Fantasy Football Model Predicts Top Players for 2026 Season

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Fantasy Football Model Predicts Top Players for 2026 Season
Photo: CBS Sports
sports· A press review of 3 outlets
  1. How to find proven 2026 Fantasy football rankings SportsLine is also fading one of the first five receivers off the board in early 2026 Fantasy football drafts. The model ranks this player barely inside the top 10 and is calling for him to be one of the biggest busts in the league this year. You can only see who it is, and the 2026 Fantasy football rankings for every player, at SportsLine.

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    Bleacher Report

    "Hampton has the makings of a physical, top-flight corner, who brings it in man coverage and adds a willingness against the run with excellent tackling ability," Harms said. "The 6'2", 205-pound defensive back locates the football down the field and uses his superior length to impact the catch-point. He'd either give Aaron Glenn the type of defensive back the former NFL DB likely craves or brings New York's next coaching staff the kind of mentality it'll want in the secondary."

  2. 3. Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts: Taylor's 90.5 rushing yards per game are the highest amongst any active player, and he's also coming off his second season in which he led the NFL in touchdowns (20). He's shown the ability to produce with or without competent quarterback play, and an added incentive for Taylor in 2026 is that he's in a contract year. See more top RBs here.

  3. 1. Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams: Nacua has improved his receiving yards per game each season of his three-year career, leading the NFL with 107.2 yards in 2025. His career average of 95.3 receiving yards per game is the highest in NFL history. Outside of the game in which he got injured in last year, Nacua had zero Fantasy duds all season long as he had at least 72 yards or a touchdown in each of the other 15 games he played in.

  4. 2. Ja'Marr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals: Through the first five seasons of an NFL career, Chase's 520 catches and 6,837 yards both rank second, while his 54 touchdowns rank fourth. His production isn't tied to Joe Burrow being healthy and under center which should bring any Fantasy manager confidence in utilizing an early pick on the wideout.

  5. 1. Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals: The TE1 last season, McBride actually got off to a slow start when Kyler Murray was Arizona's quarterback. But he went off with Jacoby Brissett throwing him passes which has McBride maintaining his status atop the positional rankings. The tight end averaged 8.1 catches for 80.3 yards with 10 total touchdowns in 12 games with Brissett as starter, compared to 5.8 catches for 55 yards and just 1 touchdown in five games with Murray.

  6. 2. Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears: When Cole Kmet missed a Week 8 game due to injury, Loveland filled in as the team's top tight end and never relinquished that role. The rookie ranked second in positional Fantasy points from Week 8 through Week 18 and then had a 137-yard playoff game. If you extrapolate Loveland's numbers over his last 13 games, including the postseason, over a 17-game schedule, he'd post a stat line of 81-1,083-8.

  7. 3. Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders: Bowers' numbers took a step back as a sophomore with him both playing through injury and missing five games due to injury. Even with that his Fantasy points per game ranking actually increased, as he finished second in FPPG in 2025 after placing third among TEs in 2024. He remains the focal point of a Raiders offense which doesn't have a single wideout who reached 700 yards last year. See more top TEs here.

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  9. James Cook (11.34) De'Von Achane (11.78) Ashton Jeanty (12.80) Chase Brown (13.46)

  10. "It's impressive he continues to finish as high as he does each year without the weapons in the passing attack most other top quarterbacks enjoy," White said. "That's been boosted by his strong rushing production, which includes 41 touchdowns on the ground over the last three years. There's no reason to think that'll change for 2026, which gives him as high a floor as anyone to pair with his No. 1 overall ceiling."

  11. Tier 4 also has a dozen QBs, topped by Kyler Murray. Meanwhile, Daniel Jones also finds his name in tier 4 but is the QB27 per White.

