
Kendall Valenzuela compiled her top-50 rankings for fantasy football 2026, deciding between Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs at No. 1 overall.

NFL Free Agency may be starting next week (March 11), so since we're all talking football year-round this is a great time to put together my top-50 rankings. We know it will change over the next six months, but it's still fun to stretch out into the fifth round of a 12-team draft. I've already published my first-round mock draft last month.
Anyway, let's get into my top-50 rankings.
Did I almost move Jahmyr Gibbs here with David Montgomery out of the picture? SURE DID. And honestly it might happen as the offseason moves along, but for now Bijan Robinson is still my 1.01.
Last season, Robinson was second among all running backs in targets (102), receiving yards (820) and third in total touches (366). Another important note is that Tyler Allgeier is an upcoming free agent. Robinson managers remember the pain they felt when Allgeier scored 8 times, but now that he's likely gone, we are looking at huge touchdown upside for Robinson in 2026. He scored 11 times last season.
Jahmyr Gibbs had the larger role last season and started all 17 games, locking down 1,223 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns on 243 carries. Montgomery saw 158 carries for 716 yards (both career lows) with 8 touchdowns. To give an even bigger glimpse, Gibbs played 713 snaps compared to Montgomery's 395. If Gibbs gets everything, he's an easy contender to finish as the overall RB1.
If we're breaking down the top 3 receivers, it's a very thin line between Ja'Marr Chase, Puka Nacua and Jaxon Smith-Njigba here for me. It's never a guarantee that Joe Burrow is going to stay healthy, but even in a year where Burrow was banged up we still saw Chase finish as the WR4. The Bengals also decided to keep Zac Taylor as their head coach and it feels like their defense is not going to transform overnight. Give me Chase here.
Again, it's all very close between the top 3. Puka Nacua had an insane season that sure looks like it's going to continue if we get Matthew Stafford back for another season. The only reason I bumped down the overall WR1 from 2025 is the idea that even if Stafford returns next season, he will not be able to fully replicate his MVP season.
GO HAWKS! This was truly a magical season for Jaxon Smith-Njigba. He was fourth among wide receivers in targets (163) and finished the season with 1,793 yards and 10 touchdowns. With DK Metcalf out of the picture, it was truly JSN's time to shine, and his connection with Sam Darnold is something that can be done again in 2026. A new offensive coordinator brings questions, but JSN just has the talent and overall role where I'm not worried
We are going to be having the exact same injury/workload conversation this season as we did last season. Last year, some fantasy managers stayed away from Christian McCaffrey because of his injuries, but CMC proved them wrong. He started a career-high 17 games and scored the 12th-most fantasy points of any player in history (416.6). This is going to be a rinse-and-repeat conversation now, because McCaffrey is going to be 30 years old and has compiled 2,284 total touches in his career. I'm probably going to be priced out of CMC this season, but I'm going to be OK with it.
The Lions hired Drew Petzing as their new offensive coordinator, and while I don't think it's a home run hire, it's still Amon-Ra St. Brown we're talking about here. During Petzing's three seasons as offensive coordinator of the Cardinals, the offense ranked 22nd in points per game (21.3), 14th in yards per game (336), and 14th in EPA per play. ARSB will be at the top of many rankings because he's just that damn good.
The reason the Cowboys haven't performed well in the win column is not because of their offense. The Cowboys finished the 2025 season with the NFL’s No. 2 total offense and No. 7 scoring offense. CeeDee Lamb finished behind George Pickens in fantasy points, but also missed games in 2025 due to a high-ankle sprain and concussion. Lamb is still a high-end fantasy target. Dak Prescott was second in the league in pass attempts (600), and this will be another high-powered offense to want a piece of in fantasy next season.
The season started so hot for Jonathan Taylor; from Weeks 1-13, he averaged 24.8 PPG (RB2 behind McCaffrey). And then … the fantasy playoffs happened. In Weeks 14-17, during the playoffs, he averaged only 14.7 PPG (RB16). Still, Taylor tied a career-high with 20 total touchdowns, and his 1,585 rushing yards were his most since 2021. He's a bell cow running back and is going to be only 27 years old when the season starts. Sign me up!
