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 prepare for their drafts, it’s essential to identify the players who will underperform their average draft position (ADP) and avoid drafting players who will end up being Fantasy football busts.

Veterans like Josh Allen, Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs, and Ja’Marr Chase are expected to be top players on most Fantasy football draft boards, but the key to Fantasy success remains finding sleepers and rookies who outperform their ADP and avoiding drafting players that end up being Fantasy football busts.

One model has a proven track record in providing Fantasy football tips, accurately predicting Terry McLaurin’s tough season in 2025, when he fell well short of his top-50 ADP. The result was 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 identified A.J. Brown as a sleeper in 2020, nailed Jonathan Taylor’s monstrous season in 2021, and correctly predicted 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.

According to SportsLine’s latest Fantasy football rankings 2026, one of the top Fantasy football busts is New York Giants receiver Malik Nabers. He’s going off the board around pick No. 34, 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: James Cook

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. 11th 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 SportsLine’s Fantasy football rankings 2026, it’s not just Nabers and Cook who are expected to be Fantasy football busts. The model is also fading one of the first five receivers off the board in early 2026 Fantasy football drafts. 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.

So which 2026 Fantasy football busts should you be steering clear of, and which high-end WR should you completely fade? Visit SportsLine’s Fantasy football cheat sheets for every single position to get the inside scoop.