Transcription
Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come. The first video of the 2026 NFL fantasy football season. I am so excited to be back with you guys. I can't explain how excited I am here to bring you 10 players that I am drafting in every single draft I can get in in 2026. Whether it's best ball, redraft, whatever the case, I'm targeting these guys right here on this list. Call it a hit list. We want them on our team.
Starting off with Mr. Omaran Hampton. Okay, I love me some Omaran Hampton, ladies and gentlemen. His rookie season was far better than a lot of people are giving him credit for. I don't know. Maybe it's like the injury that he dealt with. You know, he was out nine games for the season. Is that's what is that what's stopping people from talking about him more? Very different situations, but just as impressive as Ashton Genty. His per game averages 15.1 points per game, right there with what Genty did as a rookie. Was more efficient, uh, behind just as bad offensive line if we're honest. 4.4 yards per carry there, more rushing yards, more total yards per game. He actually had a comparable rookie season to what Bejon and Jamir Gibbs did back when they were rookies in 2023. If you remember, you know, Gibbs was averaging around 16.7 points per game, Bejon around 14. Uh, so Hampton's right on track to become a really special fantasy running back. And historically, he is in fantastic company. Guys, in the last 25 years, two and a half decades, there have been 11 running backs in their rookie season to average at least 60 rushing yards a game, 4.4 yards per carry, three and a half targets per game, and 15 plus PPR points per game. Those 11 running backs, it's a great list to be a part of. Doug Martin, D'Vinn Cook, Chris Johnson, Saquon, Kareem, James Robinson, Breece Hall, J.K. Dobbins, and Omaron Hampton. And he had that output on an offense that was killed with injuries on the offensive line. You guys remember this? Like Joe Alt, Rashawn Slater, both of those bookend tackles, their offensive line was an absolute mess. PFF actually had their final 2025 offensive line grades and graded the Chargers dead last. 32nd in the NFL. The O-line literally cannot get worse than what it was last year. And the best news is we've got the brand new offensive coordinator in town who's an absolute stud. Mike McDaniel. His running backs have been absolute superstars. In each of the last three years, he has had a running back average 17 or more points per game in his offense. In 2023, he did it twice with Mostert and Achane in the same year. In 2024 and 2025, De'Von Achane averaging well over 17 points per game. And a lot of that has to do with the fact that he's a great schemer of his offenses, but also he targets the running back position. He has been fifth, second, and eighth in running back targets in the NFL over the last three years in Miami, averaging 123 targets to running backs, 7.3 per game, uh, over the course of his time in Miami. And think about it, Hampton was able to average 15 points per game last year on a Chargers offense that was as mid as mid gets. I mean, truly, they were middle of the pack or worse in almost every category. What is he capable of this year in a new offense, healthy offensive line? I mean, there was a reason last year the Chargers were 26th in the league in rushing touchdowns per game. Hampton was injured and their offensive line, there was a real inability to win in the trenches. He's going to be so good this year. True league-winning status.
Okay, this next name you're not going to get excited about when you initially hear it, but I'm I'm promising you right now when when I get finished with my take, you should be excited about this name, Zay Flowers. Do not turn off the video. Let me tell you why you're missing out if you're not drafting Zay Flowers. I really think we are undervaluing what he can bring to the table in 2026. Let's be real about a couple things to start here, okay? Last year in 2025, uh, weeks 1 to 13 were not that useful for fantasy football. Okay, they weren't. Average 11.9 points per game, you know, high target share, high amount of targets. Uh, most of the useful weeks in fantasy football came in the fantasy playoffs for that week's 14 to 18 stretch. Uh, unfortunately, a lot of you guys who had Zay may not have made the playoffs. However, ask the question for a second and sit down and really reflect and say, "Okay, wait. What happened to the Ravens during that week 1 to 13 stretch where Zay Flowers wasn't as good as we wanted him to be?" Well, first off, Lamar injured his hamstring in week number four and did not return to this offense until week number nine. That hamstring was a part of the problem the entire year. Zay Flowers in that span played nine games last year with Tyler Huntley and Cooper Rush at quarterback. In that span, Huntley threw two touchdowns in five games. Cooper Rush threw zero touchdowns and four interceptions in four games. And then when Lamar Jackson returned, it was fairly obvious that he was not exactly 100% from a health perspective, but they had a legit shot to win the division. So, he wanted to come back and really give them a chance. You can see inside the pocket for Lamar before the injury was really efficient. Uh, you know, quarterback one in completion percentage over expectation. Quarterback two in accurate throw rate, passer rating, he was number one afterwards. All those numbers are drastically down. He wasn't the same player. Then Lamar missed one more game during that big end-of-season stretch for Zay. Guess which week it was that he missed? It was week 17 where Zay scored his lowest points in that stretch. Look, with Lamar Jackson healthy, Zay Flowers was a fringe wide receiver two averaging 15 points per game. The wide receiver 12 on a points per game basis with Lamar Jackson. Without Lamar Jackson, just 12 points per game, the wide receiver 33. So look, while people look at the stretch to end of the year, and this used to be me before I actually dove into Zay Flowers's year, and you know, they look at week 14 to 18 and say, "Ah, who cares? It was a fluke. Nothing matters." Maybe you'll see it from a different point of view now. Because there's truly some context as to why he wasn't awesome the entire year and only for stretches. And look, Zay's behind-the-scenes numbers are fantastic. Despite Lamar missing a huge portion of the year, he had career highs per game in points, snap share, receptions, yards, target share at a 29% target share. His yards per route run are ridiculous. I mean, he is getting more efficient, more effective, and more, you know, perfect for this offense, if you will. There's a new offense in 2025, by the way. The first time that Lamar Jackson will have a brand new head coach, there'll be a new offensive coordinator, right? Todd Monken will be the offensive coordinator. Could we see more passing in 2026? Uh, what we know for sure is they lost Isaiah Likely in free agency, so there's a lot of targets up for grabs. Uh, they added Jacoby Myers, they added Elijah Moore, which respectfully I think they needed, but I've got huge projections for him in 2026. I think we could see a 90-plus catch year. We could see a 1.3,000 receiving yard type of year. I've I've got big expectations.
