Draft THESE Players in Every Round! | 2026 Round-By-Round Fantasy Football Guide (Ep. 2119)
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What players should I target in the first three rounds of the 2026 fantasy draft?
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Welcome into the Fantasy Pros Football Podcast. I'm Alferito Brown, joined by Andrew Erickson and Derek Brown. And today, you know what's better than just giving you a few players that you should draft? is if we give you every player you should draft in every single round. And I got two analysts here with me today that are gonna help us go through each round of fantasy football drafts, talk about which players they are going to be targeting in each of these rounds. We're gonna go back and forth pretty quick and you know what guys, I'm feeling uh feeling spicy today. Um we're gonna make this kind of like a Shark Tank style thing. You guys are gonna give me your pitch. You're gonna come be like, hey, I've got this product.
It's a round three running back. You guys are gonna give me a quick 60-second pitch on your players, and what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna decide who wins in each of these cases.
That sound good to you guys? I mean, it sounds great, except for the fact that I love all of Erickson's names, so I feel like I'm gonna be fighting against myself here. Don't cop out early. Don't cop out early.
No, it's okay. I'm here. I'm in it to win it, baby. Come on, Ericsson. Let's go. No. We're going Godzilla versus Kong. Just let them fight.
I'm winning. I'm in it to win it, D Rod.
There we go.
I hate all your picks.
Erickson fully embracing the bad boy vibes of fantasy pros.
Which wide receivers and tight ends are the best picks for rounds 4‑7?
I love it. All right. Uh let's do this. We are gonna start with our targets in rounds one through three. Debro, since you were just being so kind and you said you like Erickson's picks, you know what? We're gonna be polite. Let you go first here. So who are you looking at in round one as your must pick player?
My guy's Puka Nakua, my wide receiver one uh this year. And I think the reason I'm going with Puka here is because he could be a league defining, season defining player if he hits his ceiling. I I think we could see a season for Puka where he is the first wide receiver, and I went all the way back to twenty thirteen with this, that averages over twenty six PPR fantasy points per game. You look at the healthy games he had last year, so weeks one through five, eight through eighteen. 24.7 PPR points per game. If we just flipped the receiving touchdown number, he got the 14, Adam got Adam's got the 10, that would have pushed him up to 26 PPR points per game. We know the target share is going to be there.
He's an elite target share earner, elite per route basis. He's Matthew Stafford's uh Binky as far as like all the way through the field, just not to be at the red zone. So if he could take over the red zone roll this year. He could be a guy that just absolutely decimates everybody in your in your league. So I'm going with Puka here.
Erickson, who you going with? James Cook, running back for the Buffalo Bills. Last couple years, 2023, he had 44 catches for 445 receiving yards, which only B. John Robinson, Jameer Gibbs, Christian McCaffrey, and Devon A. Chan hit last season. 2024, 18 touchdowns. 2025, 1,621 rushing yards. 2026, he does all three. You're looking at a guy that is not drafted consistently as a top three running back when I think he could easily even be the RB one overall if he just catches more passes, which he's already shown an ability to do at the NFL level. So for me, James Cook, my pick at the back end of round one, easy running back selection.
Alright, so between these two
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What players should I target in the first three rounds of the 2026 fantasy draft?
0:00–1:43
2
Which wide receivers and tight ends are the best picks for rounds 4‑7?
1:43–4:28
3
What high‑upside mid‑range targets (rounds 8‑10) can win my league?
4:28–6:44
4
Which late‑round lottery tickets (rounds 11‑15) offer the biggest value over ADP?
6:44–9:23
5
How do I decide between the top quarterback options in the later rounds?
9:23–12:22
6
What defensive units and kickers should I consider in the double‑digit rounds?
12:22–15:38
7
What final draft advice should I follow before the draft ends?
15:38–18:41
8
Where can I find the full list of must‑draft players for every round?
18:41–57:50
Speakers
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