Round 1 is loaded with talent at RB and WR
By Jamey Eisenberg Mar 27, 2026 at 6:45 pm ET • 3 min read 
Imagn Images I was recently asked if the first round of Fantasy drafts this season would be easy because there are so many elite players. While the talent is there, I don't expect the first round to be easy at all. There are plenty of tough decisions to make. We held a half-PPR mock draft this week with members of our CBS Sports staff, as well as three members of our Fantasy Football Today podcast audience (Erik Guenther, Brad Curnett, and Rob Thomas). You should analyze the entire draft, especially players recently impacted by NFL free agency, but we're going to dive into Round 1 here. It starts at No. 1 overall, and there will be a strong debate over whether Jahmyr Gibbs or Bijan Robinson should go with that selection. I went with Gibbs, and I'm expecting a monster season from him with David Montgomery now in Houston, even with the Lions adding Isiah Pacheco. Robinson should also be in line for a huge year, and I love him at No. 2 overall. But I like the offense in Detroit better than Atlanta, and even with Tyler Allgeier now in Arizona, Bijan Robinson will lose some work to Brian Robinson Jr. as well. In 2025, Bijan Robinson (18.7) was slightly better than Gibbs (18.5) in half-PPR, but I expect that to change in 2026. Another fun debate will be who is the No. 1 receiver among Ja'Marr Chase, Puka Nacua, and Jaxson Smith-Njigba. I have it ranked Nacua, Chase, and Smith-Njigba, but the order in this draft was actually Chase, Justin Jefferson, Smith-Njigba, and Nacua. I'm hoping Jefferson will rebound this season with Kyler Murray now the expected quarterback for the Vikings, but Jefferson should not be drafted ahead of Nacua or Smith-Njigba as of now. In 2025, Nacua (18.8) was better than Smith-Njigba (17.2) and Chase (15.3), and I expect Nacua to have another standout campaign in 2026 as the go-to guy for Matthew Stafford. Chase should rebound with a healthy Joe Burrow, and Smith-Njigba should again be awesome for Sam Darnold. For me, there is a clear top trio at this position, and all three should be drafted in the top five overall picks. Two other tough calls for Round 1 will be when to draft Christian McCaffrey and De'Von Achane. For McCaffrey, there should be concerns about his age (he turns 30 in June) and workload from 2025, when he had 413 total touches in the regular season (311 carries and 102 catches). Remember, in 2024, McCaffrey was coming off a 2023 campaign where he had 412 total touches, including the playoffs, and he only played four games due to Achilles and knee injuries the following season. I hope the same thing doesn't occur in 2026. The earliest I would draft McCaffrey is No. 6 overall, and he went at No. 8 overall in this mock draft. Achane went at No. 10 overall here, and that's a good spot for him. He should be the focal point of Miami's offense, but the Dolphins have little talent around him after Jaylen Waddle was traded to Denver. And Malik Willis' rushing ability