2026 Fantasy Football AMA with Scott Barrett and Brett Whitefield

Amon-Ra St. Brown was a top-five fantasy wide receiver in his first five weeks (third-most by a rookie WR in first five games since 1989), but then suffered injury while Baker Mayfield also got hurt. Jeff Mueller indicated he needed two weeks off but didn't get it, playing at less than 90% for months after. He's in a Cooper Cup-type role with league-winner upside, but there are serious red flags about his durability and recovery that make him tricky to evaluate.

Scott Barrett argues Bijan Robinson's round-one ADP is too high relative to his projected touches. A beat reporter claimed Allgeier would get 14–16 touches per game while Robinson would get 28 touches per game; Barrett sarcastically notes this would require the Falcons to run more plays than any team since the 1920s, implying the projection is unrealistic and Robinson should be valued lower (round seven instead of round one).

Brian Thomas Jr. was injured last year but showed elite talent as a rookie and in college; he is expected to be healthy and perform well. However, his role in the Jacksonville offense is uncertain because Parker Washington has become Trevor Lawrence's primary target and is getting fed in the Liam Cohen slot role. BTJ may be more talented but is positioned in a secondary role, similar to Mike Evans relative to Chris Godwin, meaning his ceiling is constrained by Washington's role lock.

Scott Barrett identifies Bryce Young as a significant limiting factor for his receivers' production. Young is described as underperforming at quarterback—"stinks and is short and awful"—which constrains offensive output despite elite yardage market share from receivers. Young's 198 passing yards per game ceiling prevents receivers from reaching their ceiling even with elite efficiency metrics.

Charlie Kolar is described as a very underrated, complete every-down tight end who will be the Chargers' primary tight end. Despite being drafted ahead of Isaiah Likely as a pass-catching tight end with Baltimore, he was stuck behind Mark Andrews and suffered an injury in his first training camp that allowed Likely to pass him on the depth chart. However, Kolar was a dominant pass-catcher in college with 2,200 receiving yards and 23 touchdowns in three years at Iowa State, one of the highest catch rates ever for a tight end at the college level. Scott Barrett emphasizes he is not merely a blocking tight end but a high-level receiving threat who will be the Chargers' every-down option. Barrett explicitly states he is 'a big Charlie Kolar guy.'

Scott Barrett projects Chris Rodriguez to receive 12-14 carries every single week in the Jacksonville backfield under Liam Cohen, who coached him in college where he was a wildcat quarterback and every-down back. Rodriguez ranks first among 67 qualifying running backs since entering the league in yards after contact per attempt, second in success rate and stuff rate, third in EPA per run behind only Devon Aon and Derek Henry, and fifth in touchdown rate. Barrett notes Liam Cohen specifically values yards after contact per attempt and went out of his way to sign Rodriguez. Barrett acknowledges a potential personal bias favoring Rodriguez due to their relationship (Rodriguez came on Barrett's podcast, they became friends, and Rodriguez follows him on Twitter), which may be clouding his objective evaluation of the backfield split.

Scott Barrett identifies Colston Loveland as part of a historically great tight end class, highlighting that Loveland had the best yardage market share of any tight end in 50 years. Expected to be the best tight end of the rookie class long term due to more complete skill set; elite ball skills, catch radius, catch ability, and separation ability; dynamic route runner in addition to run-after-catch ability. However, ADP is 3–4 rounds higher than Harold Fannon Jr. despite comparable recent production; last 16 quarters (excluding final games due to injury) produced 20 fantasy points per game versus Fannon's 18.2 with worse quarterback play. Concerns exist where Cole Kmet cannibalized Loveland's playing time and upside in non-outlier games; Chicago's extreme negative game script in final four games inflated his recent production. Scott Barrett identified a prior-year ranking mistake where he ranked Loveland ahead of Tyler Warren; this learning from his self-review process informs his current ranking methodology.

Scott Barrett criticizes the Buffalo Bills' acquisition of DJ Moore as an overpayment, suggesting the market narrative around the trade is overly positive and ignores the desperation and cost of the move.

DeAndre Swift had a ton of injuries last year, including lower body and hamstring injuries that have plagued him. If healthy, he could return to RB1 status, but injury history raises concern about whether those injuries will continue to pile up.

Scott Barrett rates Harold Fannon Jr. as having the best rookie tape of the 2025 tight end class despite initial athleticism concerns. Barrett describes Fannon as 'the hardest dude in the league to tackle' and 'the scariest player in the open field,' comparing him favorably to George Kittle and Tucker Kraft levels of tackle-breaking ability, noting Fannon may be better than Kraft. Exceptional tape with elite run-after-catch ability and tackle-breaking prowess; yards after catch and forced missed tackles were insanely high with vicious, brutal nature that intimidates defenders. Route running better than expected with crisp footwork and good play speed. The differentiating trait in the current tight end landscape is run-after-catch ability, which Fannon Jr. excels at. Barrett had a day-two grade on Fannon (higher than the league's third-round evaluation) and is bullish on his sophomore-year outlook.

