Fantasy Football Player Notes

Drafting Carnell Tate is a bet on talent and Cam Ward's ability to take off in his second season with Brian Daboll calling plays. I want to bet on Tate as I'm in love with the talent. Tate is an amazing route runner who can separate at all three levels of the field after ranking tenth in yards per route run and fourth in receiving grade last season (per PFF). He finished college with an otherworldly 68.8% contested catch rate, and he had zero drops in his final season despite a 14.6 aDOT. Tate will have to contend with Wan'Dale Robinson and Calvin Ridley for the WR1 spot in the Tennessee offense, but he has the talent to be the clear WR1 from Week 1. It just comes down to how quickly he can hit the ground running and how many weapons can Ward support in 2026. I'll be drafting Tate a ton.

Last year, Wan'Dale Robinson had his best season to date, easily, with a true breakout campaign as the WR14 in fantasy points per game. Among 109 qualifying receivers, he ranked 11th in target share (26.8%), 15th in receiving yards per game (63.4), 28th in yards per route run (1.94), and 11th in first-read share (32.9%, per Fantasy Points Data). A huge change for Robinson was that he wasn't just a checkdown or underneath option anymore, as his aDOT rose to 8.7 and he was 21st among that sample of receivers in deep targets. This season, Robinson will have more target competition alongside Carnell Tate and Calvin Ridley, but I expect him to be the clear WR2 in the offense. It's wonderful that he stays tied to Brian Daboll in Tennessee, who oversaw his breakout and usage last year, which gives me hope for his 2026 outlook. His floor and ceiling this season will be tied to Cam Ward taking a big step with this new coaching staff. If that happens, Robinson could be a weekly WR2/3 this season.

Calvin Ridley's 2025 season was crushed by a hamstring injury and a broken fibula. Last year, we only got to see him on the field in a full-time capacity in Weeks 1-5. During that sample, Ridley had a 19.5% target share, 54.4 receiving yards per game, 1.89 yards per route run, a 26.7% first-read share, and 0.076 first downs per route run (per Fantasy Points Data). Entering his age-32 season, I'm not expecting Ridley to be a last-round league winner in 2026, but he could easily become a decent flex play this season if Cam Ward can become the player that we hoped he would be with Brian Daboll. Even in the rosiest of circumstances, though, Ward supporting three wide receivers in fantasy on a weekly basis is probably asking way too much of him.