Some of the biggest rookie names in the fantasy football rankings fell all the way to Day 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft, especially at the running back position. Read below to get the latest information on headlining Day 3 prospects like Mike Washington, Nicholas Singleton and Elijah Sarratt.
Be sure to check out the RotoWire 2026 fantasy football draft kit to get cheat sheets, rankings, auction values and more. You can run mock drafts with our mock draft simulator and check out the latest ADP rankings.
I'm going to follow the lead of Joe Bartel, who wrote the recaps of Day 1 (here) and Day 2 (here), and group the players by position (QB, RB, WR, TE) and then sorted by descending draft order slot.
Quarterback
Cade Klubnik, Fourth Round (110th overall), New York Jets 
Never say never, but at a glance it would seem like Klubnik is even ostensibly just a backup quarterback after a decent but mostly inconclusive career at Clemson.
At 6-foot-2, 207 pounds Klubnik is smallish but mobile (4.70-second pro day 40), and he might need to lean on that mobility to offset limitations as a passer. His cumulative completion percentage and yards per attempt numbers hint at stalled drives -- if your completion percentage is 64.0 then your yards per attempt figure would ideally be higher than Klubnik's 7.1.
Though the Jets probably aren't getting their hopes up about Klubnik emerging as a viable starter, he at least gives them a fallback experiment if Geno Smith struggles as much as he did in Las Vegas.
Cole Payton, Fifth Round (178th overall), Philadelphia Eagles 
Payton (6-3, 232) only started in his fifth season at North Dakota State, previously only working as a rushing specialist. His one season as a starter still didn't demonstrate much passing ability, attempting fewer than 20 passes per game versus 136 carries in 13 games.
Payton's athleticism and rushing ability are certainly intriguing, especially in the off chance he improves as a passer. With a sturdy frame and 4.56 speed to leverage, Payton's rushing ability would probably show up in the red zone especially.
Taylen Green, Sixth Round (182nd overall), Cleveland Browns 
Green's passing production at both Boise State and Arkansas was plainly bad, and wouldn't have even been tolerated at the college level if not for Green's compelling rushing ability.
That Green (6-6, 227) struggled so badly to throw the ball even with defenses taxed by the rushing threat he posed only heightens the concern about his raw passing grade. Perhaps tweaks could fix Green's issues with processing and accuracy, but otherwise it's not apparent how he's supposed to stick at quarterback.
The good news is Green should at least get a chance to fail at some point, and there's always the chance he doesn't fail. In the off chance Green can stick in a starting lineup, he would almost by default have useful fantasy utility due to his rushing ability. Green's 4.36-second 40, 43.5-inch vertical and 134-inch broad jump indicate truly rare athleticism, and he might be compelling enough as a runner to prove more viable than the low bars set by Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders.
Athan Kaliakmanis, Seventh Round (223rd overall), Washington Commanders 
Kaliakmanis (6-foot-2, 216 pounds) was a surprise pick in terms of the order of quarterback selection, notably going ahead of LSU's Garrett Nussmeier, but the more general idea of Kaliakmanis in the seventh round seemed reasonable all along.
Kaliakmanis played two years at Minnesota, mostly unsuccessfully, but his passing numbers improved at Rutgers, which has not historically been a favorable place to play quarterback. Throughout all four of his years Kaliakmanis demonstrated some amount of running ability, too. He's a long shot but there have probably been worse quarterbacks picked in the seventh round.
Behren Morton, Seventh Round (234th overall), New England Patriots 
With the Morton selection the Patriots are hoping Morton's extensive experience will make him a viable backup to Drake Maye. It might be hasty to expect Morton to stick in the NFL at all, even as a backup.
There is certainly some value to experience, and Morton has that after starting 36 games at the collegiate level over four years. Morton also did a good job of producing points relative to turnovers, throwing 71 touchdowns against 28 interceptions.
Good as it might be that he maintained turnover control in scoring situations, Morton seemed less able to get into scoring situation in the first place. Completing only 62.8 percent of his passes for 7.1 yards per attempt hints at too many punts.
