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PodcastFrom Fantasy Football Counselor

WIN BIG in 2026: The Top 5 Fantasy Football Draft Strategies You Need to Know!

STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.

9 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Aug 23, 2026
Published
Sun, August 23, 2026
15
Player insights
15
Players mentioned
Topics
CeeDee LambD'Andre SwiftDavid MontgomeryEmeka EgbukaGeorge PickensJahmyr GibbsJames CookJavonte WilliamsLadd McConkeyMalachi FieldsMike Washington Jr.Odell BeckhamTee HigginsWoody Marks
Player analysis

Player insights

15

CeeDee Lamb

NegativeProjection6:48

CeeDee Lamb is a candidate for regression after being banged up last season; he is unlikely to repeat his previous performance level.

Insight page

D'Andre Swift

NegativeBust11:48

DeAndre Swift is categorized as a question mark and a player to avoid compared to early-round workhorse options, as he falls into the post-round-five running back cliff.

Insight page

David Montgomery

NegativeUsage12:00

David Montgomery is a viable running back option, but his workload may be impacted by Woody Marks, making him less of a lock than early-round targets.

Insight page

Emeka Egbuka

PositiveBreakout2:32

Emeka Egbuka is viewed as far superior to Tee Higgins and is projected to have a much better season, making him a priority target over Higgins despite current ADP trends.

Insight page

George Pickens

NegativeBust3:20

George Pickens is a bust candidate who is being drafted too high relative to players like Ladd McConkey; he is coming off an 'astronomical pinnacle year' and is likely to decline.

Insight page

Jahmyr Gibbs

PositiveProjection6:38

Jahmyr Gibbs is trending upwards and is projected to have a better year than his previous season, provided he remains healthy.

Insight page

James Cook

PositiveUsage10:40

James Cook is a recommended early-round target to anchor a roster as part of a robust running back strategy.

Insight page

Javonte Williams

PositiveUsage10:40

Javonte Williams is a recommended early-round target to anchor a roster as part of a robust running back strategy.

Insight page

Ladd McConkey

PositiveBreakout3:20

Ladd McConkey is expected to supersede George Pickens this season, making him a better value pick given his current draft position relative to Pickens.

Insight page

Malachi Fields

PositiveSleeper2:04

Malachi Fields is identified as a player experiencing a mini breakout who is currently ranked too low by consensus; drafters should target him a few rounds earlier than his ADP suggests.

Insight page

Mike Washington Jr.

PositiveSleeper11:40

Mike Washington is a late-round sleeper target who serves as a 'cherry on top' after securing core running backs early in the draft.

Insight page

Odell Beckham

NegativeBust3:42

Odell Beckham Jr. should be avoided in drafts; his popularity and occasional preseason highlights are not indicators of future fantasy production.

Insight page

Tee Higgins

NegativeBust2:32

Tee Higgins is considered a bust candidate because he is being drafted ahead of Emeka Egbuka, despite being a wide receiver two on his team; he is expected to be outperformed by Egbuka.

Insight page

Woody Marks

PositiveUsage12:00

Woody Marks is expected to cut into David Montgomery's workload, suggesting he may have a role in the backfield.

Insight page

Zachariah Branch

PositiveSleeper7:10

Zachariah Branch is a high-upside target who is currently buried in consensus rankings (WR100+) despite being listed as a WR2 on his team's depth chart.