Okay, this next player, uh, I mean, has my heart entirely. Okay, Cole Turner. He is genuinely ready to go nuclear in 2026. He may be the next great fantasy football tight end. Let's think about this for a second. Okay, in just the first year of the Ben Johnson-led Bears offense, we saw a huge turnaround across the board. The Bears had a top 10 passing attack in the league, a top 10 overall offense on a per-drive basis. They were scoring at the ninth highest rate of any NFL team. They were top 10 in every per-drive number, right? And they took care of the ball, high points per drive. I mean, they were fantastic with Ben Johnson. And we barely got to see, we barely scratched the surface really of what this special first-round tight end prospect is really capable of. I mean, Turner still getting his feet wet at the beginning of his rookie year. They really slow-played him from weeks 1 to 8, but once they unleashed him, they really unleashed him from week 9 onwards. Huge sample size. You'll see from that first part, right? 3.8 points per game, a 10% target share from weeks 1 to 8. But from week 9 onwards, a massive span, by the way, 14.3 points per game, over a 20% target share, 60 yards per game. And when it mattered the most, the last four games of the Bears season, two regular season games, that was San Francisco and Detroit, and two playoff games, Green Bay and the Los Angeles Rams. And when it mattered the most, they were feeding Cole Turner. In those last four games, he had 28 catches on 48 targets, 378 yards, and two touchdowns, which is a 17-game pace of 119 catches, 148 targets, 1,600 yards, and nine touchdowns. But not to say that's what he's going to be doing this year, but he is on track for a huge breakout. DJ Moore leaving for Buffalo won't hurt either. Obviously, a lot of those vacated targets that Chicago has are third amongst vacated wide receiver targets will go to Darnell Mooney, but it certainly won't hurt. He has a legitimate chance to rival Trey McBride and Brock Bowers in 2026. And the best part is you can get him almost two rounds after when you look at current ADP across Underdog, Yahoo, and ESPN.
Okay, next player is a running back that I think I'm going to draft in literally every league I have because he's for some reason still cheap despite being fantastic last year. That is Javonte Williams. Don't forget guys, Javonte was not some scrub coming into the NFL. Coming out of North Carolina, he was such a good prospect and he finally got to show what he was capable of in 2025. Last year, if you had him and you're watching this video, he helped you win a championship. Yes, I'm pointing at you. He helped you win a championship. Don't forget that he had career highs in points per game, snap share, carries per game, touchdowns per game. Despite and with all that extra work, he still has his career-high in yards per attempt, and all of that while having a career-low target share which could go up in 2026. And what did Dallas do? They rewarded him with a three-year contract wanting him to stay as a Cowboy. And let's get something straight. They didn't do that because they had no other option. They did that because he was freaking awesome last year. There were 65 running backs in the NFL last year with 50 rushing attempts. I mean, he was fantastic across the board. Fifth in yards to contact per attempt. Top 10 in missed tackle rate. Uh, great in the explosive ratings and the 10-plus yard runs and the total rushing yards over 1,200. The Cowboys have really been missing this type of running back from their offense for years, right? An efficient bruiser that they can feed. Remember, you know, back in 2021 where they were a really good rushing attack, but since then they've not been great. I mean, this is their highest yards per carry in the past five years. When you look at rushing yards per game, 125.6. They were top 10 for the first time since 2022. And it's genuinely such a safe pick to make anyway. There's upside there, but also how is Javonte going to bust unless he's injured, which no one can project because he's a part of such an elite offense. Last year, Dallas was top seven in points per game, yards per game, yards per play, first downs per game, scoring rate, and points per drive. And if the Cowboys defense gets better, which is a possibility, that would just mean we're going to run the ball more in Dallas. I have huge expectations for him in 2026. I've projected him, which by the way, all my projections will be available in our upcoming draft guide, which is set to release on June 1st. Not available just yet, but I've projected him for a massive year. I think he could eclipse over 1,500 all-purpose yards.