Garrett Nussmeier, Seventh Round (249th overall), Kansas City Chiefs 
As much as Nussmeier was often projected as a Day 2 pick doing into the 2026 NFL Draft, that always was more hope than belief. Nussmeier did not meet expectations at LSU, where the broader draft-interested public hoped he would establish himself as a noteworthy NFL prospect.
Instead, at 6-foot-2, 203 pounds Nussmeier brings poor production with no interesting tools to develop. Nussmeier certainly has some collection of impressive plays, and perhaps LSU wasn't the ideal place for him to display his abilities. It's still inescapably true that the production and tools in Nussmeier's prospect profile are not conventionally valued.
Running Back
Jonah Coleman, Fourth Round (108th overall), Denver Broncos 
J.K. Dobbins runs with power, but it's due more to his temperament and motor than his anchor and natural power. RJ Harvey is a stout fellow himself, though more springy than anchored. Coleman offers the Broncos a human fire hydrant at running back who couldn't lift anchor even if he wanted to.
Denver isn't the ideal landing spot for Coleman, but at 5-foot-8, 220 pounds Coleman has a three-down skill set that should scale up to volume if given the opportunity. Good as he is, Dobbins' injury history is about as bad as it gets and Harvey can't run with true power. Coleman can.
If you can afford the bench space in dynasty leagues then there's no reason to panic about Coleman's landing spot. Dobbins is probably a short-term presence who can get hurt much more easily than most other starting runners. Harvey appears quite competent but will never be an ideal power runner. It only takes Dobbins injury for real opportunity to exist for Coleman, though even in that case Coleman's fantasy upside would probably be as a flex-viable start rather than an RB2.
Mike Washington, Fourth Round (122nd overall), Las Vegas Raiders 
Washington (6-1, 223) is truly blue chip as an athlete, boasting a 4.33-second 40-yard dash that could have been even faster if he had chosen to run it in a pro day setting instead. People who weigh as much as Washington simply aren't supposed to be as fast as he is, and yet here he is.
The concern with Washington is that there is highly sound reason to believe there is some sort of tax/lag in his processing of running back tasks, because someone as strong and fast as Washington should have much more yardage to show for it.
Washington averaged 4.39 yards per carry over the course of his first four collegiate seasons -- three at Buffalo and one at New Mexico State. By the end of his Buffalo career Washington had lost his starting role to Ron Cook, who never got anywhere near the NFL. At New Mexico State Washington was credited with six fumbles before fumbling four times at Arkansas in 2025.
Washington should prove a high-powered threat off the bench for the Raiders, who doubtlessly plan to run often in 2026. As much as Ashton Jeanty will get the first and second servings, if the Raiders are winning games then there might be second-half work for Washington, whose one-dimensionality would be close to a non-issue in a closer script. He needs to stop fumbling, though.
Emmett Johnson, Fifth Round (161st overall), Kansas City Chiefs
Isiah Pacheco is a big fast guy who runs like he's blindfolded. Johnson is a smallish slowish guy, but he processes space instantly. Perhaps Johnson is bereft of pro-caliber tools, but if the Chiefs give him the ball it's probably moving forward. If Kenneth Walker misses any time Johnson would be capable of buying the Chiefs time until Walker's return.
Nicholas Singleton, Fifth Round (164th overall), Tennessee Titans 
Would you be interested in a Mike Washington who can catch? That's Singleton. Singleton's processing on zone designs appears to be a liability, but on power concepts or on pass-catching designs he can get loud in a hurry. Singleton is bigger and faster than both of Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears, and his hands are probably as good as either, too.
Adam Randall, Fifth Round (174th overall), Baltimore Ravens 
Randall is uninspiring as a running back prospect, even if the Ravens ostensibly consider him similar to Derrick Henry as 6-foot-3, 230-plus running backs. They are not similar.
Henry is a natural running back, quite simply born to run between the tackles. Randall is just a tall, athletic guy who couldn't make it at receiver for Clemson and got moved to running back out of desperation. The easy, freakish anchor ability of Henry is not there with Randall, who almost needs to crouch to set his feet the way Henry otherwise does effortlessly.
