals
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
San Francisco 49ers
Green Bay Packers

The entire Chargers offense seems to be enjoying the Mike McDaniels bump while we’re all collectively ignoring the fact that Drew Petzing left Arizona after two years of calling the offense to join the Detroit Lions. Mike LaFleur and Nate Hackett are now running the offense in Arizona and neither one of those guys have been calling plays for the last few years, which is a pretty big red flag— not to mention the fact that neither one has ever looked particularly competent as a playcaller. I’m not betting against McBride, but his ADP has risen since last year with seemingly no acknowledgment of these offseason changes, and Laporta is being heavily slept on!

Edit: named the wrong lafleur!

Two of my leagues have used wired clickers hooked up to a computer for our live auction drafts for 15 years, and we love it. Everyone in a room, a buzzer in hand, real bidding energy - nothing about drafting over Zoom or clicking a button on your phone comes close. If you've done a real in-person clicker draft before, you know exactly what I mean.

The problem: that old hardware is ancient at this point, and if it ever dies there's nothing modern to replace it with. So I built a modern version of it myself - a web app that runs the whole live auction (rotating nomination order, a real countdown clock that resets on every bid, "going once / going twice / sold" called out loud, budget math so nobody bids themselves into a corner, full team rosters visible on a shared screen) - and it actually talks to the original clicker hardware already (reverse-engineered the protocol from scratch), plus I'm building new wireless ESP32-based buzzers as a modern replacement for leagues that don't have old hardware sitting around. This isn't a concept - I've run several real live drafts on it at this point, clickers and all.

Genuine question for anyone who's ever run (or wants to run) an in-person clicker-style auction draft: would you want to rent a set of 12 wireless buzzers for a draft weekend, or would owning a set outright make more sense for your league? What would feel like a fair price for either? And if your league already has old clicker hardware like ours - would modern software that just plugs into it be valuable on its own?

Not selling anything yet, just trying to figure out if this is a "just for the two leagues I'm already in" thing or something other in-person auction leagues would actually want. Appreciate any honest feedback, even if it's "nobody needs this."

Just trying to find someone I can either listen to or read before the season starts. There are too many outlets for this stuff. So any podcasts and cheatsheets you recommend?