Fantasy Football with Ian Hartitz

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Five players whose price moved between August 1 and August 24. For each one Ian Hartitz lays out why they moved up, why the move makes sense, why it does not, and then a verdict on whether the new number is worth paying. 

DE'ZHAUN STRIBLING, WR61 to WR51. A perfect storm of the Ricky Pearsall injury, great camp reports and an awesome preseason: 13 targets and an 11-109-0 line on only 22 routes, plus a drop that could have been a touchdown. The case for is that Kyle Shanahan consistently makes more with less in this passing game, from Richie James to Jauan Jennings to Kendrick Bourne. The case against is that Stribling still profiles as the No. 4 option behind McCaffrey, Mike Evans and George Kittle. BUYING as a borderline WR3. 

JONATHON BROOKS, RB34 to RB29. Good camp reports and a Chuba Hubbard hamstring. Dave Canales says that if Chuba is good to go it will be a committee in Week 1, and Brooks dominated first-team usage in the preseason. But Chuba is not dead, the burst has not looked great, and RotoWire grades that offensive line 29th. SELLING at the Round 5-6 price. J

ACORY CROSKEY-MERRITT, RB40 to RB37. More clarity on the pecking order, and ambiguous backfields inevitably create value once a leader emerges. Washington ranked 5th in scoring in 2025. BUYING as the top back in that backfield. 

MARSHAWN LLOYD, RB58 to RB50. He got through camp healthy, which nobody was assuming, and he is the clear No. 2 in a usually good Green Bay offense at 71% of snaps to Chris Brooks's 29%. BUYING as a great handcuff. 

TERRANCE FERGUSON, TE27 to TE20. Rams tight ends scored the second-most PPR points in the league last season, and Ferguson led all tight ends in yards per reception at 21, with 52% of his targets coming 20-plus yards downfield against 21% for the next closest. BUYING as his favorite late-round tight end click in fantasy. Rankings, tiers and the Draft Assistant are all in the draft kit, linked at the top of this description.

Timestamps:

0:00 The plan

0:25 De'Zhaun Stribling

8:54 Jonathon Brooks

18:43 RotoWire, code IAN35

20:03 Jacory Croskey-Merritt

28:28 MarShawn Lloyd

35:10 Splash Survivor

36:05 Terrance Ferguson

44:10 Wrapping up

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📈 Get 35% OFF Ian's Rotowire 2026 Draft Kit — promo code IAN35

👉 https://www.rotowire.com/football/draft-kit/ian/?ref=owmwyje

Week 2 of the preseason supplied plenty of answers and plenty of questions. Ian Hartitz goes team by team through all 32, covering the usage and key plays from every quarterback, running back, wide receiver and tight end room, then gives the one fantasy takeaway that actually matters for each. 

It is still August, so keep your composure out there. Usage matters more than performance in these glorified scrimmages. The point is working out who each team's starters actually are instead of trusting those silly unofficial depth charts. 

Some of what came out of it: 

De'Zhaun Stribling is the headliner. He caught 4 of 5 targets for 46 yards and dropped what could have been a 33-yard touchdown, and the bull case is clear enough that he is up to WR38 for Ian and in play as a Round 7-8 pick. 

Ashton Jeanty luckily avoided long-term injury, but Ian would be hesitant to draft him earlier than Round 3 until there is a timeline for a return. Mike Washington keeps putting together one preseason highlight after another, ripping a 33-yard run and taking a near every-down role at an 85% snap rate. 

RJ Harvey's path to smashing his ADP is to keep on with exactly the receiving goodness he showed, taking a 22-yard touchdown catch and playing every snap alongside Jaylen Waddle and Courtland Sutton. Waddle himself lined up inside on 66% of his snaps, a huge jump from 18% with the Dolphins in 2025. 

Woody Marks took all 10 snaps with the Houston starters for 43 yards and a 20-yard score. Kaelon Black played 83% of snaps with Brock Purdy and four of six third downs. Ja'Kobi Lane looks like Baltimore's No. 3 receiver with Rashod Bateman probably not facing punishment from the NFL. And Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle split Pittsburgh's work almost exactly evenly, which keeps both worthwhile in the Round 7-8 range. 

Plus Shedeur Sanders outplaying Deshaun Watson in Cleveland, Chicago leaning into two-tight-end sets, Tyrone Tracy's rough August continuing in New York, and a whole lot more. Rankings, tiers and the Draft Assistant are all in the draft kit, linked at the top of this description.

