DAVID'S DAILY DIGEST: 009-26

David’s Daily Digest

August 8th, 2026

Saturday Afternoon Edition

Saturday's "FF" Sports Page

Top Tiers

As I prepare for the upcoming fantasy football season and start considering strategies and where I want to target certain players, etc, I  continue to building my own player ranking s and tiers. I have learned and have only recently started to consider that ranking players overall or by position can often be misleading and even confusing. I realize that breaking players up in tiers will help me to identify value and keep me on track during my upcoming drafts.

What I am talking about, is the difference in scoring from one player A, to the next player B, and then to the next player C, is not always the same. Where the scoring difference from player A & B may be a fewer than a point, it won't matter which I take.

Separating tiers by position will help you stay on track when building your team through the draft, as you realize when you are looking a particular player in a particular round there are usually a group of players that will fall in that pocket - following this thinking helps me to stay on track with my picks, as I fill out each position, from running backs to wide receivers to quarterback etc.

But when I look at having a successful fantasy draft, I am of the opinion you can't lose the season on draft day, but your first several picks can certainly lay the foundation to a winning season.

So let me talk about the overall tier for this fantasy season; the 12 players that should be taken in the first round. Let's zero in on the first half of the round; the first six-seven picks starting with the running back position. In this first tier, you can switch them in and out, but Jahmyr Gibbs (21.6 fpts/game), Bijan Robinson (21.8 fpts/game), and Christian McCaffrey (24.5 fpts/game) are at the top, but one more name that should be included (in my opinion) is Jonathan Taylor (21.3 fpts/game). All four are bona fide fantasy RB1's and 20+ fantasy point per game candidates from last season. 

In this same mix at the top of the first round consider wide receivers Puka Nacua, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Ja'Marr Chase. Each of these receivers have averaged over 135 targets per season over the past two. With their talent, skill and that kind of volume, they are embedded at the top of all fantasy drafts. Additional names bringing up the back half of the first round, you need to add are Justin Jefferson (295 targets since 2024), CeeDee Lamb (269 targets since 2024), and Amon-Ra St. Brown (313 targets since 2024). Each of these sure handed pass catchers can provide the steady performance your fantasy teams needs to compete every week. 

Additionally, since we are talking volume plus value, rounding out the first round candidates, rounding out the first round I would like to suggest Bills running back James Cook and Dolphins running De'Von Achane. I am a little down on Achane when you consider all of the off-season changes and new offense. Defenses will stack the box and holes could be hard to find this season. He'll have plenty of volume, but I don't think he'll match his numbers from last season.

Conversely, I think the Bills offense has received a nice upgrade in the passing game with wide receiver DJ Moore. With an improved passing attack, Cook should find more creases in the run game and could see more involvement in the passing game. I like Cook as a top 10 fantasy running back this season, with Top-5 upside (finished as the fantasy RB6 last season).

That's My Take.

~David Ortega