Picks 1-6
Unless your league mates completely screw it up, these should be the first six picks of your fantasy football draft.
Pick 1: Jahmyr Gibbs (DET)
Gibbs was fantasy's RB4 last year while splitting the backfield with David Montgomery… now that timeshare is over, and he's the workhorse in one of football's best offenses.
Montgomery's trade to Houston leaves Gibbs as the Lions' unquestioned lead back, with only depth piece Isiah Pacheco behind him.
He holds the NFL record for most touchdowns in a player's first three seasons and led all running backs by drawing a target on 28% of his routes.
Detroit's RB schedule flips from 25th-easiest to 3rd-easiest in 2026: one of the biggest strength-of-schedule swings at the position.
A clear jump in touch volume paired with the league's best schedule upgrade makes Gibbs a fully justified case for the top spot on the board.
Pick 2: Ja'Marr Chase (CIN)
Chase still cracked 1,400 receiving yards last year despite Joe Burrow missing most of the season with a turf toe injury.
Led the NFL outright in targets (175) and ranked top-3 in red zone looks (21), even while catching passes from Jake Browning and Joe Flacco for long stretches.
From Week 6 on, once the offense settled, Chase returned to true WR1 production, helped by Flacco's willingness to force-feed him volume.
His WR schedule also gets friendlier, improving from 20th-easiest to 5th-easiest in 2026.
With Burrow expected back healthy, Chase's rocky 2025 line looks more like a floor than a ceiling — a scary thought for the rest of the league.
Pick 3: Bijan Robinson (ATL)
Robinson set a career high with 2,298 total scrimmage yards in 2025 (the most in the NFL) all while his quarterback situation was in flux.
Finished 1st among all backs in yards created (1,700) and evaded tackles (112); no runner in the league forced more missed tackles.
His main touchdown competition, Tyler Allgeier, is now a free agent who departed this offseason, clearing the goal line for Robinson.
New head coach Kevin Stefanski has a history of run-heavy offenses, a positive signal for a workload that's already massive.
Even with the QB picture unsettled, Robinson proved himself QB-proof in 2025… the volume and role here are about as safe as it gets.
Pick 4: Puka Nacua (LAR)
Nacua was fantasy's overall WR1 in 2025, pacing all receivers in points per game inside the league's most explosive offense.
Led the NFL in yards per route run (3.88) and yards after catch (635), doing it against one of the toughest WR schedules in football (29th-easiest).
Matthew Stafford, Sean McVay, and Davante Adams are all back, keeping his target competition and offensive infrastructure fully intact.
Red zone usage is his one soft spot (just 14 red zone targets — 17th) with Adams still working as Stafford's primary goal-line option.
Even with a modest touchdown role, elite volume inside football's top-scoring offense is more than enough to keep Nacua firmly in the first round.
Pick 5: Jaxon Smith-Njigba (SEA)
JSN broke out in a massive way in 2025: NFL Offensive Player of the Year and fantasy's overall WR2.
Led the league outright in target share (36.2%) and finished top-3 in both receiving yards (1,709, 1st) and first-read targets (125, 2nd).
Signed a 4-year, $168.6M extension in March 2026… it was the richest contract for a wide receiver in NFL history, locking him in as Seattle's No. 1 through 2031.
Neither returning veteran Cooper Kupp nor re-signed Rashid Shaheed threatens his target share; Kupp is role-limited and Shaheed is more of a deep/gadget piece.
With a record-setting contract cementing his status as the focal point of Seattle's offense, JSN's target volume alone makes him a lock for the top tier.
Pick 6: Jonathan Taylor (IND)
Taylor was fantasy's RB3 in 2025, and he did it while posting some of the best raw counting stats at the position.
Posted a perfect 100% snap share and led the NFL in carries (309), rushing touchdowns (20, 1st), and ranked 2nd in red zone touches (73).
The red flag: after Daniel Jones tore his Achilles in Week 14, Taylor didn't crack 100 rushing yards in any of his final seven games, exposing how much the offense leaned on a functioning passing attack.
Jones is expected back in 2026 with the full coaching staff (Shane Steichen, Jim Bob Cooter) returning, and Taylor's RB schedule flips from the toughest in the league (32nd) to 10th-easiest.
If Jones returns healthy, Taylor slots right back into the top-5 RB conversation, with an easier slate and a bell-cow role that was never seriously threatened.
That’s the Top-6… come back tomorrow for picks 7-12.
-Joe