The XRank that we see when drafting fantasy football teams on Yahoo consists of our six analysts, but that is merely an average ranking. We obviously have varying opinions on each player, and today's column looks at some of the biggest disagreements between myself (Hayden Winks), Josh Norris, Matt Harmon, Justin Boone, Scott Pianowski and Joel Smyth. You can read all of our player blurbs, cheat sheets and rankings with our new Ultra subscription, which includes a 150+ page draft playbook along with our draft strategy lab. Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2026 NFL season Players being debated in this column are in the sweet spot of drafts, 25th to 150th overall. We've beat a dead horse with the first few rounds and the deep sleepers aren't valuable enough to spend too much time on. These rankings are for half-PPR and include defenses and kickers. The metric I'm using is called "Coefficient of Variation," which is a volatility score that adjusts for just how high or low a player is ranked. It's beside the point. Let's get into the debates. Running Backs Here's a look at the biggest rankings differences at the running back position. Hayden Winks
Josh Jacobs (ranked 37th overall) is the most volatile ranking at RB. This isn't a surprise. It's hard to analyze his suspension odds (I'd say 25% chance of 2-6 games). It's hard to analyze if he's reaching an age cliff (I'd say partially). It's hard to analyze if MarShawn Lloyd playing well during this healthy training camp is going to cause a slight drop in workload (I'd say partially). If the answer is yes to some of these issues, then the half of us who rank Jacobs in the 40s are right. If not, then Josh Norris' No. 27 overall ranking is not just right but arguably too low versus how he's produced as a Packer. We debated Jacobs' value on this week's episode here, but it's important to note that on average, the Yahoo analysts are 7.7 spots lower than the Yahoo ADP of 29th overall.
Travis Etienne Jr., Kyren Williams, and Javonte Williams are the next unsettled players, all of whom are drafted near the Round 3/4 turn. I'm highest on Etienne (33rd overall) because of the underrated Saints OL and the No. 1 neutral pace, while fading any resurgence from the dwindling Alvin Kamara, but Justin Boone and Matt Harmon have the full fade all the way to Round 5. That's as big of a gap as you'll see. On the flip side, Kyren is my fade (39th overall) because the Rams' OL could be missing LT Alaric Jackson (suspension risk) and they're unlikely to repeat their 29.9 points per game average from last year with a much better defense and likely less injury luck on offense. Kyren can't afford too much of a drop with Blake Corum playing well with just a third of the snaps. Bucky Irving (ranked 58th overall) is an interesting one. Joel Smyth is living on the edge in Round 4, hoping for a similar season to his rookie campaign, while others see Irving in a committee role in late Round 5. This range of Bhayshul Tuten, TreVeyon Henderson and Jadarian Price is going to be key, as they all have theoretical talent with uncertain playing time in solid offenses. This is the new-age RB dead zone (with a far more stomach-able price tag), but I still want to tread lightly when the high-floor QBs and high-ceiling WRs are available instead. It's always eye opening when Justin Boone, who is a literal rankings champion, is much higher than the rest of us on a player. That's Cam Skattebo right now. I love this call. If Skattebo replicates what he did as the Giants' starter during his rookie season, he'd be a Round 2 value. Despite a broken ankle, Skattebo has been fully cleared for training camp, and it's the same RB depth chart as it was last year, when he was the clear bellcow and dominator of high-value touches. Wide Receivers Here's a look at the biggest rankings differences at wide receiver. Hayden Winks
Malik Nabers (ranked 29th overall) is the most debated WR. Scott Pianowski is a big proponent of "Don't draft into injuries," so he's keeping Nabers as a full fade at 49th overall, while the rest of us are taking massive stands in the 22-30 overall range. Nabers is a clear target versus Yahoo's 36th overall ADP, and I'm personally ready to move him up inside the top 20 once he's practicing in 11s. Nabers is someone we have to get correct this year, as he's been a walking WR1 when healthy, even when the Giants were 31st in scoring from Week 1 of his rookie season to Week 4 of last year. He is my favorite third-round pick if you can get him there.
It's not surprising to see Rashee Rice (ranked 33rd overall) as the second-most debated WR. Is he healthy? Is the Chiefs offense changing with Kenneth Walker III involved and Patrick Mahomes II coming off a torn ACL? Will he be suspended? What will Xavier Worthy and Travis Kelce offer? It's a lot to balance. I'm fine being tied for the lowest ranking with Pianowski, especially with Matt Harmon also on our side. Rice is a catered-for player who struggles when it comes to beating man coverage in the traditional sense. I'm also personally nervous about his knee after rehabbing it in jail, while fully buying into Walker, the reigning Super Bowl MVP, being the new focal point of the offense. If I'm wrong, then it'll be extremely painful. Rice was the WR5 on WR2 expected points last year while healthy. We're collectively slightly behind Yahoo ADP and view him as a late Round 3 boom-bust option.
I find Wan'Dale Robinson (ranked 123rd overall) on the No. 30 scoring offense from last season to be too boring to actually write about here, so let's have more fun instead. Matthew Golden (ranked 112th overall) has a range of 81st overall to 140th overall in our rankings. I'm the optimist for a few reasons that I discussed in the "My Favorite Picks" episode, but long story short, he's a first-round pick in his second season in a routinely elite passing offense and is a 2-WR set starter based on a training camp that he's been called an MVP for. We discussed his film with Harmon on our show, and he wasn't nearly as concerned as his ranking would suggest, if I'm reading between the lines. Golden is a player who we should be moving up after the Packers' televised scrimmage.
