Bold College Fantasy Football predictions for the 2026 season

With college football mercifully starting back up this weekend, we will finally get to see how these newly constructed rosters perform in reality as opposed to in theory. Since Yahoo College Fantasy drafts are in full swing, it's time to break out some bold CFF-oriented predictions for the 2026 season. 

Jadan Baugh leads the nation in rushing yardage

A powerful-yet-graceful Man Beast, Baugh is 6'1/228, squats 565 pounds and has 4.57s 40 speed. He was held back by the hapless Billy Napier last season but managed to score 17+ fantasy points in his last six contests following Napier's dismissal. New Florida head coach Jon Sumrall is well-known for his affinity of using his primary running back as a bell cow, as is evidenced by his prolific usage of Kimani Vidal back at Troy, with Vidal leading the entire nation in rushing under Sumrall's tutelage.

I think Sumrall unleashes Baugh on the SEC, to devastating effect, with the future top-50 NFL draft pick finally emerging as the star he was destined to be. Baugh is a major priority for me and well worth a first-round fantasy draft selection with the workload he is projected to receive. 

Jayden 'Duke' Scott takes the ACC by storm and averages 20 Fantasy PPG

Scott averaged 6.1 yards per touch with a pristine 94% catch rate as Hollywood Smothers' backup last year, and inherits the Wolfpack's starting gig heading into the season. The numbers were recounted in the indispensable Feldman Freaks List, with Scott reportedly running a 4.35s 40-yard dash while squatting 575 with 20 bench reps. Those are rare numbers for a 5'10/235-pounder and well beyond what Smothers is capable of. NC State dodges Miami, Clemson and Notre Dame (honorary ACC member), leaving Scott to feast on the soft underbelly of the ACC. I think Scott clears the elite 20 PPG mark and goes on to have a top-10 College Fantasy campaign. 

Ryan Coleman-Williams is a top-five scoring wide receiver 

The uncomfortable truth is that Coleman-Williams' 10 drops sabotaged critical opportunities and turned a promising sophomore season into a disappointment. The talent did not vanish; he still averaged 6.8 yards after the catch, showing the same acceleration and open-field creativity that powered his freshman breakout. Now that explosive sophomore QB Keelon Russell has secured the starting job, Coleman-Williams has an Elite-11-winning signal caller to work with.

Alabama's most difficult defensive test all season comes October 11 versus Georgia, with the remainder of the schedule being very favorable from a fantasy perspective. The news out of camp is that RCW has regained his freshman magic when he reclassified as a 17-year old in order to play in 2024. I think Coleman-Williams will correct the case of the yips he had in 2025 and ascend back into the upper crust of P4 wide receivers, finishing as a top-five scorer at the position.

Jamal Roberts finishes as a top-15 CFF running back

One of the most important contingency backs in fantasy football after averaging 6.17 yards per carry, Roberts also caught 17 passes for 139 yards and averaged 10.51 per game despite being a backup. Roberts' emergence as a quality RB2 averaging 0.97 fantasy points per touch shows he can support Missouri's offense if asked to lead it, and with breaking news indicating Ahmad Hardy is set to miss at least the first game, we could have a situation where the unfortunate gunshot victim is held back for most of the season until he is completely healthy in order to protect his NFL Draft stock.

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I think Roberts gets the full workload for a Mizzou squad that averaged 228 rushing yards per game last season and returns three starters on a devastating offensive line that boasts 118 total career line starts. Whoever gets that starting job is going to produce, full stop, and I think that player is Jamal Roberts. 

Omarion Miller takes the WR1 job at ASU and is a top-10 fantasy wideout

I'm a longtime fan of BC-to-ASU transfer WR Reed Harris and his ability to win downfield on the boundary. However, after watching Miller it became clear that he is simply operating at a different level and is deserving of Jordyn Tyson's high volume, alpha-WR1 role in Kenny Dillingham's offense.

Miller came on strong in his final seven games, accruing 608 of his 808 yards and 32 of his 45 receptions, as he took over the Buffs receiving room while cashing in seven touchdowns over that span. His 34% deep target rate and 3.4 fantasy points per touch average foreshadows a massive leap in production now that he has a proven offensive guru steering the ship. Imagine what Miller is capable of now that he's away from the Colorado circus, where QB JuJu Lewis said they were essentially winging it on offense last year with no real structure.

Miller is a league winner who is somehow being selected in the Round 8-10 range in most Yahoo Standard Leagues. 

Post-hype sleeper QB Nico Iamaleava tears up the Big Ten and averages 25 fantasy points per game

Iamleava was behind the 8-ball last year after transferring late in the cycle from Tennessee to UCLA in a contentious QB swap that sent UCLA signal caller Joey Aguilar packing to Knoxville. To compound matters, former head coach Deshaun Foster was inarguably one of the worst P4 coaching hires of the last decade, leaving Iamleava without structure and direction. The Bruins brought in new head coach Bob Chesney from James Madison, where he took the Dukes to the CFP Playoff and guided QB Alonza Barnett to an excellent 23.8 fantasy PPG season.

Skillset-wise, Iamleava is essentially a souped-up version of Barnett and was the only returning quarterback in the Power Four who rushed for 400+ yards and failed to eclipse the 20 PPG threshold. As someone who attended several UCLA games over Foster's tenure, and was also present at the Bruins spring game, I can say with confidence that Chesney has completely changed the atmosphere around the program. With Chesney resetting the roster through the transfer portal in the same manner that his JMU predecessor Curt Cignetti did at Indiana, I think UCLA hits the ground running and instantly becomes a credible Big Ten program, with Nico emerging from the post-hype-sleeper doldrums to become a top-20 scoring quarterback and CFF weapon who clears the 25 PPG barrier.