Fantasy Football 2026 Rookie Rankings: Honorable Mentions

We have had time to digest the NFL draft, peruse depth charts and dig into the picks a bit. Now it’s time for the real work to begin for fantasy owners – preparing for draft season. As always, my prep begins in earnest post-draft, as I start thinking about these newcomers and the effect they’ll have on the existing players. These six rookies probably won’t be super impactful in 2026, but they have a chance. Keep them in mind as fliers when draft day hits later this summer, and keep tabs on their progress throughout the preseason. These players are listed in ascending order based on my anticipated contributions in 2026 as rookies.

Germie Bernard, WR, Steelers (Round 2, No. 47)

Bernard had his best collegiate season last year at Alabama, his third stop in his NCAA career. As a senior he posted career-bests in receptions (64), yards (862) and receiving touchdowns (7). Nothing about his college career leaps off the page, but he does have valuable skills that should translate to the NFL level. His out and dig success rates, 89.2% and 85.2%, respectively, paint the picture of a classic move-the-chains receiver in the NFL. That is exactly the type of player who can help out the WR-needy Pittsburgh Steelers,  who took him in Round 2. D.K. Metcalf is a prototype X receiver, and doesn’t move around. They traded for Michael Pittman, who is versatile, but best used on the outside as a Z who moves around. Bernard was used everywhere at Alabama, allowing him to fill whatever needs the Steelers have, he projects to be able to work the intermediate areas right away, and aside from the two established vets we named there isn’t fierce competition for him to get snaps. Bernard may have to contend with heavy-TE formations that leave him off the field at times, but when there are three WRs on the field Bernard has a good chance to be out there.

Lastly, he scored two rushing touchdowns as a senior, and has high-end yards after catch skills. This is a player who can be used at times creatively as a rusher, or someone who can be utilized in the screen game and trusted to expertly use blockers and make plays. This isn’t a superstar player, nor is he likely to become a weekly starter as a rookie. He is a good bet to be a quality depth player in the future though, so he makes for a nice value dynasty pick and, maybe, a dart throw start at some point in the season in deep formats.

Denzel Boston, WR, Browns (Round 2, No. 39)

Boston went a few picks ahead of Bernard, and he goes to a place where it’s possible he sees a lot of volume right away. Boston has posted pretty similar stat lines the past two years at Washington, and they’re nothing to sneeze at. He’s a guy who has been used almost exclusively on the outside, and he put up 62 receptions, 881 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2025, numbers that are nearly identical to his production as a junior. His Reception Perception profile shows a player who should thrive as their X receiver, as he posted a 72nd percentile mark vs. man (72.5%) and an 80th percentile mark vs. press (72.7%). What makes him even more interesting is his 78.8% success rate vs. zone, which isn’t an amazing number, but it’s credible, especially for a guy who looks likely bound for outside-exclusive duties. Cleveland was hurting badly for WR help, and they made bold attempts at addressing them in this draft.

There are two things holding me back from being much higher on Boston, and neither has anything to do with him. I also still believe Cedric Tillman is a viable impact player, and he could restrict Boston’s opportunities. Second, the QB situation in Cleveland is dire. Shedeur Sanders was frighteningly bad at times, fellow second-year passer Dillon Gabriel is, at best, an NFL backup, and Deshaun Watson has not been a quality option since 2020. I’m far from a math whiz, but that was six years ago. That kind of stuff can derail rookies quickly, which concerns me, but the talent is absolutely there for instant impact.

Kaytron Allen, RB, Commanders (Round 6, No. 187)

Sixth-rounders are rarely impactful players, but RBs can rise up the ranks in a hurry. Allen was never considered the most talented back in Penn State’s dominant run duo, but he received the bulk of the work because he was reliable, hard-charging and productive. There’s not a lot of sizzle to Allen’s game, but he’s built like an 18-wheeler, and he has proven he can handle three-down workloads. Allen carried the ball 200+ times in back-to-back seasons, put up 1,100 rushing yards as a junior, 1,303 rushing yards as a senior, and posted double-digit touchdowns in both campaigns. Catching the football wasn’t a big part of his repertoire, but who knows what we might see given the chance?

