Football
NFL Draft Season: Consistent Rookies
Welcome Back! Big Guy Fantasy Sports is thrilled to bring you another year of the best in NFL consistency rankings and championship fantasy football strategy.
NFL Fantasy Football is gearing up for the NFL Draft. The NFL Draft begins April 23, 2026, and concludes on April 25, 2026. Who should we be keeping an eye on for the 2026 Fantasy Football season?
The NFL Offseason is moving along quickly, and the NFL Draft is a little less than a month away. It’s early, but I want to highlight a handful of impact players who expect to have their names called during the draft.
For those who are new or need a refresher, here are a few key terms and definitions to help you out when reading my articles or other articles around the site.
- Clutch Factor (CF) – the average points a player needs to meet or exceed a Clutch Game based on scoring settings and league size. Think QB1, RB2, WR2, and TE1 thresholds.
- Clutch Games (CG) – weekly per-game award for a player who hits the CF factor. The more of these, the more consistent the player is.
- Clutch Rate (CR) – total of CG earned divided by total games; top fantasy players are usually > 70%.
- Football Consistency Report Tool (Scoring can be edited/Standard listed below)
- Based on 12-team leagues
- 4 points per passing touchdown
- 6 points for all other touchdowns
- 1 point per reception (PPR)
- 1 point per 20 passing yards
- 1 point per 10 rushing yards or 10 receiving yards
Let’s dig in and see which rookies are destined for a big first-year role! Need more consistency? Get a head start on everyone else and sign up today to get full access to all the tools available at BGFS!
Fantasy Football NFL Draft Rookies (with consistency) – 3/25/2026
QB Fernando Mendoza, Indiana (College) Age: 22 NFL Fantasy Football, NFL Draft 2026.
This year’s NFL Draft looks a little thin at QB. However, at the top is Fernando Mendoza. He’s projected as the number 1 overall pick come April 23rd. Mendoza didn’t throw at the combine, instead opting to throw at Indiana’s Pro Day. That doesn’t make much of a difference here, as the Las Vegas Raiders are locked in on Mendoza as the first overall pick.
In 2025, while at Indiana, Mendoze led the team to its first-ever National Championship. His overall numbers were fantastic as he threw for 3,535 yards and 41 touchdowns. Those numbers were so impressive that he came away with hardware, the Heisman Trophy, for the season.
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(2026 Rankings – Redraft: QB27, Dynasty: QB18)
A lot of the prospects still have a question mark at where they’ll end up, but Mendoza being the likely overall first pick means we have a landing spot. As I mentioned, it’s the Raiders picking at number 1, and that’s not a bad spot. They’ve already cleared the way by trading away former incumbent Geno Smith and don’t have any top-notch competition for Mendoza.
The better question is, how good will Mendoza be as a rookie? Last season, we saw quite a few rookie QBs start at least a few games. The results? They were certainly mixed. The top overall pick, Cam Ward, had an 18% CR (3/17 games). Surprisingly, both Tyler Shough and Jaxson Dart were much higher at 58% (7/12) and 71% (10/14). Dart was actually tied for 2nd amongst QBs in CR with Trevor Lawrence (12/17), Jayden Daniels (5/7), and Jacoby Brissett (10/14). Mendoza doesn’t have many weaknesses and is a strong-armed QB. I’d expect him to be similar to Shough this upcoming season as he’ll have some good weapons at his disposal (Ashton Jeanty and Brock Bowers).
RB Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame (College) Age: 20
Over the past decade, the list of running backs drafted in the top 10 isn’t very long. Todd Gurley (10th in 2015), Ezekiel Elliott (4th in 2016), Leonard Fournette (4th in 2017), Christian McCaffrey (8th in 2017), Saquon Barkley (2nd in 2018), Bijan Robinson (8th in 2023), and Ashton Jeanty (6th last year). This draft, everyone expects Jeremiyah Love to join those ranks, and that’s a very good list to be on.
Despite the aforementioned Mendoza going number 1 overall in the “real” draft, Love is easily the number 1 overall pick in rookie fantasy football drafts. Love provides everything teams are looking for in an RB1. After the Raiders, the list of teams that would like to draft him isn’t lacking. Outside of potentially the Jets (Breece Hall), the Browns (Quinshon Judkins), and the Chiefs (acquired Kenneth Walker III via Free Agency), the potential landing spots look great from a volume standpoint (Cardinals, Titans, Giants, Commanders, Saints, and Bengals).
(2026 Rankings – Redraft: RB8, Dynasty: RB5)
Going back to those boxes that he checks. Love had over 1,100 rushing yards in 2024 and then upped that to over 1,500 in 2025. He has 1, that’s right, 1 career fumble. He’s averaged more than 6.9 yards per carry over his last two seasons. He has pass-catching skills that are highlighted by soft hands and explosiveness in open space. On top of all of that, he won’t be 21 until May.
Just like Love’s speed, his draft stock is a homerun where you can get him. He’ll most likely be a 1st-rounder in redraft and, as mentioned, the 1st overall pick in rookie dynasty drafts. Last year, Jeanty finished the season as RB11 overall and had a 59% CR. Love in a good spot, say Washington or New Orleans, can provide that same kind of first-year fantasy production.
WR Makai Lemon, USC (College) Age: 21
There are a good handful of impactful wide receivers in this upcoming draft (keep reading throughout the summer for more on those), but my favorite right now is Makai Lemon. He’s a 5’11” wide receiver who won the Biletnikoff Award as the best WR in college this past season, playing for the USC Trojans.
Lemon isn’t a burner per se, but he’s an extremely polished route runner with glue for hands. In the NFL, he’ll most likely work from the slot a majority of the time, but that’s not a knock. He’s very much in the same vein as your Julian Edelman, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Amon-Ra St. Brown types. There are WRs in the draft who do one or so things better than Lemon, but as an overall package, he’s the real deal.
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Don’t forget, you can see how consistent your players are in your league with your scoring method by checking the Consistency Report.
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(2026 Rankings – Redraft: WR30, Dynasty: WR18)
En route to winning the best WR in college award, Lemon had 79 receptions, 1,156 receiving yards, and 13 total touchdowns (11 receiving) across 12 games. Lemon lit up Iowa in a game this past season with 10 catches and 155 receiving yards. His catch-point, route-running, and ability to get open for his QB were on full display (watch the tape if you haven’t).
Right now, Lemon is jockeying with Carnell Tate, Jordyn Tyson, and K.C. Concepcion for the top WR prospect in this draft. As I mentioned, some of these guys have better size or better speed, but it’s hard to argue that any are more pro-ready than Lemon. I’ll be paying attention to where he lands, as I think he could be a perfect fit for a high-volume slot role, and you should too. I’d love to see him in Carolina, Miami, or Baltimore personally.
Again, welcome back, everyone! I hope you’ll follow along all offseason and into the 2026 season for some insights on consistency. Want more? Follow me on X: @JKeasy. Remember, it’s all about consistency, and Big Guy Fantasy Sports is the best in the business!
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