2026 Fantasy Football Busts: Top Players to Avoid in Your Draft

The 2026 NFL regular season is just around the corner, with the kickoff game set to take place on Wednesday, September 9. As Fantasy football owners begin to prepare for their drafts, it’s essential to identify the top players to avoid in your lineup. According to the proven computer model at SportsLine, several high-profile players are poised to disappoint their Fantasy owners in 2026.

Veterans like Josh Allen, Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs, and Ja’Marr Chase are all expected to be top performers in the Fantasy football world, but there are several players who could potentially be Fantasy busts. The key to Fantasy success lies in finding sleepers and rookies who outperform their Fantasy football ADP and avoiding drafting players who end up being Fantasy football busts.

Last year, the model accurately predicted that Commanders receiver Terry McLaurin would fall well short of his top-50 ADP. The result: A season after piling up nearly 1,100 receiving yards and a career-high 13 touchdown catches, McLaurin had career lows in receiving yards (582) and receiving touchdowns (3). Injuries were a factor, but his per-game averages were down across the board as well, so anybody who avoided him in Fantasy drafts dodged a major headache.

The same model has a proven track record of providing Fantasy football tips, identifying A.J. Brown as a sleeper in 2020, nailing Jonathan Taylor’s monstrous season in 2021, and correctly predicting C.J. Stroud would take a step back in 2024. Additionally, it’s called past Fantasy football sleepers like Derrick Henry in 2019, Christian McCaffrey and Alvin Kamara in 2018, and Davante Adams in 2017.

Now, SportsLine has simulated the entire NFL season 10,000 times and released its latest Fantasy football rankings 2026, along with plenty of sleepers, breakouts, and busts. According to the model, New York Giants receiver Malik Nabers is a top player to avoid in your draft. He’s going off the board around pick No. 33, but SportsLine’s model doesn’t even have him as a top-15 receiver. In fact, it has players such as DeVonta Smith and Nico Collins above him.

Nabers isn’t a lock to be ready to start the season after tearing his ACL last season and then undergoing a follow-up procedure in the spring. The Giants are also expected to lean heavily on the run game under offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, making Nabers a risky pick in the second or early third round.

Another bust that SportsLine’s Fantasy football rankings 2026 have identified is Bills running back James Cook. Cook is going off the board with an ADP around No. 9 overall and is the fifth running back being taken on average. SportsLine’s model, however, ranks him as RB No. 10, behind players such as Derrick Henry and Chase Brown, saying that he should be more of a late-second or even third-round pick.

Cook has stacked two impressive seasons and was the RB6 a year ago, so it’s understandable why he’s getting first-round consideration in many drafts. He did fumble at a higher rate last season, however, and he’s not an elite target out of the backfield. Also, Josh Allen always looms as a touchdown vulture for Buffalo, as these factors are why the model is leaning to other high-end backs early.

According to the model, one of the first five receivers off the board in early 2026 Fantasy football drafts is a player who should be completely faded. The model ranks this player barely inside the top 10 and is calling for him to be one of the biggest busts in the league this year. You can only see who it is and the 2026 Fantasy football rankings for every player at SportsLine.

So which 2026 Fantasy Football busts should you be steering clear of, and which high-end WR should you completely fade? Visit SportsLine now to get 2026 Fantasy Football cheat sheets for every single position, all from the model that helped managers avoid a disastrous Terry McLaurin season in 2025.