The biggest reason I am bullish on his rookie stock is the landing spot. Washington is capable of being a high-octane offense, and it’s one that does rely on the run game. QB Jayden Daniels is maybe taking the torch as the NFL’s premier running QB, and that’s always a positive for RBs. Allen’s competition is Jacory Croskey-Merritt, a player who entered 2025 with a full head of steam only to recede into depth chart hell. Chris Rodriguez, a RB in a similar mold to Allen, albeit smaller, is out of the picture, and veteran Austin Ekeler will be returning from major injury and entering his age-31 season. The door is open for Allen, whose entire game is moving the chains and smoothly utilizing his blocks to maximize gains. Explosive plays aren’t his forte, nor does he show breakaway speed. He chews up yards, thrives on volume, and has landed with a team that has a need for that.

Skyler Bell, WR, Bills (Round 4, No. 125)

Bell isn’t the biggest or fastest guy around, nor does his draft stock indicate big plans for him. His Reception Perception breakdown does not really show a standout either. He was sub-40th percentile against both man (67%) and zone (77.2%) while also coming in very below average vs. press (60%, 29th percentile). And yet…this guy put up 101 receptions, 1,278 yards and 13 touchdowns at UConn. Those are difficult numbers to put up, especially in a popgun type of offense, so he has to command some respect. He has suddenness, which shows up in his 81% success rate on outs, and his 82.4% success rate on curls. He has deep speed, which hasn’t always resulted in success down the field, but makes defenders respect it when he snaps the routes off. It also helps him in the screen game, where he saw 9.4% of his routes go. Most importantly for Bell, is he’s landed on a Bills team with an elite QB running an offense that is dying for playmakers in the receiving game. Khalil Shakir is showing to be a slot-only type of player, and Bell’s versatility allows him to keep defenses guessing playing opposite new acquisition DJ Moore. With Moore frontlining the group, Shakir and Bell slide into place more clearly. Moore is going to lead this team in targets, and Shakir is expected to keep dominating the middle of the field and intermediate areas. Bell has shown he has the chops to do damage down the field, and if he pops there’s some Jordan Addison-esque potential. If we get that, great!

Omar Cooper Jr., WR, Jets (Round 1, No. 30)

Cooper is another player who has landed on a team crying out for playmakers in the receiving game. He was Fernando Mendoza’s top target on a title-winning Hoosiers team and posted a 690catch, 937-yard 13-touchdown campaign. Per Reception Perception, Cooper was good against man (60th percentile, 70.8%) and rock-solid against zone (78th percentile, 82.6%). With Garrett Wilson leading this Jets group, and Adonai Mitchell expected to play a role on the outside, Cooper made all the sense in the world since he spent nearly 80% of his snaps in the slot for Indiana. And while there, he excelled at all the things a slot needs to be good at. Cooper strafed defenses at a 95.2% clip on slants, which is bananas. He was at 80% on out routes, 83.3% when working the flats, and he even posted a 65.5% success rate on nines which made up 14% of his routes. The only area of real weakness in his game was against press, which can be schemed around easily.

Now, while he should see oodles of playing time for the Jets, this was also a pitiful pass offense in 2025. Addressing the QB issue with veteran Geno Smith may not inspire a ton of confidence, but from a passing perspective it’s an obvious upgrade from Justin Fields and Tyrod Taylor a year ago. Ultimately, the Jets offense, at best, would be middle of the pack. The likely outcome is a bottom-tier passing game once again, which lowers Cooper’s ceiling since he’ll be, at best, a No. 2 for Geno Smith in a low-scoring outfit. Still, there’s a lot of talent in him, his role is projectable, and he offers week-tilting upside because of his after-the-catch chops. He’d be a Top 10 rookie in an offense I had more faith in.

Fernando Mendoza, QB, Raiders (Round 1, No. 1)

I do not expect Mendoza to be very impactful outside of two-QB and SuperFlex leagues, but I can’t let the No. 1 overall pick go unaddressed. Mendoza’s success last season was unassailable; he threw for 3,535 yards, 41 touchdowns and only tossed six interceptions. He went undefeated, won a national championship, won the Heisman, and threw 27 red zone touchdowns without a pick. That’s special stuff. With that said, being an impact fantasy QB is a whole other ballgame from being an effective real-life one. Mendoza isn’t a big time rusher by any means, so he’s going to be scoring his points with his arm. For players like that, we want to see 4,000+ yards and 30+ touchdowns in order to compete with guys doing damage on the ground. Asking that of Mendoza in Year 1 with the Raiders is just asking for too much, especially when his primary options in the passing game are a TE (Brock Bowers) and a RB (Ashton Jeanty). Those are phenomenal players at their positions, but this isn’t a team built to win shootouts at the moment. I’d be excited about Mendoza if I was a SuperFlex dynasty manager, but other than that I see his 2026 ceiling as a streaming QB against very poor pass defenses.