Joel SmythFantasy AnalystTue, April 21, 2026 at 3:16 PM UTC·14 min readIt’s NFL Draft week! Analyst Joel Smyth breaks down the 2026 WR class for fantasy football. With several teams looking for hope this offseason, who are the college wide receivers that can provide fantasy value for your teams?
The next Ohio State first-round WR is here, which will make it six in the past five years. Carnell Tate is on a long line of five-star Brian-Hartline-WR-products who’ve excelled alongside other top talent. Tate is a true X receiver with a ridiculous 69% contested catch rate, the highest of any prospect by a significant margin. He’d pair nicely with an aggressive QB who’s looking to push the ball downfield.
Although he is a fluid route runner, not just a big play WR, Tate wasn’t the target hog past OSU receivers have been. Even considering a generational talent in Jeremiah Smith beside him, Tate’s targets per route are at the 20th percentile of recent NFL prospects, easily the lowest of past Buckeyes and dangerously low for a first-rounder. Looking back at 2024, Emeka Egbuka had 108 targets, Smith as a freshman had 107 and Tate had 69 as the clear WR3, scoring only four of the 29 TDs between the three.
The question for Tate will be whether he can become a star or if he fits more as a top WR2. In terms of his floor, it’s tremendous. It’s hard to picture him failing to be a contributor at all, but for fantasy purposes, the focus will be on whether Tate can turn into a true WR1. The odds as a rookie are certainly not a guarantee, as only 42% of Round 1 wideouts have been a fantasy WR3 or better in the last decade.
Landing spot will also be of extreme importance for Tate specifically. With the Browns being the most popular draft location and other positive top-10 spots in play, his fantasy fate is partially outside of his own hands.
Makai Lemon is the analytics darling. As a primary slot WR in college, Lemon’s 94th percentile yards per route is the best of this class. 76% of his routes were out of the slot; however, he does not need to be in the slot in the NFL. His yards per route on the outside were actually better than in the slot, a very important factor for his role long term.
Makai Lemon owns a career 3.0+ YPRR vs man and zone coverage. Only WRs drafted since 2021 to do the same (PFF) pic.twitter.com/PteYy0iuE9
— Football Insights 📊 (@fball_insights) February 2, 2026
He’s a productive WR, whether it's in zone coverage or man coverage. Lemon has led the team in receiving each of the last two years, with 2024 being in competition with Zachariah Branch and Ja’Kobi Lane. He’s great at what you’d expect from a slot WR, his hands are perfect and he is able to be a consistent zone beater. What makes him a first-rounder is that he is also a top talent in what you wouldn’t expect, being a reliable receiver in traffic and contested situations while being physical in all aspects of the game as a 5’11” slot guy.
The constant Amon-Ra St. Brown comps make sense, another USC vet that is a dynamic WR. St. Brown fits perfectly in Detroit, and if Lemon lands in his most commonly mocked location of the Rams, he could be the first dynasty WR selected. It’d be a natural fit with Sean McVay elevating his stock to its maximum potential.
In a draft class that is lower on talent as a whole, drafting a risky player like Jordyn Tyson becomes a little easier. The Arizona State product is fun to watch, shifty, smooth and comes with incredible body control. It translates to the field with pure dominance in 2025, prior to his injury. His worst fantasy performance in his seven games prior to injury was 17.3 PPR points versus Baylor.
Jordyn Tyson #ReceptionPerception Prospect Profile 🔥Some highlights: - 67.7% success rate vs. man coverage- 85.6% success rate vs. zone coverage, which is not only the best result in this class, but it's the fifth-best mark since 2021 for a power-five receiver- Excellent… pic.twitter.com/Xi7UucsZkv
He led the class in success rate versus zone coverage and was a one-man show. An incredible stat to show the dominance he displayed (via Jacob Gibbs): Tyson had 46.7% of his team’s receiving yards and a decade-high 65% of the receiving touchdowns in 2025. His targets per route are in the 97th percentile, and keep in mind, this is all while playing his last two games with an injury that highly affected his production.
The crazy suddenness into selling the slant then sinking his hips. He looks healthy. 👀 pic.twitter.com/Hjh4kNxdEL
As an 18-year-old true freshman, Tyson broke out at Colorado, leading the team in receiving with only nine games played. He transferred from the struggling school to Arizona State in 2022, but missed the majority of 2022 with the knee injury that occurred at Colorado. If he had zero injuries in his career, it’d be hard not to see him go off the board as the WR1. Nevertheless, the injuries are plentiful and current. His 2022 knee injury was not only an ACL one, but also PCL and LCL with it. A fractured collarbone in 2024 and a bad hamstring strain in 2025 raise red flags. The hamstrings in particular had gone on for a long time, causing Tyson to miss the NFL Combine and on-field workouts before the draft.
As we approach Thursday Night, Tyson’s draft stock has been steadily rising, with many now projecting him to be drafted inside the top 10. The Giants, Saints, Chiefs and Browns could all be possible landing spots early. A player with his upside is worth it to me in dynasty drafts compared to some safer, low-ceiling prospects.
Omar Cooper Jr. was the best player in yards after catch spots in college football. The Hoosier star forced missed tackles left and right and is all but certain to hear his name called on Thursday night, with the most common predictions being Pittsburgh and Cleveland. The comparison you will see everywhere you look is Deebo Samuel Sr.
The main issue with the Deebo comparisons is that there are Samuel comps every single season. The reason is that there’s nobody else to compare to, because everyone else with a similar style fails to produce at a high rate. It will be an uphill battle for Cooper to break the trend as a player with 73% of his targets on either screens or RPOs (only one other player over 50%). Coaching that can maximize his talent while also seeing him as more than a gadget weapon is something to watch and hope for.
Cooper’s work ethic is well known and will be needed to continue developing his route versatility. The screens and crossers will get him on the field early, hopefully allowing him to develop the rest of his game over time. I’d prefer him and any other Round 1 WR over non-Jeremiyah Love RBs as late first-rounders in dynasty leagues.
As an 18-year-old, K.C. Concepcion brought in 3.4x the receiving yards as the next closest pass catcher at NC State, with an extra 320 yards on the ground; a truly remarkable year for a true freshman. After a downhill 2024 season, Concepcion transferred to Texas A&M for his final year, where he won the Paul Hornung Award for being the most versatile player in college football.