There are a lot of questions surrounding what new head coach Kevin Stefanski will do at quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons this season. Michael Penix partially tore his ACL in Week 11, and it's questionable he will be ready to suit up for Week 1. I'm more excited for Bijan Robinson than anything else. In the two healthiest Nick Chubb seasons in Cleveland under Stefanski (2021 and 2022), he was fourth in the league in carries (530) and second among running backs in yards per carry (5.3). ANYWAY, London is far too talented not to be a top receiver in 2026.
We have another bell cow back in De'Von Achane for 2026, but some questions do loom with a new head coach in town. There is a chance that head coach Jeff Hafley decides to limit Achane in the coming year, but we can't ignore his 238 carries and over 1,838 yards, both improvements from the previous season. I can't put my full trust in this coaching staff just yet, but Achane still remains a running back I want to target for my squads.
Malik Nabers, unfortunately, suffered a torn ACL and meniscus in his right knee in late September, but recent reports are saying the team expects Nabers to be ready for the start of training camp. There is always a chance that the rehab process doesn't go as planned and Nabers could start the season on PUP, but I'm choosing to be optimistic for now. He's going to reclaim his role as the clear No. 1 target for Jaxson Dart when healthy, and I want pieces of this team with John Harbaugh leading the way now.
I'll probably be moving Rashee Rice up the rankings this summer, especially if we get good news that Patrick Mahomes is on track for Week 1 (and Rice is able to avoid disciplinary action for an off-the-field matter). Rice is still going to be the go-to guy in this offense, and adding Eric Bieniemy back as offensive coordinator makes it even clearer that 2025 was an anomaly rather than the new standard. Don't overthink this one, you have an elite quarterback and an elite receiver, and when you put those two things together, good things happen.
Even after missing six games from a suspension last season, Rice proved why he is so valuable in fantasy. From Weeks 7-15, on a per-game basis, he averaged:
Remember the conversations about James Cook’s regression? Yeah, he looked us in the face and absolutely laughed! He had more carries and yards in 2025 than in 2024, and scored 14 total touchdowns. Cook finished as the RB6, but really lacked in the receiving game (33 catches for 291 yards and two touchdowns). People might not like the Joe Brady hire from an NFL perspective, but in fantasy, it makes me believe that Cook will have a somewhat similar workload in 2026, which means he's more than worthy of a first-round pick.
This team was atrocious last season, and the offensive line was a glaring problem. According to PFF, Las Vegas' offensive line gave up 47 sacks, and its 79.3 PFF pass-blocking efficiency rating ranked dead last in the NFL. They weren’t much better at run blocking.
The problem was not and will never be Ashton Jeanty. I believe in the talent, and even though the offensive line was bad, Jeanty still managed to finish as the RB16 with 14.3 PPG.
I want Nico Collins on my teams next season. He finished as the WR9 with 71 receptions off 120 targets and 1,117 receiving yards along with 6 touchdowns.
Matthew Berry's Ride or Die from 2025 unfortunately didn't see much of the field after he fractured his left ankle in Week 5. He finished as the RB16 and was also working behind an injured offensive line. With Mike McDaniel coming to town, Omarion Hampton could be truly unlocked. When McDaniel was in Miami last season, Achane finished with 238 attempts for 1,350 yards and 8 touchdowns. And how could we forget the passing work? Achane also finished with 67 receptions for 488 yards and 4 touchdowns on 85 targets. If we get a full, healthy season from Hampton, the sky's the limit.
The fall stops here, but I don't feel good about it. Justin Jefferson showed us that he is not quarterback-proof with J.J. McCarthy. From Weeks 10 to 17, Jefferson scored fewer than 9.0 fantasy points six times. When McCarthy was under center, Jefferson averaged only 48 yards per game. He should be nowhere near the first round of fantasy drafts and might move negatively down my rankings if the team doesn't add any quarterback competition for McCarthy. What has the world come to?!