Okay, this quarterback that not a lot of people are talking about is not going to be a sexy name, but he could easily win you a fantasy championship this year. His name is Brock Purdy. Incredibly underrated from a fantasy football perspective. I want to remind you guys that in 2024, the 49ers' top receiving threat was not a receiver, it was a running back. It was Christian McCaffrey, who, yeah, is the best receiving running back of our generation. But still, they had very little help in San Francisco. K.D. missed six games. Purdy missed eight games. Jauan Jennings missed some games. And we don't even know if Brandon Aiyuk exists anymore. Brandon Aiyuk might have been abducted by aliens, and none of us would have any idea because we don't even know if the guy wants to play football at this point, right? Certainly didn't want to play last year for the 49ers. Now, to be fair, Purdy himself did miss eight games with his own injury last year. It was a toe injury. So there is some crossover there. But still, with so few weapons available, Purdy was still able to average 19.7 points per game, completing almost 70% of his passes, and finished second in passing touchdowns per game. For fantasy, he outperformed these two studs, Jalen Hurts and Caleb Williams. And at the moment, those guys are going somewhere in the range of two to three rounds ahead of him in ADP. And the best part is in 2026, his weaponry has gotten a big upgrade. He has a bigger arsenal. Now you add the big-bodied Mike Evans. If you thought that Brock Purdy had a high touchdown rate, wait till he's throwing to Mike Evans in the red zone, right? They drafted a receiver, brought in Christian Kirk out of the slot. I mean, this is an upgrade, no doubt about it, from what they had last year.
Okay, this next receiver, a lot of people once loved. Now they might be a little bit wishy-washy on. I'm here to reestablish the love connection for my little lad, Puka Nacua. Let's go on a timeline for Puka for a quick second. Let's go through his rookie year. In his rookie season, he had a historic year, number one. In fact, he is one of seven rookie wide receivers since the year 2000 to put up 82 catches, 1,500 or more yards, and 235 PPR points. Those other receivers: Drake London, Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Ja'Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, and Puka Nacua. Over 15 points per game, a high yards per target, high yards per route run, and almost a 25% target share. And by the way, that was just the regular season. He actually ended the year, you can see in 2024, with over 1,400 yards, 105 catches, and seven touchdowns. Then year two happens, okay? Huge fall-offs across the entire board, right? Lower averages in points per game, targets, receptions, yards, and target share, right? I mean, he goes from 1,400 yards in his rookie season to 820 in his sophomore year. What happened? What happened, guys? Justin Herbert's favorite target of all time is what happened. Keenan Allen happened. Keenan led the team with 122 targets, over a 22% target share. With Keenan's targets alone, the Chargers are now seventh in vacated targets to the wide receiver position. There is a lot more of that pie up for grabs this year. And don't forget that the offensive line last year, I mean, who knows what Puka would have been capable of. Who knows what this entire offense would have been capable of, you know, if the offensive line would have been able to stay healthy. We talked about this with Amari and Hampton, but again, the Chargers were dead last in PFF's final offensive line grades. And it's hard to have an impressive passing attack when your offensive line is falling apart as soon as the ball is snapped. Did anybody watch Charger games last year? Because if you did, you would see Justin Herbert under pressure in the snap of a finger. They gave up 60 sacks. All right, 60 sacks. The fourth most in the entire NFL. A playoff team gave up 60 sacks. Okay, here's the good news, though. Let me bring you the light at the end of the tunnel. Enter Mike McDaniel. A capable offensive coordinator who has been great at featuring wide receivers, a healthy offensive line, no Keenan Allen, sign me up for all the Puka Nacua I can possibly get.
Okay, at tight end, let's talk Dalton Kincaid. Another tight end that I absolutely love this year. Really impressive rookie year that would suggest a big year two. As a first-round rookie tight end, guys, he was the Bills' top receiver. In fact, he accounted for 27.7% of the entire Buffalo Bills passing attack. And historically, just like Hampton, we talked about, he's in great company. In the last 25 years, two and a half decades, there have been five rookie tight ends who in their first season averaged six and a half targets, four and a half receptions, 45-plus receiving yards, and 11 and a half PPR points per game. Those five receivers: Sam LaPorta, Trey McBride, Kyle Pitts, Evan Engram, and Dalton Kincaid. There is no competition at tight end. Dawson Knox is gone. And thankfully, they added some wide receivers that can help improve the offense in Conception in Boston. And look, if you're out there like, uh, well, Xavier Worthy sucks, let's be 100% real, okay? Xavier Worthy was the best quarterback that he played with last year for fantasy football purposes in split, which means with Xavier Worthy on the left side of your screen, he averaged 13.5 points per game. Without Xavier Worthy, just 10.5 points per game. With Xavier Worthy, he had a 17-game pace of 73 catches, 10 receiving touchdowns, 814 receiving yards. It could be far worse than Xavier Worthy.
