Lineup Fantasy Football Show - 5 NFL Rookie Receivers BREAKING OUT at Training Camp | Fantasy Football 2026

Episode Date: August 19, 2026

Five rookie wide receivers are turning heads at training camp, and one of them has a path to targets that could make him a fantasy football league winner. Play $5 and Get $50 in Bonus Entries on Underdog with code LINEUP: https://play.underdogsports.com/vgwg/p-lineup Use code LINEUPSEASON10 for 10% off Smash Accept Season Pass: https://www.smashacceptff.com/redraft Timestamps: 0:00 - Fantasy Football Rookie Receivers To Watch 1:01 - De'Zhaun Stribling, San Francisco 49ers 4:15 - Ja'Kobi Lane, Baltimore Ravens 7:15 - Caleb Douglas, Miami Dolphins 11:08 - Denzel Boston, Cleveland Browns 14:25 - Cyrus Allen, Kansas City Chiefs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. Unexpected rookies breakout in camp every single year. So let's take a look at the biggest breakouts of 26, including one guy who could be an absolute league winner. Let's go. Welcome into the Lion Fantasy Football Show. I'm Mitch Anderson. I'm Justin Mello. And Mello, obviously, the buzzer on these rookies is huge for Dynasty.

It's huge for redraft. We're taking a look here at some of the guys that could take a big leap in year one. But before we jump in, the season pass for Smash Except is now available for only 30. 3999 and you can get a bonus 10% off with code lineup season 10. Not only are you going to get access to a ton of premium tools for fantasy drafts and season long tools and rankings, but also options for direct access with me to consult with and ask questions as you're going through the process. So check out smash acceptff.com slash redraft and use the code lineup season 10 for 10% off.

But Melo, let's get into these guys. Who's getting the buzz and who is going to be for real here in year one? Give me your first player. It should come as no surprise, Mitch, that I'm talking about Dejant Stribling on this show again. I'm keeping his name in my mouth in the most positive, the most positive way possible. Should have thought that went through a little bit more. But we did an episode a few weeks ago where we talked about rookies who we think will break out in camp and have their value increased during camp. And we talked about Dejohn Stribling as our number one guy we believe.

in and lo and behold, it is happening. People like me cannot keep his name out of their mouth. And first of all, circumstances have changed dramatically since the last time we talked about our guys stribling. The number one thing being that Ricky Parasol was placed on season ending IR due to knee surgery that he needs. And that is really opened the door for stripling to have a much larger role. And boy, oh boy, has he capitalized because if you watch the 49ers first preseason game, you saw stribling start with the first team. You saw him accumulate, you saw him accumulate seven receptions for 63 yards, including making one awesome downfield catch near the sideline. But it's not just that one preseason game.

He has consistently been turning heads at camp. 49ers reporter Grant Cohn went as far as to say, and I quote, he already is the best receiver on the team full stop. He is the only wide receiver on the roster who will actually frighten opposing defenses this year. Sheesh. Incredibly crazy praise. It's almost like people are starting to realize that he was a third. 33rd overall pick in the drafts.

Like, we've been talking about this since the draft. I think people are finally starting to catch on that. Maybe there's a reason he was a fringe first round pick. And now he's got this golden opportunity to carve out a significant role in a Kyle Shanahan offense. He's done everything right so far to take advantage of it. We've been shriveling truthers since the draft from a dynasty perspective. Now from a redraft perspective, I'm starting to think he could be a league winner there as

well. Yeah, and it's another guy that I just, his price is rising, sure. It just doesn't feel like it's rising fast. enough for like what the potential is that you can see in your one. I feel like the electric substation has become like a Rorschach test when it comes to Dijon's dribbling. Like, are you seeing a threat to Dijon Stribling's health or are you seeing an opportunity opening? Because he's getting so many chances and like, believe me, I think it's a little bit crazy to say he's better than Mike Evans already. But I don't think it's crazy to say that he is the obvious second target

earner right now in that wide receiver room outside Mike Evans. Of course, you got to deal with CMC and you got deal with Kittle, but his price is just not reflecting that right now. And he's just way too cheap for a guy that, like you said, we were so excited once we saw John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan spend a very, very high first round pick, or sorry, a very, very high second round pick on him. And now we're seeing him on the field and it feels like nobody wants to believe it still. I would take a guy that your leaguemates either don't know about or just simply don't care about right now. He's a view into the substation. I had no medical evidence of that, but I'm just telling you right now. As an electrical substation expert, he is immune to it. All right, on to our

next guy, though. Last time we did the rookie talk, like you mentioned, I had broken down Elijah Sarat and his path to success, who he had an awesome first preseason game, six receptions for 66 yards. But I actually want to talk about Jacoby Lane right now, who is getting so much buzz, not only in the preseason, but in training camp itself. He had three receptions for 38 yards and an awesome touchdown if you watched the game in that first preseason game. He just, he looked like a beast. Lamar was praising him during the game when he was talking to Evan Washburn, and he said, man, his aggressiveness to go get the ball, he's just attacking the ball. I felt like that was perfect.

