Kevin Tompkins | Thu, Feb 12th 2026, 7:19am EST

Fantasy Football Mock Draft: 12-Team, Early Pick (2026)

We’re not even a full week away from the confetti dropping after Super Bowl LX, but that’s not going to stop us. It’s never too early to participate in a fantasy football mock draft and put forth all the practice we can handle.

Participating in mock drafts throughout different stages of the offseason really lets us get a good feel for positional value and how much players are moving up or sliding back in drafts. Of course, average draft position (ADP) will shift a ton from now until the start of the season, but it’s good practice to get these reps in.

We’ll be using a draft slot toward the beginning, which is really going to open things up for us in terms of the players available coming back around in the second round, and then another quick pick in the third round. Let us see what kind of redraft roster we can build in a PPR format with an early-round draft pick.

Fantasy Football Mock Draft

The lineup settings for this mock: 1-QB, 2-RB, 3-WR, 1-TE, 2-FLEX and six bench spots. See the results and full draft board here.

1.04: Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR – SEA)

Jaxon Smith-Njigba was a revelation in 2025, ascending to historical heights along with Puka Nacua this past season. While Smith-Njigba finished as WR2 this season, he averaged 21.2 fantasy points per game and had the fourth-highest yards per route run (YPRR) with a mark of 3.66 since the stat was charted by Pro Football Focus (PFF) beginning in 2006.

UPDATE!

Best YPRR seasons since ’06:
(min 200 routes)

Steve Smith (2008) – 3.87
Tyreek Hill (2023) – 3.82
*PUKA NACUA (2025) – 3.81*
*JAXON SMITH-NJIGBA (2025) – 3.66*
Puka Nacua (2024) – 3.56
Andre Johnson (2007) – 3.21
Tyreek Hill (2022) – 3.20
Julio Jones (2016) – 3.12
Cooper Kupp (2021) – 3.12

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— Kevin Tompkins (@ktompkinsii.bsky.social) January 1, 2026 at 2:41 PM

Fresh off a Super Bowl victory and entering Year 2 of having Sam Darnold as his quarterback as the unquestioned alpha, Smith-Njigba is a bankable top-four player in fantasy and should be drafted as such.

2.09: Omarion Hampton (RB – LAC)

The addition of new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel to what was a pass-centric offense under previous coordinator Greg Roman should lead this offense to become a bit more balanced. While Hampton was a big part of what the Chargers did on the ground — especially late in the 2025 season — getting more attempts and utilization under his belt will only help Hampton in his second season.

After missing a seven-game stretch in the middle of his rookie season, Hampton returned to action in Week 14 to average a solid 14.7 fantasy points per game from Week 14 through Week 17. As the bell-cow back of this offense, with not just McDaniel calling plays, but behind a healthy offensive line, Hampton should take the next step to becoming a fantasy force in 2026.

When drafting players in the second through fifth rounds, I look for players I can see being drafted a round or two (or more) higher in the following season. Hampton is near the top of the list when it comes to players for 2027. This is a good price to find out if he can do just that in 2026.

3.04: Tee Higgins (WR – CIN)

For Tee Higgins, it’s all about staying healthy. He’s missed at least one game in each of his six NFL seasons. He missed two games this past season, but Higgins’ peripherals were still solid, as he averaged 6.5 targets per game and scored 11 touchdowns.

While he suffered some of the lowest per-route metrics of his career with a 1.62 YPRR, 18.7% target share and 20.7% first-read target rate, Higgins was also playing most of the season with quarterbacks Jake Browning, Joe Flacco, and Joe Burrow when the Bengals were out of playoff contention.

Nothing much changes with this Bengals’ offense in 2026 with Burrow at the helm, plus Ja’Marr Chase, Mike Gesicki, Chase Brown and the offensive core intact. Higgins is an extremely capable second receiver who has games where he overtakes Chase at times.

Some may balk at the third-round price tag for Higgins, but in an offense that you can set your watch to as one of the most pass-friendly in fantasy, Higgins is a perfectly fine WR2 for your fantasy squad.

4.09: Colston Loveland (TE – CHI)

5.04: Luther Burden III (WR – CHI)

A couple of ascending Bears lead the way here in the fourth and fifth rounds with two second-year players in Colston Loveland and Luther Burden III.

Let’s start with Loveland, whose utilization really turned on in the last few weeks of the regular season, with three straight games of 80% routes per dropback to close out 2025 after having just two games above 75% route participation the entire season.

Loveland amassed 26 targets in those three games, leading to a Week 17 performance against the 49ers where he put up a 6-94-1 line and then a 10-91-1 line against the Lions in Week 18. The runway is set up for Loveland to take off in 2026, in the second year for Loveland and for head coach Ben Johnson to unleash him for a full season.

As for Burden, fantasy managers felt a bit teased by what he could do, and for much of the season, you couldn’t start Burden in your fantasy lineups. With Rome Odunze missing the final five games of the regular season, Burden was able to dominate with games of 4-67 and 6-85, plus a breakout game against the 49ers in Week 17, where he caught eight out of nine targets for 138 yards and a score.