With that said, Randall very well could develop into a quality tight end. He was too sluggish and slow to cut it at wide receiver, but Randall could easily go up to 240 pounds and remain a plus athlete by tight end standards. If you're in a two-TE or TE premium league I'd keep an eye on Randall, but I wouldn't get my hopes up at running back. This is not the heir to Henry's throne, in my opinion.
Kaytron Allen, Sixth Round (187th overall), Washington Commanders
On the one hand, steady guys like Allen are cheap and easily acquired. On the other hand, the teams who don't have an Allen type on hand badly wish they did have one when injuries strike the running back rotation.
To be more specific, Allen is a dependable but unremarkable runner between the tackles who can incur volume, including with power concepts. If you're a run-heavy offense and your starting running back gets hurt, you're glad to have a guy like Allen around at that point, even if you took him for granted previously. With all this said, Allen does not project for NFL starts outside of opportunities created by injuries on the depth chart ahead of him.
Demond Claiborne, Sixth Round (198th overall), Minnesota Vikings 
Claiborne definitely has wheels (4.37-second 40) but at 5-foot-10, 188 pounds Claiborne looks and runs like a skinny wide receiver. Throw in some fumbles and a mediocre career rushing production and you've got yourself a special teamer/practice squad type.
Eli Heidenreich, Seventh Round (230th overall), Pittsburgh Steelers 
Heidenreich was listed as a running back but he looks too skinny to me. I think Heidenreich is just a wide receiver, but with 4.44 speed he should have a real chance to stick there. He's probably undeveloped as a route runner, though, because Navy's offense was so wide-open and Heidenreich's speed was such a cheat code that he dominated without developing wide receiver skill specifically.
Seth McGowan, Seventh Round (237th overall), Indianapolis Colts 
Good pick. McGowan would have been in the NFL a couple years ago already if not for a felony burglary charge he picked up at Oklahoma. McGowan was never accused of any violence, though, and he stayed clean since then.
McGowan was the better player for New Mexico State when he and Mike Washington split the backfield. Make of that what you will.
Jam Miller, Seventh Round (245th overall), New England Patriots
Miller is fast but his athleticism isn't functional for playing running back. If this isn't a Brandon Bolden situation I don't see how he's supposed to be useful.
Wide Receiver
Brenen Thompson, Fourth Round (105th overall), Los Angeles Chargers 
Maybe it will work out, but Thompson won't be on the field for run plays and thus every time he steps on the field he largely tips off the play call. NFL front offices and coaches love talking themselves into specialists as they scramble for some missing trait or another in their wideout rotation, convincing themselves 'We Would Have Won If We Just Had [X],' but if you indulge specialty past a certain extent you compromise your big picture chasing that one trait.
But Thompson is very fast and is a compelling vertical threat when he's on the field. Still, Thompson's delayed production in college clarifies he's a vertical decoy rather than a DeSean Jackson or whatever.
Elijah Sarratt, Fourth Round (115th overall), Baltimore Ravens
This is a steal. The Ravens have not done a good enough job supply Lamar Jackson with downfield threats and Sarratt does nothing to fix that, but Sarratt is such a rock through the intermediate that he'll be the best tight-window receiver Jackson has played with to this point.
Kaden Wetjen, Fourth Round (121st overall), Pittsburgh Steelers
Punt returner. Very good one, though.
Skyler Bell, Fourth Round (125th overall), Buffalo Bills 
Bell absolutely torched for Connecticut but struggled at Wisconsin before that, so he fell to the fourth round out of the understandable concern that Bell only broke out at Connecticut due to his age advantage. Indeed, Bell will turn 24 in July and therefore might already be a finished product.
The optimistic case for Bell is based on the premise that, while he might be a finished product, he's a strong enough product to withstand the jump to the NFL. As much as his age advantage was probably a factor in Bell's eventual breakout, the fact that Bell logged plainly elite athletic metrics (4.40-second 40, 41-inch vertical, 133-inch broad jump) gives at least equal reason to suspect Bell's production was attributable to his rare athleticism rather than his age.
Either way, I think this is a good pick for Buffalo. They haven't had this good of a downfield threat since John Brown.
