The NFL Draft is still a month away. But as every crusty old dynasty veteran knows, it’s important to have a good sense of the incoming rookie class before that famous chime music plays and Roger Goodell gets booed … err, I mean, announces the first pick in the draft.

And I know at least a few of you sickos out there schedule your dynasty rookie drafts BEFORE the NFL Draft. So landing spots be damned, here’s how I’m currently ranking the 2026 rookie class. Handle your rookie picks accordingly.

Ranking the 2026 Rookie Class for Dynasty

Tier 1

Jeremiyah Love, RB1

My two favorite landing spots got eradicated thanks to Kenneth Walker signing with Kansas City and Travis Etienne getting scooped up by New Orleans. Still, when you’re comped to Bijan Robinson in our draft guide, you not only get top billing, you get your own tier. Love is by far the closest thing to a “can’t-miss” prospect in this class. We just have to hope he avoids some of the muddier backfields out there.

Tier 2

Makai Lemon, WR1

Carnell Tate, WR2

Kenyon Sadiq, TE1

Jordyn Tyson, WR3

This group of pass catchers has colossal potential, but we must speak about it in hushed tones while knocking on wood, lest we jinx it and wind up with a bunch of Rashod Bateman clones.

You might be surprised to find Sadiq in this tier at all, let alone ahead of Tyson. But positional scarcity is a helluva drug and there’s just not many tight ends that have his capacity to boom for fantasy. He’s worth the risk.

There’s no clear consensus order for the wide receivers, though my preference lies with Lemon, a true YAC master who will be a huge boon to any modern NFL offense. But it’s Tate who sits atop Dwain McFarland’s Rookie Super Model, with a score just shy of CeeDee Lamb. While not an obvious WR1, Tate might be the most pro-ready guy in the group. Then there’s Tyson, who’s first on our Big Board but has an injury history so robust he should just book his flight to San Francisco now and get it over with.

But seriously, one of these guys is almost definitely going to headline the depth chart in Miami.

Tier 3

KC Concepcion, WR4

Concepcion is kept on this side of Tier 3 by the thinnest of margins. With the right destination, where his tools are used like the prizes they are, it’ll be hard not to bump him up. Put him with the Commanders or 49ers and watch him flourish. But without knowing who will call his name on draft night, KC stands alone here.

Tier 4

Denzel Boston, WR5

Mike Washington, RB2

Omar Cooper Jr., WR6

Jadarian Price, RB3

Jonah Coleman, RB4

We don’t kink shame around here, so I don’t want to hear anything about my placement of Washington. What can I say? I like my running backs fast. Real fast. And Washington’s fireball of an NFL Scouting Combine performance, which gave the big man a historically good RAS Score, got me all riled up. Visions of him landing in Minnesota both delight me for fantasy purposes and terrify me as a Packers fan.

Price was wildly efficient at Notre Dame and now has a tremendous opportunity to step out from Love’s shadow and prove he’s capable of a bigger workload. Coleman is probably the safest bet of the three at running back, but his specific brand of power running may not reach the fantasy heights we’d like.

For the receivers, Boston broke out a little later than we typically like to see in college, but it’s tough to blame him when he was fighting for snaps behind a bunch of future Day 1 and 2 draft picks. The optimistic outlook for Boston is Michael Pittman Jr., but the devastating floor is N’Keal Harry. [Shudders, vomits, pretends not to have just written that.]

Cooper is a late riser for me thanks to an impressive combine. Get him in a decent scheme and let him do a little bit of everything. Let’s just hope he’s more Jayden Reed than Kadarius Toney. Sorry, I really have to stop doing that.

Tier 5

Fernando Mendoza, QB1

Eli Stowers, TE2

I know this is a weird tier. But do you ever get to the bottom of a bag of trail mix and wonder what you’re supposed to do with those stray raisins? This is a little like that. NO OFFENSE TO RAISINS. They’re rich in nutrients and fiber and probably only look a little like wrinkly mouse testicles. Wait, what was I saying?

Right. Mendoza and Stowers are both fine prospects who would rank substantially higher in specialty formats like Superflex or Tight End Premium, so I want to give them their flowers here. But in standard leagues, we need our onesie positions to have game-changing abilities, and I don’t see that with either of them.

Mendoza seems destined for the dysfunctional Raiders organization, which makes it tough to get excited about his pocket-passing prowess. And while Stowers beats Sadiq head-to-head in college production, his weakness as a run-blocker could leave him struggling for consistent usage.

Tier 6

Chris Bell, WR7

Elijah Sarratt, WR8

Zachariah Branch, WR9

Chris Brazzell, WR10

Emmett Johnson, RB5

Nicholas Singleton, RB6

Kaytron Allen, RB7

Over the last few weeks I’ve become more disenchanted with the running backs in this class. Not just because of some poor combine showings, but because free agency has weakened so many landing spots for these rookies. For instance, I think Johnson could be a solid PPR play, but where is he going to go that allows him 50+ targets sooner than later? Tennessee? Baltimore? I’m not sure it’s worth trying to wishcast right now. Really, I should have them all as Tier 6B.

But the receivers are proving to have some solid depth this year. Each WR in this tier has an above-average trait that could earn them early Day 2 draft capital. But none of them are locks to go off the board that early, which means I can’t confidently project any of them as more than role players for fantasy purposes. This group has the most room to fluctuate after the NFL Draft.

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