  12. Now, the model has set its sights on Astros vs. Mariners and just locked in its picks and MLB predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see the model's picks. Here are several MLB odds and betting lines for Mariners vs. Astros:

  13. Dodgers vs. Brewers: Los Angeles to win (-176) "Milwaukee is certainly capable of knocking off Tarik Skubal and the Dodgers but is likely down two key bullpen guys in Aaron Ashby and trade acquisition Antonio Senzatela," SportsLine MLB expert Matt Severance said. "Skubal admittedly has been just OK in his two starts since the deal, but I think Dave Roberts manages this like a playoff game because it has potential playoff home-field ramifications. The winner tonight wins the season series and that could be massive ... and I trust Skubal more than I do Logan Henderson even if Hendo is having a fine season too." Bet on the Dodgers at DraftKings here and claim $150 in bonus bets after your first $5 wager as a new user:

  14. Check out these top trending videos from CBS Sports HQ FanDuel promo code: Get up to $1,000 Bet Reset Tokens for Sunday Chinmay Vaidya

From the margins

3 details only one outlet reported

Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.

  1. 01 ESPN

    NFL Future Power Rankings: We stacked all 32 teams based on expectations for 2027 to 2029 How might all 32 franchises stack up beyond 2026? Our forward-looking ranking factors in each team's future QB, roster, front office and coaching situations.

  2. 02 CBS Sports

    Combining the three picks into a Sunday parlay at DraftKings would result in a payout of +348 (risk $100 to profit $348, odds subject to change). Claim $150 in bonus bets after your first $5 wager at DraftKings here:

  3. 03 Bleacher Report

    The starting point isn't the same for every NFL draft class. The timetable remains the same, though the makeup of each group varies. For the 2027 crop, it's viewed as further ahead and more abundant than recent classes.

Assembled from 14 corroborated claims drawn from 3 independent outlets. Every passage above is taken verbatim — Dorothy doesn't paraphrase or summarize.

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Sources (3)

  • espn
  • bleacherreport
  • cbssports

Original Articles (17)

US NFL Future Power Rankings: We stacked all 32 teams based on expectations for 2027 to 2029 — ESPN
US Fantasy football 2026 rankings, draft prep: NFL model makes QB, RB, WR, TE picks, cheat sheets, ADP, tiers — CBS Sports
US Fantasy football rankings 2026: Sleepers, breakouts, busts from NFL model that called Daniel Jones' big year — CBS Sports
US 2026 Fantasy football draft prep: Experts unveil rankings, tiers, top 150, optimal rookie picks — CBS Sports
US Use DraftKings promo code to get $150 bonus bets by targeting Brewers-Dodgers, Astros-Mariners, MLB on Sunday — CBS Sports
US Fantasy football rankings 2026: Sleepers from computer that nailed De'Von Achane's outstanding year — CBS Sports
US Fantasy football rankings 2026: Sleepers, breakouts, busts per NFL model that called Daniel Jones' big year — CBS Sports
US Fantasy football rankings 2026: Breakouts via model that nailed McMillan's huge season — CBS Sports
US Fantasy football 2026 rankings, draft prep: NFL model releases QB, RB, WR, TE picks, cheat sheets, ADP, tiers — CBS Sports
US Fantasy football rankings 2026: Sleepers from computer that nailed De'Von Achane's remarkable year — CBS Sports
US Fantasy football rankings 2026: Sleepers, breakouts, busts per model that called Daniel Jones' big year — CBS Sports
US 2026 Fantasy football draft prep: Experts unveil rankings, top 150, optimal rookie picks — CBS Sports
US Fantasy football rankings 2026: Busts by model that predicted Terry McLaurin's down year — CBS Sports
US Fantasy football rankings 2026: Breakouts per model that nailed McMillan's huge season — CBS Sports
US SportsLine Newsletter August 16, 2026 — CBS Sports
US Astros vs. Mariners prediction, odds, time: 2026 MLB picks for 'Sunday Night Baseball' by proven model — CBS Sports
US B/R NFL Scouting Dept's Initial 2027 NFL Mock Draft - Bleacher Report — Bleacher Report