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5 DARK HORSE WRs With a Real Shot at WR1 Overall in Fantasy Football
Jun 22, 2026/u/The_Lineup_Podcastr/DynastyFF
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Player mentions
Drake Maye
QB · NE · #general
...se, now enters into an incredible offensive environment with the Patriots, Drake Maye, and very importantly… Josh McDaniels. McDaniels has had an incredible str...
Ladd McConkey
WR · LAC · #depthchartchange
...own put up historic numbers with Drake Maye and the Patriots in year one. Ladd McConkey (WR17) Last year was a huge disappointment, but the situation was horrifi...
Emeka Egbuka
WR · TB · #injuryupdate
...breakout, and I believe in the full on breakout of Ladd McConkey in 2026. Emeka Egbuka (WR20) Everybody talks about the fantasy football fall-off for Egbuka in...
Keenan Allen
WR · #injuryupdate
...led to Herbert suffering a career high 54 sacks. They also go out and grab Keenan Allen, who already had a rapport with Herbert and has a very similar play style...
Davante Adams
WR · LAR · #depthchartchange
Article text
We’re breaking down 5 players that have a real path to finishing as the WR1 overall in Fantasy Football for 2026. Here’s a breakdown of three of the Players Discussed: A.J. Brown (WR8) What do you get when you pair an elite deep threat wide receiver with a QB who was #1 in completion percentage and #3 in ADoT among starting quarterbacks? Fantasy gold. The WR11 last year in a disastrous Philadelphia Eagles offense, now enters into an incredible offensive environment with the Patriots, Drake Maye, and very importantly… Josh McDaniels. McDaniels has had an incredible stretch of setting up new WR1s in his offense for success like 2022 Davante Adams, 2009 Brandon Marshall, or most notably the record breaking 2007 Randy Moss season. With little to no target competition, we could see A.J. Brown put up historic numbers with Drake Maye and the Patriots in year one. Ladd McConkey (WR17) Last year was a huge disappointment, but the situation was horrific in Los Angeles. Start at the offensive line, losing one all-pro tackle in Rashawn Slater during the preseason and another in Joe Alt during their week 9 game. Two season ending injuries leading to the offensive line ranking 31st in the entire NFL in pass blocking for 2025 according to PFF. This led to Herbert suffering a career high 54 sacks. They also go out and grab Keenan Allen, who already had a rapport with Herbert and has a very similar play style to Ladd, cannibalizing his production. Now Keenan Allen is gone, vacating 122 targets, and Herbert and the offensive line are healthy. Bring in Mike McDaniel that’s been the orchestrator behind top-3 fantasy finishes for Deebo Samuel and Tyreek Holl (twice). In his rookie season, the fantasy WR12 Ladd McConkey led the entire NFL in separation win rate out of the slot and was second in separation score against man coverage. Last year he was 4th among all receivers with 3.26 average yards of separation. Jim Harbaugh believes in the breakout, Mike McDaniel believes in the breakout, and I believe in the full on breakout of Ladd McConkey in 2026. Emeka Egbuka (WR20) Everybody talks about the fantasy football fall-off for Egbuka in 2025, but it feels like we don’t talk enough about what exactly caused such a distinct split between weeks 1-5 and weeks 6-17. By the time we had reached week 6, Baker had already landed on the injury report for a foot/toe, right bicep, and right knee injury. But the real injury that took the wheels off of Egbuka’s ascent was his own hamstring injury that he suffered in their week 6 matchup with the 49ers. Prior to that injury, he was the WR3 on the season. Now with a full season under his belt, Mike Evans out of town entirely, and a fresh offseason to build his rapport with baker Mayfield, the sky is the limit for the electrifying second year receiver out of Ohio State that we’ve compared so many times to JSN on our show. Feel free to check out the video for a deeper dive on these three guys, plus two other potential WR1s we’re all in on! submitted by /u/The_Lineup_Podcast [link] [comments]