The dust is finally settling from the craziness of the NFL Combine. The NFL world, and the fantasy football world, descended on Indianapolis, Indiana for the Underwear Olympics, and Mike Washington Jr. is probably the big winner! The Arkansas running back (who made stops at Buffalo and New Mexico State) ran a blazing 4.33 40-yard dash. He also had elite jumps of 39 inches (vertical) and 10 feet-8 inches (broad). He earned a 10.0 RAS score, the maximum athletic score a prospect can achieve. This class is very top-heavy at running back. Jeremiah Love is an obvious blue-chipper, but there is a massive drop-off after Love is off the board. There is no consensus RB2 in the class right now, Washington made a strong statement that he should be in consideration. He’s the RB6 right now in the DLF Rookie Rankings, 22nd overall in 1QB drafts. 

DLF had wire-to-wire coverage of the NFL Combine, and our coverage continues with more and more articles and analysis being released daily. This is one of our biggest events every year, and every year, DLF has the best coverage. Go back and check out Rob Willette's comprehensive running blog of live analysis from the NFL Combine to catch up on all the festivities of the week. Then go back to the homepage and check out all of the other articles from our Combine coverage this week!

While the rookies are demanding the headlines, the Texans made a couple of trades to kick off the week. The first move they made was moving RT Tytus Howard to the Browns, but the big news for us happened later in the day on Monday, when they traded for veteran RB David Montgomery. Houston is hoping for a Sonic and Knuckles 2.0 in their backfield, pairing up Montgomery with the more explosive Woody Marks. This is a bit of a blow to Mark’s value, but it could do wonders to keep him on the field, and it may make his touches more productive. I’m certainly not downgrading either of them significantly from this move. Meanwhile in Detroit, I expect they’ll bring in someone to help spell Jahmyr Gibbs in their backfield, but I doubt that back will play as large a role as Montgomery played in that backfield. I think this is a boon for Gibbs, who is already one of the most valuable players in fantasy football. 

In Arizona, the Cardinals have informed Kyler Murray that he will be released at the start of next week’s new league year. With Jacoby Brissett’s success this season, he pulled the job away from Murray for good. You have to expect the Cardinals to add a younger quarterback to the roster as well. They have the third overall pick, but with Mendoza likely going to the Raiders, there won’t be a quarterback available that’s worth that pick. They could be a candidate to take Ty Simpson with the 34th overall pick, but they may need to trade up a bit to make sure they get him. 

With the league's new year approaching, the franchise/transition tag tender has come and gone. There were four tags applied, all of them on fantasy-relevant players. George Pickens, Kyle Pitts, and Breece Hall were tagged by the Cowboys, Falcons, and Jets respectively. Meanwhile, the Colts placed the transition tag on Daniel Jones. With the transition tag, the Colts will have the right of first refusal to match any offer Jones could receive from any other team, while locking him into a one-year, guaranteed contract. The Colts and Jones could still sign an extension, and they’ll continue to work towards it. As for the franchise tags, Hall was the most surprising one, and the most frustrating one for fantasy managers. After the fiasco at last season’s trade deadline, Hall managers were looking forward to the day Hall would finally get off the Jets. Now that the tag has been applied, it appears much less likely he’ll start the season with another team. He also doesn’t seem very happy about the tag, so we could be heading towards a frustrating contract impasse this summer. 

For the next couple of weeks, we’re in full-blown pre-draft mode. The prospects will participate in their Pro Days, and the NFL scouts and GMs finalize their big boards. Free Agency will kick off next week, with the “legal tampering” window opening on Monday. The news is pumping out of the league offices, and DLF is the best spot to see how each piece of news impacts your dynasty fantasy football team! Keep checking back with the homepage every day to see what’s new and keep an eye on the rankings for changes to the players on your teams!

Last week when Jeff Smith covered for me, he wrote about the value of Kyle Pitts on the franchise tag. That leaves the runway open for me to analyze George Pickens and his value on the tag with the Dallas Cowboys! Now, just because Pickens has been tagged doesn’t guarantee he will play in Dallas this season. Both sides are going to negotiate for a long-term deal, and we’ve seen those negotiations turn sour plenty of times. Players can still demand a trade, and then things can get really ugly. But, for now, let’s assume Pickens is catching passes from Dak Prescott for at least the 2026 season, a situation that saw him breakout in a major way last year. 