might hurt Achane in the passing game. I'm worried about Achane, and he's my No. 5 running back behind Gibbs, Robinson, McCaffrey, and Jonathan Taylor, who was drafted at No. 11 overall. As for the rest of the players in Round 1, they were all receivers. Amon-Ra St. Brown went at No. 7 overall, CeeDee Lamb went at No. 9, and Drake London was at No. 12. I agree that all of these players should be first-round picks, and I like St. Brown and Lamb ahead of Jefferson for now. There is a chance we could see Malik Nabers creep into Round 1 also, but I would prefer him in Round 2 coming off last year's torn ACL. And Trey McBride could also end up as a first-round pick, but I would rather draft him in Round 2. Once the NFL Draft is over, we should have a clear picture of the top 12 players for 2026. But the debates are happening now for Round 1, and this draft is an example of what can still unfold this season. As a reference point for this mock draft, all touchdowns are worth six points, and we award one point for every 10 yards rushing and receiving and one point for every 25 yards passing. We also award 0.5 points for every reception. We feature a starting lineup of QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, TE, and FLEX (RB/WR/TE) with six reserves for a 14-round draft. Our draft order is as follows: 1. Jamey Eisenberg, Senior Fantasy Writer 2. Jacob Gibbs, SportsLine Fantasy Analyst 3. Jack Capotorto, CBS Sports HQ Producer 4. Brandon Howard, Fantasy Editor 5. R.J. White, Managing Editor, SportsLine and CBS Fantasy 6. Erik Guenther, Podcast Listener 7. Brad Curnett, Podcast Listener 8. Rob Thomas, FFT Facebook Moderator 9. Thomas Shafer, FFT Podcast Producer 10. Jake Grogins, CBS Sports HQ Production Staff 11. Heath Cummings, Senior Fantasy Analyst 12. Dave Richard, Senior Fantasy Writer
Round By Round Round 1 Pos Team Player 1 Jamey Eisenberg J. Gibbs RB DET 2 Jacob Gibbs B. Robinson RB ATL 3 Jack Capotorto J. Chase WR CIN 4 Brandon Howard J. Jefferson WR MIN 5 R.J. White J. Smith-Njigba WR SEA 6 Erik Guenther P. Nacua WR LAR 7 Brad Curnett A. St. Brown WR DET 8 Rob Thomas C. McCaffrey RB SF 9 Thomas Shafer C. Lamb WR DAL 10 Jake Grogins D. Achane RB MIA 11 Heath Cummings J. Taylor RB IND 12 Dave Richard D. London WR ATL Round 2 Pos Team Player 13 Dave Richard J. Cook RB BUF 14 Heath Cummings A. Jeanty RB LV 15 Jake Grogins T. McBride TE ARI 16 Thomas Shafer M. Nabers WR NYG 17 Rob Thomas N. Collins WR HOU 18 Brad Curnett O. Hampton RB LAC 19 Erik Guenther G. Pickens WR DAL 20 R.J. White C. Brown RB CIN 21 Brandon Howard D. Henry RB BAL 22 Jack Capotorto K. Walker III RB KC 23 Jacob Gibbs B. Bowers TE LV 24 Jamey Eisenberg R. Rice WR KC Round 3 Pos Team Player 25 Jamey Eisenberg C. Olave WR NO 26 Jacob Gibbs J. Jacobs RB GB 27 Jack Capotorto S. Barkley RB PHI 28 Brandon Howard J. Williams WR DET 29 R.J. White A. Brown WR PHI 30 Erik Guenther K. Williams RB LAR 31 Brad Curnett B. Hall RB NYJ 32 Rob Thomas T. McMillan WR CAR 33 Thomas Shafer B. Irving RB TB 34 Jake Grogins T. Henderson RB