KC Concepcion, Stefon Diggs and Jalen Coker are the sleepers we're targeting as a group. In all of their cases, at least five of the six analysts are ahead of the current Yahoo ADP. That's absolutely the case for my rankings. Concepcion was someone I ranked as a top-16 overall prospect in the 2026 NFL Draft because he's a real-deal route runner from the boundary while also having the juice in yards after catch situations. He'll be held back by the Browns this year, but he reminds of Zay Flowers or Diggs. Eagles first-round WR Makai Lemon (ranked 104th overall) is not having an ideal offseason. He has missed valuable training camp time with a setback to his hamstring, and even before that, he was losing the WR2 role to the always-volatile Dontayvion Wicks. I doubt this will last all season long, but if Lemon can't be a clear starter in 2-WR sets, then he can't be started in fantasy. It's just the nature of the Jalen Hurts offense. I totally understand Justin Boone holding the line at 82nd overall and doubling down on Lemon's fantastic prospect profile, and I also understand avoiding the potential target share headache with plenty of other sleeper WRs in this range. I'm a centrist here. Tight Ends Here's a look at the biggest rankings differences at tight end. Hayden Winks
Trey McBride (ranked 29th overall) is the most debated TE by us. Pianowski and Smyth are nearly copy/pasting the results from last season's elite numbers, while Boone and Norris have a full round discount with a new play caller, the addition of third-overall pick Jeremiyah Love, and the health of Marvin Harrison Jr. and Michael Wilson. I'm not going out of my way to draft McBride, but he belongs in the mix with the gluttony of strong WR options in Round 3. Ultimately, I'd be stunned if he even had 90% of the season he had in 2025. George Kittle (ranked 97th overall) is coming off a January torn Achilles as a near 33-year-old, so it's unsurprising to see such a massive rankings split. It's mostly between my cohost and I, where we have a 50-pick split. My pessimism is centered around the injury and the potentially less-potent offense with a much harder schedule in 2026, while Josh Norris is on team "Kittle go brrrr." If he clears the PUP list, I will be moving him up to the top of the tier with Isiah Likely, Dalton Kincaid, Mark Andrews and Travis Kelce. Speaking of … Travis Kelce (ranked 116th overall) has certainly lost a step or two on film, but he can still read defenses and be the beneficiary of a competent offense with lackluster WR talent. That was true during last season's quiet TE6 per-game finish. "Will it continue?" is where I get lost. The Chiefs' signing of Walker can't be overstated, in terms of their projected pass rate and goal-line philosophy. Pianowski has all of the TEs ranked higher than the rest of the group, but otherwise, the Yahoo analysts have a pretty large fade on Kelce's inflated Yahoo ADP. The name brand doesn't match the tape at this point. Collectively, the Yahoo analysts are ranking these TEs a full round after their ADPs across the board. In fact, among the top-15 TEs, we only rank one tight end ahead of their Yahoo ADP. That's Brock Bowers, who we ranked 20.8 overall on average versus a 21st overall ADP. That feels like another sign that we should be breaking ties in favor of him in Round 2 in redraft.
The only TE we collectively rank ahead of Yahoo ADP is Brock Bowers, who we're taking at 20th overall. His value is increased even more in full PPR, too. pic.twitter.com/go6XuIgShI — Hayden Winks (@HaydenWinks) August 12, 2026
Quarterbacks Here are the biggest differences in rankings at the QB position. Hayden Winks
Jordan Love (ranked 131st overall) is the most debated QB in rankings. The Josh & Hayden Show plus Pianowski value him as a real QB1 option for punt QB enthusiasts at 118th overall, while Boone has him buried in rankings, as he does with just about every QB. Love hasn't quite been the locked-in, top-12 QB so far, but I'm projecting more pace, better skill talent and potentially more dropbacks this year than ever before. He's paired well with my go-to WR sleeper, Mr. Matthew Golden. Matthew Stafford, Baker Mayfield and Jared Goff are up next in volatility rankings, which is no surprise given their statuesque play style. They are usually only targets when stacked with the WRs and TEs being drafted ahead of them, and once again, they appear here because Boone is punishing the depth QBs, assuming he's viewing most redraft teams only needing one QB. I'd say all of them can be viewed as a low-end QB1 option in positive matchups. This depth is why I'm liking two punt QBs in redraft. Brock Purdy (ranked 96th overall) is the consensus top-12 QB with the most volatility in our rankings. Norris has always been high on him (79th overall), while I'm the low man of the group at 110th overall because of the fragility of the OL and skill group around him. It's never easy fading Kyle Shanahan, but it's one of the worst offensive personnel groupings he's ever had when accounting for age and injuries. Josh Allen is ranked in Round 3 among all six analysts, ranging from 26th to 35th overall. That would drop just a tad in full-PPR leagues. Finally, Dak Prescott is the QB I'm disagreeing with the most with my colleagues. I rank him 68th overall as my QB8, while the rest of the group ranges from 80th to 95th as the consensus QB10. To me, Prescott is bound for a ridiculous passing season in a high-volume, efficient offense that returns every single starter and coach from last year. Over the past three seasons, he's been the QB8 on average, well ahead of Justin Herbert and Trevor Lawrence. I'd guess all of us would break ties based on the stacking partners, but in a vacuum, I feel the best about the OL + WR combo in Dallas over L.A. and Duvaaaaaal.