A Position-By-Position Look at John Paulsen's 2026 Never-Too-Early Rankings

Feb 26, 2026

Barry Reeger-Imagn Images

The fantasy calendar has flipped, and we’re officially preparing for the 2026 season. The first step is the first iteration of 4for4’s Never-Too-Early Rankings, which I’ll keep updated through the 2026 NFL Draft. After the Draft, I’ll run full projections for every team and player.

In the meantime, best ball sickos, dynasty bros, and keeper-league aficionados can use these rankings as a rough gauge of player value as it stands right now. Below you’ll find my early position-by-position thoughts focusing on positional depth and a few early values at each position.

Last year, a few values that jumped out were Drake Maye and Bo Nix at quarterback, Bucky Irving, Ashton Jeanty, and Kyren Williams at running back, Jauan Jennings at receiver, and Tucker Kraft at tight end. Maye, Nix, Williams, and Kraft (prior to injury) absolutely delivered on their early ADP, while Irving and Jennings dealt with injuries that hampered their production.

I’ll discuss Underdog ADP and consensus ranks found at FantasyPros.

Scoring format assumes half-PPR.

Quarterbacks

The quarterback position once again looks deep. Skipping to the QB13 to QB18 range, there’s Brock Purdy (QB2 on a per-game basis last year), Bo Nix (QB10 last year), Matthew Stafford (QB5 last year), Baker Mayfield (QB5 in 2024), Jordan Love (QB13 last year, QB13 on a per-game basis in 2024), Jared Goff (QB11 last year, QB7 in 2024), and Tyler Shough (QB9 from Week 10-Week 18 last year).

Given this depth, quarterback-by-committee (QBBC) or streaming the position should be viable options once again this year. If I don’t land a stud, every-week starter, then I like to grab two players from this group and play the matchup game.

I’m interested to see where Malik Willis lands. In his three starts for the Packers over the last two years, he has scored 31.5, 25.4, and 13.0 fantasy points, and he played well in relief in two other games. He has great rushing ability and is a competent passer, so he could turn into a good fantasy producer if he signs with a team that has a sharp offensive mind calling the plays. We are always on the lookout for running quarterbacks who are also competent passers. That said, he's now leaving the situation/system that allowed him to flourish in limited playing time.

Key Free Agents: Daniel Jones (should re-sign), Malik Willis, Aaron Rodgers