Timestamps:

0:00 The plan

0:21 Arizona Cardinals

0:51 Atlanta Falcons

2:12 Baltimore Ravens

4:19 Buffalo Bills

5:02 Carolina Panthers

8:13 Chicago Bears

10:55 Cincinnati Bengals

13:12 RotoWire, code IAN35

13:59 Cleveland Browns

17:49 Dallas Cowboys

19:58 Denver Broncos

23:22 Detroit Lions

24:08 Green Bay Packers

27:35 Houston Texans

31:42 Indianapolis Colts

33:01 Jacksonville Jaguars

33:49 DraftKings

35:47 Kansas City Chiefs

39:39 Las Vegas Raiders

46:14 Los Angeles Chargers

49:28 Los Angeles Rams

50:14 Miami Dolphins

52:26 Minnesota Vikings

52:46 New England Patriots

53:45 New Orleans Saints

54:48 New York Giants

56:35 New York Jets

58:29 Philadelphia Eagles

59:23 Pittsburgh Steelers

1:03:12 Splash Survivor

1:04:52 San Francisco 49ers

1:12:33 Seattle Seahawks

1:13:30 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

1:15:31 Tennessee Titans

1:18:11 Washington Commanders

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A full crash course for your 2026 fantasy football draft, position by position, for anyone who has not been grinding this 365 days a year. Where to spend the early picks, where the value actually is, and who the late-round sleepers are.

📈 Get 35% OFF Ian's Rotowire 2026 Draft Kit — promo code IAN35

👉 https://www.rotowire.com/football/draft-kit/ian/?ref=owmwyje

Timestamps:

0:00 The plan

0:14 Quarterback

1:02 Jared Goff

1:34 Kyler Murray

2:58 Running back

3:35 Chase Brown, the RB4

5:02 Rounds 7-10: Steelers and Washington backs

6:23 Jordan Mason

6:40 The handcuffs

7:09 Wide receiver

8:41 Five receivers by round nine

9:01 Receivers, round 3

9:22 Receivers, round 4

9:37 Receivers, round 5

10:06 Receivers, round 6

10:50 Receivers, rounds 7-9

12:05 Receiver sleepers

12:55 Extra deep leagues

13:34 Tight end

15:14 Favorite late-round tight ends

15:53 Kicker

16:40 Defense

17:55 RotoWire, code IAN35

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📈 Get 35% OFF Ian's Rotowire 2026 Draft Kit — promo code IAN35 

👉 https://www.rotowire.com/football/draft-kit/ian/?ref=owmwyje

Ian Hartitz picks his favorite spot in the first round and then proves it, going pick by pick through what is realistically on the board in every round from the 1.01, and then running two live mock drafts to show the roster it actually builds. 

The case for the top of the round is simple. In the first five or six rounds you can find pockets of players you are reasonably confident will be there, and the 1.01 is the only pick nobody can take from you. This year that pick is Jahmyr Gibbs, who has the most crystal clear boom profile in fantasy football: a player in his prime, in an offense finally willing to feed him a workhorse role, with no David Montgomery in Detroit to worry about any more. And Bills aside, the Lions have been the most consistent high-scoring offense of the last five years.

Timestamps:

0:00 Where you want to be picking

0:23 Why the 1.01 is the pick

1:02 Round 1: who is actually on the board

1:56 Round 2

4:54 Round 3

6:39 Round 4: the receiver pocket

8:58 Round 5

11:23 Round 6 and the elite QB question

18:18 The build you end up with

20:18 RotoWire, code IAN35

21:34 Mock draft 1, from the 1.01

29:59 Splash Survivor

31:54 Mock draft 2, from the 1.04

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📈 Get 35% OFF Ian's Rotowire 2026 Draft Kit — promo code IAN35 

👉 https://www.rotowire.com/football/draft-kit/ian/?ref=owmwyje 

One favorite pick in every round, rounds 1 through 10, off Yahoo ADP in full PPR. For each one Ian Hartitz gives the case, the other names he is happy to take at that price, and the players he is fading there. Ten rounds, because Yahoo's base leagues are 10 teams and it gets wonky after that. 

Timestamps:

0:00 The plan: every round, full PPR

0:34 Round 1: Jahmyr Gibbs

2:56 Round 2: Chase Brown

7:26 Round 3: AJ Brown

13:50 Round 4: Colston Loveland

20:35 RotoWire, code IAN35

22:53 Round 5: Luther Burden

27:47 Round 6: Christian Watson

34:15 Round 7: The Steelers RB

38:15 DraftKings

40:13 Round 8: Parker Washington

42:02 Round 9: Chris Godwin

45:45 Round 10: Jared Goff

49:44 Splash Survivor

50:42 Best remaining, round 11 and beyond

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Not injuries. Let's say every starting running back in the NFL won the lottery, retired, or just took a season-long vacation. Where would his backup finish? Ian Hartitz ranks all 32 of them, one per team, in five tiers, counting up from the guy he would want most. The board on screen fills in as he goes.

