This segment was taken from the 2026 FantasyPros Fantasy Fest, our 4-hour marathon livestream to help you be fully prepared for all of your upcoming fantasy football drafts! Click here to watch the whole thing on the FantasyPros YouTube channel at youtube.com/fantasypros

Chris Welsh and Derek Brown were joined by The Athletic's Jake Ciely to break down the best early-round draft strategies, targets and roster builds for the 2026 season.

Should you leave the first four rounds with two running backs and two wide receivers? Is an RB-RB start the way to attack the back of Round 1? Or should you take advantage of elite WR value and adjust your strategy as the draft unfolds?

The guys build teams from different draft positions and debate some of the biggest names on 2026 fantasy football draft boards, including Ja'Marr Chase, Brock Bowers, James Cook, Chase Brown, Christian McCaffrey, Javonte Williams, Chris Olave, Jaylen Waddle, Emeka Egbuka and more.

Whether you're drafting from the beginning, middle or end of Round 1, use these strategies to build a championship-caliber roster.

Timestamps: (May be off due to ads)

Intro - 0:00:00

Ja’Marr Chase and Brock Bowers - 0:05:54

James Cook and Chase Brown - 0:07:49

FantasyPros Draft Assistant - 0:12:32

Javonte Williams and Emeka Egbuka - 0:13:10

Chris Olave and Jaylen Waddle - 0:16:39

Chat Q&A - 0:22:47

Outro - 0:27:12

Helpful Links:

2026 FantasyPros Fantasy Fest - We were joined by some of the industry's BEST experts for our 4-hour-long FantasyPros Fantasy Fest 2026 livestream, the biggest fantasy football event of the year! Missed the stream or didn't have the time? No problem! Click Here to watch the whole thing on the FantasyPros YouTube channel at youtube.com/fantasypros. Don't forget to subscribe and drop a like if you love what we do and want more content just like this!

LeagueBase is a private clubhouse for your fantasy league. Connect your Sleeper, Yahoo, or ESPN league, and everything that makes your league yours—the trades, records, rivalries, running jokes, and league history—finally has one home. You can also get $50 in credit toward your league’s first season at LeagueBase.com with code FP50—that’s F-P-five-zero. And right now, LeagueBase is sponsoring a draft trip for one league. Sign up free at LeagueBase.com/fest and you’re automatically entered to win a trip for your entire league next offseason. Wherever your league wants to go, LeagueBase picks up the trip. Official rules at LeagueBase.com/fest.

Draft Wizard - Dominate your fantasy football draft with Draft Wizard. Run fast mock drafts, test different strategies, build custom cheat sheets, get pick-by-pick draft advice, and learn your leaguemates' tendencies before draft day. Just download the FantasyPros App or head to fantasypros.com/draftwizard

Start Your Free FantasyPros Premium Trial - https://www.fantasypros.com/free/ -
Get three days free to unlock premium draft tools, rankings, analysis, and personalized advice.

Watch and Subscribe to The Tailgate  - https://www.youtube.com/@tailgatenfl - 
Just friends talking football. Get NFL storylines, weekly analysis, giveaways, and more from the FantasyPros team.

Subscribe to FantasyPros on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@fantasypros - 
Watch the latest fantasy football rankings, mock drafts, sleepers, breakouts, and draft advice.

Support the FantasyPros Fantasy Football Podcast - https://www.fantasypros.com/review/ - Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to help support the show.

Real-Time ADP - Track up-to-the-minute draft trends across all major platforms: https://fantasypros.com/realadp

View the Latest Fantasy Football Rankings - https://www.fantasypros.com/nfl/rankings/ - Compare expert consensus rankings, tiers and player values before making your draft-day decisions.

Follow us on Twitch - The team here at FantasyPros is taking questions all week, every week on Twitch. Follow us on Twitch at twitch.tv/fantasypros and never miss a stream!

