The 2026 NFL draft has come and gone. My dynasty rookie ranks are updated, as are my redraft player rankings.

So now feels like a good time to update my early offseason edition of Freedman's Favorites.

Here are 10 players I want for 2026 fantasy football and expect to target aggressively in fantasy drafts.

To see more players I'm high on, check out our fantasy football ranks, accessible with the FantasyLife+ package (20% discount available with the promo code FREEDMAN).

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Quarterbacks From My 2026 Fantasy Football Rankings

I mentioned this in my Fantasy QB Tiers article: Josh Allen is probably the only QB I want to draft in the early and middle rounds. He has been a top-2 fantasy QB in every season since 2020, and last year he was the No. 1 QB with 23.2 points per game.

But aside from Allen, I'm good with waiting at the position.

Malik Willis | Dolphins

Malik Willis had first-round hype as a 2022 prospect, but he fell to Day 2 because of his raw playing style and height (just under 6-foot-1). Indeed, Willis was unrefined in his first two years with the Titans (3.3 AY/A, 17.5% sack rate), but he marvelously revitalized his career in the two following seasons as the Packers’ backup (12.3 AY/A, 12-174-3 rushing in three starts).

Now the presumed starter on the Dolphins, Willis has an uncertain future, but his upside makes him a worthy late-round bet.

And, yes, the Dolphins could be bad this year, but in the draft they at least added five potential playmakers for Willis in WRs Chris Bell, Caleb Douglas and Kevin Coleman, and TEs Will Kacmarek and Seydou Traore.

  Tyler Shough | Saints

Tyler Shough fell in the NFL Draft because of his advanced age, but last year he looked like a typical 26-year-old veteran, not a second-round rookie, especially after the Week 11 bye, when he produced as both a passer (256.9 yards per game) and runner (25.0 yards).

Because of his age, Shough might be closer to his ceiling than the typical second-year player, but he still could take a step forward in 2026 with a full offseason to prepare as the starter, especially since the Saints added WRs Jordyn Tyson, Bryce Lance and Barion Brown, and TE Oscar Delp in the draft.

As I put it in our NFL Draft grades recap: "Shough is about to fornicate."

Running Backs From My 2026 Fantasy Football Rankings

I mention this in my Top-50 Rankings article: I like most of the RBs available in Rounds 1-5. As a result, I feel less pressure to attack the positions in Rounds 1-2.

Jeremiyah Love | Cardinals

Jeremiyah Love was a terrible draft pick in reality. The Cardinals are not the kind of team that should be spending the No. 3 pick overall on the RB position, especially after they added Tyler Allgeier via free agency this offseason and retained long-time veteran James Conner.

Still, I expect Love to be good enough for fantasy (as long as third-round QB Carson Beck doesn't start too many games).

Simply, Love looks like the kind of player who doesn't fail—or at least doesn't fail in a catastrophic way.

He's still just 20 years old. He won the 2025 Doak Walker Award as the top RB in college football. In his final two seasons, he put up 3,014 yards and 40 TDs from scrimmage in 28 games.

He has a three-down skill set, workhorse frame (6-foot, 212 pounds), and home run speed (4.36, 40-yard dash). Even as a rookie on a subpar team, Love could be one of the NFL's top backs in 2026.

As has been the case all offseason, I'm the highest of the Fantasy Life rankers on Love, who is now my No. 10 RB.

Here are the RBs over the past decade to go in the top half of Round 1 of the NFL Draft and finish their rookie seasons at 21 years old.

• 2016: Ezekiel Elliott (No. 4)
• 2017: Christian McCaffrey (No. 8)
• 2018: Saquon Barkley (No. 2)
• 2023: Bijan Robinson (No. 8)
• 2023: Jahmyr Gibbs (No. 12)

And now Love. Unsurprisingly, the 2026 Rookie Super Model has him in a tier with these players.

Because of his circumstances, he might have an up-and-down start to his career with the Cardinals, which might make him less attractive in Guillotine Leagues™️.

Even so, I believe we should expect greatness. He's probably not 2018 Saquon Barkley, but he could easily be 2023 Bijan Robinson or 2016 Ezekiel Elliott.

In our Fantasy Life NFL Draft Guide, Love was No. 3 on my prospect big board. He truly was one of the few blue-chip prospects in the class, and when it comes to someone that talented, I'd rather be a year early.

D'Andre Swift | Bears

The Bears didn't address RB in the draft, which means it's now time to do the no-pants dance.

D'Andre Swift is coming off a career-best 1,386-yard, 10-TD campaign and is still just 27 years old. While he's not a full-blown workhorse, he's one of only nine RBs with 1,200+ scrimmage yards in each of the past three seasons, and in that stretch he has had 220+ carries and 40+ targets every year.

