Fantasy Football Mailbag: Is Eli Heidenreich Fantasy's 2026 Deep Sleeper?
Kendall Valenzuela breaks down her listener questions from the latest installment of Fantasy Life's SiriusXM radio show.
Welcome to the first edition of my weekly mailbag, where I will be fielding questions on our Friday SiriusXM show throughout the offseason, covering everything from fantasy football rankings, sleepers and more.
Let's dive into the pressing questions from late last week.
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Is Eli Heidenreich a true fantasy football sleeper? - @ Maxwell Wooley
Maybe the true sleepers were the friends we made along the way … ANYWAYS, yes, the new Steelers running back Eli Heidenreich is definitely a sleeper based on his current fantasy football ADP (he's going undrafted on Underdog) and the fact that he is buried on the depth chart.
That said, I am not putting Heidenreich on my radar unless it's for dynasty formats. Jaylen Warren has been durable his whole career, and Pittsburgh signed Rico Dowdle this offseason. When we look at Dowdle over the last two seasons, he has been effective as a rusher (4.57 yards per carry) and had 50 targets both years, but last season, he ended on a low note. It's obvious these two are leading the backfield for the Steelers in 2026, but behind them? I don't know if Kaleb Johnson is going to be in the doghouse for this new regime, but either way, he's not a surefire bet.
Steelers running backs were afforded the 11th-most rush yards before contact per carry in 2025 and ranked second in target share. If there's an injury to either Warren or Dowdle? I can squint and see a path for Heidenreich, but in redraft formats, he's someone most will be able to pick up off the waiver wire. In dynasty formats, because of how low everyone is on this class, I don't mind a last-round pick, just know he's two injuries away from meaningful reps, and his draft capital doesn't help. BUT, he has the ability to outperform his seventh-round draft capital over time.
This year's dynasty rookie draft is tough. After the first round, I've just been loading up on WRs because there's nothing else out there. - @ Chris Goodwin
There are definitely huge tier breaks in dynasty rookie drafts this season; there is no doubt about that. The first few picks seem set, but once we hit the 10th pick in the first round, it feels like it can be a "choose your own adventure" type of game plan. I will say, though, there are some absolute gems that dynasty managers should consider, especially with rookies that landed in ideal situations.
Antonio Williams is the new rookie receiver for Washington, and the depth chart outside of Terry McLaurin is bare, to say the least. There's a path for Williams to emerge as the primary slot target for Jayden Daniels this season, even if this team ends up still signing someone like Brandon Aiyuk. McLaurin is the only WR on the Commanders’ roster who saw a target share above 12% last season. He has a great opportunity and should be looked at as an upside WR3 in fantasy drafts.
Chris Bell and Caleb Douglas both ended up in Miami, and while all Fantasy Life rankers prefer Bell to Douglas, both could have meaningful reps with Malik Willis. Douglas flashed playmaking upside in college and will need to focus on cutting down on drops (six last season), but he could add a vertical element to the offense.
Bell can play through contact at all three levels of the field, but the knock on him is that he suffered a season-ending knee injury last November. Many analysts compare him to A.J. Brown, and with Rookie Super Model comps like Rashee Rice and Parker Washington, I'm definitely trying to add him to a few dynasty squads.
While these later-round receivers can be appealing, don't sleep on the potential of the rookie running backs. Guys like Nicholas Singleton (Titans), Jonah Coleman (Broncos) and Demond Claiborne (Vikings) are just an injury away from a significant workload increase. We never want injuries to happen, but keep an eye on these rookie RBs heading into your drafts because they could be worth it.
Would you take Jadarian Price over Makai Lemon or Jordyn Tyson? - @ Jason
As much as I love Jadarian Price in this spot for Seattle, it would be hard for me to click his name ahead of Makai Lemon or Jordyn Tyson because of how elite those two are projected to be in 2026 and beyond. Price is in a great spot with the unknowns about Zach Charbonnet's return from injury, but his ceiling feels somewhat capped compared to the other two.
I'm going to take an easy out on this, though, and say if you need a running back and don't have the 1.01 to get Jeremiyah Love, then Price is definitely on the table here. Just know you'd be passing up on premium receiver talents to get him, but that's the dynasty life, right? There's a significant dropoff in running back talent after Price, and that means it wouldn't be crazy to go after him.
Not a question, but Nicholas Singleton will end up as RB2 of this class - @ Tim
Listen, I don't hate it. As you just read above, I'm more in on Price and Love like most others, but Singleton did not land in an awful spot. When the Titans didn't land Jeremiyah Love, they decided to hold off on selecting an RB until Singleton came back to them in the fifth round. At Penn State last season, Singleton had 32 rushes of 10 or more yards and caught 102 receptions during his college career.
Is this the cleanest landing spot? No. Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears are still on this team, but both are free agents next season. Pollard finished last season on a high-ish note, but Spears has both struggled to stay healthy and reach his full potential. There's a chance Singleton has a prominent role in 2026.
Would you handcuff Kaelon Black with CMC? - @ Kristi Sharp Dursky
This still makes me laugh a bit about how the 49ers decided to take on this draft, but alas, we move on. This is going to be a question that's truly answered during Training Camp when the positional battles start to take shape.
Black was not on a lot of radars during the draft and is now in a tier of Rookie Super Model running backs that are one (or maybe two) injuries away from having a role that benefits us for fantasy football. The real No. 2 behind Christian McCaffrey is an incredibly valuable role, which is why I don't mind putting a flyer on Black late in rookie drafts, but the answer is we truly do not know if he's going to be the handcuff.
The 49ers have not had a good track record with these running backs, and they need to hit on someone eventually … right? San Francisco has used a third- through fifth-round pick on a running back in five of the past six drafts, and the first four have not worked out. Black was the only running back selected on Day 2 of the NFL Draft. We're just going to have to wait to see if he beats out Jordan James and Isaac Guerendo for that coveted RB2 job.
Would you take Jordyn Tyson or Denzel Boston in a dynasty rookie draft? - @ Ryan
It's Jordyn Tyson SZN, and it's not particularly close.
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