Justin Boone's Fantasy Football Dynasty Mock Draft 2.0: Picks, analysis for all four rounds with 2026 NFL Draft a week away

Plenty of dynasty managers will prefer taking the real-life first overall pick Mendoza above some of the top receivers and perhaps even as early as 1.02. I don’t see Mendoza as a needle-mover for fantasy, but being attached to a Klint Kubiak offense will give him every chance to reach his ceiling.

With tight end premium scoring, Sadiq and Stowers could rise a spot or two above this in some drafts. While they both have the potential to become fantasy TE1s, be careful about overvaluing them — since they aren’t the same elite level prospects as we saw last year in Colston Loveland and Tyler Warren.

Though Washington snuck into the first round here, he’ll have to end up in a backfield with an open competition to justify the pick. The final couple selections in Round 1 are completely up for grabs with guys like Ty Simpson and Jonah Coleman also in the mix. Draft capital and landing spots will hopefully provide clarity in this range.

My pick: The top trio of receivers is set and when we find out where they’ll be playing this season, it will help us resolve the order they should be drafted in for dynasty leagues. While I like all three players, Lemon remains my favorite among that bunch. However, it wouldn't surprise me at all if he’s the third wideout off the board after NFL teams were apparently turned off by his attitude at the combine. If he does fall to the mid-first round or further, a smart team with a confident front office and coaching staff is going to get a steal.

Round 2

As I mentioned in the previous mock in March, Round 2 is going to vary wildly from draft-to-draft since there’s almost no consensus on the players going in that area.

I still prefer taking prospects like Singleton and Bell at the top of the round, because the right landing spots could vault them into late-first round status. Just know that both players are dealing with injuries that could impact how teams view them. Singleton broke a bone in his foot during Senior Bowl week, which has caused him to miss the rest of the pre-draft process. Meanwhile, Bell suffered a torn ACL in November that might cause him to miss a portion of his rookie campaign. Savvy dynasty managers should be willing to take the injury discount on both guys. If you’re picking late in Round 2, the receiver prospects are a much deeper group than the running backs and quarterbacks in 2026. That’s led me to focus my approach on Fields, Ted Hurst and Antonio Williams in the late second or early third. Unfortunately, the proven talent dries up earlier this year, so don’t expect as many meaningful fantasy stars to emerge from this point on in dynasty rookie drafts.

My pick: Singleton’s injury has prevented him from getting hyped up in the last few months before the draft. Thankfully, the late January injury comes with a four-month recovery and he’s already working his way back into football shape, which he recently discussed on Good Morning Football. So, all signs point to the 22-year-old being a full participant in training camp. Prior to the injury, Singleton made a strong case to be considered as a potential three-down starter in the pros — despite splitting the Penn State backfield with Kaytron Allen. Singleton combines fluid movement and good vision with serious burst through the line. His speed is more in the straight line variety, but he’s very quick once he gets going and can be a surprisingly explosive big-play threat for his size.

While Singleton is also a capable pass-catcher, he’s not as quick in short areas which makes him slightly less dynamic in the receiving game. There’s more than enough on tape to get excited about his outlook at the next level and once he’s healthy people are going to regret not talking about him more in the lead up to the draft.

Round 3

There are plenty of intriguing prospects left on the board when you get to the third round of dynasty rookie drafts, but remember that this class doesn’t have the depth that past groups enjoyed. The hit rate on third- and fourth-round picks in rookie drafts is already low and this year it will be even tougher to find fantasy starters in the late rounds.

That’s especially true at running back. In 2025, we saw 25 RBs get drafted and several deeper selections provided value throughout the season like Kyle Monangai, Jacory Croskey-Merritt and Woody Marks to name a few. I’m not expecting the 2026 group to have anywhere near the same kind of impact from the late rounds. So consider that before you get overly excited about any of the Day 3 backs.

One position that does have some depth is tight end. After the clear top two at the position in Sadiq and Stowers, there are 6-8 TEs with a legitimate chance to become NFL starters at some point in their careers. Once you reach the third and fourth rounds of your rookie drafts, keep tight ends like Delp and Joly (who were selected in this frame) in mind, as well as Joe Royer, Jack Endries and Sam Roush. I’ll even be rostering Tanner Koziol and Eli Raridon in deeper leagues, though they might be post-draft waiver adds in dynasty.

My pick: I wrote about Williams as one of my favorite sleeper prospects, so it should be no surprise to see me taking him near the top of Round 3. While Williams will be a contributor in the pros, whether he can parlay that into fantasy starter status remains to be seen.

The 21-year-old (turns 22 in July) does his best work out of the slot, but he’s more than capable of lining up outside as well. He’s a strong route runner with reliable hands and plenty of short-area quickness, who offers surprising contested-catch ability given his size (6-foot, 187 pounds).

While generating extra yards with the ball in his hands is a regular occurrence, his 4.41-second 40-yard dash at the combine shows he has the speed to threaten downfield. If Williams hears his name called on Day 2 of the draft — which should happen — he’ll be a Round 2 value in dynasty rookie drafts.

Round 4

Fourth-round picks in dynasty rookie drafts should be all about chasing ceiling outcomes. If you’re taking a prospect in this range, they need to give you some indication of being a future playmaker at the next level. Otherwise, they’re likely going to become a roster clogger for the next couple seasons, while you hold out hope that you can still look smart for drafting them late.

The players that fit my upside criteria who were taken in this round are tight ends Royer, Endries and Roush, the lone QB Payton, the long-shot RB Heidenreich and my pick Stribling.

My pick: Normally this would be the part of the draft where I loaded up on running backs who might be able to work their way up a depth chart and, at worst, become a one-injury away backup. Sadly, we don’t have as many of those in this class, so I’m looking elsewhere at a dart-throw receiver prospect in Stribling.

The 23-year-old (turns 24 in December) has great size-speed combo at 6-foot-2, 207 pounds with the wheels to challenge defenders downfield and the ball tracking ability to make them pay. He’s also a hard worker, especially when it comes to run blocking, which should entice plenty of NFL coaches and decision-makers.

As an older prospect, Stribling will need to carve out a starting role sooner rather than later to warrant maintaining a spot on your dynasty roster. But we should see him drafted late Day 2 or early Day 3, giving him enough draft capital to have a genuine chance to compete right away.