Fantasy Football Winners and Losers From Round 1 Of The 2026 NFL Draft
Adam Pfeifer profiles the biggest winners and losers for fantasy football from the 2026 NFL Draft.
Round 1 of the NFL Draft is in the books, and although the 2026 class hasn’t been the most highly regarded, there were still plenty of talented skill position players selected to kick off the weekend. Fantasy values of so many players can be impacted by one simple draft pick, and more will change over the course of the next few days.
Let’s recap the fantasy football winners and losers from Thursday’s action.
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Winners For Fantasy Football From Round 1 Of The NFL Draft
Cam Skattebo | RB | NYG
Everyone needs love in their life.
Except for fantasy teams with Skattebo.
The Giants have been linked to Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love for weeks and weeks leading up to the NFL Draft, stressing out every fantasy roster with Skattebo. But when the Cardinals selected Love third overall, those same teams let out a collective sigh of relief. Skattebo, who emerged as the Giants’ lead rusher starting in Week 4 of his rookie campaign, should assume a similar role in 2026.
From Weeks 4-7 last year, Skattebo handled 60% of the carries, 85% of the short down and distance snaps, 78% of the carries from inside the five-yard line and 69% of the overall snaps. During that same span, he averaged 18.8 carries, 74 rushing yards, 4.3 targets, 33 receptions and 18.7 PPR points per game, good for RB8 in fantasy. Even with Tyrone Tracy returning from injury, Skattebo remained the clear starter, which continued into a Week 8 game in Philadelphia. Skattebo recorded six of the first 10 running back opportunities before suffering a season-ending injury, derailing a breakout season.
Tracy will have a role, but even with a new regime in town, I’d expect Skattebo to lead the Giants backfield again. Our fantasy football projections have Skattebo at 222 carries to Tracy’s 101, with the former seeing another 54 targets. With Matt Nagy coming over from Kansas City to call plays, expect plenty of designed screens to the running back. Last season, the Chiefs dialed up the sixth-most running back screens.
Cam Ward | QB | TEN
I don’t think many had Carnell Tate to the Titans on their bingo card, but Ward will absolutely take it. As the top pick in last year’s draft, Ward found himself throwing to arguably the worst wide receiver room in the NFL. So what did the Titans do this offseason? Signed Wan’Dale Robinson, kept Calvin Ridley and selected Tate 4th overall in the draft.
That’ll work.
Ward, who ranked 12th in the league with 54 deep pass attempts last year, is going to love Tate. Easily the best vertical route-runner in this class, Tate possesses tremendous fluidity and precision down the field. According to Sumer Sports, go routes made up over 26% of his deployment this past season. And when the ball is in the air? Good luck. Tate hauled in over 80% of his contested targets last year, the highest rate in college football.
Ward showed plenty of flashes as a rookie, scoring multiple touchdowns in each of his final four games. The additions Tennessee has made this offseason are only going to help him going forward.
Brock Bowers | TE | LV
Adding the first overall pick to play quarterback is going to help all pass catchers. Fernando Mendoza may not start right away, but even that’s okay for Bowers. The Raiders brought in veteran Kirk Cousins, who isn’t a top-15 quarterback in the league anymore, but he can absolutely pepper Bowers with targets, which is all we care about for fantasy purposes.
Last season with the Falcons, Kyle Pitts really thrived with Cousins under center, averaging 7.4 targets, 5.6 catches, 60.6 receiving yards and 14.1 PPR points per game. From Weeks 11-18, Pitts posted a 25% target share and 23% TPRR. And I know what you’re thinking. “But Adam, Drake London only played four games during that span.” You’re absolutely right! But guess what?
The Raiders don’t have anyone close to Drake London on their roster.
Bowers will dominate targets, and once Mendoza gets his chance, that shouldn’t change. But the Raiders should be sustaining more drives with Mendoza under center, as well as the improvements to last year’s putrid offensive line. A healthy Bowers can compete with Trey McBride for overall TE1 status.
Losers For Fantasy Football From Round 1 Of The NFL Draft
Tyler Allgeier | RB | ARI
Let’s take a look at Allgeier’s career, shall we?
- 2022: 1,035 yards, 4 TDs as a rookie
- 2023: The Atlanta Falcons select Bijan Robinson 8th overall
- March 2025: Allgeier signs a two-year, $12.25 million deal with the Arizona Cardinals
- April 23rd, 2025: Cardinals select Jeremiyah Love 3rd overall
Sigh.
Allgeier was already unlikely to dominate the work in Arizona with James Conner still around, but he was probably the favorite to at least lead the committee. But after the Cardinals spent the third overall pick on Love, Allgeier is now once again in the shadow of an elite running back prospect. And it’s honestly unfortunate because Allgeier is a, while unspectacular, good running back. He’s unlikely to be fantasy relevant at all in 2026, which was not the case 24 hours ago.
Jerry Jeudy | WR | CLE
After a 1,200-yard season in 2024, Jeudy plummeted to just 602 yards on 50 catches in 17 games this past season. He led the way with a 21% target share, but Cleveland’s offense just couldn’t support any fantasy-relevant pass catchers outside of Harold Fannin. Jeudy will now have to compete with KC Concepcion, whom the Browns selected 24th overall on Thursday.
This past season, Jeudy bumped to the perimeter much more, as Cleveland’s massive rate of 12 personnel likely played a role. That rate will drop in 2026, but Concepcion is a player who can line up (and win) all over the formation. I’m sure new head coach Todd Monken, who spent the last three seasons as the offensive coordinator in Baltimore, sees a lot of Zay Flowers in Concepcion’s game.
Calvin Ridley | WR | TEN
The Titans may have held onto Ridley this offseason, but he could easily be the odd man out in this passing game. Wan’Dale Robinson has a track record with offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, while the Titans just selected Carnell Tate fourth overall. Tate wins in similar areas of the field that Ridley has throughout his career, and we know Robinson is going to dominate the short area targets. So where does that leave Ridley, a player Tennessee considered moving on from before the draft?
We’ll see how often the Titans utilize 11 personnel (three wide receivers) this season. Despite having one of the worst receiver rooms in football a year ago, Tennessee deployed 11 personnel 70% of the time, the highest rate in football. The Giants, meanwhile, were in the middle of the pack at 62%, though Daboll’s Bills offenses in 2020 and 2021 hovered around 70%. But regardless, I’d expect Ridley to finish third on this team in targets in 2026.
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