Fantasy Football Today - FFT Express - 8 HIDDEN GEMS For 2026: Malik Willis, Skyler Bell, Malik Washington, Terrance Ferguson, & More! (08/04 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: August 4, 2026

Looking for the late-round sleepers that could help you win your 2026 fantasy football league? Adam Aizer and Dave Richard reveal their favorite hidden gems and under-the-radar draft targets who could dramatically outperform their ADP. From overlooked quarterbacks to rookie wide receivers and breakout tight ends, these are the players savvy fantasy managers should know before draft day. Players discussed include: Malik Willis, Skyler Bell, Malik Washington, Terrance Ferguson, and several more deep sleepers with league-winning upside!

Eight hidden gems for your fancy football. Right now on FFT Express. All right, Dave Richards here. We're talking about diamond, sapphire, ruby, emerald, amber, topaz. Hopefully no cubic zirconium. Yeah, hopefully not. This is how I win. Isn't that the line from Uncut Gems?

Oh, I don't know. Yeah, I don't think you do. I love that movie, but not a movie I'm ever going to watch again. But who are some gems that we need to know about? So when you gave me this assignment, I thought, let's just talk about players that are going to be drafted maybe in 12 team leagues. These are late round picks, round 11 plus, not high 80Ps. Let's start with Jemir Gibbs. No, I'm kidding.

Let's start a quarterback with Malik Willis, who obviously has that rushing upside that we love to have on our fantasy quarterbacks, but I think he can throw a little bit, too. And this Dolphins offense, yeah, they've got Bupkis at wide receiver, although I'm going to mention a wide receiver that I think could be pretty decent. They do have a tight end and Greg Dulcich who's interesting, but I think Malik Willis can find ways to put up fantasy points. I don't hate the idea of spending a very late draft pick on him and just seeing how the first two or three weeks of the season goes. If it stinks and he stinks and the dolphin stinks, yeah, you're cutting him and you're finding somebody else. But if he's good, then we're

talking about somebody who could be a cheat code to help you win in fantasy. Next. Running backs, three of them. Jonah Coleman, Denver, Ray Davis, Buffalo, Mike Washington, Jr. with Las Vegas. And that last one, Washington, Heath actually got me intrigued on him because he said himself, we don't know for sure if Ashton Genty is going to handle this massive workload that we're expecting.

This is the guy behind him. He's young. I was really impressed with his profile. And what did Clint Kubiak do last year in Seattle? He had two good running backs. They split. I hope that's not the case for Gentie. But I think having Mike Washington, again,

somebody that you're going to draft and see how the first three weeks go or a guy you absolutely have to draft if you spend a top 15 pick on Ash and Gentie. Ray Davis, much more of a handcuff for James Cook. James Cook had almost 400 touches last year. It's a career high. We've done all this research about what happens to running backs after 400 plus touches. it might as well apply to a running back who had 385 touches last year.

And that's James Cook. So a little bit worried about a James Cook regression slash breakdown. And that would open the door for Ray Davis. But Jonah Coleman's the one who could have a mild role in Denver to begin the year. He's going to see his role expand if slash win. J.K. Dobbins misses time. RJ Harvey looks locked in as a passing downs back, a third down back for Denver, which means Jonah Coleman could work in some other situations that could be quite

groovy for the Broncos. Love the idea of drafting him and then giving him more than three weeks, four weeks, six weeks. Let's just see what happens in Denver's backfield. Maybe Jonah Coleman can step up. It is also contingent, by the way, on Taysam Hill. If Taysam Hill ends up signing in Denver, that's bad for all the running backs because we know what Taysam Hill is good at near the goal line. And that doesn't help any of Dobbins, Harvey, Coleman. I think you may have just convinced me to take Jonathan Taylor over James Cook.

Oh, yeah, I've been there all offseason. Yeah, but you never used the argument that you just made without even realizing you made it. If both those guys had big heavy workloads last year, Taylor's had multiple years doing it. Now he's also had injuries. Cook really hasn't. But Taylor's 30 pounds heavier than James Cook, maybe more. Is he not more suited for that kind of workload?