Discord – Join our FantasyPros Discord Community! Chat with other fans and get access to exclusive AMAs that wind up on our podcast feed. Come get your questions answered and BE ON THE SHOW at fantasypros.com/chat

BettingPros Podcast – For advice on the best picks and props across both the NFL and college football each and every week, check out the BettingPros Podcast at bettingpros.com/podcast, our BettingPros YouTube channel at youtube.com/bettingpros, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

This segment was taken from the 2026 FantasyPros Fantasy Fest, our 4-hour marathon livestream to help you be fully prepared for all of your upcoming fantasy football drafts! <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/q_QIiXc2YO0?si=Fcl2-in9aufXAv5Q">Click here</a> to watch the whole thing on the FantasyPros YouTube channel at&nbsp;<a href="http://youtube.com/fantasypros" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://youtube.com/fantasypros&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1787878245067000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0Xsu4wJrQGpY3wMI0IjDZo">youtube.com/fantasypros</a>
Chris Welsh and Derek Brown were joined by The Athletic's Jake Ciely to break down the best early-round draft strategies, targets and roster builds for the 2026 season.
Should you leave the first four rounds with two running backs and two wide receivers? Is an RB-RB start the way to attack the back of Round 1? Or should you take advantage of elite WR value and adjust your strategy as the draft unfolds?
The guys build teams from different draft positions and debate some of the biggest names on 2026 fantasy football draft boards, including Ja'Marr Chase, Brock Bowers, James Cook, Chase Brown, Christian McCaffrey, Javonte Williams, Chris Olave, Jaylen Waddle, Emeka Egbuka and more.
Whether you're drafting from the beginning, middle or end of Round 1, use these strategies to build a championship-caliber roster.
Timestamps: (May be off due to ads)
Intro - 0:00:00
Ja&rsquo;Marr Chase and Brock Bowers - 0:05:54
James Cook and Chase Brown - 0:07:49
FantasyPros Draft Assistant - 0:12:32
Javonte Williams and Emeka Egbuka - 0:13:10
Chris Olave and Jaylen Waddle - 0:16:39
Chat Q&amp;A - 0:22:47
Outro - 0:27:12
Helpful Links:
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_QIiXc2YO0">2026 FantasyPros Fantasy Fest</a> - We were joined by some of the industry's BEST experts for our 4-hour-long FantasyPros Fantasy Fest 2026 livestream, the biggest fantasy football event of the year! Missed the stream or didn't have the time? No problem! <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_QIiXc2YO0">Click Here</a> to watch the whole thing on the FantasyPros YouTube channel at <a href="http://youtube.com/fantasypros">youtube.com/fantasypros</a>. Don't forget to subscribe and drop a like if you love what we do and want more content just like this!
<a href="https://leaguebase.com/fest">LeagueBase</a> is a private clubhouse for your fantasy league. Connect your Sleeper, Yahoo, or ESPN league, and everything that makes your league yours&mdash;the trades, records, rivalries, running jokes, and league history&mdash;finally has one home.&nbsp;You can also get $50 in credit toward your league&rsquo;s first season at LeagueBase.com with code FP50&mdash;that&rsquo;s F-P-five-zero.&nbsp;And right now, LeagueBase is sponsoring a draft trip for one league. Sign up free at <a href="https://leaguebase.com/fest">LeagueBase.com/fest</a> and you&rsquo;re automatically entered to win a trip for your entire league next offseason. Wherever your league wants to go, LeagueBase picks up the trip. Official rules at <a href="https://leaguebase.com/fest">LeagueBase.com/fest.</a>
<a href="https://www.fantasypros.com/draftwizard">Draft Wizard</a> - Dominate your fantasy football draft with Draft Wizard. Run fast mock drafts, test different strategies, build custom cheat sheets, get pick-by-pick draft advice, and learn your leaguemates' tendencies before draft day. Just download the FantasyPros App or head to <a href="https://www.fantasypros.com/draftwizard">fantasypros.com/draftwizard</a>
