DAVID'S DAILY DIGEST: 023-26

David's Daily Digest

August 29th 2026

Saturday Night Edition

Saturday Night Fantasy

Sports Page

The Draft Notebook: Quarterbacks

The 2026 NFL season is inching ever so close, a little less than 2 weeks before it all kickoffs on Wednesday September 8th. With the 2026 Kickoff moving closer and closer, the draft season continues to heat up more and more.

While everything starts to get exciting, for a successful draft, I get calm. The calm before the storm, where I unleash all of my fantasy football prowess and dominate. With the holiday weekend approaching and three more home leagues to draft, it's time to open the notebook and breakdown strategy.

In the opening rounds as most of us will do, we look for the best available, highest floors, with tremendous upside is what we should be targeting. When I am building my roster, I am prone to look for my quarterback and tight ends in the later rounds, but this is not written in stone. As I watch my draft progress, I am targeting top tier players to start and adapting to the flow. If some top tier talent, like tight end Trey McBride (ADP 18) falling to the 4th round, or quarterback Joe Burrow (ADP 53.0) sliding into the 8th round, I am not hesitating to take either or both. 

But if my draft follows suit, these are a handful of quarterbacks I am comfortable snagging in the later portion of the draft, after the 7th round. The first candidate is the Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (ADP 91). Herbert was QB11 last season, posting 7 games with at least 18.8 fantasy points. With a new OC in Mike McDaniels, he's certainly capable of improving this season.

The next candidate on my watch list is the Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (ADP 79). Going around the 7th round, Nix is right there on the border of where I might take him. I prefer him in the 8th, but will reach in the late 7th. Nix (QB10 in 2025) is coming off a 3,911 yards passing, 25 passing touchdowns with 5 rushing touchdowns last season. If the ankle is good to go, I am good to draft Nix in the 8th.

What I definitely consider a bargain and great value this season is the Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (ADP 132). Goff finished last season as QB12, but with the weapons he has at his disposal, he clearly has a path to a Top-10 finish. Last season had some dips, but in 11 of his starts in 2025 Goff posted at least 15.2 fantasy points, including 4 games with 24.8 or more. He's a back end QB1 in 12 team formats that you can wait on.

One more notable that's not getting much ink these days is the Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (ADP 98). Mahomes was the QB4 in 2025 (points per game) and while his numbers seemed down, he still performed as a Top-5 fantasy quarterback. He's coming off the boards in the 9th round and offers plenty of upside, especially with the return of Rashee Rice.

That's My Take

~David G. Ortega

DAVID'S DAILY DIGEST: 022-26

David's Daily Digest

August 26th 2026

Wednesday Night Edition

WEDNESDAY WATERCOOLER 

WRAP

DRAFT TARGETS

With the kickoff of the 2026 season now less than two weeks away, it's time to take a hard look at draft strategy and potential draft day targets to mark throughout your draft. From the 1st round of the draft, even with the last pick, you should always be looking for value to improve your team.

As I review my upcoming drafts and consider my own drafting strategy, I am going to share some of my favorite targets for the 2026 Fantasy Draft (PPR format - 12 team).

Right out of the gate, the first round is pretty straight forward. I've made it no secret that I like King (Derrick) Henry (ADP 17.5) this season, even if I am at the top or in the middle of the second round, he's my 2nd round target. Regardless of his total touches last season or over the past five season, this dude is a beast and produces.

Moving into the early mid-rounds, I am looking for a pair of Packers, wide receiver Christian Watson (ADP 58.9), followed by tight end Tuck Kraft (ADP 100.4) a little later. The timing of Kraft will depend on the league and my leaguemates tendencies, may go a round, round and a half sooner. But with Watson, I am looking to grab him as a second wide receiver in the 5th or 6th round. Although his numbers have never been historic, if he can stay healthy and give me at least 12 games this season, he can be a difference maker.

Moving along deeper into the draft, I like Broncos rookie running back Jonah Coleman as a huge potential sleeper this season. He's going to get play, but how much to start we'll see, but by week 8 he could have a huge role.

My breakout candidate this season is the Packers quarterback Jordan Love and I will be targeting him as a later round back up quarterback. If he hits, I'll have the capital to improve my team and be able to ride his arm into the fantasy playoffs. I am excited about what we might see and what he can do this season.

After my defense and kicker are taken, I'll survey the fantasy landscape and a name that surfaces more times than not is Dolphins tight end Greg Dulcich (ADP 182.3). Dulcich is a dart throw and the tail end, but I like him as a deep flyer. The Dolphins offense may only be a shell of what it was, but new quarterback Malik Willis will have to throw to someone. My Spidey-senses are telling me, Dulcich will be one of the benefactors. I think he could crack the Top-12.

That's My Take

~David G. Ortega

DAVID'S DAILY DIGEST: 021-26

David’s Daily Digest

August 24th 2026

Monday Night Edition

THE FANTASY SPORTS PAGE

Making the headlines out here in California, not only is the weather heating up (with no end in sight), so is the fantasy football draft season. It’s all the rage, at least in my circles and probably most NFL fans. Whether you play on the ESPN platform or any other sites, you are prepping mad and planning your draft strategy.

For myself and my 9 league mates, we are one down with our most competitive (deepest-35 player roster that includes IDP) and longest running draft having just completed yesterday (Sunday, 8/23). It was a marathon of a draft, but very enjoyable and filled with all of the nuances and phases of draft anxieties, highs, and lows.

The first highlight of our draft without question, was our annual spread. I am very lucky, in this league I play with a couple of armchair chefs who are pretty good. There’s nothing like endless sides (such as meatballs, queso, potato salad, chips with homemade salsa) paired with smoked brisket and whiskey flavored ribs. This graded out off the charts with an A+.

Throughout the day, the draft was filled with those moments of drafting Kenneth Walker (ADP 22.1) in the first - a small reach that could pay huge dividends, and selecting D’Andre Swift (ADP 45.8) in the 3rd round. While a 5th round pick of Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze (ADP 51.9) seemed like such an early take with the 44th pick, a 5th round selection of Panthers wideout Tetairoa McMillan (32.6) at the end of round offered lots of value.

There were plenty of debates as we ventured deeper into the draft, with Raiders running back Mike Washington Jr (ADP 148.5) being taken with the 99th pick. But there’s always that one guy, even without the help of Autodraft he finds a way of grabbing a kicker (Brandon Aubrey in the 12th round) much earlier than the consensus. One of the biggest reach without question, but I am a homer, so don’t ask me, was the pick of Broncos rookie running back Jonah Coleman (ADP 155.4) with the 114th pick - I loved it and think he'll be relevant by week 6 this season.

At the conclusion of the draft, after 25 rounds of drafting we all anxiously awaited for our draft grades, as if our lives depended on it. Our reigning champion staked his claim for his run at back to back titles, coming out on top with a draft grade of A - his top pick and overall number one running back Jahmyr Gibbs and 3rd round pick tight end Brock Bowers anchored his draft. My team rated a solid B, as I found value with a 4th round selection of tight end Trey McBride and 8th round quarterback Joe Burrow.

My sleeper pick and probably the best of the draft came in the 23rd round when I took the Dolphins tight end Greg Dulcich. The best thing for me with this pick, he was my backup tight end.

All-in-all, when it was all said and done, this year’s draft was a great success, filled with more memorable moments, great food, and great friends. Here’s to the 2026 fantasy football season!

That’s My Take.

~David Ortega