We are in fantasy football draft season, baby! It’s the time of year when our calendars fill with draft dates, and our families start saying their goodbyes. In the coming weeks, you’ll be drafting “your guys” while trying to avoid landmines in the same manner as running a marathon in a dog park. There are guys you’ll gladly reach for, just to be able to blow up the league group chat later in the year when that player smashes. But there are players you should let your league mates reach for, and here are 5 of those guys:
Keenan Allen- Indianapolis Colts
Keenan Allen has entered the fantasy football chat. And it’s perfect timing for the boomer in your league to take him in round 8. He’ll cite the Colts’ weak WR core and the fact that Allen is a multi-time All-Pro. He will instantly forget that Allen is on the cusp of his AARP card. Boomers are forgetful, without a doubt.
Allen had a decent year with the Chargers last year and is familiar with head coach Shane Steichen’s system, as the latter was Allen’s offensive coordinator in 2020. Not for nothing, but if Steichen were running the same system he ran in 2020, I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t still be a head coach in this league. Allen is a fine late-round pick, but the buzz from this signing will spike him to an ADP in your fantasy football drafts that is way too high. Hard pass.
Jaylen Warren- Pittsburgh Steelers
Let your league mates stretch for Jaylen Warren like he’s the second coming of a workhorse. Last year the little dynamo smashed career highs: 211 carries, 958 rushing yards, and 8 total TDs while averaging a tidy 4.5 yards per tote and 13.6 fantasy points per game. Cute. Now the Steelers just handed Rico Dowdle a ticket to the party. Projections already slash Warren to roughly 170-180 carries, ~800-860 yards, and 4-5 scores while the receiving work stays modest (around 40 grabs).
He’s still efficient—yards after contact and missed-tackle rates remain elite—but volume is the only god in fantasy, and committees don’t worship. Watch some overeager manager burn a 5th- or 6th-round pick chasing last year’s ghost. Smile, sip your beer, and draft the actual difference-makers. Warren’s a solid RB3/flex… at the right price. At a reach? He’s just expensive insurance that your rivals will happily overpay for in your fantasy football drafts. Rico Dowdle is the Steelers RB to own due to anticipated goal-line carries.
Derrick Henry-Baltimore Ravens
If you have a league mate who thinks Derrick Henry is still the unstoppable King from 2020, let them. The 32-year-old truck finished 2025 with a shiny 1,595 rushing yards and 16 TDs on 307 carries—but dig deeper. Through the first 16 weeks, his ranking was thoroughly mediocre, floating around low-end RB1/high RB2 territory with duds mixed in (hello, 2.3-point Week 2 and several single-digit clunkers). Then Week 17 arrived: 36 carries, 216 yards, four touchdowns, and a ridiculous 45.6 fantasy points that bailed out every desperate finalist.
That’s not sustainable production—that’s one legendary December explosion propping up an otherwise mortal season. He still gets zero help in the passing game (15 catches all year), so PPR fantasy football leagues laugh at him. Age-32 volume monsters don’t age like fine wine; they age like leftover pizza. Let the nostalgic managers burn a late first or early second on the truck that might stall. You’ll be over here drafting actual dual-threat studs while they pray for another Week 17 miracle.
Bo Nix- Denver Broncos
Is Bo Nix the second coming of volume-chasing gods? The kid led the entire NFL with a ridiculous 612 pass attempts in 2025, somehow turning that into 3,931 yards, 25 touchdowns, and a QB7 fantasy finish despite a mediocre 63.4% completion rate and a pathetic 6.4 yards per attempt. Here’s the plot twist: Denver now rolls out a three-headed running back monster (J.K. Dobbins, R.J. Harvey, and rookie Jonah Coleman).
Sean Payton loves to run the ball when he has bodies, which means Nix’s league-leading attempt total is about as repeatable as a perfect game in a snowstorm. Expect the pass volume to drop hard while his efficiency stays… fine. Drafting him early is betting that Payton suddenly turns into a pass-happy madman. Spoiler: he won’t. Smile, let the volume junkies overpay, and scoop actual dual-threat upside later. Quarterbacks I’d rather have, who are being drafted later, include Kyler Murray and Tyler Shough.
Nico Collins- Houston Texans
A lot of people are drafting Nico Collins like he’s guaranteed another 1,200-yard season in a vacuum. The big fella just posted 71 catches for 1,117 yards and 6 TDs on a career-high 120 targets in 15 games—respectable WR1 production that has him flying off boards in the late second/early third. Reality check: Houston is building a run-heavy machine with David Montgomery now in the backfield, and Demeco Ryans has never been shy about leaning on the ground game.
Meanwhile, the young WR room is exploding—second-year breakout candidate Jayden Higgins is ready to steal snaps and red-zone looks, Jaylin Noel is locking down the slot, and Tank Dell is (theoretically) returning from injury. Suddenly Collins is sharing the pie with three hungry mouths instead of the lack of target competition he faced last year. His efficiency is real, but volume is about to get diluted in a more balanced attack. Let the hype train roll past you; you’ll still get elite talent later without paying the “he’s the only adult in the room” tax. Give me Malik Nabers or Chris Olave all day over Collins.