<a href="https://www.fantasypros.com/free/">Start Your Free FantasyPros Premium Trial</a> - <a href="https://www.fantasypros.com/free/">https://www.fantasypros.com/free/</a> - Get three days free to unlock premium draft tools, rankings, analysis, and personalized advice.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@tailgatenfl">Watch and Subscribe to The Tailgate</a>&nbsp; -&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@tailgatenfl">https://www.youtube.com/@tailgatenfl</a> -&nbsp; Just friends talking football. Get NFL storylines, weekly analysis, giveaways, and more from the FantasyPros team.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@fantasypros">Subscribe to FantasyPros on YouTube</a> -&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@fantasypros">https://www.youtube.com/@fantasypros</a> -&nbsp; Watch the latest fantasy football rankings, mock drafts, sleepers, breakouts, and draft advice.
<a href="https://www.fantasypros.com/review/">Support the FantasyPros Fantasy Football Podcast</a> - <a href="https://www.fantasypros.com/review/">https://www.fantasypros.com/review/</a> - Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to help support the show.
<a href="https://fantasypros.com/realadp">Real-Time ADP</a> - Track up-to-the-minute draft trends across all major platforms: <a href="https://fantasypros.com/realadp">https://fantasypros.com/realadp</a>
<a href="https://www.fantasypros.com/nfl/rankings/">View the Latest Fantasy Football Rankings</a> - <a href="https://www.fantasypros.com/nfl/rankings/">https://www.fantasypros.com/nfl/rankings/</a> - Compare expert consensus rankings, tiers and player values before making your draft-day decisions.
<a href="https://www.twitch.tv/fantasypros">Follow us on Twitch</a> - The team here at FantasyPros is taking questions all week, every week on Twitch. Follow us on Twitch at <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/fantasypros">twitch.tv/fantasypros</a> and never miss a stream!
<a href="http://fantasypros.com/chat">Discord</a> &ndash; Join our FantasyPros Discord Community! Chat with other fans and get access to exclusive AMAs that wind up on our podcast feed. Come get your questions answered and BE ON THE SHOW at <a href="http://fantasypros.com/chat" data-stringify-link="http://fantasypros.com/chat" data-sk="tooltip_parent">fantasypros.com/chat</a>
<a href="https://bettingpros.com/podcast?distinct_id=user_ca068c52-c0d9-4057-8346-79eabfcfa21d">BettingPros Podcast</a>&nbsp;&ndash; For advice on the best picks and props across both the NFL and college football each and every week, check out the BettingPros Podcast at&nbsp;<a href="https://bettingpros.com/podcast?distinct_id=user_ca068c52-c0d9-4057-8346-79eabfcfa21d">bettingpros.com/podcast</a>, our BettingPros YouTube channel at&nbsp;<a href="https://youtube.com/bettingpros">youtube.com/bettingpros</a>, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

FantasyPros provides hard-hitting fantasy football analysis while keeping you entertained. Get the tips needed to win your league from a trusted network of 100+ experts. Find out who to draft, pick up and start while receiving analysis of the latest news from around the league.

FantasyPros - Fantasy Football Podcast

Chris Welsh and Derek Brown were joined by The Athletic's Jake Ciely to break down the best early-round draft strategies, targets and roster builds for the 2026 season.  Should you leave the first four rounds with two running backs and two wide receivers? Is an RB-RB start the way to attack the back of Round 1? Or should you take advantage of elite WR value and adjust your strategy as the draft unfolds?  The guys build teams from different draft positions and debate some of the biggest names on 2026 fantasy football draft boards, including Ja'Marr Chase, Brock Bowers, James Cook, Chase Brown, Christian McCaffrey, Javonte Williams, Chris Olave, Jaylen Waddle, Emeka Egbuka and more.

2026 Fantasy Football Draft Strategy: How to DOMINATE the First 4 Rounds with Jake Ciely | Best of the Fest (Ep. 2155)

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/44580854-cffe-41a5-9cdf-b4b301640e30/transcript