ASK THE EXPERTS appears weekly from training camp through the Super Bowl with answers to a new question being posted Thursday morning. How the guest experts responded when we asked them: What highly regarded player are you choosing not to draft?
HOWARD BENDER
Every draft, I find myself skipping over Dolphins RB De'Von Achane. I know he's super-talented and the offensive scheme remains the same under OC Bobby Slowik, but there just aren't enough pieces in this offense to have me thinking opposing defensive coordinators won't simply focus on stopping Achane and adding a spy on Malik Willis. Achane may see a ton of touches, but how effective will he be against a stacked box every time? It's not like Willis' passing is going to keep the defense honest, is it?
Bender is a highly respected veteran of the fantasy sports and sports betting industry, serving as the Head of Content for Fantasy Alarm. Bender writes a weekly sports column for the New York Post and hosts The Fantasy Alarm Show on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (airing Monday–Friday 6:00–8:00 PM ET and Sundays 10:00–11:00 AM ET). You can connect with him on X, Instagram, and Facebook @rotobuzzguy, and on TikTok @therealrotobuzzguy.
LUKE WILSON
Christian McCaffrey is the easy answer, so I'll leave that one for others. I'll say it: Omarion Hampton in the top 18 just doesn't feel right to me. Routinely coming off the board as the 10th-12th running back selected, Hampton is always the first one being drafted with real, significant committee questions hanging over his outlook. One of the first things Mike McDaniel did after taking this job was to send away in the mail for an Achane simulacrum, and in Keaton Mitchell he certainly looks to have a passable knock-off. Kimani Vidal also showed a lot of heart filling in for Hampton and Najee Harris last year. Hampton's big and powerful, sure, but does McDaniel value that as much as did Greg Roman? This is obviously an offense that's easy to be excited about and they didn't use a first round pick on Hampton for him to read the phone book, but the risk of L.A's other running backs peeling off enough work to eat into Hampton's bottom line is enough for me to opt for alternatives at this price point every single time.
Wilson is a writer and contributor to both Fantasy Football Index magazine and website www.fantasyindex.com, currently answering weekly questions while running the Fantasy Index Mailbag.
JASON WOOD
Jeremiyah Love. His talent is unquestioned but the team construct is abysmal. An already below average offensive line has endured injuries this preseason, Love himself is banged up, and LaFleur/Hackett is a coaching combination I have no faith in.
Wood is Senior Editor at Footballguys.com and has been with the company since its start in 2000. For more than 20 years, Footballguys has provided rankings, projections, and analysis to help fantasy managers dominate their leagues.
SAM HENDRICKS
First of all, everyone is a value play at a certain draft spot. I.e if they fall enough in the draft, everyone is on the table but.....I am in over 100 drafts so far this season (most Best Ball) and I do not think I have drafted Jeremiyah Love once. Why? He is a high ranked rookie RB (before his injury he was RB5...). Rookie RBs often underwhelm for various reasons. Unable to pass block, hit a wall, injured etc. And he landed on a Cardinal team in disarray. And AZ has a few RB options in new hire Tyler Allgeier and leftover RB James Conner. Throw in an injury - a high ankle sprain arggggggggg. Not touching this high ranked, highly regarded rookie this year.
Hendricks is the author of Fantasy Football Guidebook, Fantasy Football Tips and Fantasy Football Basics, all available at ExtraPointPress.com, at all major bookstores, and at Amazon and BN.com. He is a 30-year fantasy football veteran who participated in the National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) and finished 7th and 16th overall in the 2008 and 2009 Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC). He won the Fantasy Index Open in 2013 and 2018.
TOM KESSENICH
I don't have a Do Not Draft list. Every player has a value at some point in every draft. But the one player I absolutely will not touch at his current ADP is Christian McCaffrey. There's no denying his upside, but the clear decline in rushing efficiency we saw last season combined with the historical context of RBs who decline in production the year after receiving 400+ touches is enough to keep me from drafting him as a Top 10 pick. There is simply too much risk - especially when there is so much talent available that comes with less risk in my opinion. I understand who he is and what he can do but I'm not tempting fate with CMC in 2026.
Kessenich is the Director of High Stakes Contests for SportsHub Games. He runs the NFFC, NFBC and NFBKC and is a fantasy sports Hall of Fame inductee.
IAN ALLAN
I'm not a big Jaylen Waddle fan. I understand that he had three 1,000-yard seasons in Miami, with 104 catches as a rookie. But I don't think he's going to see the kind of usage that his ADP suggests. The Broncos have four other decent receivers that will be on the field plenty, I believe. Courtland Sutton hasn't fallen off at all; he's good on contested catches. Their youngsters, Troy Franklin and especially Pat Bryant, look ready to play more. And I'm sure Marvin Mims will still be mixed in. And they've got a modest QB running the whole thing. Very confident that Waddle will be falling short of statistical expectations. And I will give an honorable mention to players on the Falcons and Saints; I don't think those offenses are going to be as productive as what the market seems to suggest.