Let's just call this tier what it is: the studs tier. No one is going to need to convince you to draft Trey McBride in 2026; it's just going to depend on whether you're willing to pay such a high draft price. We can't underscore just how good he was last season for fantasy managers—he scored over 100 additional PPR points than any other player at the TE position.
Incoming rookie Jeremiyah Love gave a great first impression at the NFL Combine when he ran a 4.36-second 40-yard dash. He's got a great size-speed combination and is projected to be a top-10 pick.
Saquon Barkley came back down to earth in 2025. He had 280 carries and only 1,140 yards on the ground, a huge drop from his 345 carries and 2,005 yards in 2024. The good news is that Kevin Patullo is gone. While new OC Sean Mannion has a lot of unknowns, it feels like it can't get worse … right? According to ESPN, Philly’s scoring dropped from 27.2 (ranked seventh) to 22.3 (19th) points per game this season, offensive efficiency went from fourth best in the NFL to 19th, and the ground game went from 179 yards per game (second) to 116.9 (18th).
This is a bet on Barkley, and I am going to be trying to get him everywhere at a discounted cost.
Another year, another offensive coordinator for the Buccaneers. Tampa Bay fired Josh Grizzard after one year as offensive coordinator after the offense finished 21st in yards per game (320.4) and 18th in points scored per game (22.4). Bucky Irving was able to play in only 10 games last season due to ankle and shoulder injuries, but getting healthy this offseason should put him on pace for a stellar 2026. Plus, Rachaad White is set to hit free agency, which means more opportunities could be coming Irving's way.
Listen, there are no questions about what Brock Bowers brings to fantasy football. He's an elite talent, has shown us insane early-career production and dominates targets. Literally, he checks all the boxes for an elite fantasy tight end. The questions don't surround him but the team around him, starting with the quarterback position. It looks like the Raiders are in a prime position to snag Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, which should be an upgrade over Geno Smith.
There's also a new sheriff in town for Las Vegas—Klint Kubiak could add talent to the wide receiver room, which would give Bowers some competition for targets, too. Overall, though, there's no need to overthink it. Bowers is just that guy.
Chase Brown is a key offensive piece for the Bengals, and rumor has it that his representation is in talks with the team regarding a new deal. He started all 17 games last season and was 11th in the NFL in scrimmage yards with a team-high 1,456. He was also sixth among all running backs with 437 receiving yards. I'm expecting much of the same since the Bengals kept Zac Taylor around and that means solid fantasy outings from Brown.
It was a slightly down year for Josh Jacobs in his second season with the Packers. He produced 929 yards on the ground and 13 touchdowns on 234 rushing attempts. We also can't forget he added 36 catches for 282 yards and 1 touchdown through the air. He gave fantasy managers 15 regular-season starts and fizzled down the end, so the big question is if we continue to see a decline or not.
You can pry Derrick Henry off my fantasy teams when he actually says that he's retiring. Until then, he will be inside my Top 50 every single time. He had over 300 touches in two straight seasons, and has logged over 3,500 rushing yards and 32 rushing touchdowns since joining the Ravens. Why would I even try to bet on him falling off?
Do I really need to say anything here? In Week 11 of the 2023 season, Joe Brady (now Buffalo’s new head coach) took over as interim offensive coordinator and since then the Bills have ranked first in expected points added per play (0.14) and second in points per game (29.1). Will that actually get them past the AFC Championship game? Eh, we'll see! But Josh Allen is a dual-threat alien who you cannot have anywhere else besides QB1. He's finished as the highest-scoring fantasy quarterback in four of the last six seasons.
Give me alllllll the Chris Olave. All of it, even though he's not going to be cheap this time around. I think that Tyler Shough did enough to warrant serious consideration for QB1 in 2026 for the Saints. At the very least, if they do roll with Shough, they can then focus on other holes on this roster. Olave stayed healthy in 2025 and showed everyone just how damn talented he is. Olave played all 16 games in the fantasy season and finished as the WR6 and averaged 16.8 points per game.
