Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Average Draft Position 2026 (ADP) review 1.0: Best and worst value WRs to draft

We're in the middle of August, which means Fantasy drafts are starting to happen for real. With that in mind, we can study the CBS Sports Average Draft Position data since it's now a good representation of what's happening in your drafts. Some of the picks make a lot of sense.

Others, well, I'd love to play in some of these leagues. Let's go through each position and find some good value picks, some players who are being drafted too soon and predict which players might rise -- and fall -- over the next several weeks. I love breaking down the ADP, and we'll do it each week prior to Week 1.

Knowing the ADP is a good guide to help you on Draft Day, but don't follow it verbatim. Instead, use rankings and tiers from your favorite Fantasy analyst. That's the best way to build your team.

There are only four receivers being drafted in Round 1: This isn't a surprise given the uncertainty with some of the other top-tier receivers. The next seven guys in ADP are CeeDee Lamb (14.7), Justin Jefferson (15.7), Drake London (17.3), Rashee Rice (22.5), George Pickens (22.7), A.J. Brown (23.4) and Nico Collins (26.2), and most of them should be drafted in Round 2.

The only other receivers I would consider drafting in Round 1 are Lamb and Jefferson. With Lamb, he has to prove he's better than Pickens, who outplayed him in 2025. And Jefferson has to rebound from his disastrous 2025 with McCarthy, which hopefully will happen now that Murray is the starter.

This also makes Round 2 amazing for receivers. And Malik Nabers (34.4) could creep into the top 24 overall picks if he continues to trend in the right direction coming off last year's torn ACL. While Round 2 is great for receivers, so is Round 4.