Allan co-founded Fantasy Football Index in 1987. He is a member of the FSGA Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame and the Fantasy Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame.
MICHAEL NAZAREK
Lions WR Jameson Williams is a great talent, but assuming both St. Brown and LaPorta are healthy, he will be one of the most inconsistent producers for fantasy in 2026. I hate inconsistency. As a result, it's highly unlikely that I draft him at his current ADP.
Nazarek is the CEO of Fantasy Football Mastermind Inc, celebrating 30 years online! His company offers a preseason draft guide, customizable cheat sheets, a multi-use fantasy drafting program including auction values, weekly in-season newsletters, injury reports and free NFL news (updated daily) at its website, www.ffmastermind.com. He has been playing fantasy football since 1988 and is a four-peat champion of the SI.com Experts Fantasy League, a nationally published writer in several fantasy magazines and a former columnist for SI.com. He's also won more than $40K in recent seasons of the FFPC High Stakes Main Event. Nazarek can be reached via email at miken@ffmastermind.com.
SCOTT SACHS
The consensus No. 2 overall pick in fantasy football seems to be Bijan Robinson, the Falcons star running back. He's just 24 and already has 3910 rushing yards, 34 total TDs, and is a very good receiver out of the backfield. While poised for another big year, Bijan is not a target for me. While Cleveland has the most chaotic QB situation, Atlanta is next. Tua Tagovailoa hasn't exactly seized the QB1 role. That's why they're rushing Penix back to be ready for the season opener. So, with an unsettled QB room, a shaky offensive line, plus the historically questionable play calling of Kevin Stefanski, there are too many red flags for me.
With 2 perfect seasons and multiple league championships to his credit, Sachs runs Perfect Season Fantasy Football, featuring LIVE Talk & Text Advice. He is a 3-time winner of the Fantasy Index Experts Auction League, as well as a previous winner of the Fantasy Index Experts Poll. Follow on X: https://x.com/ffbcoach
TONY HOLM
I’m still scared off by Malik Nabers returning from injury to an offense that looks like they want to run the ball. I’m a big proponent of not only drafting quality players but also drafting from quality teams that should score a lot of points and I just don’t see the Giants as that team. I always find that there are better choices around Nabers’ ADP like Chris Olave, Rashee Rice or even Kyren or Javonte Williams as I consider drafting running backs as being the key to winning in fantasy in 2026.
Holm works for Fantasy Sharks, whose rankings and content can be found at fantasysharks.com.
KEVIN ENGLISH
Kyren Williams has racked up three straight seasons of 1,300+ total yards and double-digit TDs. But Blake Corum sounds like a bigger threat to steal touches, and it makes sense when you look at his 2025 metrics. Corum beat Williams in yards per carry (5.1 to 4.8) and rush yards over expected per attempt (0.85 to 0.57), while they tallied the same figure in missed tackles forced per attempt. I'll take the drastic ADP discount and opt for Corum over Williams.
English is a Senior Analyst at DraftSharks.com and has been on staff since 2009. Draft Sharks launched in 1999 as one of the web’s first fantasy football content sites and has evolved to help fantasy managers win with cutting-edge tools for drafting and in-season management.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI
I don't understand why Rashee Rice is ranked so highly in consensus ADP. He's had trouble staying healthy. He's had trouble off the field. He's not an elite separator, and the Kansas City offense has been ordinary the last two years. Generally, you don't like to dismiss any player out of hand, you suppose that there could be a price where you'd be tempted. That doesn't apply here.
Pianowski has been with Yahoo Sports since 2008, covering a variety of sports. On the rare occasions when the computer is turned off, he enjoys word games, poker, music, film, game theory, and a variety of condiments. He lives in suburban Detroit. Pianowski was inducted into the FSWA Hall of Fame in 2021.
ANDY RICHARDSON
I understand running quarterbacks can be league winners. But I'm shying away from Jayden Daniels. He's a talented guy, no question. But his line is bad, I don't like the coaching staff, and there's always been a degree of injury risk with his build, which a head coach who leaves him on the field in games that are basically over to limp around at less than 100 percent won't help. Quarterback is deep enough not to take on the negatives associated with Daniels at his draft price.
Richardson has been a contributing writer and editor to the Fantasy Football Index magazine and www.fantasyindex.com since 2002. He is responsible for various site features, writes a weekly gambling newsletter, Index Bets, during the NFL season and also previews all the games on Saturdays.