Scott Barrett uses Jamar Chase versus Puka Nacua as an example of a tight ranking decision in his draft guide methodology, illustrating how he logs tiebreaker reasoning and factors multiple considerations into close ranking calls.

Jaylen McMillan from Tampa Bay is part of a wide receiver ceiling-play cluster alongside Parker Washington, Jordan Addison, and Jaden Higgins. The group is evaluated for PPR dynasty ceiling and reddraft ranking differences, with McMillan positioned as one of the options in this comparison.

Jonah Coleman is a very good receiver who caught many passes at Washington, but his 5'8", 225-lb profile is better at finesse components than power components of running back play. JK Dobbins is the lead back running the ball, limiting Coleman's opportunity despite his receiving skills. Coleman is an RB2 with pass-catching relevance in the Broncos backfield.

Scott Barrett is not high on Jordan Addison at all, especially not in reddraft, because he is behind Justin Jefferson on the target totem pole. Additionally, Addison's quarterback situation is poor whether it is JJ McCarthy or Kyler Murray; Murray has only ever had one wide receiver finish top 24 in fantasy points throughout his entire career, and McCarthy is probably even worse.

Brett Whitefield has basically no interest in drafting Lad McConkey despite acknowledging he has a ton of talent. The concern is that if McConkey wins the opportunity to be the Chargers' WR1, he could make Whitefield look silly, but the fade is intentional. Ryan Heath is also fading McConkey this year, similar to how he faded JSN last year.

Parker Washington is characterized as a boom-or-bust player with significant upside potential; he was the featured wide receiver in Jacksonville's best games last year and could operate in the Liam Cohen slot role, which has historically been productive. The upside scenario is a mid-range WR1, and given his ADP, the risk-reward profile is compelling because upside wins championships. His connection to Trevor Lawrence—who locks onto his first read and was living with Washington offseason—suggests he will be fed targets as Lawrence's primary option, especially given their success together at season's end when Jacksonville was a top-three offense. Scott Barrett narrows the dynasty ceiling comparison down to T McMillan and Parker Washington as the top two options in a wide receiver ceiling-play cluster alongside Jaylen McMillan, Jordan Addison, and Jaden Higgins.

Scott Barrett uses Puka Nacua versus Jamar Chase as an example of a tight ranking decision in his draft guide methodology, illustrating how he logs tiebreaker reasoning and factors multiple considerations into close ranking calls.

Scott Barrett expresses concern that Sean Payton might be moving away from RJ Harvey in the backfield based on his tape from last year, creating uncertainty about his role going forward.

Roman Wilson dealt with injuries in his first year with Pittsburgh, which impacted his development. Scott Barrett acknowledges this as a scout evaluation miss with the book still being written on the player. Despite the initial miss, Roman Wilson might still have a role with the Steelers this year and could develop further as he recovers from injury.

Terrence Ferguson was used as a deep-threat tight end at Oregon, a rare archetype. The Rams invested significant second-round draft capital in him as a receiving-only tight end. Scott Barrett expects Ferguson to play in all 13-personnel packages (which the Rams ran ~30% of the time) and get all the deep shots from that look, though he acknowledges Sean McVay's unpredictability with new wrinkles. Ferguson's prospect evaluation improved upon closer inspection; he was more productive than Kenyan Sadiq in the same Oregon offense in 2024, which provides a better gauge of his NFL potential than initial prospect grades suggested.

Travis Hunter is projected to receive between 20 and 40% of routes in Jacksonville's offense, establishing him as a secondary option in the wide receiver committee alongside Parker Washington, Brian Thomas Jr., and Jakobi Meyers.

A beat reporter projected Tyler Allgeier would receive 14–16 touches per game, which Scott Barrett uses as an example of flawed projection logic when compared against Bijan Robinson's round-one ADP; Barrett implies the projection undervalues Robinson's likely workload.

Scott Barrett identifies Tyler Warren as part of a historically great tight end class, highlighting that Warren had the most yards from scrimmage of any power conference tight end in college football history. Warren was trending toward a very strong rookie season before Daniel Jones's fibula fracture derailed his trajectory. Through the first six to eight weeks, Warren's per-route and per-target numbers were indistinguishable from rookie-season Brock Bowers, and he ranked second in fantasy among tight ends behind only Trey McBride. Warren posted 2.11 yards per route run as a rookie—described as 'alltime great numbers for a rookie'—and is actually better than Brock Bowers on this metric. He has elite run-after-catch ability comparable to Harold Fannon Jr., is a fantastic blocker and every-down player, and is a highly accomplished collegiate tight end. After Jones went down and was replaced by a 47-year-old Philip Rivers, Warren's production collapsed. Scott Barrett views him as a player the market is sleeping on, noting that tight ends historically struggle as rookies but experience a sophomore-year breakout where production jumps from 40% baseline to 110% baseline, creating significant value opportunity.