Bryce Lance, Fourth Round (136th overall), New Orleans Saints 
Lance can really fly at 6-foot-3, 204 pounds, but his late production at North Dakota State gives reason to doubt his skill set development. If you are as big as Lance and you can run a 4.34 40 with a 41.5-inch vertical then you should dominate at that level, even as an underclassman. Rather than developing into a dependable target, Lance's more realistic upside is probably as a decoy, though potentially one effective enough to warrant a starting role. I just don't really see the fantasy upside due to poor target count projection.
Colbie Young, Fourth Round (140th overall), Cincinnati Bengals 
Young wasn't exactly a household name going into the draft but I think this could prove a good pick by Cincinnati. At 6-foot-5, 218 pounds Young is both tall and sturdy, so his 4.49-second 40 looks especially good. Injuries were by far Young's biggest problem in college -- his per-snap production in his two years at Miami and two years at Georgia was NFL-caliber each season in college. I'd love to see him displace Andrei Iosivas, who has been killing the Bengals the last two years.
Reggie Virgil, Fifth Round (143rd overall), Arizona Cardinals 
If Caleb Douglas turns out to be a good pick for Miami then this should turn out a good pick for Arizona. The problem is that the Douglas pick probably won't work for Miami, and Virgil is clearly a worse pass catcher than Douglas.
Kendrick Law, Fifth Round (168th overall), Detroit Lions 
Law had a great Combine showing (4.45-second 40, 42-inch vertical) but his lack of production at Alabama and Kentucky makes the conclusive case that he doesn't have the stuff to draw targets at the NFL level.
Cyrus Allen, Fifth Round (176th overall), Kansas City Chiefs
Allen should have been invited to the Combine but was not for some reason. He should be a good rotational piece for the Chiefs with an outside shot at emerging as a viable starter at some point. Allen posted quality production at Louisiana Tech and Cincinnati, and though his 4.51-second pro day 40 probably isn't enough to stress vertically, there's reason to think Allen can hold his own in the underneath and intermediate.
Kevin Coleman, Fifth Round (177th overall), Miami Dolphins 
Coleman should stick around a bit after earning starting roles at all of Jackson State, Louisville, Mississippi State and Missouri, but at 5-foot-10, 179 pounds with short arms and only average speed he probably won't play on the boundary much. I'm no Malik Washington fan but I would assume Washington for the better slot specialist of the two.
Barion Brown, Sixth Round (190th overall), New Orleans Saints
Brown is an excellent kick returner to the point that I'm surprised he fell past the fifth round, but for fantasy purposes we probably don't care much.
Josh Cameron, Sixth Round (191st overall), Jacksonville Jaguars 
After Emmanuel Pregnon, this was probably the best pick the Jaguars made. Even so, the odds are heavily against Cameron. I think his hands and ability to run after the catch are compelling, but it's a bad sign that he fell to the sixth round in such a weak class.
Teams doubt that Cameron can get off the line quickly enough, especially against press coverage, but I say just move him to the slot to get him away from any press. If you throw the ball to Cameron he quite simply will catch it, even if he has to take it away from the defender. After he has the ball, Cameron is a guy people don't want to tackle. It's that simple to me, but guys like Cameron often never get a real shot because they're nobody's pet project and the lack of draft capital otherwise makes it easy to get cut.
I see real flashes of Anquan Boldin in Cameron's tape -- the Crazy Glue hands, the thrashing after the catch, the complete imperviousness to violence -- so I sure hope Cameron gets a fair chance to prove himself.
Malik Benson, Sixth Round (195th overall), Las Vegas Raiders
Benson is purely a decoy to me, but his 4.37 wheels might be enough to take Dont'e Thornton's roster spot after Thornton's nightmare season.
CJ Daniels, Sixth Round (197th overall), Los Angeles Rams 
Daniels was a fifth-year player at LSU (2024) and a sixth-year player at Miami (2025) yet couldn't produce notably at either stop. He also has speed in the 4.7 range. I could not care much less about a prospect like this.