NE 35 Heath Cummings T. Higgins WR CIN 36 Dave Richard E. Egbuka WR TB Round 4 Pos Team Player 37 Dave Richard T. Etienne RB NO 38 Heath Cummings L. Burden III WR CHI 39 Jake Grogins G. Wilson WR NYJ 40 Thomas Shafer J. Allen QB BUF 41 Rob Thomas L. Jackson QB BAL 42 Brad Curnett D. Smith WR PHI 43 Erik Guenther J. Williams RB DAL 44 R.J. White D. Swift RB CHI 45 Brandon Howard Z. Flowers WR BAL 46 Jack Capotorto M. Evans WR SF 47 Jacob Gibbs D. Adams WR LAR 48 Jamey Eisenberg L. McConkey WR LAC Round 5 Pos Team Player 49 Jamey Eisenberg C. Skattebo RB NYG 50 Jacob Gibbs J. Waddle WR DEN 51 Jack Capotorto D. Moore WR BUF 52 Brandon Howard X. Worthy WR KC 53 R.J. White T. McLaurin WR WAS 54 Erik Guenther C. Loveland TE CHI 55 Brad Curnett Q. Judkins RB CLE 56 Rob Thomas R. Harvey RB DEN 57 Thomas Shafer B. Tuten RB JAC 58 Jake Grogins D. Metcalf WR PIT 59 Heath Cummings R. Odunze WR CHI 60 Dave Richard T. Warren TE IND Round 6 Pos Team Player 61 Dave Richard C. Watson WR GB 62 Heath Cummings J. Meyers WR JAC 63 Jake Grogins M. Wilson WR ARI 64 Thomas Shafer M. Harrison Jr. WR ARI 65 Rob Thomas H. Fannin Jr. TE CLE 66 Brad Curnett T. Kraft TE GB 67 Erik Guenther C. Sutton WR DEN 68 R.J. White D. Maye QB NE 69 Brandon Howard D. Njoku TE CLE 70 Jack Capotorto C. Hubbard RB CAR 71 Jacob Gibbs D. Montgomery RB HOU 72 Jamey Eisenberg A. Pierce WR IND Round 7 Pos Team Player 73 Jamey Eisenberg S. LaPorta TE DET 74 Jacob Gibbs P. Washington WR JAC 75 Jack Capotorto C. Godwin WR TB 76 Brandon Howard I. Pacheco RB DET 77 R.J. White J. Warren RB PIT 78 Erik Guenther R. Pearsall WR SF 79 Brad Curnett B. Thomas Jr. WR JAC 80 Rob Thomas M. Pittman WR PIT 81 Thomas Shafer K. Pitts TE ATL 82 Jake Grogins W. Robinson WR TEN 83 Heath Cummings J. Hurts QB PHI 84 Dave Richard R. Stevenson RB NE Round 8 Pos Team Player 85 Dave Richard J. Burrow QB CIN 86 Heath Cummings I. Likely TE NYG 87 Jake Grogins K. Shakir WR BUF 88 Thomas Shafer G. Kittle TE SF 89 Rob Thomas B. Corum RB LAR 90 Brad Curnett J. Addison WR MIN 91 Erik Guenther R. Dowdle RB PIT 92 R.J. White K. Monangai RB CHI 93 Brandon Howard K. Murray QB MIN 94 Jack Capotorto J. Dart QB NYG 95 Jacob Gibbs J. Daniels QB WAS 96 Jamey Eisenberg T. Pollard RB TEN Round 9 Pos Team Player 97 Jamey Eisenberg J. Herbert QB LAC 98 Jacob Gibbs J. Croskey-Merritt RB WAS 99 Jack Capotorto R. Doubs WR NE 100 Brandon Howard J. Blue RB DAL 101 R.J. White S. Diggs WR NE 102 Erik Guenther J. Downs WR IND 103 Brad Curnett Z. Charbonnet RB SEA 104 Rob Thomas T. Allgeier RB ARI 105 Thomas Shafer A. Jones RB MIN 106 Jake Grogins J. Coker WR CAR 107 Heath Cummings J. Dobbins RB DEN 108 Dave Richard T. Hill WR MIA Round 10 Pos Team Player 109 Dave Richard B. Aiyuk WR SF 110 Heath Cummings E. Wilson RB SEA 111 Jake Grogins O. Gadsden II TE LAC 112 Thomas Shafer J. Mason RB MIN 113 Rob Thomas J. Conner RB ARI 114 Brad Curnett C. Williams QB CHI 115 Erik Guenther K. Boutte WR NE 116 R.J. White J. Jennings WR SF 117 Brandon Howard M. Golden WR GB 118 Jack Capotorto R. White RB WAS 119 Jacob