SportsLine model names 2026 fantasy sleepers: Likely, Pollard — SkimNews
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- SportsLine released its 2026 Fantasy football rankings after simulating the NFL season 10,000 times, with sleepers, breakouts, and busts across positions.
- The model accurately predicted De'Von Achane as RB6 last season despite an RB12 ADP; Achane finished with 1,838 scrimmage yards and 12 touchdowns.
- Isaiah Likely, who followed coach John Harbaugh from Baltimore to the Giants this offseason, is ranked TE9 by the model despite an ADP of 92, ahead of Sam LaPorta and Travis Kelce.
- Tony Pollard, 29, is slotted in the same tier as backs being drafted earlier despite an ADP around pick 77, after clearing 1,000 rushing yards in four straight seasons.
- The model is also high on an unnamed receiver going in the third or fourth round who it projects as a top-10 fantasy wideout ahead of CeeDee Lamb, Justin Jefferson, and A.J. Brown.
- The model's track record includes calls on Derrick Henry (2019), A.J. Brown (2020), Jonathan Taylor (2021), C.J. Stroud stepping back (2024), and Daniel Jones's 2025 breakout.
Why it matters: The model's Achane call (RB12 ADP → finished RB6) is the credibility pitch, and its 2026 list offers concrete draft-day edges — Likely at TE9 versus an ADP of 92, Pollard in a tier with backs drafted a full round earlier — for fantasy players drafting this Labor Day weekend. The model's identity is the pick: trusting its sleeper list over consensus ADP at two or three spots could separate a middle-of-the-pack finish from a title run.
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