As the calendar edges closer to mandatory mini-camps and eventually training camp, the fantasy football landscape starts to shift towards its most likely form for when the majority of drafting will get underway.
With a little over six weeks until training camp, here are four undervalued players you should consider drafting when the time comes.
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Undervalued Fantasy Football Targets
Kenneth Gainwell (RB – TB)
Even before we got reports from Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles that Bucky Irving would be healthy at some point during training camp, Kenneth Gainwell already looked like a strong value. Irving suffered foot and shoulder injuries in Week 4 last year, returning in Week 13, but significantly worse than in his rookie season.
Irving is now recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, which is exacerbating the situation. Gainwell was signed by Tampa in free agency after they elected to let Rachaad White walk. Gainwell is coming off a career year — 114 rush attempts and 85 targets, as well as being voted the Steelers’ team MVP.
Those numbers were significantly higher than he’d previously reached (84 attempts, 50 targets) in his career. Aaron Rodgers‘ conservative play definitely contributed to this, but Gainwell is still in a prime position for another outstanding season.
Bucs RB Bucky Irving is rehabbing from off-season shoulder surgery and should be ready later this summer, per source. Irving is not expected to participate in mini-camp in a few weeks, but he is likely to be ready at some point during training camp. pic.twitter.com/UwiGS701lr
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 26, 2026
Irving wasn’t trusted with a single attempt inside the 5-yard line last season and had only 18 red-zone rush attempts — three fewer than Sean Tucker. Gainwell had five red-zone rushing touchdowns, with four coming from inside the 5-yard line.
Irving is still a solid pass-catcher and showed more explosivity in that area than Gainwell, but that could have been due to Rodgers checking down, while Mayfield was pushing the ball further when he passed to running backs.
Gainwell is the RB37 in FantasyPros’ expert consensus rankings (ECR), which is similar to his current best ball average draft position (ADP). When Irving misses time in training camp, we can expect Gainwell to start to climb the rankings.
Travis Kelce (TE – KC)
Yes, Travis Kelce is 36 years old. Yes, he turns 37 in October, which is by no means ideal for someone who plays such a physical position in the NFL, but not everyone plays with one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.
The Chiefs aren’t blessed with a plethora of pass-catching options. Rashee Rice is currently in jail and also rehabbing from a knee injury. Xavier Worthy is entering his third year after an unimpressive second season marred by injuries, which won’t help him beat the too-skinny allegations.
— FantasyPros (@FantasyPros) May 31, 2026
Kelce bounced back from a very poor 2024 season and saw his yards per reception jump from a career-low 8.5 to 11.2, which ranked eighth among tight ends with 50+ targets. At his age, it’s unlikely we get a top-three finish out of Kelce again, but as the TE10 in ECR, there’s potential for value.
Kelce scored five touchdowns last season, and it doesn’t tend to take much more than that to find yourself a top-seven option at the position.
It’s also worth considering that Matt Nagy is no longer the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator, with Eric Bieniemy returning to Kansas City. Mahomes averaged 38 touchdowns per season under Bieniemy, compared to 26 under Nagy. That might be the biggest reason why this offense bounces back in 2026.
DK Metcalf (WR – PIT)
Like it or not, the Steelers currently represent an interesting value in fantasy football ADP. Mike McCarthy is a much more offensive-minded head coach than Mike Tomlin was. He will be much friendlier towards fantasy football than the scourge of the fantasy community, Arthur Smith, was.
McCarthy leans towards more wide receiver involvement than Smith, who featured a hodgepodge of tight ends and running backs. McCarthy’s leanings toward wide receivers have been clear since he arrived in Pittsburgh, adding Michael Pittman Jr. via trade and Germie Bernard with the 47th pick of the 2026 NFL Draft.
Metcalf has recorded 99+ targets in every season of his career. While the receptions haven’t always been there due to the nature of how he won the ball deeper downfield in his earlier years, he showed last year he’s not a one-trick pony.
Metcalf averaged 4.25 yards after the catch per reception over his six seasons in Seattle, all too often catching the ball and coming to the ground on high-difficulty throws. He also had an average depth of target (aDOT) over 12 yards.
We're pretty close to ETR on these numbers.
Point being: If you sit down and project out Pittsburgh's offense, tough to not coming out ahead of Metcalf's WR37 ADP. https://t.co/vU5CjvMjMf
— Jared Smola (@SmolaDS) June 4, 2026
In Pittsburgh, Metcalf smashed those numbers to pieces with 7.2 yards after the catch per reception, the fourth-highest among wide receivers with 50+ or more targets. He was forced to find a different way to produce, with Rodgers ranking dead last among quarterbacks with 300+ attempts in aDOT (6.2).
Metcalf led the team with six receiving touchdowns, but only three came from throws inside the red zone, despite his size advantage down there. If McCarthy’s scheme features him more in that area and he can jump to double-digit touchdowns, Metcalf has a chance to be a top-18 fantasy wideout once again.
Carnell Tate (WR – TEN)
The Titans simply had no choice but to give Cam Ward better pass-catching weapons after rookies Chimere Dike and Elic Ayomanor were thrust into bigger-than-expected roles last season. Ward was a promising QB1 in a can’t-win situation and performed well enough.
With the 2027 quarterback class loaded, the Titans have to find out whether he’s the quarterback of the future or if they need to pivot, and that means finding him weapons this offseason. Ward struggled to get the ball out last year because there was so little around him, resulting in an average of 2.9 seconds to throw.
Adding Wan’Dale Robinson in the slot should help Ward get the ball out quicker, forcing defenses to account for more of the field, and, in total, will allow Carnell Tate to make hay further downfield. Tate was the first wide receiver taken in the draft with the fourth overall pick, as the latest stud wide receiver to arrive in the NFL from Ohio State.
Tate averaged a massive 18 yards per reception in his final season, and he looks as NFL-ready as you could hope for. Perhaps the ceiling will be capped with the Titans still a work in progress offense, but Tate is a player you can get in the sixth round. He should be a consistent WR2 or WR3, at the very worst.
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