SportsLine model flags Likely, Pollard as 2026 sleepers
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- SportsLine simulated the NFL season 10,000 times to produce 2026 fantasy football rankings, adding to a track record that includes Derrick Henry (2019 sleeper), A.J. Brown (2020), Jonathan Taylor (2021), C.J. Stroud's 2024 regression, and Daniel Jones' 2025 breakout.
- De'Von Achane validated the model last season — SportsLine slotted him as RB6, and he produced 1,838 scrimmage yards and 12 touchdowns after going off the board as RB12 in ADP.
- Isaiah Likely (ADP 98, model rank TE9) is flagged as a top sleeper after following coach John Harbaugh from Baltimore to the Giants, where QB Jaxson Dart has leaned on him with Malik Nabers limited by a knee injury in camp.
- Tony Pollard (ADP ~76, RB27) is identified as a sleeper — he has cleared 1,000 rushing yards in four straight seasons and averaged 100 yards per game with 3 TDs over his final five games of 2025.
- SportsLine ranks an unnamed wide receiver drafted in rounds 3–4 as a "shocking top-10 option" ahead of CeeDee Lamb, Justin Jefferson, and A.J. Brown, but the player's identity is gated behind a membership.
Why it matters: Fantasy players have two weeks before the NFL regular season opens, and the model's highest-value call — a wide receiver ranked top-10 ahead of CeeDee Lamb, Justin Jefferson, and A.J. Brown — is paywalled behind a SportsLine membership. Drafters relying only on public ADP data could miss a target the model's track record (Achane 2025, Taylor 2021, Jones 2025) suggests carries real edge.
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