I feel like we all know what George Pickens is capable of if he stays with the Cowboys. He finished as the WR5 and averaged 17.2 points per game. Does the idea of a new contract scare me? My co-host, Adam Ronis, told me on SiriusXM that, as a Cowboys fan, he worries about Pickens getting complacent once locking down a big deal. That wasn't on my mind before, and I don't think we can draft scared, but it is an interesting thought. I think he gets the franchise tag and continues balling out. 2025 saw him haul in 93 passes for 1,429 yards and 9 touchdowns.
The Eagles have denied any speculation about potentially trading A.J. Brown this offseason, but the marriage between Brown and the organization sure seemed to show some cracks last year. All things considered, it was actually a good year for Brown in fantasy—he was the WR11 and averaged 14.7 points per game. In his 15 games played, he caught 78 passes for 1,003 yards and 7 touchdowns. Still, it was his fewest receiving yards in a season since 2021. The Eagles are moving on from OC Kevin Patullo, so it will be critical to see who they bring in. Either way, with the Eagles or potentially another team, Brown sits firmly inside my top 15.
It was just a bad year for Lamar Jackson, but there's a new head coach in town (Jesse Minter) and it's still freaking Lamar Jackson we're talking about here. He missed three games due to a hamstring injury and by the end of the fantasy season he averaged only 13.5 fantasy points per game from Weeks 9 to 17. Overall, Jackson finished as the QB20 and the QB16 in points per game. This is a bet on talent. Not that long ago Jackson was the MVP and he can get back to that.
We all knew the Drake Maye breakout was coming. I'll be curious to see if his subpar playoff performance has him fall in early drafts. But no matter what he will be a top-5 quarterback taken in drafts because he can get it done through the air and on the ground, and we all know how to feel about dual-threat quarterbacks.
This was my favorite free agent landing spot before last season started, and it turned out even better than I imagined. Once Davante Adams and Matthew Stafford got their chemistry down, it was a year to remember—Adams was the WR9, averaging 15.9 points per game. Even crazier was that Adams had a nose for the end zone and finished the year with a league-high 14 touchdowns (four off his career-high of 18 in 2020). Now that Stafford is back, Adams will be highly sought after in drafts. The talk of regression will come because the last time Adams scored more than 10 touchdowns in a season was 2022, but we know he is aging gracefully for fantasy managers.
It was another failed quarterback situation in New York for the Jets, and Garrett Wilson was rarely on the field due to injuries. He was pegged as one of the biggest 2025 fantasy busts after averaging 4.3 receptions per game for 51 yards before he went on IR in Week 7, only to not return the rest of the year. A real NFL-caliber quarterback will help matters (obviously) for Wilson, and while it wasn't great last season, we can still remember that he gave fantasy managers four games of 19+ fantasy points. The pure talent and target share alone will bring us back in.
It feels like there's a lot of meat left on the bone for Tetairoa McMillan. He averaged 12.2 PPG (WR22) and there were obvious flashes of big-time ability last season.
I was so close to putting Colston Loveland higher, but I'm just not there yet. His price tag suggests that he should be in that category, and the way he finished 2025 definitely backs that up, too. He didn't have a full-time role until Week 16, but after that, he averaged 16.8 points per game (PPG) over five games and led all Bears pass catchers with a 29% target share. The trade of DJ Moore to the Bills could open up more targets for Loveland.
37. Kyren Williams | RB | LAR
38. TreVeyon Henderson | RB | NE
39. Tee Higgins | WR | CIN
40. Travis Etienne | RB | FREE AGENT
41. Joe Burrow | QB | CIN
42. Kenneth Walker | RB | FREE AGENT
43. Cam Skattebo | RB | NYG
44. Breece Hall | RB | NYJ
45. Zay Flowers | WR | BAL
46. Ladd McConkey | WR | LAC
47. Jaylen Waddle | WR | MIA
48. Jameson Williams | WR | DET
49. DeVonta Smith | WR | PHI
50. RJ Harvey | RB | DEN