You know, maybe he is. And he's got the history to suggest that he can outperform Cook. Now, we're talking about two running backs that could get huge fantasy. production and half. Last year, James Cook was almost at 19 ppr points per game. Even with a bad stretch for Jonathan Taylor last year, he averaged 21.3. And that includes 24.8 ppr points per game in 12 full games with Daniel Jones. Hubba, hubba. Okay. A little break and some more uncut gems for you after this. All right. We are back with Dave Richard, jamming it up. A late round tight end. And this guy's behind the chug,

Oconquo, Greg Dulcich, group of tight ends. But I think Terrence Ferguson, that's how you say his name. I think he's going to end up being okay for L.A. And maybe even the number three target getter for a Rams offense that should throw a decent amount. I know they love him. I know that he's talented. And I think he's going to be the one that's the best of all their tight ends. So no Parkinson, no Tyler Higbee, Terrence Ferguson, a tight end to grab and just see

what happens those first few weeks of the season. I could see fantasy managers flaking out on him before anybody else that I've named so far on the list. But he's a late round tight end that I think does have some appeal. Yeah, the Rams played three tight end sets 30.5% of the time. Right. And this is not a blocker. This is a pass catcher. Number two on that list was the Steelers at 13.2%. And that was an Arthur Smith stat. Yeah. But two and a half times more than the next most three tight end sets for the Rams.

which is, you know, it's a little frustrating because you may not, maybe, I'm going to start Terrence Ferguson this week and then it's Kobe Parkinson's and who catches the touchdown. Yeah, hopefully that's not what happens. Hopefully it's Ferguson who's clearly the top receiving tight end for L.A. Yep. Okay. We on to wide receivers. Three names of wide receiver. One rookie, one third year player and one guy who's been around a long time. The rookie is Skyler Bell in Buffalo. Good training camp reports. I know Khalil Shakir's there and obviously DJ Moore is there. I wonder if there's a pathway for Skyler Bell to be the number two target getter in Buffalo. So I'm kind of intrigued by him.

Malik Washington and Miami, I think there's a chance he ends up leading the dolphins and targets and catches and maybe even yards. He's very, very shifty. He's small, but he's going to work in the short area along with some occasional deep shots. And he will play in two receiver sets. I believe he will. I believe he will play in two receiver sets for Miami. When I went to their mini camp, he impressed me there, as did great.

Rick Dulcich. And if I like Malik Willis, then somebody's got to step up from this receiving core. This is a very, very late round pick we're talking about, but maybe one who can average 10 ppr points per game. That's not a bad bench-wide receiver, emergency flex, by week guy. And obviously, if he's got speed, that means he's got upside for some big weeks. And speaking of speed, Rashid Shahid is going to fill a larger role, according to reports, out of Seattle. And this is an offense that I think could end up throwing a little bit more than they did last year. We know about their running back changes and all the question marks that they have at that position, I think Donald's got to put the ball in the air a little bit more.

And I think defenses are going to be a little bit more ready for Jackson, Smith and Jigba outside of 12 plus air yards downfield. I think inside they're just going to let JISN catch whatever he catches and then try and tackle him at that point. So Shaheed can be a field stretcher, but also be used in the short area as well. I don't see defenses double covering him. I think this is the year where we see Rashid Shahid take a step forward and be a decent wide receiver three for fantasy,

but you don't have to draft them as a wide receiver three. You can draft them as your wide receiver five because not everybody has them. We may hear Shaheed's name a few more times between now and week one of the NFL season on FFT shows. What do you think about this nickname? Speed should speed. I think it's awesome.

I think you should use it on our main show when the whole audience is there. I think you should, reach out to his representatives and see if they're interested in joining you on the trademark. And if not, trademark it yourself. And then you'll probably be like a millionaire five times over. Great job. Shisbeed.

Yeah. Just remember that. There are some other gems that I would nominate Denzel Boston. It goes 169th overall. Jalen McMillan right after him. And I like, you know, the idea of Jalen Naylor as wide receiver six. So I wouldn't mind being in a deep league this year. What's that ADP on Naylor?

173 or something. Okay. So I would obviously much rather have him, frankly, much rather have him than both Bell and Washington. That's a good pull. I like Naylor too. Yeah. I mean, unfortunately, I don't think I'm going to be drafting these guys in most 12-team leagues. But if I'm playing in a deeper league, there's definitely a lot of names that I'd like to have, not just settle for, but would like to see where it goes.

I think one of the most important things a drafter can do, is have a list of players that they like for the late rounds. And don't just rely on rankings. Go through them and do a little bit of digging yourself. And the ones that stand out, have a list of even if it's just like five names. But to have that list of late round sleepers, so you're not staying there in your draft going, I don't know who I want.

Don't be that guy. Be the guy that's confident knowing who they want to take late. Bring your list with you to draft. Thanks, everybody. We'll talk to you tomorrow on Fantasy Football today. and if you're, never mind. It's going to promote something, but you don't need to know. Don't worry about.

I just show my bank account statement on the screen. Did you really? Let's end this. See you later.