Insight page
Full transcript

Episode Transcript

140
0:00Listen, I know a lot of you guys are drafting today, this weekend, this upcoming week.
0:04I'm going to give you guys five tips to crush your fantasy football draft right now.
0:08At the end, I'm going to share with you the number one strategy to win your leagues for this year.
0:14I'm ready to dive in, not messing around today.
0:16Make sure you guys do grab 16 rounds though, because I'm going to give you guys all the optimal players drafting each round.
0:22Grab 16 rounds, I've linked it below. Sleepers, breakouts, optimal players.
0:25Do not draft without 16 rounds. You will be well behind.
0:28They can sheep just in your league. Make sure you guys grab 16 rounds.
0:31I've linked it below, okay? I'm ready to dive in.
0:34Oh, also, Underdog. I've teamed up with Underdog. You get to draft with me every night at 9pm.
0:39You have an opportunity to do that. Create an account with Underdog below.
0:42Use code LION right now. Amazing company, amazing place to play fantasy football, basketball, everything.
0:46And you can play in season. We can win a lot together.
0:49Underdog right now. There it is, guys, right there.
0:51I've linked it below. Use code LION and get in right now.
0:55Create an account, put down a deposit, and I'm going to be on here.
0:58Turn on notifications on YouTube. 9 o'clock, we start rolling, okay?
1:0116 rounds, Underdog. Go create the accounts, and we're going to get rocking, all right?
1:05Everything that's going to benefit you guys. I create stuff that's going to actually help you guys, give you guys an edge.
1:11That's what I'm here about, okay? Let's talk about these five tips.
1:14Tip number one, all right? This is the biggest one you need to follow and listen to.
1:18I'm going to keep hammering it out in this video.
1:21As you're going through your draft, do not follow ADP consensus.
1:24Example, there's a lot of guys that have kind of had mini breakouts.
1:27Malachi Fields, John Striebling, stuff like that. They're going to be ranked very low, okay?
1:31What you need to do is to pick them up a few rounds earlier.
1:35Again, in the 16-round drafts, I lay out exactly who to draft, when to draft them, so you guys are aware, right?
1:40And which sleepers to target particularly. So what you got to do is not follow the consensus, all right?
1:45There's going to be a bunch of players also that are going to be coming off before players that are going to actually do better than them.
1:52Example, Tee Higgins is coming off ahead of Emika Ibuka.
1:55Emika Ibuka is far superior. I think he's going to have a much better year.
1:59That's just one example, okay? George Pickens coming off way ahead of Lad McConkie and other guys that are going to definitely supersede him this year.
2:06You got to be able to see that who's going to bust and who's going to emerge.
2:10So again, drafting on ADP will not help you, okay?
2:13This is very, very important, all right? Now, at the end, the last tip is going to be part of the whole
2:18number one draft strategy for this year, okay? Number two, Don't just buy into big names because they're popular.
2:23Odell Beckham Jr. is back. I got to draft him.
2:26I just saw him make a nice juke move in preseason.
2:29I'm like, okay, well, I don't care. Like, I'm not drafting Odell.
2:32Sometimes people buy that name player hype and then they get completely screwed, okay?
2:36Don't buy into player name hype and older players just because of popularity.
2:39Popularity will not win your fantasy football league. You need to grab who is going to emerge and who's ultra talented, okay?
2:45It's not a popularity contest. It is a person that's going to produce on my team contest, okay?
2:50That is very, very important. So, so many people just buy the hype.
2:53Don't buy the hype. Also, part of that is don't buy the recency bias, okay?
2:57Which leads to tip number three. Don't copy and paste.
2:59So, we talked about don't buy the name, right?
3:02Don't buy the hype of the name, but also don't copy and paste based on recency bias.
3:06Everything is so predicated in the fantasy football when they give out advice that Ken Sheep's is based on recency bias, okay?
3:12Oh, he did well last year. He's going to do well this year.
3:15Not how you're going to win your leagues, okay?
3:18It's just not how you're going to win your leagues.
3:20Last year does not equal this year. There should be a math equation that says this does not, remember the whole equals
3:26and then a line through it, does not equal that.
3:29And that is actually exactly what I talked about.
3:31Last year does not equal this year. Remember last year, Brian Thomas Jr., Ladman Conkey Field, everybody told you to draft around one and two.
3:37They didn't do that because the year before, everyone wanted you to draft, like, I mean, that's the year they crushed you.
3:43I was telling you to draft them the year they crushed it.
3:46Then last year, everyone was on them and then, you know, they failed.
3:50You guys get what I'm saying, right? This year, last year does not equal this year.
3:54Very simple formula. I mean, it's a good, like, don't, some of them do well, right?
3:58Like, example, I think guys like Jameer Gibbs, I think he only has a better year.
4:02He's trending upwards, barring any injury, right? But a lot of scenarios, you got to look like George Pickens, astronomical pinnacle year.
4:08C.E. Lamb was banged up multiple games. He's never had a year like that.
4:12It's very likely he's going to decline. So it's about seeing what goes up and what goes down and just not copying and pasting, okay?
4:18So just use it as a guideline, but don't take it, you know, exactly how it seems, okay?
4:23Based on consensus rankings, okay? Which is the first point.
4:25All right, tip number four here, aim high on the depth chart.
4:29You know, I'll give you another example here. Zachariah Branch listed as a wide receiver too.
4:33He's like wide receiver 100 or something like that.
4:35He's way down there, right? Aim high on the depth chart.