Emmanuel Henderson, Sixth Round (199th overall), Seattle Seahawks 
The hope was that seventh-round 2025 rookie Ricky White would be the Seahawks' Matthew Slater, but as a rookie White mostly resided on the practice squad.
Henderson is a more compelling version of the same premise. Although he couldn't get on the field at wide receiver in his three years at Alabama, Henderson was a well-known special teams force on the Crimson Tide. Then he transferred to Kansas, where he actually produced quite well at receiver. I think Henderson might be a better receiver than he gets credit for, but at the very least there's reason to suspect the Seahawks got their Slater.
C.J. Williams, Sixth Round (203rd overall), Jacksonville Jaguars
Williams was vaguely productive for Stanford last year but Stanford was always losing and playing to catch up, which subsidized Williams' usage. Williams did not compel usage with production -- he more so got dragged into catching some passes because Stanford was losing so constantly. With roughly 4.7 speed and uninteresting college production, this looks like yet another trash pick for the Jaguars. The Gladstone Regime can't withstand another draft like this.
Lewis Bond, Sixth Round (204th overall), Houston Texans 
Bond has reliable hands and knew how to move the chains at Boston College, but with short arms and a lack of speed it might not be easy for Bond to draw and covert targets at the NFL level, even from low depths in the slot.
Anthony Smith, Seventh Round (206th overall), Dallas Cowboys 
Although he produced well the last two years for East Carolina and even logged quality athletic testing (4.45 pro day 40 at 6-foot-2, 197 pounds), but the fact that he spent four years as a backup at North Carolina State all but assures he's a backup at best in the NFL.
Deion Burks, Seventh Round (254th overall), Indianapolis Colts
Burks was not productive at Purdue or Oklahoma, but his extreme speed (4.32-second 40) gives him a shot to stick as a gadget and/or decoy type.
Tight End
Matthew Hibner, Fourth Round (133rd overall), Baltimore Ravens
Hibner is an interesting selection because while the former Michigan and SMU product didn't catch many passes at the college level he did log a lot of quality reps as a blocker, and there's reason to project pass-catching upside given Hibner's 4.57-second Combine 40 at 6-foot-4, 251 pounds. Hibner really might be the next starting Baltimore tight end after Mark Andrews.
Justin Joly, Fifth Round (152nd overall), Denver Broncos
I saw some comparisons of Joly to Jonnu Smith, but that's totally wrong. Smith was a great athlete out of Florida International, while Joly is more so an example of a player with skill who's otherwise bereft of athleticism. Productive as he was at North Carolina State, Joly decided not to run a 40-yard dash at 6-foot-4, 245 pounds, and then he gave away the game anyway by logging an abysmal 30.5-inch vertical and 114-inch broad jump. Great as he was in college, I don't see how Joly makes it in the NFL.
Tanner Koziol, Fifth Round (164th overall), Jacksonville Jaguars
At 6-foot-7, 247 pounds Koziol is a poor blocker both because he is thin for his considerable height, leaving him with a weak anchor, and because he basically doesn't seem to have the attitude for it. Albert Okwuegbunam is as big and fast as it gets at tight end and has actual pass-catching ability too, but he faces constant resentment from coaching staffs for seeming too soft as a blocker. With Koziol you get the distinct impression that this guy would rather be playing wide receiver or even basketball.
I personally don't care -- lots of tight ends who can't block end up as starters anyway, because their pass-catching ability proves too compelling -- the question is whether the politics of their situation play out favorably. If Koziol ends up the pet of some coach or Trevor Lawrence or whoever and manages to get his foot in the door as a result, then the result pass-catching production Koziol is capable of could force the coaches to leave him on the field, if only because no coach wants to take on the optics of benching an otherwise productive player, especially if the fans start getting attached.
The objective odds are that Koziol is probably another Okwuegbunam case, where as a late-round pick he's given none of the favorable exemptions to blocking that teams otherwise grant constantly when they invest enough in the player (see Brock Bowers, etc.) and simply make the choice to not care. I still think there's another universe where Okwuegbunam gets drafted a little higher, though, and maybe in that timeline Okwuegbunam's substantial pass-catching ability has been given a fair shot to prove itself. I just can't tell if Koziol's odds are truly any better in our particular reality.
