16 teams, 23-round snake from the 12 hole, two starting QBs, full PPR, 6-point passing touchdowns, and cumulative yardage bonus ladders at every position. Translation: volume is king, ceilings get paid, and there is no such thing as waiting on quarterback in this league — 32 of them start every week and the startable pool runs about 50 deep.
Workhorse RBs are the currency. 0.1/yard plus a bonus ladder that stacks: a 200-yard rushing game pays 20 + 6 in bonuses before a single touchdown or catch. Full PPR on top means pass-catching backs (and G5 volume monsters) are the first round of this draft — the June best-ball board had 9 RBs and 3 WRs in round 1, and one QB: Brad Jackson.
Elite QBs are weekly nukes. 6-pt passing TDs, 0.05/yard, and passing bonuses from 300 yards up. Dual threats double-dip the rushing ladder — a 100-yard rushing QB banks the same bonuses an RB does. Jackson, Manning, Chambliss, Dampier and the T2 group are 30-40 point weeks waiting to happen. The tax: -3 per INT and -0.25 per sack. Caden Veltkamp led FBS in attempts but threw 17 picks — that's ~51 points of giveback. Prefer clean dual-threats over pure gunslingers.
50+ yard TD bonuses (+3) quietly boost big-play profiles: speed backs like Isaac Brown and Dierre Hill, vertical WRs, and the FCS-schedule smashers.
Kickers actually score here (distance-tiered up to 6 for a 60-yarder) but they're still kickers. One K, drafted late, from a high-scoring offense that stalls in the red zone.
DST is bracket scoring (points + yards allowed, +5 win / -3 loss). Elite defenses with cupcake schedules (Ohio State, Michigan, ND, Texas, Texas Tech, Indiana) are set-and-forget; everything else is streamable — the streaming menu below covers weeks 1–4.
| Picks | The plan |
|---|---|
| R1 (12) · R2 (21) | Back end of Tier 1 meets you at 12: whichever of Lacy / Hawkins / J. Smith / Toney / Messer / Raymond / Baugh / Bishop is left, or Brad Jackson if you want the QB1 overall and his Pac-12 cupcake tour (93 avg opponent rank, weeks 1–4). At 21, take the best T1/T2 RB or WR standing. One RB + one elite pass-catcher is the clean opening; RB-RB is fine too — WR runs 190 deep here. |
| R3 (44) · R4 (53) | The 23-pick wait to 44 will erase a tier — draft ahead of the run, not behind it. This is the QB window: Chambliss, Dampier, Demond Williams, KaMario Taylor, Mestemaker, Leavitt types. Leave R4 with at least one QB plus your third RB/WR anchor. |
| R5 (76) · R6 (85) | QB2 by the end of this turn — do not exit R6 with fewer than two. The Szarka / Minicucci / Creel / Mateer / Weigman band is the value shelf. If TE1 Trey'Dez Green or Jamari Johnson somehow lasts to 76, that's a positional cheat code (1 TE start + flex eligibility). |
| R7 (108) – R10 (149) | Volume WRs and RB depth. Chase the flags: Jamal Roberts (Hardy out for the opener — Roberts is the Mizzou backfield early), Avery Johnson, Kevin Jennings (QB3 with starter upside), DeJuan Williams (Maryland's first four: Hampton, UConn, VaTech, UCLA). TE1 from the Carter / Vonnahme / Wade shelf if you didn't get Green/Johnson. |
| R11 (172) – R15 (236) | Sleeper harvest — the SL chips on the board: Pendergrass, Valentine, Quinton Jackson, Hiter, Pettaway, Eager, Reed Harris, Yamir Knight, Lotzeir Brooks. QB3 here (Russell was just named the Alabama starter; Heintschel's schedule is soft until late October). One elite DST if OSU/Michigan/ND fell through the room's cracks. |
| R16 (245) – R19 (309) | TE2, K1, DST1 if you punted, plus bye-week QB cover. Kicker: take from the sheet's top tier (Carneiro, Radicic, Sandell) — this scoring makes a good K worth ~8-10 ppg. |
| R20 (332) – R23 (364) | Lottery tickets only. Backup RBs one injury from 20 touches (Hiter, Khobie Martin, Keyjuan Brown types), true-freshman WRs, a second DST for the week-1 cupcake if you're streaming. Nobody safe scores here — draft ceilings. |
Target shape: 3 QB · 6 RB · 7 WR · 2 TE · 1 K · 2 DST (+2 wherever the value fell). Actives are 2 QB / 2 RB / 3 WR / 1 TE / 2 flex / 1 K / 1 DST. Position caps: 5 QB, 10 RB, 10 WR, 3 TE, 4 K, 4 DST. Watch the QB byes — most SEC/B1G byes cluster weeks 5–9, and the sidebar will yell at you if your two QBs share one.
