Fantasy Football 2026 Rookie Rankings: Nos. 10-6

It’s time to get into the Top 10 rookies for this upcoming fantasy season, which is not the same as ranking dynasty rookies. The Top 10 – and today we’ll look at Nos. 10-6 – are how I believe they will impact fantasy teams in 2026 redraft formats. For the Honorable Mentions, click here. Otherwise, let’s get started.

10. Eli Stowers. TE, Eagles (Round 2, No. 54)

Stowers is a hyper athletic pass catching TE out of Vanderbilt who put up pretty impressive numbers for the position. A fifth-year player, Stowers put up 62 receptions, 769 yards and four touchdowns last season. While he’s not someone who figures to be on the field at all times for the Eagles due to a lack of blocking prowess, he’s a matchup nightmare at 6’4 and nearly 240 lbs. while running a 4.51 40-yard dash. A look at his highlight reel tells you all you need to know about the impact he’s able to make.

Stowers is monstrous down the field because he is simply too big and fast for linebackers and safeties to cover, but he’s also technically sound enough to be credible when lined up as a jumbo WR, as evidenced by his high success rates on outs (79%), digs (78.6% and slants (71.4%). Had he landed in a spot where his services were more necessary, he’d find himself higher on this list. As it stands, the Eagles are a fine landing spot as they’re capable of being a high-scoring offense, but it’s unlikely he’s a priority target. The Eagles invested in WR Makai Lemon in this draft, have DeVonta Smith emerging as a true No. 1 option, already have a stellar TE in Dallas Goedert, and, as of this writing, still roster A.J. Brown. And I haven’t mentioned superstar Saquon Barkley.

Now, the Eagles offense is about to undergo changes, and an injury to Goedert could propel Stowers into a big role. His talent is such that he could be a bona fide weekly start at TE this year. But without an offseason injury to Goedert, it’d be difficult to draft him as anything more than a lottery ticket at the position with a higher-than-usual ceiling.

9. Demond Claiborne, RB, Vikings (Round 6, No. 198)

I had a sixth-rounder on the Honorable Mentions list (Kaytron Allen from Penn State), and noted how rare it is for such late-round guys to be impact players. Now Claiborne has cracked the Top 10! Part of this is that every season rookie RBs make splashes, and this year’s crop of rookie RBs, aside from Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love, are not super highly touted. However, if you look at Claiborne’s tape, this guy can be electric and I do believe he was underdrafted.

He’s not the biggest back, but he proved he can handle workhorse usage at Wake Forest, logging 228 carries as a junior and 179 last season. He was over 1,000 yards from scrimmage in each of the last two seasons, and caught 20+ passes in each of them, lending credence to the idea that he can stay on the field if he took over a backfield. Opportunity matters too, and he could find it in Minnesota. Aaron Jones is the clear leader when healthy, but “when healthy” does a lot of work. Jones is frequently nicked up, and he’s going to turn 32 during the year. That’s well past the sell by date for most RBs, and the man behind him, Jordan Mason is a one-dimensional early down type. Claiborne can do it all, can tilt field position with big plays, and had his most efficient season last year at 5.1 yards per carry. He needs opportunity, but the path to that opportunity is pretty clear. He’ll likely cost very little on Draft Day, and might pay major dividends if you have patience.

8. Nick Singleton, RB, Titans (Round 5, No. 165)

Singleton, Kaytron Allen’s backfield mate at Penn State, never quite lived up to the hype of his freshman season. Singleton has much more of the traits you want from a superstar rusher than Allen did, but continued to be second fiddle because Allen did a lot of the little things better and more reliably. But…the physical ability Singleton has is jaw dropping. Despite carrying the ball just 123 times last year, Singleton notched 13 rushing touchdowns, and also caught 24 passes for 219 yards and an additional score. As a junior, Singleton caught 41 passes for 375 yards and five touchdowns. There are questions about his instincts, his ability to make the most of what’s blocked, and his fundamentals. There’s no question that when Singleton hits a hole at full speed with a little space he’s a threat to house it.

