RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Even after 25-plus years in the fantasy industry and much success in high-stakes leagues, there inevitably comes a day early in each season in which I wish I had taken the time to write out the bull and bear case for each player likely to get drafted. Such a thing takes a lot of time, which is part of the reason why it is so hard to find such a thing on any fantasy website.
With my Big Board rankings being released as we speak, now feels like the perfect time to conduct such an exercise. Along with several members of my talented writing team here at The Huddle (Steve Hungarter, Harley Schultz, HC Green, Kevin Tompkins), we present the first edition of what I hope becomes a yearly tradition: detailed analysis as to why a player will live up to his Big Board ranking and why he may not.
Note: Rankings are based on the release of the 8/21 version of the Big Board. Because of the amount of time it will take to update each of the five articles in this series each time there is a change in the rankings, there are no plans to update the rankings next to each player in this story. If new players are added to the Big Board over the final few weeks of the preseason, I will add a sixth installment at the end of the series.
The links to all five stories (and the 150 players we discuss) are below:
1-30 | 31-60 | 61-90 | 91-120 | 121-150
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61. TE Harold Fannin Jr., Cleveland Browns
Why Fannin will justify this ranking: If Fannin keeps going on his trajectory, he will be meeting and/or exceeding his 2025 rookie season. All it will take for even more for Fannin is SOME quarterback improvement. Fannin had the highest targets-per-route-run of any tight end last season, and he did that playing half of the season as the Browns' TE2 behind David Njoku without a full routes share. Carrying over from his final season at Bowling Green, where he led ALL of college football with 117 receptions and 1,555 receiving yards, Fannin put up 72-731-6 on 104 targets last season to lead the Browns in all categories. Njoku is gone, and two rookies step into wide receiver roles alongside Jerry Jeudy, but the best chance for the Browns to move the ball lies in the hands and duck feet of Fannin.
What could keep Fannin from justifying this ranking: Let's face it: it is if the Browns are the Browns. To quote the late Dennis Green, "they are who we thought they were!" The quarterbacking of Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders is historically putrid. Maybe the Browns just cannot move the ball even in the intermediate ranges like they could last season. What if rookies KC Concepcion and/or Denzel Boston are legitimate threats in the Browns' offense? Jerry Jeudy pulls an Undertaker and comes back from the dead to post a usable stat line this season? All of these factors (and new ones we don't expect) can all hamper Fannin in 2026. But that leads us back to Occam's Razor: "the simplest explanation is usually the correct one," where 2026 could be a failure for Fannin if "the Browns are the Browns."
-- Tompkins
62. WR Wan'Dale Robinson, Tennessee Titans
Why Robinson will justify this ranking: Because we keep discounting Robinson, and he keeps putting up excellent seasons! It turns out that maybe we should buy into the fact that Robinson might be an altered version of Jarvis Landry! Robinson has put up a 92- and 93-catch season in the last two years and now joins former Giants head coach Brian Daboll in Tennessee, where he will be the offensive coordinator. There will be a little more target competition with receiver and top-five rookie Carnell Tate and veteran Calvin Ridley, but Robinson was a highly-paid free agent who will be productive for quarterback Cam Ward and will bring some legitimacy to this offense in 2026. And what if the offense scores a lot more in this configuration? Robinson was not just a PPR scam either in 2025; he extended his aDOT from 5.1 yards in 2024 to a solid 9.0 yards last season. You cannot get 140 targets this low in drafts, so I will buy Robinson where I can.
What could keep Robinson from justifying this ranking: What if Robinson IS a PPR scam? If Tennessee remains the graveyard of once-great receivers (Andre Johnson, Randy Moss, DeAndre Hopkins, Julio Jones), then it is not looking good for our guy here. Honestly, there has not been a worthwhile fantasy wide receiver from the Titans since Hopkins and, before that, A.J. Brown. Ward did not look the greatest at quarterback last season, but to be fair, he did not have a lot to work with. If it is a Ward thing, then it is REALLY not looking good for our boy. What if Calvin Ridley has a little left in the tank? Between him and Tate, that is a lot of pass-catchers demanding targets, and somebody has to play third fiddle here in an offense that is not poised to score a ton of touchdowns. Sadly, there are a handful of ways Robinson could fail to live up to his ranking in 2026.
-- Tompkins
63. WR Rome Odunze, Chicago Bears
Why Odunze will justify this ranking: With DJ Moore gone, Odunze is firmly entrenched as the team's No. 1 receiver, a role that he began to fill last season. He now has an experience edge among Caleb Williams' top targets, and a full year in Ben Johnson's system should benefit him as well. Although he faded as the season wore on, Odunze proved he could be an intermediate weapon and a force in the red zone. While Odunze raised concerns about last season's foot injury when he said playing in pain may become the "new normal" for him, he later stated his foot was no longer an issue.
What could keep Odunze from justifying this ranking: While you should not read too much into his second-half struggles as he tried to navigate a stress fracture in his foot, the potential for second-year jumps from Colston Loveland and Luther Burden III could eat i...
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