Long shot or not, Koziol is still more interesting in fantasy than Nate Boerkircher, which was quite possibly the worst draft pick of all time. Koziol can produce more receiving yardage on 100 snaps than Boerkircher could produce on 500. There is truly zero doubt that Koziol can draw targets and catch passes.
Joe Royer, Fifth Round (170th overall), Cleveland Browns
Royer (6-5, 247) probably won't amount to much. He spent four years at Ohio State without playing before starting the last two years at Cincinnati. That he was somewhat active as a pass catcher is interesting, but Royer was mostly a checkdown specialist and he declined to participate in any pre-draft athletic testing. Short arms, too.
Josh Cuevas, Fifth Round (173rd overall), Baltimore Ravens
At 6-foot-3, 245 pounds Cuevas might be somewhat undersized for a tight end, but game is solid all around and his 4.65-second Combine 40 showed he has the wheels for his competent pass-catching skill set to materalize at the NFL level with enough snaps. What's less clear is how many snaps the Ravens plan to give Cuevas in the near or long term. Cuevas was the second tight end selected between himself and fourth-round pick Matthew Hibner, but one of the most amusing parts of Baltimore lore is the fact that the Ravens drafted Andrews after Hayden Hurst in the same draft, and we all know how that turned out.
Seydou Traore, Fifth Round (180th overall), Miami Dolphins
As much as the Dolphins are expected to lean heavily on Greg Dulcich this year, Dulcich's uniquely problematic history of hamstring injuries leaves Traore surprisingly close to the field even as a relatively unheralded Day 3 pick. The UK import started and produced as a true sophomore at Arkansas State (50 catches for 655 yards and four touchdowns) before transferring to Mississippi State, where his production was only decent. Still, Traore posted good numbers at his pro day workout (4.65-second 40, 40-inch vertical, 127-inch broad jump at 6-foor-4, 244 pounds).
Bauer Sharp, Sixth Round (184th overall), Tampa Bay Buccaneers 
Sharp looks like a quality depth pick after converting from quarterback and then logging starting seasons at each of Southeastern Louisiana, Oklahoma and most recently LSU. At 6-foot-5, 249 pounds Sharp boasts 4.63 speed, though the concern is his short arms might mostly reduce him to an underneath target.
Jack Endries, Seventh Round (221st overall), Cincinnati Bengals
Endries started from his second through fourth collegiate seasons, the first two starting seasons at California following a redshirt, with the third starting season being for Texas in 2025. Endries (6-5, 245) logged quality athletic testing at the Combine, posting a 4.62-second 40-yard dash. As much as seventh rounders always have poor odds of success, Endries looks about as good of a tight end prospect as you're going to find in any given seventh round.
Jaren Kanak, Seventh Round (225th overall), Tennessee Titans
In terms of build Kanak (6-2, 234) is more of a fullback than a tight end, though he was productive in his one season at tight end for Oklahoma after previously playing linebacker. I just think this guy ends up a special teamer or/and lead blocker.
Carsen Ryan, Seventh Round (248th overall), Cleveland Browns
Ryan seems like a quality pickup for the Browns this late, logging a 4.72-second pro day 40 at 6-3, 255 pounds following a college career where he logged quality starts at each of UCLA, Utah and BYU. He broke out as a pass catcher in 2025 after previously earning most of his reps as a blocker, so it's easy to imagine this guy sticking to a roster and slowly increasing his snap count year by year. There's a chance he gets a second contract with an opportunity to start at that point.
Dallen Bentley, Seventh Round (256th overall), Denver Broncos
The last time the Broncos spent a seventh-round pick on an over-aged Utah player they ended up trading him for a fourth-round pick the next year. Whether Bentley is truly the tight-end version of Devaughn Vele remains to be seen, but in the meantime the odds are against Bentley despite his productive 2025 season and good athletic testing (4.62-second 40). Bentley didn't produce in any of his earlier Utah seasons, and the fact that he'll turn 26 in December implies his one productive year at Utah might have been owed more to his age advantage than his talent.