Pickens saw his ADP fall all the way down to 73 in May of last year, before being traded to the Dallas Cowboys. In Dallas, he turned his career around, catching 92 balls for 1,420 yards and nine touchdowns, all career highs by a long-shot. He was the WR5 in PPR leagues last season, finishing behind four dynasty superstars in Puka Nacua, JSN, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Ja’Marr Chase. It’s outstanding company, and it’s caused his ADP to skyrocket. He’s now going off the board at 21 overall in January drafts, WR11. The DLF Expert Rankings have him in a similar spot, WR14 and the 22nd player off the board in 1QB drafts. 

Frankly, given Pickens age (yesterday was his 25th birthday!), that seems like an absolute steal of a bargain. I told you the only wide receivers who finished above him last season, so why isn’t he in the same tier as those receivers? Two obvious reasons. For one, he benefitted from CeeDee Lamb’s injury last season. When Lamb is healthy, Pickens is the number two option on this team (or you could say the 1B to Lamb’s 1A). For another, you never know when things are going to go wrong with Pickens. He has a long history of locker room issues dating back to his years at Georgia. He’s struggled to control his emotions, often earning benchings or discipline from coaches and the league.

Editor’s note: I thought I’d try something to see if you were still reading, so this isn’t part of the Pickens’ coverage, just an easter egg hidden in plain site. If you were, shoot me an email at [email protected] with your DLF username and email, and I’ll add a month to the end of your current subscription. Thanks for being here with us.

He was even fined last year in Dallas for tardiness. The threat is always there, but the upside is so tantalizing. I’m probably the wrong analyst to comment on Pickens, because I’ve avoided him his whole career. Last season, I was eating crow, and now I’m jealous of all of the managers who have him on their team. WR 11-14 seems like a good spot for Pickens, so I wouldn’t buy or sell him right now at that price. Pickens is a volatile asset in dynasty leagues, but when he hits, the ceiling is legitimately WR1. I expect him to take a bit of a step back this season though, especially if Lamb can stay on the field.

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POST-COMBINE ROOKIE DRAFT
RISERS & FALLERS

The NFL Combine has a debatable impact on dynasty fantasy football rookie drafts. On one hand, it’s the one place where most of the rookies will compete against each other in specific drills and tests on a completely level playing field. On the other hand, a great Combine or a terrible Combine does not directly correlate to NFL success or draft capital. It can help a player or hurt a player a little bit, but for the most part these players are being judged on their college tape and performances. With that being said, there will certainly be some movement in rookie draft ADP based on the results of last week’s event. With that caveat in mind, let’s take a look at the stock on the 2026 NFL rookie class after the NFL Combine, sorted in order of February Rookie Dynasty ADP data from DLF.

Stock Up

Jeremiyah Love, RB Notre Dame

Jeremiyah Love really didn’t need to do much at the NFL Combine to solidify his standing as the number one player off the board in rookie drafts. Frankly, I’m surprised he participated at all, since he’s already being mocked universally as a top-ten pick in the NFL Draft. There really was nowhere to go for him but down. Despite that, he still found a way to raise his stock in Indianapolis. He dominated the 40, running a 4.36, the second highest number by a running back in the class. At this point, the only thing that can knock him out of the top spot in 1QB and superflex rookie drafts are an injury or a horrible NFL Draft landing spot.

Kenyon Sadiq, TE Oregon

A 4.39 40-yard dash for a 6’3”, 241-pound tight end is astounding. Sadiq became the first tight end ever to run a sub 4.4 40, and he dominated the jumps too. His 43.5” vertical jump was the second-best ever by a tight end, and his 11’1” broad jump was the third-best. Sadiq is a wide receiver with the frame of a tight end, and he should be a lock to be a first-round NFL Draft pick. He’ll absolutely be the TE1 in rookie drafts, and probably the only one to sniff the first round.

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