Tom Strachan | Thu, Jun 25th 2026, 7:06am EDT

Fantasy Football Mock Draft: How to Approach Pick 1.09 (2026)

While picking in the back third of your fantasy football draft doesn’t bring the same electric rush as gaining the 1.01 does, there’s still plenty of good talent to be had there this year. Instead of waiting 23 picks after your first selection, the opportunity to have two picks in a short period of time lets you build a potential super team out of the gate. You can see how this might play out in a fantasy football mock draft.

This season, there are plenty of familiar names who’ve previously been on the other side of the board, and even though there are reasons they’re not still there, they firmly deserve your attention if you’re drafting from the 1.09 in your 2026 fantasy football draft.

Fantasy Football Draft Strategy: Pick 1.09

Players to Consider at 1.09 Fantasy Football Draft Pick

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

The top of the draft will start with Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs, and Ja’Marr Chase likely as the first three picks off the board. After that, it typically leans to Puka Nacua and Jaxon Smith-Njigba before things open up slightly. Amon-Ra St. Brown usually goes between the 1.06 and the 1.08, and in some leagues, you’ll see RB hungry drafters pull Jonathan Taylor or Christian McCaffrey up ahead of ADP. Generally speaking, though, if you’re drafting at the 1.09, you should have a chance to see one of McCaffrey, Taylor, and at least one of CeeDee Lamb or Justin Jefferson.

Players to Target at 1.09 Fantasy Football Draft Pick

Christian McCaffrey (RB – SF)

It’s true that Christian McCaffrey is coming off quite a poor year by his standards in the ground game, 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.

Once again, the 49ers did very little to persuade us that they don’t believe in McCaffrey’s ability to be a workhorse, instead continuing their habit of talking up a later-round dart throw at the position, who’ll likely struggle to see any involvement.

McCaffrey is 30 years old, but like Derrick Henry, he seems as committed as anyone to working hard year-round. If he can PPR scam his way to another dominant receiving role, it’s hard not to argue in his favor if you’re OK with some risk.

It’s possible McCaffrey might be pushed higher in running back-heavy leagues, but if your league is risk-averse and is available here, you should embrace the risk and enjoy the discount.

Jonathan Taylor (RB – IND)

Jonathan Taylor was absolutely dominant for the first half of last season. Had Daniel Jones not gotten injured, Taylor most likely could have stayed effective throughout the whole season.

According to teams synced with our FantasyPros tools, the Colts back led all players in playoff advance rate at 66.8%. Simply drafting Taylor gave you a two-in-three chance of making the playoffs. 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). He ranked 36th in yards after contact and scored only three rushing touchdowns.

Taylor is heading into a contract year, likely his last massive one, after turning 27 this offseason. He’ll be motivated, have his quarterback returning, who might need to lean on the run game more, and once again has virtually no competition for touches. There’s a very real world where Taylor is a top-two back this season. He makes too much sense at this point in the first round.

CeeDee Lamb (WR – DAL)

It was a really disappointing 2025 for CeeDee Lamb, posting the second-lowest numbers of his career in targets (117), receptions (75) and receiving yards (1,077), with only his rookie season in 2020 worse. He also had a career-low three touchdowns.

The newly arrived George Pickens recorded 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 23.1%. Contrast this to 2024, when Lamb had a 27.7% red-zone target share and led the team by 10%. In 2023, it was 28.8% and also led the team by 10%.

If you’re happy to believe 2025 was a blip rather than the new normal, it becomes easier to see Lamb as a value pick in this range. Betting on Lamb’s well-established connection with Dak Prescott and this team as a whole to bounce back isn’t the worst bet in the world.

Justin Jefferson (WR – MIN)

Condolences if you rostered Justin Jefferson in 2025. According to our data, Jefferson teams had a 3.54% win rate in 2025. That level of return stings and isn’t something fantasy managers forget in a hurry, but there are reasons for optimism in 2026.

Jefferson is coming off career lows in receiving yards (1,084), receptions (68) and receiving touchdowns (two) in a season he played all games. This wasn’t Jefferson’s fault, however. Among wide receivers with 50+ targets, Jefferson ranked 58th in catchable target rate (71%).

J.J. McCarthy stunk, and all indications are that Kyler Murray is the clear favorite to be the starter in 2026, and possibly beyond. The Vikings had the fourth-fewest pass attempts per game under McCarthy. In 2024, under Sam Darnold, they ranked 17th. Given the lackluster running back room, Jefferson should be fine if his catchable target rate increases and he sees a bump in volume.

Your league title starts here. Get the tools and strategy you need in the 2026 Draft Kit.

Players to Avoid at 1.09 Fantasy Football Draft Pick

Brock Bowers & Trey McBride

Whether you prefer Brock Bowers or Trey McBride doesn’t really matter. Neither should be drafted this high. Last season, McBride averaged 18.6 PPR points per game, and Bowers averaged 15.5 in 2024, the better season of his two years in the NFL.

Five running backs and five wide receivers averaged more than 18.5 points per game in 2024, and 11 managed the same achievement in 2025. It’s incredibly hard for tight ends to score as highly as the top wide receivers and running backs, and both elite tight ends still have issues to face.

McBride caught fire with positive touchdown regression while the Cardinals led the league in passing, and he ran 67 more routes than any tight end in at least 20 years.

Bowers, meanwhile, is onto his third quarterback in three years and will be hoping that Fernando Mendoza adjusts quickly to the NFL. There’s no sense in reaching for one of these players unless your league features a TE-Premium scoring setting. Only then can both be in the argument for first-round picks.

James Cook (RB – BUF)

In 2024, James Cook dominated, scoring 16 touchdowns and rushing for 1,009 yards. That production seemed unsustainable. In 2025, he recorded 1,621 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns, and gave us even more reason to be confident.

The counter to this would be that Josh Allen is coming off his lowest passing yardage total since 2019 (3,668), and hasn’t thrown for more than 30 touchdowns in the last three seasons. However, the Bills seem positive their offense will take a step forward this year with the addition of DJ Moore under new head coach Joe Brady.

That remains to be seen. If it does happen, and the team scores more passing touchdowns and moves the ball better, could it come at the expense of Cook’s ceiling?

Roster Constructions to Consider at 1.09 Fantasy Football Draft Pick

The back end of the draft board is a good place to double up on running backs, pairing either Christian McCaffrey or Jonathan Taylor with the likes of Chase Brown, Saquon Barkley or Kenneth Walker III in the second round before adding a receiver like George Pickens or Ladd McConkey in the third round.

If you choose to side with the wide receivers, the running back options are also good second-round options, with elite tight ends available.

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. It’s a good year to consider a more balanced approach.

Fantasy Football Mock Draft From the 1.09 Pick

We used our FREE fantasy football mock draft simulator to show you an example of a draft from the 1.09 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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