📈 Get 35% OFF Ian's Rotowire 2026 Draft Kit — promo code IAN35

👉 https://www.rotowire.com/football/draft-kit/ian/?ref=owmwyje

Timestamps:

0:00 The premise: every starting RB takes a vacation

0:57 RB1 TreVeyon Henderson, Patriots

1:55 RB2 Blake Corum, Rams

2:56 RB3 Tank Bigsby, Eagles

5:39 RB4 Ray Davis, Bills

7:58 RotoWire, code IAN35

8:47 RB5 Rico Dowdle, Steelers

11:36 RB6 Kyle Monangai, Bears

13:21 RB7 Rachaad White, Commanders

15:38 RB8 Woody Marks, Texans

18:19 RB9 Mike Washington, Raiders

21:10 RB10 Jonathon Brooks, Panthers

24:27 RB11 Kenneth Gainwell, Buccaneers

27:05 RB12 Brian Robinson, Falcons

29:10 RB13 Tyler Allgeier, Cardinals

31:27 RB14 Jordan Mason, Vikings

33:04 RB15 Chris Rodriguez, Jaguars

35:13 RB16 Isiah Pacheco, Lions

38:11 DraftKings

40:08 RB17 MarShawn Lloyd, Packers

42:17 RB18 RJ Harvey, Broncos

44:48 RB19 Keaton Mitchell, Chargers

46:36 RB20 Alvin Kamara, Saints

49:03 RB21 Tyjae Spears, Titans

50:43 RB22 Dylan Sampson, Browns

53:08 RB23 Braelon Allen, Jets

54:51 RB24 Emmett Johnson, Chiefs

57:25 Splash Survivor

58:20 RB25 Kaelon Black, 49ers

59:54 RB26 Jaydon Blue, Cowboys

1:01:55 RB27 Tyrone Tracy, Giants

1:03:40 RB28 Jaylen Wright, Dolphins

1:05:20 RB29 Samaje Perine, Bengals

1:07:08 RB30 Seth McGowan, Colts

1:08:36 RB31 Adam Randall, Ravens

1:09:58 RB32 George Holani, Seahawks

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Five wide receivers going outside the top 120 in home leagues that Ian Hartitz is willing to make an exception for. For each one: where Sleeper, ESPN and Yahoo are drafting him, where Ian has him ranked, and why the gap exists. 

KC Concepcion is the headliner. A great preseason debut, lightning in a bottle as an all-purpose weapon, and Todd Monken's new Zay Flowers. The market has him between WR50 and WR63; Ian has him WR46 at pick 99, inside his top 100 and well ahead of all three sites. The one catch is that it would be a lot cooler if this team had a quarterback. 

Matthew Golden is the favorite to work alongside Christian Watson in two-receiver sets, and Ian's WR44 ahead of Makai Lemon, Xavier Worthy and Alec Pierce. 361 receiving yards as a rookie is light, but he had competition and a shoulder issue, and if we trust Love and LaFleur we should probably like the cheapest clear-cut starter too. 

Rashid Shaheed got three years and $51 million to be New Orleans' No. 2, and Darnold and Goff are the only quarterbacks over 4,000 yards in each of the last two seasons. Ian's WR53, though he thinks the price sits closer to Shaheed's floor than his ceiling. 

Tre' Harris is the value: WR74 on Sleeper and undrafted on both ESPN and Yahoo. Per ESPN's camp reporting the Chargers are not planning to add a veteran receiver, he rested alongside Ladd McConkey and Quentin Johnston, and in eight games at Ole Miss in 2024 he put up 1,000 yards and seven scores. Ian's WR58. 

And Travis Hunter, where the answer depends entirely on the price. The No. 2 pick from last year's draft is often free, everything out of Jacksonville says he stays involved, and if there was ever a high-end receiver handcuff to keep on your bench this is it. But at the Sleeper price he's fine and inside the top 120 Ian is out. 

Rankings, tiers and the Draft Assistant are all at RotoWire. Use code IAN35 for 35% off any subscription: https://www.rotowire.com/?ref=owmwyje

Timestamps:

0:00 Sleepers outside the top 120

0:42 KC Concepcion

4:07 RotoWire, code IAN35

4:49 Matthew Golden

9:42 Rashid Shaheed

13:53 Tre' Harris

20:02 Splash Survivor

21:22 Travis Hunter

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After six long, cold months we finally had a full slate of NFL football back on our screens. Ian Hartitz goes team by team through all 32, covering the usage and key plays from every quarterback, running back, wide receiver and tight end room, then gives the one fantasy takeaway that actually matters for each. 