He looks like a guy who wanted this role, and we all know it is wide open in Baltimore right now for that wide receiver 2 spot. So this is a guy with third round draft capital out of USC. He was already absolutely cooking and training camp. It's just highlight after highlight on my Twitter feed. But you want to know one of my biggest takeaways from the Jacoby Lane breakout right now? I'm getting increasingly. fired up about Lamar Jackson.

And we've been kind of doing the thing where we're like, if you miss out on Josh Allen, just punt. I'm starting to really buy into the, if you miss out on Josh Allen, see if you can get Lamar Jackson out of deal and then punt. He's kind of entering into that like one A tier for me because we talk about Elijah Serrat's breaking out.

Jacoby Lane could be breaking out. Obviously, you've still got Zayflowers that they just put a ton of money behind and they have clear plans to make him a focal point of the office. You've still got Derek Henry. He's going to help that offense move the ball down the field. I feel like we could see a huge, huge year out of Lamar.

And especially if you're drafting best ball right now, I feel like they're an unbelievable stack. I agree. I haven't really been drafting a lot of Lamar, and I'm probably stupid for that because you're just getting a discount compared. Look how expensive he was last year. The only reason he's not going in the same range this year

is because he got hurt, but it's not like he's still hurt. It's just recancy bias that makes no sense when you really take a step back and look at it. And yeah, I'm totally drinking the Jacoby Lane Kool-Aid. I'm drinking the entire Baltimore offense Kool-Aid right now. You look at what Lamar's been working with, this offense has been working with, as like at the X position, the X receiver. It's been Rashad Bateman, who's just a massive disappointment.

You have a guy like Djigobi Lane who profiles as an X, and he's looked great in camp, and he's got aura. For what it's worth, I don't know how much that counts in fantasy, but he's got a ton of aura. It's worth it. I'm in a half point per o'clock. or a league. It's worth something. And I think there's a very good chance he has a very real role in this offense. And it's a very good offense on paper. Absolutely. And I, it's, we talk about this constantly, but we forget that it was two years ago that he was the best quarterback in

fancy football history. I'm buying into that guy. And, you know, not to make this all about Lamar, because also Jacoby Lane, I'm buying into as price. It's still too low. And it'll be interesting to see if he rises past the point that I'm comfortable taking him by like, draft season. Yeah, I mean, right now he's almost free. So absolutely taking that shot now. We'll see how things trend the next couple weeks. I don't have another good exciting offense for you, but I do have another rookie receiver,

big-bodied X receiver. And that is Caleb Douglas of the Miami Dolphins. Mitch, I'm feeling a little cocky, maybe even a little bit arrogant today. I know I puffed out my chest when we talk scribbling. I'm going to do the same with Caleb Douglas here. Because I remember saying after the draft, I'd take him over Chris Bell full stop. people laughed at me, they thought it was ridiculous. And here we are, and Caleb Douglas officially has a higher ADP than Chris Bell. Now, I will concede a big part of that is Chris Bell

hasn't been playing. He's been hurt. He was actually just activated today. So maybe we see it flip again now that he'll actually be on the field. But people are starting to get excited about Caleb Douglas is really the point I'm trying to make here. And let me get the bad out of the way first because he did have a very bad play in the Dolphins first preseason game where he very easily should have gotten both feet and bounds near the sideline. He did not. Seems like he didn't even realize he was on the sideline, which isn't great. That was bad. But aside from that, it's been all great. It's been all very good. In that same preseason game, he made a 28-yard circus catch with one hand while being interfered with by the defender. Super impressive play. And it wasn't

just one impressive play that should have you excited because he's taking advantage of this opportunity that the dolphins are getting in. He played with Maliquelis and the starters in that preseason game. and this is a gross, yucky receiver room, a ton of random bodies, and it has seen to this point unclear who will actually start. Well, now we have pretty good intel that Caleb Douglas will be lining up outside

for this team once the regular season rolls round, and it makes a lot of sense when you look at the other bodies they have. They have a ton of smaller guys, smaller frames, quicker, shifty, redundant skill sets, whereas Douglas offers something very unique with his 6-4 frame, super impressive catch radius.