Gibbs J. Reed WR GB 120 Jamey Eisenberg T. Tracy Jr. RB NYG Round 11 Pos Team Player 121 Jamey Eisenberg C. Rodriguez Jr. RB JAC 122 Jacob Gibbs J. Brooks RB CAR 123 Jack Capotorto T. Kelce TE KC 124 Brandon Howard M. Willis QB MIA 125 R.J. White Q. Johnston WR LAC 126 Erik Guenther B. Robinson Jr. RB SF 127 Brad Curnett J. Higgins WR HOU 128 Rob Thomas D. Sampson RB CLE 129 Thomas Shafer K. Gainwell RB TB 130 Jake Grogins E. Ayomanor WR TEN 131 Heath Cummings W. Marks RB HOU 132 Dave Richard J. Nailor WR LV Round 12 Pos Team Player 133 Dave Richard D. Prescott QB DAL 134 Heath Cummings A. Mitchell WR NYJ 135 Jake Grogins R. Flournoy WR DAL 136 Thomas Shafer T. Hunter WR JAC 137 Rob Thomas R. Shaheed WR SEA 138 Brad Curnett I. TeSlaa WR DET 139 Erik Guenther T. Lawrence QB JAC 140 R.J. White T. Benson RB ARI 141 Brandon Howard S. Williams WR GB 142 Jack Capotorto A. Kamara RB NO 143 Jacob Gibbs K. Williams WR NE 144 Jamey Eisenberg C. Kirk WR SF Round 13 Pos Team Player 145 Jamey Eisenberg D. Mooney WR NYG 146 Jacob Gibbs J. McMillan WR TB 147 Jack Capotorto D. Goedert TE PHI 148 Brandon Howard O. Gordon II RB MIA 149 R.J. White D. Kincaid TE BUF 150 Erik Guenther B. Purdy QB SF 151 Brad Curnett K. Vidal RB LAC 152 Rob Thomas J. Jeudy WR CLE 153 Thomas Shafer D. Samuel WR WAS 154 Jake Grogins M. Stafford QB LAR 155 Heath Cummings P. Mahomes QB KC 156 Dave Richard C. Ridley WR TEN Round 14 Pos Team Player 157 Dave Richard J. James RB SF 158 Heath Cummings M. Andrews TE BAL 159 Jake Grogins T. Spears RB TEN 160 Thomas Shafer B. Allen RB NYJ 161 Rob Thomas C. Kupp WR SEA 162 Brad Curnett T. Horton WR SEA 163 Erik Guenther T. Tucker WR LV 164 R.J. White J. Johnson TE NO 165 Brandon Howard T. Hockenson TE MIN 166 Jack Capotorto K. Mitchell RB LAC 167 Jacob Gibbs B. Strange TE JAC 168 Jamey Eisenberg C. Okonkwo TE WAS Team by Team Jamey Eisenberg Rd Pk Player 1 1 J. Gibbs RB DET 2 24 R. Rice WR KC 3 25 C. Olave WR NO 4 48 L. McConkey WR LAC 5 49 C. Skattebo RB NYG 6 72 A. Pierce WR IND 7 73 S. LaPorta TE DET 8 96 T. Pollard RB TEN 9 97 J. Herbert QB LAC 10 120 T. Tracy Jr. RB NYG 11 121 C. Rodriguez Jr. RB JAC 12 144 C. Kirk WR SF 13 145 D. Mooney WR NYG 14 168 C. Okonkwo TE WAS Jacob Gibbs Rd Pk Player 1 2 B. Robinson RB ATL 2 23 B. Bowers TE LV 3 26 J. Jacobs RB GB 4 47 D. Adams WR LAR 5 50 J. Waddle WR DEN 6 71 D. Montgomery RB HOU 7 74 P. Washington WR JAC 8 95 J. Daniels QB WAS 9 98 J. Croskey-Merritt RB WAS 10 119 J. Reed WR GB 11 122 J. Brooks RB CAR 12 143 K. Williams WR NE 13 146 J. McMillan WR TB 14 167 B. Strange TE JAC Jack Capotorto Rd Pk Player 1 3 J. Chase WR CIN 2 22 K. Walker III RB KC 3 27 S. Barkley RB PHI 4 46 M. Evans WR SF 5 51 D. Moore WR BUF 6 70 C. Hubbard RB CAR 7 75 C. Godwin WR TB 8 94 J. Dart QB NYG 9 99 R. Doubs WR NE 10 118 R. White RB WAS 11 123 T. Kelce TE KC 12 142 A. Kamara RB NO 13 147 D. Goedert TE PHI 14 166 K. Mitchell RB LAC Brandon Howard Rd Pk Player 1 4 J. Jefferson WR MIN 2 21 D. Henry RB BAL 3 28 J. Williams WR DET 4 45 Z. Flowers WR BAL 5 52 X. Worthy WR