It is August, so keep your composure out there. Usage matters more than performance in these glorified scrimmages. The point is working out who each team's starters actually are instead of trusting those silly unofficial depth charts. 

Some of what came out of it: 

Jeremiyah Love hit his signature hurdle inside his first 30 minutes of football and looked the part as the No. 3 overall pick, but he has a high ankle sprain and is not expected to play again this preseason, which does drop him down the ranks. 

MarShawn Lloyd was THE running back in Green Bay with Josh Jacobs and Chris Brooks out, playing all 12 snaps of the first two drives. Tank Bigsby played every snap of Philadelphia's first three drives with Saquon out and, encouragingly, was not taken off the field on pass downs. Washington fed rookie Kaytron Allen 23 carries, which is a wild number for a preseason game. 

In Buffalo the real story might not be DJ Moore, whose ankle is a genuine worry, but Khalil Shakir finally getting downfield usage. Cincinnati leaned into under-center play action on 43% of Joe Burrow's dropbacks after doing so on just 8.3% of them last season. Chicago's Luther Burden was moving laterally a week after the groin injury, and Ian is buying the dip. 

Plus Anthony Richardson's full first half in Indianapolis, Emmett Johnson and Cyrus Allen in Kansas City, KC Concepcion moving up to WR46, whether Fernando Mendoza should just start Week 1 in Las Vegas, and a whole lot more. 

Rankings, tiers and the Draft Assistant are all at RotoWire. Use code IAN35 for 35% off any subscription: https://www.rotowire.com/?ref=owmwyje

Timestamps:

0:00 The plan

0:31 Arizona Cardinals

4:12 Atlanta Falcons

7:35 RotoWire, code IAN35

8:25 Baltimore Ravens

12:04 Buffalo Bills

17:49 Carolina Panthers

20:49 Chicago Bears

22:14 Cincinnati Bengals

25:43 Cleveland Browns

30:30 Dallas Cowboys

32:41 Denver Broncos

36:09 Detroit Lions

37:03 Green Bay Packers

40:13 Houston Texans

41:34 Indianapolis Colts

44:36 Jacksonville Jaguars

45:07 Kansas City Chiefs

49:09 Las Vegas Raiders

53:15 DraftKings

55:12 Los Angeles Chargers

57:18 Los Angeles Rams

59:31 Miami Dolphins

1:03:12 Minnesota Vikings

1:05:56 New England Patriots

1:08:29 New Orleans Saints

1:10:13 New York Giants

1:14:21 New York Jets

1:16:55 Philadelphia Eagles

1:18:26 Pittsburgh Steelers

1:20:01 San Francisco 49ers

1:21:56 Seattle Seahawks

1:23:00 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

1:24:55 Tennessee Titans

1:27:02 Washington Commanders

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There are a handful of players who get the same response every time you suggest they might do something good this season. That guy is washed. 

Father Time is undefeated, and the overwhelming majority of top fantasy performers have been under 30. So Ian Hartitz takes the 10 veterans he keeps getting yelled at about, works out how bright the red flags actually are, scores every one of them on the WASHED SCALE out of 10, and figures out who benefits if the player really is finished. 

Rankings, articles and the Draft Assistant are all at RotoWire. Use code IAN20 for 20% off any subscription: https://www.rotowire.com/?ref=owmwyje

Timestamps:

0:00 The washed scale, explained

0:33 No. 1 Alvin Kamara

4:42 RotoWire, code IAN20

5:32 No. 2 Mike Evans

10:37 No. 3 Davante Adams

16:18 No. 4 Christian McCaffrey

20:03 No. 5 Aaron Rodgers

24:57 No. 6 DJ Moore

32:07 No. 7 Geno Smith

38:35 Splash Survivor

40:15 No. 8 Mark Andrews

44:52 No. 9 JK Dobbins

50:09 No. 10 Travis Kelce

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Ian Hartitz is joined by Drew Davenport of Footballguys, host of Auction Brief with Drew Davenport, to break down how to actually win a fantasy football auction draft. 

If you have never done one, this is the episode to start with. If you have done twenty, Drew has been doing them for 25 years and still has to work at keeping up with the room. 

Rankings, tiers and the Draft Assistant are all at RotoWire. Use code IAN20 for 20% off any subscription: https://www.rotowire.com/?ref=owmwyje

Timestamps:

0:00 Talking auctions with Drew Davenport

1:20 The biggest mistake new auction drafters make

5:32 Chill or pounce in the first few picks?

9:02 Nominating strategy

14:31 Stars and scrubs, or balanced?

18:58 RotoWire, code IAN20

19:32 The par sheet

23:28 What changes from a snake draft

28:10 Lawyer hat on: the Josh Jacobs update

31:33 How to prep in 10 minutes

34:26 Wrapping up

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