Day 1 of the 2026 NFL Draft was filled with twists and turns. But Day 2 was an absolute bloodbath. And that’s especially true for fantasy football. I mean, only ONE running back was drafted. And a bunch of blocking tight ends started coming off the board, which is usually not a good sign for the pass-catchers.

As always, it’s our job to dig through the rubble to figure out who the winners and the losers were. Some guys went WAY ahead of projection, others are sliding out of the draft. Quarterbacks got new weapons while other incumbent players dodged some of the bullets that could have become competition. Let’s look at rounds two and three of the 2026 NFL Draft to make sense of it for fantasy football. 

 

2026 NFL Draft Second & Third Round Winners

De’Zhaun Stribling, WR, San Francisco 49ers

There’s something extra symbolic about the first pick of the second round. Everyone goes homes, digests what happens, and recalibrates their boards. Teams discuss trading up into those first few spots for guys that might have been overlooked. In fact, some teams spent more capital to move up in the second than the Jets did to move back into the first. So those first couple picks mean something.

De’Zhaun Stribling was viewed by many as their favorite “sleeper” that was going to go later, possibly even Day 3. Instead, he’s made the first pick of Round 2 by the San Francisco 49ers and the sixth wide receiver off the board. Mike Evans is getting up there in age and the jury is still out on Ricky Pearsall so he should have an opportunity to compete in the near future. For now, it should be him vs. Christian Kirk for that WR role, but Stribling is undoubtedly a winner going higher than where he was projected to a good organization. If/when he gets one of those top two WR chairs, the targets can be highly consolidated. 

Kaelon Black, RB, San Francisco 49ers

We’re a bit torn on this one. And that’s because the San Francisco 49ers have a pretty well-documented history of reaching for running backs on Day 2 - and not many of them have panned out. But, with that aside, it’s really almost undeniable that Kaelon Black himself is a “winner” here. I mean, he wasn’t even invited to the combine and now he’s the third running back off the board in the 2026 NFL Draft. And no other RB was picked in the third either, so Jeremiyah Love, Jadarian Price, and Black are the only three backs taken so far. 

Germie Bernard, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers

We all know what happened in Round 1 by now. The Steelers were literally on the phone with Makai Lemon before the Eagles traded up and took him. That hurts. But it was clear at that point that the Steelers had a vision for a slot receiver in their new offense. And, after getting sniped in the first round, they made it a point to trade up in the second to get what could have been their next best choice in Germie Bernard. They traded away a fourth round pick to move up to this spot, so they’ve essentially invested a second and fourth in Bernard. He’ll likely be a part-time player out of the slot to start with DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman there but even the great CeeDee Lamb and Jaxon Smith-Njigba were part-time guys to start out. 

Caleb Douglas and Chris Bell, WR, Miami Dolphins

We’ll group these two together as the main reason they are winners is that they were drafted by the Dolphins, a team completely devoid of pass-catchers. They could have landed with a team like the Bengals who have Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase on long term deals - instead, they land in a spot where targets are available immediately.

There are additional reasons these two particular players are winners. With Douglas, he was drafted well ahead of where he was projected to go. In a world where a lot of guys are sliding, he was one of the few to jump up. Bell is even more intriguing in our dynasty fantasy football leagues as he is viewed as a high-risk, high-reward NFL pick after a late-season injury. But, when it comes to fantasy football, we really just care about upside so we are in on Bell. 

Chris Brazzell, WR, Carolina Panthers

The fantasy relevant names really did not fly off the board in Day 2. And some of them landed in spots where they will be buried for quite some time. Chris Brazzell not only got the Day 2 draft capital, but he landed in a decent spot. Tetairoa McMillan is a stud. But Xavier Leggette is looking more and more like a bust. They don’t really have any meaningful tight ends to rack up targets. And, as much as we like him, Jalen Coker is an undrafted free agent and those guys can often be replaced. So Brazzell will get a real shot here. 

Deshaun Watson (or Shedeur Sanders) QB, Cleveland Browns

People are not going to want to hear this. But, if you play fantasy football, especially superflex, best ball, or any sort of format that requires you to roster multiple quarterbacks, they have to hear it. In any sort of fair competition, Deshaun Watson should easily beat out Shedeur Sanders. And the Browns have spent the early part of this draft loaded up on weapons, drafting both KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston. They also opted not to select a quarterback from this group. By default, whoever wins the starting job for the Browns just got some shiny new toys to go along with Harold Fannin and Jerry Jeudy. 

 

 

 

2026 NFL Draft Second & Third Round Losers

Harold Fannin Jr., TE, Cleveland Browns

Harold Fannin was featured in our Round 1 Winners and Losers article in the losers section after the Browns took KC Concepcion in the first round. On Day 2, he became a double loser, unfortunately, as the Browns opted to take ANOTHER wide receiver. Denzel Boston was viewed by some as more of a “big slot” type guy but, since the Browns have all sorts of guys who play in the slot, he’ll likely be asked to play split end on the outside. 

Mike Washington Jr., RB, Undrafted

Mike Washington Jr. seemingly came out of nowhere to have one of the best NFL combines of all time. His 4.33 forty yard dash is literally 100th percentile, and that’s before adjusting for the fact that he is 6-foot-1 and 223 pounds. But teams don’t really seem to care about that as he has not been selected within the first three rounds. As we mentioned above, the 49ers actually ended up taking Kaelon Black as the third RB off the board, who wasn’t even invited to the combine. Maybe teams care even less about the NFL Combine than we thought. In fact, we are all losers to some degree if he doesn’t go soon - why would any running back do the combine drills moving forward if this guy didn’t boost his stock?

Dallas Goedert, TE, Philadelphia Eagles

We’ve been plotting for Dallas Goedert to be a top-two target on his team at some point going back to the Zach Ertz days. But, when Ertz was finally on the move, they quickly acquired A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. With Brown's trade rumors, there was a glimmer of hope. But then the Eagles drafted Makai Lemon in the first round. Now they have taken another pass-catcher in the second round and it’s basically a guy that is ONLY a pass-catcher. That’s likely to make Goedert the inline guy with Stowers working more on pass downs, as we saw between David Njoku/Harold Fannin and Cole Kmet/Colston Loveland last year. 

Sam Roush, TE, Chicago Bears

The career comp we had for Sam Roush was a guy like Josh Oliver or perhaps Charlie Kolar. Those guys are getting paid handsomely at the NFL level - but they are getting paid to block. That fate was all but confirmed for Sam Roush as he was selected by the Chicago Bears who are not only loaded with pass-catchers but one of them is Colston Loveland, a pure receiving tight end. And Loveland is a first round pick with a fifth-year option, so his rookie contract overlaps with Roush’s completely. The path to Sam Roush having any fantasy football relevance is now extremely difficult and it would not likely be until he receives a second contract (or someone is traded). 

Garrett Nussmeier, QB, Undrafted

On Day 1, we saw Fernando Mendoza and Ty Simpson get drafted. On Day 2, we heard the names called for Carson Beck and Drew Allar. But Garrett Nussmeier still remains on the board. We mentioned that he might not have the high-end traits needed at the NFL level, even if he is a polished prospect. I do think he’ll be a solid backup and perhaps go on a similar journey to someone like Davis Webb where he ends up coaching, like his father. But he still needs someone to actually draft him.