Fantasy football rankings 2026: Breakouts from the model that called Tetairoa McMillan's huge year
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- Tetairoa McMillan exceeded his WR28 ADP in 2025 with 70 catches for 1,014 yards and 7 touchdowns, finishing as the WR17 in CBS Sports PPR leagues and winning Offensive Rookie of the Year — the prediction SportsLine's model is now leaning on to sell its 2026 projections.
- Omarion Hampton is SportsLine's top 2026 breakout, with an ADP of No. 17 despite finishing RB35 last year; as a rookie he played just 9 games (737 scrimmage yards, 5 TDs), and the model ranks him ahead of Kyren Williams and Javonte Williams on the strength of a healthy workload and an upgraded Chargers O-line.
- Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater combined for just 6 games last season as Pro Bowl tackles, and their returns — plus the addition of former Pro Bowl center Tyler Biadasz — give Hampton what SportsLine calls one of the best O-lines in football.
- Luther Burden III is the second breakout target: a 2025 second-round pick who ranked 4th among Bears receivers in targets (60) and posted a 47-652-2 line, now sits as at worst the No. 2 Chicago receiver after D.J. Moore and Olamide Zaccheaus departed, with an ADP of 54 against a top-30 model ranking.
- Burden ranked 3rd in the NFL in yards after catch per reception (7.1) and 4th in passer rating when targeted (123.1), per SportsLine's analytics.
- The model also slots a young tight end as a top-8 fantasy TE — ahead of Travis Kelce and George Kittle — though the player's identity is gated to SportsLine subscribers.
- Top 10 PPR ADPs for 2026 (per CBS) are led by Jahmyr Gibbs (1.46), Bijan Robinson (1.83), Ja'Marr Chase (4.11), Puka Nacua (4.51) and Jonathan Taylor (5.63).
Why it matters: Fantasy drafters face a rookie class that produced busts like Ashton Jeanty, Travis Hunter and Matthew Golden last season, so a model with a verified track record on McMillan, Jonathan Taylor and Derrick Henry carries real weight when it flags Hampton (top-17 ADP, elite O-line upgrade) and Burden (54 ADP, top-30 model rank) as discounted breakouts — players whose draft price currently lags the production the model projects.
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