Fantasy Football 2026 Strategy and Ideal Landing Spots for Hidden Gems in Mock Drafts

Just about every fantasy football guide includes some reference to various sleepers, breakouts and busts.

Here's what isn't included often enough: Stressing the importance of draft value in relation to all of those terms.

Sleepers only qualify as such due to the notion they are being drafted later than they should be. So, if they jump too far up the board, then the fantasy community has awakened to them and tanked that value proposition. It's the same thing with busts and breakouts. It's not that they should or shouldn't be drafted all the time, but rather that their general draft cost sits above or behind their projected production.

With the opening of the 2026 NFL season sitting just around the corner, you might have a good feel for who the hidden gems might be. So, let's go a step beyond spotlighting them and identify the round in which they should be targeted.

Jacory Croskey-Merritt, RB, Washington Commanders

Croskey-Merritt feels a little like an impossibility in the fantasy world. Like, a starting running back in what should be an ascending offense should have no business qualifying for this exercise, right?

And yet, he feels like a hidden gem that's somehow hiding in plain sight. This offense should be better with a healthy Jayden Daniels back behind the wheel, and everyone will benefit from it.

The Commanders struggled to score last season, and Croskey-Merritt still flirted with 1,000 scrimmage yards (873) and double-digit scores (eight) as a seventh-round rookie with almost zero involvement in the passing game (13 targets in 17 games). He could easily clear those thresholds now, and if newcomer Rachaad White eats up a lot of the passing-game work, so be it—those chances already weren't coming Croskey-Merritt's way.

A reshuffled running back room still features him at the top, and Washington's new zone-blocking scheme should cater to his strengths. Add him in the ninth round, and leave everyone else figuring out how an RB2 with fringe RB1 upside ever lasted that long.

Fantasy managers clearly remember the rocky parts of Murray's NFL past, like his recent injury-impacted, generally inconsistent seasons. But they have seemingly emptied their memory banks of his best days, because at this cost, his risk factors are baked into his price, but his upside absolutely is not.

Just two seasons ago, he threw for nearly 4,000 yards and 21 touchdowns while running for another 572 yards and five scores. He tallied the 10th-most fantasy points at the position.

Know what he didn't have then but will have now? Try Kevin O'Connell as a playcaller and a surrounding cast of playmakers including Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and Jauan Jennings. Oh, and the second-easiest schedule among fantasy quarterbacks, per FantasyPros.

Arrows are almost all pointing up for Murray, but his draft cost is the one outlier. If you're someone who waits to draft a quarterback, he should be a priority. While you could try risking that he'll fall into the 12th round, an 11th round selection should ensure he's on your roster and still position you for perhaps this season's biggest bargain.

De'Zhaun Stribling, WR, San Francisco 49ers

Stribling has caught a good amount of helium since San Francisco turned a few heads by making him the top selection of this year's second round. He's the one turning heads now, as his unique blend of size (6'2", 207 lbs) and speed (4.36-second 40-yard dash) carries obvious perks.

Especially in an offense orchestrated by Kyle Shanahan, who routinely puts his top playmakers in open space. The fun thing with Stribling is he looks skilled enough to both stretch the field to open up that space for others and feast on those closer catches with the right kind of long speed to turn them into big gains.

The system fit intrigued right away, but his opportunities keep looking better. Jauan Jennings exited in free agency, Ricky Pearsall is out for the season, Christian Kirk is opening the campaign on injured reserve and Mike Evans is 33 years old and already fighting an adductor injury. Oh, George Kittle is also working his way back from a torn Achilles, while Christian McCaffrey is coming off of a 450-touch season.

Early targets might have to come Stribling's way by default, and if he makes the most of them, those chances may not decrease much even with a healthier group of pass-catchers. He could be an awesome value in the ninth round, but if you feel like you have to have him on your team, then you might have to target him in the eighth.