Commanders and Saints Team Needs Before NFL Draft

In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by Mike's Hard Lemonade:

The major players in free agency have all pretty much found new homes. A few stragglers remain—looking at you, Jauan Jennings—but teams will, by and large, now be forced to move their attention to the 2026 NFL Draft when it comes to filling any final roster needs.

Speaking of: What are the biggest and most fantasy-relevant team needs remaining following free agency? Let's make like a rock and roll through two of them!

Washington Commanders: Running back

This backfield currently consists of three dudes at the moment:

Rachaad White: The former Bucs veteran does everything well enough to feasibly lead this backfield if given the opportunity, but then again, White's one-year, $2 million contract is peanuts compared to what other potential lead backs got on the open market.
Jerome Ford: Similar to White: Ford has the size and pass-catching ability to resemble a capable three-down back if you squint, although his one-year deal also doesn't exactly offer much (any?) assurance of a legit role in 2026.
Jacory "Bill" Croskey-Merritt: Loyal fantasy truthers know that Bill supplied some booms down the stretch of 2025—overall PPR RB16 in the fantasy playoffs—but he had previously fallen out of favor and was largely never trusted on passing downs.

Solution: Draft Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love with the seventh overall pick. You know, if he's still on the board. He wasn't in Matthew Freedman's latest mock draft, but you could imagine what it'd be like if the ELECTRIC game-breaking talent was!

New Orleans Saints: Wide receiver

Can you name three Saints wide receivers at the moment? Take your time. OK. Three … two … one …

Time's up: Obviously, Chris Olave is the alpha down by the bayou, but after that? Devaughn Vele and Mason Tipton are the next men up. This is a SAD depth chart at the moment, which is a shame because Tyler Shough looked really good down the stretch of 2025 and deserves more weapons ahead of his 2026 encore!

Solution: Use the No. 8 overall pick on the best wide receiver available. I'm cool with whoever:

Ohio State field-stretching extraordinaire Carnell Tate? Hell yeah, brother (he's already a fan of Shough!).
Arizona State super-separator Jordyn Tyson? Let's boogie (just please chill out, Injury Gods).
USC YAC-beast Makai Lemon? Sure, fine.

Moral of the story: Let's get Shough and the Fighting cooterdoodles another stud wide receiver and see what happens.

BIG BOARDS, MOCKS & MORE IN NFL DRAFT GUIDE

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The Top Cornerbacks In The 2026 NFL Draft

The opening week of NFL Free Agency is officially behind us as we inch one week closer to the NFL Draft, continuing to go through our rankings position by position. Up next? Gene Clemons’ 2026 NFL Draft cornerback rankings.

See below for more of our positional ranking analysis from Matthew Freedman and Gene. You can find big boards, mock drafts and more analysis for free in our NFL Draft Guide.

Let's dive into Gene’s CB rankings, starting off with his CB1 in the class …

Jermod McCoy | Tennessee | 6-0, 193 lbs. | JR

Amazingly, McCoy is the top-rated cornerback in the 2026 NFL Draft class despite not playing a down of football in the 2025 season and recovering from a knee injury. That’s how phenomenal he was in 2023 and 2024. He had 22 passes defended and six interceptions in his two seasons of play. His first came at Oregon State, and in 2024, he became a first-team All-SEC and second-team All-American at cornerback for the Volunteers.

There’s a reason that he has so many passes defended—his elite ball skills. The postseason evaluation circuit will go a long way in proving that his athleticism is back where it was pre-injury, but clearly, McCoy is not worried about that. He could have easily returned to Tennessee if there were any concerns that he would not be ready for the rigors of an NFL season.

The highlight of his collegiate career came in his matchup against superstar Alabama WR Ryan Williams. With Alabama on the goal line threatening to score, they were looking to throw a fade route for a touchdown to Williams, who was lined up out wide with McCoy pressed up on him. On the snap, McCoy was able to stab Williams with his inside hand and control his feel for the receiver’s movement. He was then able to look back for the pass from Bama quarterback Jalen Milroe. When the ball went up, McCoy kept enough distance between himself and Williams that it prevented the receiver from using his body as leverage. Then, McCoy threw his hand out for the pass while jumping and snatched it into his body. He then took off the other way and returned the interception 54 yards. It was not the only time he made a team play for testing him with a fade pass, but it was the most high-leverage situation and cemented the young prodigy as a college football star.

WHO ELSE HEADLINES THE 2026 CB CLASS?

From The NFL Draft To Dynasty Season …

Speaking of the 2026 NFL Draft, there’s no better time to get back into dynasty startup league mode than ahead of the draft. It provides a clean starting point where rookies are integrated into our player pool and can be included in the overall draft instead of conducting a separate rookie draft, if that’s what your league chooses.

That said, there are nuances to consider when joining a dynasty startup, and it feels like an appropriate time to review them with Jonathan Fuller …

😬 Beware Of Rookie Fever

I get it, we all love rookies. The upside is limitless, and they have their whole career ahead of them. All things equal, I would love to draft several of my favorite rookies in a dynasty startup. The problem is that things usually aren't equal. You often have to pay a premium for rookies (or rookie picks) in a startup draft. Everyone wants them, but they are usually higher-risk picks to pay up for because they have never played a down in the NFL.

If rookie fever gets out of control in your startup draft, you need to be ready to pivot. You can still draft a young, exciting team even if you need to pass on rookies for better values. Targeting second and third-year players can often be a great way to arbitrage that, especially if they have had some ups and downs. Guys like Brock Bowers and Brian Thomas Jr. are great targets because they have shown tremendous playmaking ability on an NFL field, but some of the excitement has worn off after slightly disappointing second seasons.

Of course, you want to be careful with guys who look like busts (that's your music, J.J. McCarthy) and make sure you are getting them at a major discount if you are going to take someone that looks like a bust.

Another group of players that I like to target in dynasty startup drafts is players who are younger than they seem. Kyle Pitts and Kyren Williams are two good examples of this. Both guys are 25 years old but feel like they have been around forever. They aren't the exciting picks that they were earlier in their careers, but they should have several good seasons still ahead of them before they start to decline. Those are the types of players that are regularly overlooked in a startup draft that you will be very happy to have when the regular season rolls around.

MORE KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL DYNASTY START-UP

Around the Watercooler

The latest fantasy and NFL gossip, news, memes and more from our merry band of football nerds …

👀 Projected win totals for all 32 NFL teams are live. How many games will your favorite team win?

🚩 The TE1 in the 2026 class is not without red flags. Are there enough to scare you away?

📈 A QB-turned-TE with limitless upside? Juicy.

🤩 The Rookie Super Model knows RBs. Those are some nice hits!

💪 Sir, there's another Manning quarterback on the way. Marshall Manning, everyone.

🎯 Be ready to throw a dart at this QB in the late rounds of draft. He runs, too.

Post-Free Agency NFL Mock Draft

NFL Free Agency changed so much in the past week, and now we point to the NFL Draft to fill the remaining holes. The landscape was altered to the point that Ian Hartitz and Matthew Freedman created their own NFL mock draft and took turns picking through the first round with those openings fresh in mind.

FUN LANDING SPOTS FOR SKILL PLAYERS