Draft season is upon us and there are five must-have targets I absolutely love as I head into my re-draft leagues.
I know I won’t get able to draft all five players in most of my leagues just based on draft position alone. In one my home leagues with 3 keepers, I’m sitting in the No. 4 spot and I know I won’t be able to snag most of these players drafting from that spot.
But if you are drafting from the back half of your drafts these players are in play.
Let’s get into my guys!
5 Must-Have Targets
Chase Brown, Cincinnati (FantasyPros Expert rankings: RB6, Overall 15)
I have no problem moving Chase Brown up to my No. 3 running back behind Detroit’s Jahmyr Gibbs and Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson.
I don’t trust San Francisco’s Christian McCaffrey to stay healthy two seasons in a row and I’m not sure why Las Vegas’ Ashton Jeanty is even ahead of Brown.
Brown averaged 16.6 points a game last season without missing a game, and this was with a three-game stretch when Jake Browning was the Bengals’ QB, where Brown only averaged 4.6 points a game.
But you may be worried about Joe Burrow missing time and Brown’s floor taking a plummet again. The Bengals took care of that last season, trading for Joe Flacco. Flacco returns as Burrow’s back-up this season.
Brown only fell below double-digit scoring twice the rest of the season (one in Flacco’s first start and another in a 24-0 loss to Baltimore).
Brown is in for another big year and maybe even a better year if Burrow stays healthy the whole season.
Brock Bowers, Las Vegas (FantasyPros Expert rankings: TE2, Overall 20)
Brock Bowers’ 2025 season was plagued by injuries. He missed five games last year to fall to TE11 in PPR after finishing as TE1 in his rookie season.
This season Bowers will have Kirk Cousins or No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza throwing him the ball.
Cousins targeted Kyle Pitts 8.75 times a game last season with the Falcons, while young QBs tend to target TEs as their safety valves in the NFL. However, Mendoza did live off of RPO plays last year with Indiana and targeted his talented WRs Omar Cooper Jr. and Elijah Sarratt.
Plus, my consistency spreadsheet had Bowers fourth among TEs last season despite the missed games.
Ladd McConkey, LA Chargers (FantasyPros Expert rankings: WR19, Overall 34)
Here is another player who I believe is mis-ranked in the preseason.
NY Jets’ Garrett Wilson, Carolina’s Tetairoa McMillan and Cincinnati’s Tee Higgins are all currently ranked ahead of Ladd McConkey in the Expert rankings. Big mistake IMO!
When new Chargers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniels had the Miami offense rolling, he had two WR1s in Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.
Ladd is the Chargers WR1 and should be more targeted than Waddle who played the slot role in Miami.
McConkey dropped off last season finishing as a WR3 at 30th after finishing as a WR1 in 2024 (T12).
And the best news Ladd’s current and future managers received this preseason was the Chargers did not re-signing veteran WR Keenan Allen for another season.
This opens up 122 targets from last season.
Joe Burrow, Cincinnati (FantasyPros Expert rankings: QB 4, Overall 47)
This season I’m going to be all in on the Bengals offense.
If I have the No. 2 picks I’m taking WR Ja’Marr Chase over Bijan, and I’ve already covered Chase Brown earlier.
And, of course, it all comes down to Joe Burrow to staying healthy for that special year in fantasy.
When he has played 16 or more games, he has averaged 37.3 TD passes and 4,668 passing yards a season.
And according to training camps news, “Joe Shiesty” is more confident than ever.
Harold Fannin Jr., Cleveland (FantasyPros Expert rankings: TE5, Overall 69)
We know the Browns updated their WR room with draft picks KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston to join Jerry Juedy, but new Browns coach Todd Monken will have his handprint on the offense.
While Monken was the offensive coordinator with Baltimore, he used his tight ends extensively.
And I know taking 2 TEs may not be the best strategy, but with a lot of leagues putting extra value on TE receptions, the 2 top-tier TEs draft strategy is trending.
Harold Fannin Jr. has the offensive mind to keep him relevant, but it’s his QBs that may keep in the top tier of TE1 range.
Shedeur Sanders had a nice connection with Fannin Jr. late last season, and Deshuan Watson targeted tight ends 22 percent of his passes in his six games with the Browns in 2022. Watson also threw 21 TD passes to TEs in his tenure in Houston.
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