If you ignore offensive line and defense, 10 players were taken that will be rostered on fantasy football from 2026 and onward. There were 2 quarterbacks, 2 running backs, 5 wide receivers, and 1 tight end taken.

For landing spot breakdowns & in-depth analysis for EVERY SINGLE fantasy prospect check out our Rookie Guide in the WalterPicks app!

Fernando Mendoza is not projected to be fantasy relevant as a rookie. Kirk Cousins joining the fold makes his odds of early fantasy football success FAR slimmer.

In the WalterPicks app, we don’t have him projected to start every game, and he ranks as the QB29 as of the writing of this.

Brock Bowers and Ashton Jeanty are going to improve for 2 reasons once Mendoza becomes the starter: Mendoza’s proficiency as a high-point, seam and comeback route thrower, as well as his pro-ready traits boding well for more consistent red zone opportunities. He’s probably (hopefully) better than Raiders Geno Smith.

On paper, this landing spot is a bit confusing. Love enters an RB room containing James Conner, Trey Benson, and Tyler Allgeier. Throughout the season, those three backs are certainly going to be thorns in Jeremiyah Love’s side. However, it’s not a major concern by any means.

The Cardinals have a sneaky good group of weapons at Jacoby Brissett’s disposal: Jeremiyah Love, Tyler Allgeier, Trey Benson, James Conner, Marvin Harrison Jr., Michael Wilson, Kendrick Bourne, and Trey McBride.

Love will rank as a top-12 fantasy RB and have a very healthy PPR projection every single week.

This pick was the first major surprise of the night, but if you read this guide before the draft, you would've known that Tate was my favorite WR in the class.

He pairs well with Wan'Dale Robinson schematically. His 2026 fantasy stock is going to be one worth paying attention to. This offense has lots of young pieces, but expecting consistency from the weapons for fantasy football is likely unreasonable. Tate will rank well among rookies, given his draft capital and the offensive scheme he's heading into. Tate will rank inside the top-30 fantasy WRs on a regular basis, and be in the flex conversation as early as Week 1.

Cam Ward probably isn’t going to be fantasy relevant in most leagues, but Carnell Tate entering the mix certainly won’t hurt him.

This is a good landing spot for the former Sun Devil. Tyson enters a weak WR room, adding a versatile skill set for Kellen Moore's offense. Assuming he stays healthy, he's going to benefit this entire offense, and more importantly Tyler Shough's development. His ADP is going to be a fascinating one to watch, especially when you consider Chris Olave’s relevance in fantasy football.

There are no immediate fantasy implications of this selection. The Rams vocalized that Simpson will sit behind Matthew Stafford until Stafford decides to retire.

He'll be one of the top targets for Geno Smith, which may not bode well for immediate fantasy success. Omar Cooper Jr. and Garrett Wilson are also there, muddying the waters for what we can expect on a weekly basis. This pick clearly hurts Mason Taylor a major way.

According to Walter’s projections, Sadiq ranks as a top-15 tight end right now.

Makai Lemon was taken by the Eagles, who traded up IN DIVISION to acquire him. With the impending AJ Brown trade, lots of target share is going to open up on this offense. His skill set will mesh well with Devonta Smith and Dallas Goedert. He’s likely to fall behind Smith in the target share hierarchy.

As of now, we have Lemon projected for 11 PPR points per game on a run-heavy Eagle offense.

Concepcion joins a team in desperate need of talented pass-catchers. This is a good landing spot for him because he'll have the opportunity to produce early, but it's also a concerning landing spot because of the likely atrocious QB play.

He’s very talented, and the immediately impacted Brown is Jerry Jeudy. Based on the draft capital, it wouldn’t be surprising to see HC Todd Monken view KC as the alpha on the offense.

The former Aggie ranks as a top-35 fantasy WR with a projection north of 12 PPR points per game.

New York traded up for Omar Cooper Jr., showcasing how they feel about the former Hoosier. Kenyon Sadiq also went to New York earlier in the first round, so there will be ample mouths to feed on this previously desolate offensive unit. It's unlikely that Sadiq and Cooper are both consistent producers on this team in their rookie seasons. They'll both be competing with Mason Taylor, Breece Hall, and Garrett Wilson for touches.

As much as I love Omar Cooper, his landing spot has him ranking outside the top-50 fantasy WRs right now.

This was the expected spot for him, and he's likely to lead this backfield early in his career. Zach Charbonnet is a currently injured, one-dimensional back, and Jadarian Price is almost certainly going to see the majority of the work in this backfield until Charbs is 100%. Seattle has liked Charbonnet on the goal line, but it's hard to justify not giving that work to Price when he's so effective there.

We have Price projected as our RB31 right now, averaging nearly 11 PPR points per game.