Chris Dell is the former sports editor and fantasy football/sportsbetting columnist at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, as well as the lead fantasy and betting analyst for ESPN 97.5's Late Hits. He's worked as a sports writer and editor for The New York Times, New York Daily News, and Yahoo Sports, among other publications, before moving into the fantasy/betting industry. In 2023, Chris won first place out of 235 analysts in the FantasyPros NFL Draft Accuracy rankings. He has since registered multiple top-5 finishes in their 2024 and 2025 in-season contests.
Below are my 2026 fantasy football redraft positional rankings and tiers, which will be continuously updated through the offseason. My top 250 overall rankings will be released in the coming days.
Before diving into the rankings, it's important to add some context on my drafting strategy for this format, because in best ball, you don't manage anything after draft day. The draft is the entire game. That single fact changes how we should value almost every player, so let's break down some strategy and rules first:
ICYMI: Each week during the 2026 season, I will also be publishing each of the following for fantasy/betting:
- Mondays: Waiver wire rankings + Dynasty ranking updates
- Tuesdays: Waiver strategy 1-on-1's + Deep dive fantasy usage thread
- Wednesdays: Rest of season rankings/tiers + Weekly top 150 rankings
- Thursdays: Trade strategy 1-on-1's + FantasyPros Q&A (6 p.m. EST)
- Fridays: Fantasy start/sit podcast + NFL player prop podcast
- Saturdays: Fantasy sleepers/stashes podcast + NFL best bet player props
- Sundays: FantasyPros Q&A (9 a.m. EST)
Please note: "ECR" stands for Expert Consensus Rankings, which is the average of all analyst rankings throughout the fantasy football industry, according to FantasyPros. The "VS. ECR" category on the right will show you how different Chris' rankings are from the industry consensus depending on the scoring format.
Chris Dell's fantasy concierge premium package is now available for the 2026 NFL season.
Chris Dell's fantasy premium package gives you exclusive access to early releases for his weekly top 150 rankings, rest of season ranks/trade tiers, and waiver wire ranks. You also get 24-7 access for personal advice on start/sit and roster moves, plus 100% guarantee to have ALL your questions answered the entire season.