Okay, this next running back is not going to be a surprise to many people. Uh, but De'Von Achane, like I'm I I don't know why we aren't more excited about De'Von Achane. I can't wrap my head around it. Right now in fantasy drafts, he's so cheap. I have him ranked ahead of Jonathan Taylor, but he's going half of a round behind Jonathan Taylor. And right now in fantasy, not even a first-round pick. If anybody in their draft is able to start round one and round two, then going De'Von Achane, round two, De'Von Achane. If anybody can start that way, they will win their league in 2026. Look, Achane is the entire offense. He will be the entire offense again, especially after this team just gave him a $68 million deal, making him the league's third highest-paid running back. And I can already hear the comments from the trolls. All right. If you're out there, you're thinking, "Well, the offense isn't going to be good this year, Zack." Oh, no. Oh, no. The offense will be bad. I'm sorry. You're so right. Because the offense was absolutely fantastic last year. You're right. Because last year, the Dolphins were bottom third in the league in points scored, total yards, first downs. They were bottom third in the league in scoring rate per drive, uh, yards per drive, points per drive. Their rushing offense, uh, they were 24th in rushing attempts, 21st in rushing touchdowns. Uh, they were completely average. Their passing attack was bottom third in most every metric outside of completion percentage. Did any of that stop De'Von Achane in 2025? Not in the slightest. He was still able to perform right up there with the best of them. Right there with Bijan and J.K. Dobbins. And despite playing on a terrible offense, he was genuinely fantastic. Like I want you guys to take a second right now. What you are about to see. If it doesn't make you marvel at De'Von Achane, I don't know what will. And that terrible offense we just talked about. He was able to shine. Out of 65 running backs last year with 50 rushing attempts, second in PFF grade, sixth in rushing touchdowns, uh, second in yards per carry, first in yards after contact per attempt, number one in breakaway rate, third in runs of 10 or more yards. He was top five in receiving yards. So, will the offense be bad this year in Miami? Who cares? The question you should be asking is, will that even matter? I don't think it will.
Okay, the next two are from the same team. I'm curious if anyone can guess who the second one is, but I'm going to start off with Terry McLaurin. Guys, there's going to be some weird narratives for Terry this offseason that are not fair. He has had four seasons in a row before last year where he didn't miss a single game. Then in 2025, the injury bug hit. He missed four games with a quad injury, then missed three more games with aggravated quad and groin type of issues, right? Then the injury bug hit everybody in Washington, right? Including his quarterback, Jayden Daniels, who missed 10 games. But Terry will be the clear alpha in an offense that is just one year removed from being elite. Remember guys, Jayden Daniels' rookie year 2024, they were second in scoring rate. They scored on 50% of their drives. They were seventh in yards per drive. They were fourth in points per drive. They were an incredible offense. And again, who is stopping Terry from being the alpha on this team this year? Luke McCaffrey, Treylon Burks. Like, let's be so for real, okay? The only thing that's stopping this guy from returning value at his price is an injury, which you can't predict.
All right, the next player from the same team, Rachaad White. I think I'm going to draft a lot of Rachaad White this year, guys. The sneakiest price point at running back this year. And I do think the only reason he's in Washington is because of that previous chemistry with him and Jayden Daniels. In 2021, they were the two best players on the Arizona State team. That year, they combined for 1,700 rushing yards and 21 rushing touchdowns. Rachaad was also the wide receiver two on Arizona State that year with 43 catches and 456 yards. And we've seen Rachaad lead a backfield before. He averaged 15.8 points per game in 2023 in Tampa Bay. Now, despite a disappointing season, the Commander rushing attack still was able to find a way last year in 2025. I mean, they were a good rushing offense. You can see that objectively they were good. And just in general, I'm wondering where the target share is going to go in Washington this year, right? I mean, Rachaad White is going to get a ton of targets. He might have a career-high in target share.
So, those are the players I'm actively aggressively drafting. I would love to hear what you think. If you agree, if you disagree, do me a favor, hit the thumbs up to show some love. Subscribe if you like the content. Sometimes we only have about 50% of our viewers subscribed, so make sure you're subscribed. We have a goal of hitting 100,000 subscribers before week one of the NFL season. With your help, I think we can get there. I appreciate you guys hanging out and I'll see you in the next one. Nothing but love.
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