This type of profile is a little Miles Sanders-ish, especially as a Nittany Lion prospect. That’s frightening yes, but let’s recall that Sanders has a 1,300+-yard, 11-touchdowns season on his resume. The Titans are a team that does have an established vet – Tony Pollard – who figures to lead the backfield, as well as a talented RB2 in Tyjae Spears, who, at minimum, could monopolize passing downs. The path to playing time for Singleton isn’t exactly clear, but Spears has never shown he can lead a backfield, and Pollard isn’t so entrenched that a possible stud can’t displace him. I do like Pollard, but I can see Singleton’s athleticism forcing the Titans’ hand and at least giving him a role. With his jets, Singleton wouldn’t need big volume to be a fantasy-relevant player. 10-12 touches will do.

7. Chris Bell, WR, Dolphins (Round 3, No. 94)

Bell is coming off a major knee injury, but is expected to be ready for the 2026 season. The Dolphins hope so, because their skill position cupboard is barren after letting Tyreek Hill leave, and trading Jaylen Waddle. Opportunity is king in fantasy, and there is a LOT of opportunity for a Dolphins receiver to be the alpha. Bell, at 6’2, 222 lbs. with a 64.4% success rate on nines in 2025 seems like a player whom Miami will try to funnel the rock to as they begin a complete rebuild.

Bell’s ability to win deep down the field will be crucial for new QB Malik Willis, who isn’t exactly the most polished passer, but can gun it deep. Miami is going to run the ball a lot, but Bell is also dominant on slants, which will help Miami keep the chains moving. His 81.1% success rate on slants is through the roof, and defenses knew it was coming too as they made up nearly 30% of his routes. Bell’s route tree will definitely need to grow if he’s going to be an upper tier fantasy option, but as it stands now I’m expecting a big piece of the passing pie to belong to him strictly due to a lack of quality options on the roster. He’s flawed for sure; his curl and dig route success came in below average, and nearly half his routes were slants or nines. But he can definitely rack up lots of yards without a lot of catches, and as the season progresses he may wind up being a fun, if high-variance FLEX type option.

6. Kenyon Sadiq, TE, Jets (Round 1, No. 16)

This pick makes me slightly queasy, as I don’t typically love rating rookie TEs so highly, and I’m not convinced that Sadiq is an equal talent to Tyler Warren or Colston Loveland last year. With that said, Sadiq does have the potential to be a fantasy monster, even if his real-life game is flawed. He’s a freak for starters, who looks like he was carved out of granite and runs a 4.39 40 yard dash. A quick look at his highlights, and that speed becomes very evident. This isn’t a guy who runs fast in shorts, and the speed doesn’t translate.

Sadiq was mostly used on shorter and intermediate routes, frequently running curls, digs and routes to the flats. While his dig routes weren’t great – 63.3% success – he was a monster on the curls (94.6% success). His speed is so terrifying that teams were helpless when he decided to curl back, and that is going to be important for the Jets with an accurate QB like Geno Smith now under center. Unlike last season, when nobody knew where Justin Fields’ passes would land, Smith is a pretty accurate player. He’ll be able to utilize Sadiq on those curls, as well as lead Sadiq on manufactured touches to get him in space where he can be lethal against smaller secondary tacklers. If schemed correctly, Sadiq is a good bet for a handful of catches per game with the upside of week-winning long scores. The reason he’s not higher, is that for all this physical ability, he hasn’t really shown route running chops the way other TEs in this class, and elite TEs of past classes have. Couple that with an offense that’s likely to be near the bottom in scoring, and he just misses the Top 5 cut. Still, in keeper or dynasty leagues, Sadiq’s freak speed at this size is something to target. He very well could develop into a Top 5 fantasy TE, I just believe it won’t happen in 2026.