2026 Fantasy Football Season Kicks Off
August has finally arrived, and with it comes the highly anticipated 2026 NFL season, set to kick off on Wednesday, September 9. As the new season approaches, Fantasy football owners are gearing up for draft preparations, and it’s time to take a closer look at the top players and potential busts.
According to the latest Fantasy football rankings from SportsLine, veterans like Josh Allen, Jonathan Taylor, and Puka Nacua are expected to be among the top players on most Fantasy football draft boards. Meanwhile, running backs Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs are among those hold-ins angling for new contracts, but their status may not be as clear-cut as previously thought.
Regardless of the situation with these top players, the key to fantasy success remains finding sleepers and rookies who outperform their Fantasy football ADP (Average Draft Position) and avoiding drafting players that end up being Fantasy football busts. This is where the proven computer model at SportsLine comes in, offering valuable insights and predictions to help Fantasy football owners make informed decisions.
Why Trust the Model?
Last year, the model accurately predicted that Commanders receiver Terry McLaurin would fall well short of his top-50 ADP, and the result was a season after piling up nearly 1,100 receiving yards and a career-high 13 touchdown catches, McLaurin had career lows in receiving yards (582) and receiving touchdowns (3). Injuries were a factor, but his per-game averages were down across the board as well, so anybody who avoided him in Fantasy drafts dodged a major headache.
The same model has a proven track record providing Fantasy football tips, identifying A.J. Brown as a sleeper in 2020, nailing Jonathan Taylor’s monstrous season in 2021, and correctly predicting C.J. Stroud would take a step back in 2024. Additionally, it’s called past Fantasy football sleepers like Derrick Henry in 2019, Christian McCaffrey and Alvin Kamara in 2018, and Davante Adams in 2017.
Top 2026 Fantasy Football Busts
One of the 2026 Fantasy football busts the model is predicting: New York Giants receiver Malik Nabers. He’s going off the board around pick No. 36, but SportsLine’s model doesn’t even have him as a top-15 receiver. In fact, it has players such as DeVonta Smith, Nico Collins, and Zay Flowers above him.
Nabers isn’t a lock to be ready to start at the beginning of the season after tearing his ACL last season and then undergoing a follow-up procedure in the spring. The Giants are also expected to lean heavily on the run game under offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, making Nabers a risky pick in the second or early third round.
Another bust that SportsLine’s Fantasy football rankings 2026 have identified: Bills running back James Cook. Cook is going off the board with an ADP around No. 13 overall and is the fifth running back being taken on average. SportsLine’s model, however, ranks him as RB No. 10, behind players such as Derrick Henry and Chase Brown, saying that he should be more of a late-second or even third-round pick.
Cook has stacked two impressive seasons and was the RB6 a year ago, so it’s understandable why he’s getting first-round consideration in many drafts. He did fumble at a higher rate last season, however, and he’s not an elite target out of the backfield. Also, Josh Allen always looms as a touchdown vulture for Buffalo, as these factors are why the model is leaning to other high-end backs early.
So which 2026 Fantasy Football busts should you be steering clear of, and which high-end WR should you completely fade? Let’s take a closer look at the top players and potential busts in the 2026 Fantasy football rankings.