DJ Moore‘s future with the Bears is very much up in the air, but you can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube with Burden after his breakout stretch at the end of the season and into the playoffs. Again, the sticker shock for some of these prices when looking at them for the first time in February can be a bit much, but Burden is a fast riser and should pay off this price tag on draft day.

6.09: Cam Skattebo (RB – NYG)

Cam Skattebo’s season was cut short in the middle of Week 8 against the Eagles with an ACL injury that ended his season. Averaging 20.5 opportunities (targets + carries) per game from Week 2 until Week 7, we saw Skattebo force the hand of then-head coach Brian Daboll.

Under a new Giants regime with John Harbaugh and Matt Nagy, Skattebo should get every opportunity to thrive in a productive system predicated on setting up the run and letting Jaxson Dart create in and out of the pocket.

The Giants could be an ascending team in terms of offensive output in 2026 with their core of Dart, Skattebo, Malik Nabers and Theo Johnson. That offensive output will lead to more scores and an offensive environment we want pieces of in 2026. Skattebo being drafted in the sixth round is central to that line of thinking.

7.04: Stefon Diggs (WR – NE)

8.09: Bhayshul Tuten (RB – JAX)

9.04: Jayden Higgins (WR – HOU)

Keeping some depth pieces on hand in case of injuries is paramount. Not only do we have one of the most productive veteran receivers in Stefon Diggs, but we also have a running back who could find himself as the top back in Liam Coen’s rocket-fueled offense in Jacksonville and a player who could earn much more real estate in Year 2 in Jayden Higgins.

I profiled Stefon Diggs as a must-have wide receiver not too long ago, and as Drake Maye‘s top target, he could carve out another extremely productive season in New England.

Tuten and Higgins both showed promise in their respective situations, but both could push for bigger roles next season. Depending on what happens in free agency with Travis Etienne Jr., Tuten could find himself drafted a couple of rounds higher if Etienne bolts Jacksonville.

10.09: Caleb Williams (QB – CHI)

My aim for drafting Caleb Williams was not to have a Bears triple stack, but to have an ascending quarterback at a value with rushing upside.

Williams checks all of those boxes in the 10th round, and I was shocked that I could get a quarterback who has averaged over 400 yards rushing in his first two seasons, plus has leveled up immensely with a 27:7 touchdown-to-interception ratio in a Ben Johnson-led offense. Are you kidding me? If this is the price for Williams, I’m going to have a lot of him in 2026.

11.04: Rachaad White (RB – FA)

12.09: Romeo Doubs (WR – FA)

A couple of players we predict will be on the move, so these prices could be at the low end of where they’ll be drafted with new homes. White is purely a floor play for fantasy, but he’s one of the better receiving-focused running backs in the league. Taking a backseat in that department in 2025, White’s targets dipped under 55, and his YPRR fell under 1.10 for the first time in his four NFL seasons.

White should still have a robust free agent market as part of a timeshare, but he’ll be able to find consistent work for some NFL team in 2026. If he can land with a team like Kansas City or Houston, where touchdown equity and receiving opportunities will be plentiful, he should go a couple of rounds ahead of where I selected him in the 11th round.

As for Romeo Doubs, he may have priced himself out of Green Bay with one of the better seasons he’s put up in his four NFL campaigns. On a Packers team that spreads the ball around to nearly a half-dozen receivers, Doubs still managed 83 targets and 724 yards, with a career-best YPRR of 1.73. He’ll get well above what the Packers would pay for that production, and with a receiving logjam, Doubs is likely expendable.

Looking at teams in need of a possession receiver, the Tennessee Titans and Las Vegas Raiders could both use a player like Doubs. For fantasy, we don’t care where the targets come from as long as Doubs earns them. Just like White, the 12th round could be a steal from where we have to draft Doubs after free agency in a month.

13.04: Keaton Mitchell (RB – BAL)

14.09: Sean Tucker (RB – TB)

15.04: Jalen McMillan (WR – TB)

These three players are dart throws at the end of the draft, but each has nice upside. Keaton Mitchell is a clear home run hitter. With Derrick Henry another year older and a new regime under head coach Jesse Minter and offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, Mitchell could get a fair shake to see if he can get a regular role in tandem with Henry.

A pair of Buccaneers rounds out this draft, with Sean Tucker and Jalen McMillan. Tucker should receive a bigger role alongside Bucky Irving, with Rachaad White having said his goodbye to Tampa Bay on social media.

As for McMillan, nobody expected him to make a dent in the Buccaneers’ wide receiver rotation following a neck injury suffered at the end of the 2024 season. However, McMillan returned and showed some flashes, highlighted by a 7/114 game on nine targets in Week 17. With the status of longtime Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans up in the air regarding his return, McMillan could benefit from Evans’ departure in 2026.

Draft Wizard Insights

The FantasyPros Draft Wizard really liked our draft, giving it a 94 score out of 100 and placing it first amongst all teams. We secured two players within their position’s top three in Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Colston Loveland, plus grabbed a bunch of value by waiting on quarterback with Caleb Williams.

While the season is more than six months away, it looks like this team could take this league running away if the season started tomorrow.

Kevin Tompkins is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Kevin, check out his profile and follow him on Bluesky @ktompkinsii.bsky.social

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