KC 6 69 D. Njoku TE CLE 7 76 I. Pacheco RB DET 8 93 K. Murray QB MIN 9 100 J. Blue RB DAL 10 117 M. Golden WR GB 11 124 M. Willis QB MIA 12 141 S. Williams WR GB 13 148 O. Gordon II RB MIA 14 165 T. Hockenson TE MIN R.J. White Rd Pk Player 1 5 J. Smith-Njigba WR SEA 2 20 C. Brown RB CIN 3 29 A. Brown WR PHI 4 44 D. Swift RB CHI 5 53 T. McLaurin WR WAS 6 68 D. Maye QB NE 7 77 J. Warren RB PIT 8 92 K. Monangai RB CHI 9 101 S. Diggs WR NE 10 116 J. Jennings WR SF 11 125 Q. Johnston WR LAC 12 140 T. Benson RB ARI 13 149 D. Kincaid TE BUF 14 164 J. Johnson TE NO Erik Guenther Rd Pk Player 1 6 P. Nacua WR LAR 2 19 G. Pickens WR DAL 3 30 K. Williams RB LAR 4 43 J. Williams RB DAL 5 54 C. Loveland TE CHI 6 67 C. Sutton WR DEN 7 78 R. Pearsall WR SF 8 91 R. Dowdle RB PIT 9 102 J. Downs WR IND 10 115 K. Boutte WR NE 11 126 B. Robinson Jr. RB SF 12 139 T. Lawrence QB JAC 13 150 B. Purdy QB SF 14 163 T. Tucker WR LV Brad Curnett Rd Pk Player 1 7 A. St. Brown WR DET 2 18 O. Hampton RB LAC 3 31 B. Hall RB NYJ 4 42 D. Smith WR PHI 5 55 Q. Judkins RB CLE 6 66 T. Kraft TE GB 7 79 B. Thomas Jr. WR JAC 8 90 J. Addison WR MIN 9 103 Z. Charbonnet RB SEA 10 114 C. Williams QB CHI 11 127 J. Higgins WR HOU 12 138 I. TeSlaa WR DET 13 151 K. Vidal RB LAC 14 162 T. Horton WR SEA Rob Thomas Rd Pk Player 1 8 C. McCaffrey RB SF 2 17 N. Collins WR HOU 3 32 T. McMillan WR CAR 4 41 L. Jackson QB BAL 5 56 R. Harvey RB DEN 6 65 H. Fannin Jr. TE CLE 7 80 M. Pittman WR PIT 8 89 B. Corum RB LAR 9 104 T. Allgeier RB ARI 10 113 J. Conner RB ARI 11 128 D. Sampson RB CLE 12 137 R. Shaheed WR SEA 13 152 J. Jeudy WR CLE 14 161 C. Kupp WR SEA Thomas Shafer Rd Pk Player 1 9 C. Lamb WR DAL 2 16 M. Nabers WR NYG 3 33 B. Irving RB TB 4 40 J. Allen QB BUF 5 57 B. Tuten RB JAC 6 64 M. Harrison Jr. WR ARI 7 81 K. Pitts TE ATL 8 88 G. Kittle TE SF 9 105 A. Jones RB MIN 10 112 J. Mason RB MIN 11 129 K. Gainwell RB TB 12 136 T. Hunter WR JAC 13 153 D. Samuel WR WAS 14 160 B. Allen RB NYJ Jake Grogins Rd Pk Player 1 10 D. Achane RB MIA 2 15 T. McBride TE ARI 3 34 T. Henderson RB NE 4 39 G. Wilson WR NYJ 5 58 D. Metcalf WR PIT 6 63 M. Wilson WR ARI 7 82 W. Robinson WR TEN 8 87 K. Shakir WR BUF 9 106 J. Coker WR CAR 10 111 O. Gadsden II TE LAC 11 130 E. Ayomanor WR TEN 12 135 R. Flournoy WR DAL 13 154 M. Stafford QB LAR 14 159 T. Spears RB TEN Heath Cummings Rd Pk Player 1 11 J. Taylor RB IND 2 14 A. Jeanty RB LV 3 35 T. Higgins WR CIN 4 38 L. Burden III WR CHI 5 59 R. Odunze WR CHI 6 62 J. Meyers WR JAC 7 83 J. Hurts QB PHI 8 86 I. Likely TE NYG 9 107 J. Dobbins RB DEN 10 110 E. Wilson RB SEA 11 131 W. Marks RB HOU 12 134 A. Mitchell WR NYJ 13 155 P. Mahomes QB KC 14 158 M. Andrews TE BAL Dave Richard Rd Pk Player 1 12 D. London WR ATL 2 13 J. Cook RB BUF 3 36 E. Egbuka WR TB 4 37 T. Etienne RB NO 5 60 T. Warren TE IND 6 61 C. Watson WR GB 7 84 R. Stevenson RB NE 8 85 J. Burrow QB CIN 9 108 T. Hill WR MIA 10 109 B. Aiyuk WR SF 11 132 J. Nailor WR LV 12 133 D. Prescott QB DAL 13 156 C. Ridley WR TEN 14 157 J. James RB SF Join the Conversation comments