| Player | Situation |
|---|---|
| Ahmad Hardy, RB Mizzou | Out for the opener at minimum, still recovering after being shot at a concert in May. Guide ranks him RB-early but fade at cost — and bump Jamal Roberts hard. |
| Keelon Russell, QB Alabama | Named the starter 8/22 over Austin Mack. Former 5-star with rushing juice — legit QB3 target. |
| Sam Leavitt, QB LSU | Kiffin says full strength. Lisfranc fully behind him; draft with confidence in the R4–5 QB window. |
| Will Hammond, QB Texas Tech | ACL rehab — Week 1 starter if cleared. Fine as a QB3, not as your QB2. |
Returning O-line snaps worth knowing before you pay up: Oklahoma State 9% (Caleb Hawkins tax), Auburn 6% (Byrum Brown), Florida State 6%, Kentucky 2%, Iowa State 2%. On the flip side: Stanford 84%, Ohio State 82%, Virginia Tech 80%, USC 79%, Tennessee 74% — DeSean Bishop runs behind a real wall.
| Week | Stream candidates (vs. overmatched opponent) |
|---|---|
| Wk 1 | Missouri (Ark-Pine Bluff) · UCF (Bethune-Cookman) · Minnesota (E. Illinois) · Rutgers (UMass) · Kansas (Long Island) · Arkansas (N. Alabama) · Miss St (ULM) · K-State (Nicholls) · Arizona St (Morgan St) · Va Tech (VMI) · Maryland (Hampton) · Army (Bryant) · Air Force (Duquesne) · La Tech (NW State) |
| Wk 2 | Virginia (Norfolk St) · South Carolina (Towson) · Baylor (Prairie View) · Colorado (Weber St) · Cincinnati (W. Carolina) · Houston (Southern) · TCU (Grambling) · SMU (UC Davis) · Wisconsin (W. Illinois) · JMU (Wagner) |
| Wk 3 | Tennessee (Kennesaw St) · Oklahoma St (Murray St) · Boston College (Maine) · Cal (Wagner) · Illinois (S. Illinois) · Minnesota (Akron) · Washington (E. Washington) · Wash St (Duquesne) |
| Wk 4 | Florida St (C. Arkansas) · Duke (William & Mary) · Rutgers (Howard) · Missouri (C. Arkansas) |
Tabs by position; tiers are the draft's real structure — when a tier is about to die (the sidebar counts survivors), jump it. ✓ marks a player taken by anyone; ★ drafts him to your team (and auto-marks him taken). Search hits every position at once. The heat strip is weeks 1–13: green = soft opponent defense (per theCFFsite + SP+), red = tough, grey = bye. Wk 1–4 number = average opponent defensive rank early — higher is softer, and 100+ with green cells is a fast-start schedule. Marks persist in this browser between sessions. Sources: theCFFsite 2026 Draft Guide (updated 8/23) + Mike's rankings v1.03 + late-breaking news through 8/24.