Levitan: My Strategy For 2026 Fantasy Football Drafts

Having the best rankings and knowing which players to target is only part of the puzzle. To win your fantasy draft, you also need a strategy adapted to this year’s market.

This article will serve as a “Draft Strategy 101.” I’ll walk you through how I’m thinking about the landscape for this year’s season-long format.

EARLY-ROUND STRATEGY & USING RANKINGS

The big theme of this year’s fantasy football landscape is running back thirst. The market has reverted to its boomer roots, as I’d expect roughly 12 of the first 20 picks to be running backs. Readers of this article over the last two years know that I have advocated strongly for a barbell approach at the position — spend a lot of draft capital on RBs early, then spray at ambiguous situations and one-injury-away guys late. That has been an extremely profitable strategy in home leagues, as many people weren’t doing it.

So now that the broader meta is RB-heavy, should we still be leaning into it? Yes. Because while it’s certainly close between the RBs and WRs in the first couple of rounds, it is not close in the early/middle and middle rounds. 

Putting this into practice: The first four picks are very clear. I would not be deviating from the rankings on Jahmyr Gibbs, Bijan Robinson, Ja’Marr Chase, and Puka Nacua.

After that, there is room for nuance and preference. When it is close in the first two rounds, I want to lean into RB. I would take Christian McCaffrey sixth. I would take Jonathan Taylor, James Cook, and Saquon Barkley over Justin Jefferson and CeeDee Lamb. If I were in a half-PPR format, I’d even consider the next tier of RBs, like Kenneth Walker III, Ashton Jeanty, Chase Brown, and Derrick Henry, over Jefferson or Lamb.

I want to emerge from the first three rounds with two RBs. And that isn’t hard because it’s very close between Breece Hall and Nico Collins. Or Jeremiyah Love and George Pickens. However, I do not think it’s close between Christian Watson and Jaylen Warren. That mid-range portion of drafts is where we can easily catch up at wide receiver. I’ll note the wide receiver targets I’m on in the WR section below.

WHERE DO WE PREFER TO PICK?

Last year, I thought it was preferable to get a top-15 pick because there was a significant tier drop. That is not the case this year. Once we get past Amon-Ra St. Brown (my No. 8 player), it is very flat all the way into Round 3.

My preference this year is to pick somewhere around pick 7-10, giving me a chance for some strong RB-RB starts. Things like Jonathan Taylor-Chase Brown. Or James Cook-Kenneth Walker III. If we get those starts, it frees us up to really go nuts on WR and TE in Rounds 3-8.

HANDLING QUARTERBACK