Tom Strachan | Wed, Jun 10th 2026, 7:08am EDT

Fantasy Football Mock Draft: How to Approach Pick 1.04 (2026)

It may still be early, but drafters are starting to get a feel for where they want to pick in their upcoming fantasy football drafts. The 1.01 to 1.03 range feels like a nice, warm tier, but after that, it becomes flatter and trickier to predict what will work best. In this series of articles, we examine the players likely available at each selection, the pros and cons of those players, offer up some players you might want to avoid and put the theory into practice with a fantasy football mock draft. This is how to draft from the 1.04 pick.

Fantasy Football Draft Strategy: Pick 1.04

Players to Consider at 1.04 Fantasy Football Draft Pick

These players will likely be available when you make your selection:

It’s fair to assume that both Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs will likely be gone, as they’re the consensus top two picks. There isn’t a clear consensus 1.01 choice, but both players are strong selections and rarely fall below pick 1.03.

If either should fall to pick 1.04, they’re incredibly easy picks. Ja’Marr Chase typically goes inside the first three picks, and then the flatter tier of secondary talent unfolds.

Players to Target at 1.04 Fantasy Football Draft Pick

Ja’Marr Chase (WR – CIN)

Let’s be clear, if Ja’Marr Chase makes it to pick 1.04, he’s a very easy selection.

The Bengals might have slightly improved their defense, but they’re unlikely to become a unit that consistently allows them to move away from the passing game, and that continues to be excellent news for Ja’Marr Chase.

For two consecutive seasons, Chase has led the league in targets with 175 and 185, respectively. Chase also has two years with 1,400+ receiving yards, and his consistency is worth paying for. Much of Chase’s ceiling is tied to Joe Burrow ‘s health. In games with Burrow at quarterback since Chase was drafted, he averages 0.78 touchdowns and 20.67 PPR points. In the games without Burrow, those numbers drop to 0.33 touchdowns and 15.48 points.

Those aren’t terrible numbers, but the lack of touchdowns hurt. Burrow is fully healthy this offseason, and the ceiling is the name of the game at the top of the draft. Lock Chase in for another WR1 overall season.

Puka Nacua (WR – LAR)

Off the field, Puka Nacua hasn’t had a great offseason, and the Rams seem slightly hesitant to extend him, with reports suggesting that’s not in their immediate plans, despite Nacua being extension-eligible and watching Jaxon Smith-Njigba reset the market.

Things can change quickly, but for now, it sets Nacua up for what should be a massive prove-it year, both on and off the field. Nacua is coming off a career-high 10 receiving touchdowns, which, until 2025, had been the only area of his game that lacked. He combined for nine total touchdowns in the previous two seasons.

Perhaps with an improving defense, the Rams don’t go quite as pass-heavy this year, but Sean McVay has nearly always been aggressive, and Nacua deserves to be a top-five pick while Matthew Stafford is healthy.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR – SEA)

It was a truly special year for Jaxon Smith-Njigba, leading the league in receiving yards (1,794), catching 119 passes on 163 targets for 10 touchdowns, and helping the Seahawks to a Super Bowl.

The only cause for concern is Klint Kubiak leaving to become the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, which could lead to a dip in Sam Darnold‘s efficiency. The positive side, though, is that the team didn’t make any major additions at receiver, aside from bringing back Rashid Shaheed.

If Zach Charbonnet isn’t back and rookie Jadarian Price can’t adapt to the NFL quickly, could we see even more volume from Smith-Njigba?

Christian McCaffrey (RB – SF)

In best ball, this might seem unlikely, but in redraft, we constantly see running backs pushed up higher, so if you’ve been drafting a lot of best ball teams, get ready to see Christian McCaffrey going this high.

McCaffrey is coming off a very poor season by his lofty standards, rushing for 3.9 yards per carry, his lowest mark since 2020 in Carolina. This ranked 48th among running backs with 50+ rush attempts, while also ranking 47th in yards after contact per attempt and 29th in missed tackles forced.

But for fantasy purposes, that simply didn’t matter, as McCaffrey saw 129 targets, more than A.J. Brown, Courtland Sutton, Keenan Allen or Zay Flowers had. McCaffrey was the RB1 in points per game, scoring 2.5 points more than the RB2. Even though he just turned 30, McCaffrey still represents one of the biggest upside picks. If you’re not first, does it matter where you finish?

Get ready to dominate your draft with the 2026 Fantasy Football Draft Kit from FantasyPros.

Players to Avoid at 1.04 Fantasy Football Draft Pick

Jonathan Taylor (RB – IND)

Another tough fade for this selection is Jonathan Taylor, who, according to teams synced to our FantasyPros tools, led all players in advance rate to the playoffs at 66.8% last season. Sadly, though, that wasn’t the whole story.

Taylor was the fantasy RB4 in points per game, but from Week 12 onwards, he was the RB21, with an explosive run rate of 0.7% (41st) and ranking 36th in yards after contact, with just three rushing touchdowns.

Of course, much of this inefficiency was due to quarterback turmoil as Daniel Jones got beaten up and eventually tore his Achilles. If you’re that vulnerable to poor quarterback play, you do not deserve to be drafted with the third overall pick.

CeeDee Lamb (WR – DAL)

In a world where George Pickens had hit the open market, or was traded by the Cowboys this offseason, instead of signing his franchise tag tender, CeeDee Lamb could have been back in the top two wide receiver conversation.

We know that Lamb has the talent and environment necessary to succeed, but Pickens has slightly capped Lamb’s upside. Lamb posted the second-lowest numbers of his career in targets, receptions and yards, with only his rookie season in 2020 worse. He also had a career-low three touchdowns.

Pickens saw a 22.1% target share in the red zone compared to Lamb’s 18.6%, which was also behind Jake Ferguson, who led the team with a 23.1% red-zone target share.

Lamb’s red-zone target share in 2024 was 27.7%, leading the team by 10%. In 2023, it was 28.8% and also led the team by 10%. It’s clear where Lamb needs to bounce back to return to the highest tier of wide receivers.

Roster Constructions to Consider at 1.04 Fantasy Football Draft Pick

We’re most likely looking at a wide receiver from this selection, with Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs the favorites for the top two picks.

Starting WR/WR could let you lean into Zero RB with an elite tight end such as Brock Bowers or Trey McBride. You could also add your first running back from a group of Omarion Hampton, Jeremiyah Love or Derrick Henry. If a running back does fall, your wide receiver options are likely between George Pickens or Ladd McConkey.

Either start can work, but it’s worth considering whether you’d rather want to start with Gibbs/Bowers/McConkey or Chase/Hampton/Pickens.

Running Back tends to dry up quicker than usual this year, but only having one wide receiver through three rounds can leave your wide receiver room struggling to catch up.

Fantasy Football Mock Draft From the 1.04 Pick

We used our FREE fantasy football mock draft simulator to show you an example of a draft from the 1.04 position. You can sync your league for free and mock draft against your fantasy football league settings to prepare more specifically for your draft.

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