He was the highest drafted receiver of the three Miami took this year, the draft and it's looking entirely plausible that he ends up as this team's wide receiver one as a rookie. I know it's a bad team, but if you're any team's wide receiver one, you are fantasy relevant. Yeah, I think this has been like one of those things where the way you put it, I believe, because that was our fast food comparisons, was just that like these guys ADPs had to be closer. And now we've seen it full on flip. And we're looking at a guy who had the higher draft capital, but people were so connected to their own priors about Chris Bell. And so they just, they didn't want to

believe it. And frankly, I think people are still not going to want to believe it, and you're going to be able to get a guy basically free here that could have a huge impact on a team that, sure, I know everyone's not excited about Malik Willis as a passer. And I know that that wide receiver room is yucky, as you said. But that wide receiver room is yucky, and he could be getting a ton of targets in it. So I absolutely love this pick and a guy that I think is going to not get talked about enough, especially with Chris Bell starting to get back in the mix. And people just wanting to be more excited about him. Yeah, and the thing you said, too, like, about him being, like, basically free or

at the end of drafts where he's affordable, like, in most formats you're playing, like, a lot of these rookies we're talking about are very close to free. And the upside that you can get from them, like, that is a shot worth taking. Yeah, I think there is absolutely this disappointment right now around rookie receivers because I think people were so excited about what we saw, you know, two years ago when we had Brian Thomas Jr. and Malik neighbors both finish in the top six. And it was like, look, last year, TMAC and Abuka, like, they were both good. TMAX still beat his ADP, but there was no, like, absolutely sensational game-breaking fantasy rookie.

And so I think we're seeing their prices just get a little bit suppressed this year. Yeah, again, we talked about it earlier, the recency bias of the whole thing. Like, that's something you should capitalize on. This episode is brought to you by Accenture. When your advertising operations fall out of sync, everything else follows. Spotify and Accenture are working together to reinvent the rhythm of ad sales, using automation, analytics, and smarter workflows to simplify campaign delivery and access better data across the business.

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A thousand percent. All right, let's move on to this next guy. But before we do, if you have not yet, make sure to hit that subscribe button. We are going to be continuing to give fantasy tips all the way through draft season. And then, of course, all the way through the NFL season as we help you win your fantasy football league. But Mel, let's talk about this next guy that's been making a ton of buzz. And that's Denzel Boston. First off, I want to give our shout out to our guy Casey Concepcion for that touchdown this weekend.

But like I just did with Jacoby Lane, I want to shine some light on his fellow rookie receiver on his own squad that we really haven't talked about enough. And that's Denzel Boston. The guy who a brown source just said looks like. like he can be Drake London for us. And we talk about a team needing a dominant X receiver. And honestly, as many different concerns as I had about Denzel Boston, he seems to be playing the part so far. I think for me, there's been one big question mark. And I will admit that question mark is still there. This quarterback room is horrendous. And the biggest challenge to me is figuring out, okay, how priced in is that, though? How much are we just not letting this guy's

ADP rise because of how bad the quarterback situation is? And at a certain point, sometimes guys do become values. So I'm very excited about him as a dynasty asset, but I'm also excited about redraft because I'm thinking that this price is just not going to rise as much as it should because people are worried about Chador Sanders, because people are worried about Deshaun Watson, because people are worried about the guy who works at Costco that might also be in the quarterback mix. And so I just want to be cognizant here of making sure the buzz doesn't get out of control because obviously if Denzel Boston just goes flying up the ranks, then I do need to be worried about Watson Sanders. But if we just see his price kind of not moving as much as we should,

this might be a real plug-your-nose guy. I've been taking some lay shots on him. From a price perspective, it's like, it's almost a good thing that Casey is also getting plenty of buzz and plenty of hype because it's suppressing Denzel Boston's price tag to where I mean this is a guy who was almost a first round pick and he's almost

free at the end of drafts like he's going undrafted in some leagues he's going with one of the last picks and a lot of leagues and I'd say he has probably close to the same odds as Casey Concepcion to be the leading receiver on this team and if Deshawn Watson's the starter I'm certainly not thrilled by it

but I'd feel better about it. You look like stylistically, Denzel Boston in some ways reminds me of a guy like Amari Cooper who was pretty fantasy relevant. I would say even pretty spectacular with Deshawn Watson at quarterback in Cleveland despite Deshaun Watson's individual struggles. Right. So you could see, I'm not going to sit here and say you're going to get Amari Cooper type of production, but if he plays that role in this offense and he emerges as the number one, you're getting a crazy steal at the end of drafts. Yeah, and that's the thing is when you look at having a quarterback like Watson or Sanders, you are looking at limiting a ceiling.

And so no one's saying Denzel Boston is going to come out and put out some like insane rookie season. You're playing him as your wide receiver won the lineup. But this is a guy that like you said, is so close to the end of drafts and could be a reliable flex down the stretch because he just has that important of a role in the Brown's offense. Yeah, you can easily, like we've seen this story before

with other guys like at their rookie years. And you could just see it playing out for Denzel Boston. Those are the types of guys I want to take shots on late in drafts. All right, let's get into our league winner. I'm going to let you introduce this guy, but this is probably the guy that we've seen the most buzz for in the fantasy football community. It'd be wrong if we didn't make this guy our league winner, and that is Cyrus Allen of the Kansas City Chiefs.

