When preparing for your fantasy football drafts, knowing which players to target and which to avoid is important. The amount of information available can be overwhelming, so a great way to condense the data and determine players to draft and others to leave for your leaguemates is to use our expert consensus fantasy football rankings compared to fantasy football average draft position (ADP). In this way, you can identify players the experts are willing to reach for at ADP and others they are not drafting until much later than average. Let’s dive into a few players our fantasy football experts avoid in drafts.
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2026 Fantasy Football Draft Advice: Do Not Draft List
Here are players our experts avoid in fantasy football drafts.
Quinshon Judkins had off-the-field and contract issues last year, entering his rookie season, which caused him to miss training camp and not start the season until Week 2. Once he was on the field, he was Cleveland’s workhorse back until suffering an ankle and fibula fracture in Week 16. In Weeks 2-15, he was the RB26 in fantasy points per game (RB22 in expected fantasy points per game), averaging 18.7 touches and 72.8 total yards. I wasn’t high on Judkins as a prospect, as his per-touch efficiency in college wasn’t amazing. He didn’t debunk that trend in his rookie season, either. Among 49 qualifying backs, he ranked 40th in explosive run rate, 33rd in missed tackle rate, and 26th in yards after contact per attempt (per Fantasy Points Data). In his defense, Judkins’ offensive line didn’t do him any favors last season. Among those 49 backs, Judkins had the fifth-highest mark of yards after first contact, with 62.2% of his rushing yards coming after first contact, and he had the fourth-fewest yards before contact per attempt, with only Cam Skattebo, Ashton Jeanty, and Zach Charbonnet seeing less runway with the ball in their hands. Cleveland’s offensive line could be improved this season, but it’ll take time to gel. Judkins could be an RB2 this season based on volume alone, but if the quarterback play is putrid and the offensive line struggles, he could disappoint.
Chuba Hubbard (RB – CAR)
Chuba Hubbard followed up his big breakout 2024 season with a stinker in 2025. Last year, Chuba Hubbard fell apart as the RB40 in fantasy points per game. Yes, he dealt with a calf injury for part of the season, but he also lost his starting job during the season to Rico Dowdle. Hubbard was arguably the most inefficient running back in the NFL last year. Among 49 qualifying backs, he ranked dead last in missed tackle rate and explosive run rate (zero explosive runs) while also sitting at 47th in yards after contact per attempt (per Fantasy Points Data). If Jonathon Brooks is fully healthy (I think he will be), he could easily be the backfield leader coming out of camp. I’ll be avoiding Hubbard in drafts this year.
Check out all of DBro’s top fantasy football draft picks to avoid
There’s no denying that Achane is an abundantly talented player and a fun watch. He’s averaged 5.6 yards per carry for his career, he’s scored double-digit touchdowns in each of his first three NFL seasons, and he’s had 145 catches over the last two years. Achane finished RB5 in half-point PPR scoring last year.
But Achane will be sailing into some fierce headwinds this year.
The Dolphins’ Vegas win total for 2026 was 4.5 as of this writing – and it was juiced toward the under.
Miami’s offensive line is expected to be among the worst in the league.
The Dolphins’ new quarterback, Malik Willis, averaged 18 pass attempts per game across his three starts for the Packers over the last two seasons. Only eight of his 54 throws in those three starts went to running backs.
It’s possible Achane’s talent overcomes the adverse conditions he faces in 2026, but that’s not a bet I’m eager to make in the second round of fantasy football drafts.
It could be a colossal mistake to fade a former first-round draft pick who had 1,282 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns as a rookie.
But Year 2 for BTJ was rough: 48 catches for 707 yards and two touchdowns. His drop rate was 11%. His yards per route run fell by a full yard, from 2.45 to 1.45. The passer rating on throws to BTJ went from 106.2 as a rookie to 81.2 last year.
And when Trevor Lawrence was really cooking down the stretch last season, averaging 265 yards and throwing 18 TD passes over the final seven games of the regular season, Thomas was not getting his fair share of the spoils. He played in six of those seven games and averaged 3.0 receptions and 47.8 yards per game, and he caught just one of those 18 TD passes.
In fairness, BTJ was banged up for much of last season. He had a wrist injury early on that he seemed to be favoring when he caught only seven of his first 25 targets in the first three weeks of the season. He injured his shoulder at midseason, although he didn’t miss any time. And he missed three games with a high-ankle sprain in the second half of the season.
The question is whether the promise of a healthier season is enough for us to buy back in.
For me, it is not.
For one thing, a lot of BTJ’s rookie-year production came with Mac Jones at quarterback, not Trevor Lawrence. With Lawrence at QB in the first nine games of the season, BTJ averaged 5.9 targets, 3.9 catches and 66.1 yards per game. Which isn’t bad. But from Week 10 on, when it was Jones at quarterback for all but 10 pass attempts in one partial game for Lawrence, BTJ averaged 10.0 targets, 6.5 catches and 85.9 yards per game.
The target competition is stiffer now, with Jakobi Meyers joining the team midway through the 2025 season and Parker Washington looking like a breakout star late in the year. The Jags say two-way player Travis Hunter will be deployed primarily as a cornerback this year, but he’s a potential wild card as a target thief.
This just doesn’t seem like an ecosystem that sets up well for a Brian Thomas Jr. bounce-back.
Check out all of Fitz’s top fantasy football draft picks to avoid
Don’t chase last year’s passing TD efficiency unless we have a large sample size of a player’s career TD rate. If last year was an outlier, it probably isn’t sustainable, and you are buying the quarterback at a peak price in fantasy football.
This is where we can easily identify top-end regression candidates such as Matthew Stafford. He’s coming off a bonkers passing TD season that featured a career-high 7.7% passing TD rate.
And there was a narrative behind this production, as the Rams were desperately trying to get their quarterback the MVP award. Given his age and unlikelihood, LA runs back the same red-zone plan – Stafford is a no-go for me across all formats. Especially considering he offers no rushing to boost his floor.
The Rams could also lose one of their key starting offensive linemen, Alaric Jackson, to a lengthy multi-game suspension.
Check out all of Erickson’s top fantasy football draft picks to avoid
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