No. 2 RB Kyle Monangai could threaten Swift's role in 2026, but Swift still has a good chance to outperform his ADP for a fourth straight campaign.

Rico Dowdle | Steelers

Rico Dowdle is one of just 11 RBs with 1,300+ scrimmage yards in each of the past two seasons, and he's also the only one of the cohort to accomplish this feat on two different teams.

On the one hand, he's the cheapest of the group, which suggests his 2024-25 production is spurious. On the other hand, his career marks are efficient enough (4.5 yards per carry, 5.7 yards per target), and over the past two years he has been a true three-down player (471 carries, 99 targets).

It's unlikely, but reunited with former Cowboys HC and current Steelers HC Mike McCarthy, Dowdle might be a 1,300-yard guy once again.

Wide Receivers From My 2026 Fantasy Football Rankings

During the NFL playoffs, Dwain McFarland (our Director of Analytics) and I got together for an episode of Talk Data to Me in which we discussed league trends that have emerged over the past 2-5 years, one of which is this: Passing is down.

And it's especially impacting non-elite WRs, which to me means that elite WRs might be more valuable than ever.

If there's a position I want to attack in Round 1, it's WR, and by the end of Round 5, I want to have 2-3 WRs on my roster.

Ja'Marr Chase | Bengals

Early in the offseason, I did a way-too-early Round 1 fantasy mock, in which I made the case for Ja'Marr Chase as the 1.01

Since 2024, he's No. 1 in targets (360), receptions (252), receiving yards (3,120) and receiving TDs (25). Since he entered the league in 2021, Chase is No. 2  in targets (767), receptions (520), receiving yards (6,837) and receiving TDs (54).

Only 26 years old and still very much in his prime, Chase enters 2026 with a ceiling as high as the heavens and a floor higher than almost everyone else's ceiling.

D.J. Moore | Bills

DJ Moore last year had only 85 targets and a career-worst 682 yards receiving, which likely contributed to his offseason trade to the Bills.

But in his six prior seasons (since his second campaign), Moore averaged 135 targets and had more yards receiving (7,425) than WR Mike Evans (6,949). Moore's efficiency last year (8.0 yards per target) was in line with that of his previous four seasons (7.9), and he was still the rusher he's always been (15-79-1 in 2025, 72-510-2 for career).

Still only 29 years old, Moore could bounce back in 2026, especially given that he's with QB Josh Allen (the best passer he's ever had) and offensive HC Joe Brady (his OC with the 2020-21 Panthers).

And perhaps most importantly, the Bills waited until the fourth round to add a WR (Skyler Bell).

Moore should have a full opportunity to earn the No. 1 WR role for the Bills.

Alec Pierce | Colts

I'm significantly higher than the rest of the Fantasy Life rankers on Alec Pierce, and I'm OK with that.

He has been the NFL's most explosive WR over the past two seasons (11.9 yards per target), and last year he popped off with a career-best 47-1,003-6 receiving.

With his strong development, Pierce secured a four-year, $116M contract from the Colts and pushed the team to part ways with WRs Michael Pittman Jr. and Adonai Mitchell over the past 12 months,

In 2026, Pierce is ready to emerge fully as the team's No. 1 receiver … a role he has secretly held in the shadows since 2024.

Tight Ends for 2026 Fantasy Football

I like TEs Trey McBride, Brock Bowers and Colston Loveland.

But, at cost, I probably don't like them more than the five TEs going right after them in fantasy drafts.

If I'm able to get a top-3 TE at a discount, great. If not, I'll look for TEs after Round 5.

Harold Fannin | Browns

Harold Fannin led the Browns last year in targets (107), receptions (72), receiving yards (731) and receiving TDs (6). And he did that as a 21-year-old third-round rookie.

Even with the team adding WRs KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston in the draft, Fannin still could be a straight-up league winner in 2026.

Kenyon Sadiq | Jets

I'm not wild about Kenyon Sadiq's landing spot with the Jets, but he secured strong draft capital (No. 16), and he has a shot to finish No. 2 on the team in targets as a rookie.

He's undersized (6-foot-3, 241 pounds), and his production at Oregon last year wasn't exceptional (51-560-8 receiving), but he's a 21-year-old first-rounder who has the position's fastest recorded 40-yard dash ever (4.39 seconds).

He's a pure bet on talent, and with his all-time Rookie Super Model score (84), he's sandwiched between last year's first-rounders in Colston Loveland (89) and Tyler Warren (84).

The epitome of the modern move TE, Sadiq has true upside.

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