4:38Like, if I'd rather get him, then get all these wide receiver threes ranked ahead of him just because they've been, you know, second or third year players.
4:45Rookies tend to get, you know, pushed down on the consensus rankings simply because they've never played.
4:50But they're high on the depth chart. There's a chance they can emerge.
4:53So always look at who's high on the depth chart, especially early on.
4:57I keep talking about this example, but George Pickens and Tee Higgins are wide receiver twos on the team.
5:01I'm not going to be drafting those guys in round two and three because they're the two on the team.
5:07I'm aiming high on the depth chart. That's why I said Amika and Ladd, I like better than them and they come off later.
5:13Do you understand? So it's about thinking outside the box and saying, okay, this depth chart doesn't make sense.
5:18Why would I draft a wide receiver two in the early round?
5:21It doesn't make sense, guys. Start thinking. Use logic.
5:23This guy's going to be in line for more volume.
5:26What happened last year? It's about figuring it out.
5:28And when I lay out 16 rounds, I'm doing all this work for you.
5:32So make sure you do grab that. Again, once you grab 16 rounds, you'll never look back.
5:36Like, oh my God, like this totally makes sense.
5:39Why don't I, why don't I, why don't I use that as part of my strategy?
5:43Why am I not thinking outside the box? Why am I drafting based on consensus?
5:47Why am I drafting on popularity? Why am I not aiming high on the depth chart?
5:51Right? That's what's happening. That's how people lose their leagues.
5:54Okay. I got, I've been doing this for over 10 years, man.
5:57I know what's up. I know exactly how this system works.
6:00I know exactly what people do to get clicks.
6:02It's not, it's not how you're going to win your leagues.
6:05I'm actually here because I practically want you guys to win your leagues.
6:08Practical advice. Okay. And the last tip, which ties into the number one draft strategy, which I promise I share with you is robust RB.
6:15Go running backs early. So what, what is the number one strategy tie to going running back early?
6:19This particular year, I've done a thousand mock drafts, literally a lot.
6:23And I laid out 16 rounds and I've been talking to people and I look at the rankings.
6:27I do the research and the way to win this year again is to go with that core four, core three running
6:33back strategy, which is perfectly laid out and exactly who to draft in 16 rounds.
6:37But let me give you an idea of what I mean.
6:40So round one and two, I'm going, let's say, you know, Omari and Hampton and James Cook or Omari and Hampton, Javante Williams, something like that.
6:47Right. And then I'm plugging in an ace wide receiver example of Mika, and then I'm going running back, running back.
6:52So what I'm doing is because there's a huge fall off of running backs after round five.
6:56Now, again, I've talked about this. There's a ton of guys that could break out, which I love guys like Mike Washington.
7:02You can get later, right? Guys like that. But what I'm saying is after like the Darian price, you're looking at like
7:08the Deandre Swifts of the world, guys that like are Kyle Manon gig, guys that are just kind of like there, but are really question marks.
7:15You're going to lose your workhorse running backs significantly because there is a couple of guys you can get guys like Dave Montgomery.
7:21But I think Woody Marks is going to dip into that a little bit.
7:24But you're going to basically fall right off the cliff after round five at running back.
7:29So what I'm saying is you can still get those guys in rounds three to four, those running backs there, but you
7:34want the guys around one and two as well.
7:37Does that make sense? So you've got like a core four and then you've got the most scarce position and you don't
7:42have to worry about running backs pretty much later.
7:45You can just get the other guys or cherries on top.
7:48The Mike Washington's, the other sleepers I mentioned in 60 rounds.
7:50Those are all cherries on top, but you guys will be set at the most scarce position.
7:55And believe me, there's a ton of wide receivers you can get later, all laid out in 16 rounds.
8:00All the sleepers, I lay that out for you guys.
8:02And you can build on top of the core four.
8:05That is how you're going to win this year.
8:07If you go wide receiver, wide receiver, you get those two running backs, kind of those mid-tier guys, those round four or
8:13five guys, but those guys are still question marks.
8:16Then you're kind of, you know, one of them goes down.
8:18It's a high injury position. The running back position, then it's like, what do I do now?
8:23Then you're scrambling, right? Looking for trades or scrambling on the waiver wire, hoping for something.
8:27You don't want to be that. You want to have a backup plan for a backup plan, which is another bonus tip for you.
8:33Belt and suspenders when it comes to fantasy. Two quarterback league have three quarterback.
8:37One quarterback league have two quarterbacks. If it's a two starting running back league, I'd like to, you know, someone asked me in a private coaching call.
8:44How many running backs do you have? You know, if it's a two running back league, I have like six, you know,
8:50like a backup plan for a backup plan for a backup plan.
8:53And if you're a commissioner of the league or ask the commissioner, say, I want more bench spots because that's going to be an advantage to you guys.
9:00Some people have six bench spots. That's okay. I'd like to have even more, but six, you'll be able to be fine with tons of depth as well.
9:07All right. So that's it for you guys. Go out there, crush your league, subscribe, thumbs up, create an underdog account.
9:13Do not drive for those 16 rounds. You will be left in the dark.
9:17All right. I'm telling you guys, grab it. And hopefully this helps you.
9:20I know this helped me. This is how I built my foundation, how I win my leagues.
9:24Think outside the box. Be practical. Go crush your leagues.
9:27Lion mentality. Let's see.

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