We haven't really talked about him on the show, which is kind of like shame on us because... Yeah, it's been a little disrespectful. He is the talk of training camp here. Well-deserved buzz. He's been getting just... So much attention. Ever since Camp started, everyone and anyone around the Chiefs organization has been talking

about the fifth round rookie, how Grady's looked, looks like a polished route runner. He's quick, shifty, explosive, has made more than a few spectacular catches here in camp. And he showed off the skills in the first preseason game in a limited sample. Had two receptions for 20 yards, including a really, really nice high point catch with the defender draped all over him. And the Chiefs are stunningly weak at wide receiver. And in case you've forgotten, Patrick Freaking Mahomes is the quarterback of this offense, okay? So anyone who steps up could be in for a really beautiful fantasy opportunity.

And Cyrus Allen as a fifth-front rookie might just be that guy. Steve Smith, Sr., certainly thinks so. He claimed in his opinion, Cyrus Allen will be the number one receiver in this offense. Eventually, Ball-Nower. Yeah, Steve Smith, Ball-Knower. doesn't surprise me that he's saying it over a guy like Xavier Worthy who I can't say enough negative things about. Rishie Rice,

who Mitch can't say enough negative things about straight out the jail sale. So Cyrus Allen all of a sudden has this great opportunity where I don't want to be dramatic. I don't want to be hyperbolic. But if there is anyone who I think has a chance to be this year's Puka Nakua, I think it's Cyrus Allen. He is just like dropped into the situation where I, like you said, here I go, I may I talk negatively about Rishi Rice, but I just, I have not been able to buy that Rishie Rice has the talent and that Kansas City thinks he has the talent to be this dominant wide receiver one. And I know people do not agree with that take. Yeah, watch your tongue. I think there was such a pocket here for a player to step in and just take this role. And so far we've seen Cyrus Allen do it over and over and over again. And he's impressing. And like Sam McDowell reported, I love this quote. Cyrus Allen told him, my biggest pet peeve is not being open.

I just absolutely love that. But this entire thing through training camp and now into preseason is we've just seen this report keep growing. We got the reports. Cyrus Allen has undoubtedly been Patrick Mahomes' favorite target. Feels like he's looking Allen's way every time he's out there. That was from Pete Sweeney, who's a beat reporter for the chiefs. And so as everyone's kind of getting up to speed and we're getting into this time in the fancy football season where people are jumping in and they haven't been following the training camp hype and they're kind of just

want to know a quick thing or two about who's on each team. I don't think Cyrus Allen is moving up draft boards enough. I think he probably is in the dynasty community because you tend to have people who are a lot more serious about this. But in your casual home leagues or your work leagues,

you can get Cyrus Allen for nothing. And this is a guy that Patrick Mahomes trusts. This is a guy that Andy Reid has been trusting. They're finding new creative. of ways to get him the ball in camp all the time. He just feels like a breakout that is staring us right in the face. And as the man who has been so not excited about Rishi Rice long term, this is the best thing that has ever happened to me.

As the man who has been very excited about Rishi Rice long term, I'm starting to get a little bit scared. I'm hoping there's a world where they can both thrive, especially post-Travice Kelsey. But regardless, I am obviously drinking the Cyrus-Lan Kool-Kool-Aid. it's just too overwhelming to ignore the hype. And you're right, it's kind of weird. Like, yes, the dynasty community is really getting hot and bothered. But even there, like, he's not like, with the hype he's getting,

if you're doing your rookie draft this late, you'd think he's going in like the second, third round. He's still really not. Yeah. And from a redraft perspective, he's free. Like, he is the cheapest player, I think, of anyone we've talked about today in terms of redraft ADP. And that's probably kind of dumb.

That's probably us leaning on our priors a little bit too heavily. because he was a fifth round pick, all of the indications are he's going to be a major part of the chiefs offense, the freaking Kansas City Chiefs. Yeah, 100%. This team, that just like two years ago, a Patrick Mahomes pass catcher, we'd be giving an arm and a leg for.

But something else say about Dynasty, and I've just kind of noticed this in the human psychology of the game we play, is that, like, we're all saying we're so excited about Cyrus Allen. So I think a lot of people are like, I don't want to send the Cyrus Allen manager a trade offer because he's just going to say no, because everyone's valuing him so high. just give it a shot because a lot of people are way more bark than bite and you might actually be able to get it from a guy who's like wants to capitalize on all this buzz right now.

Danish community is way more bark than bite. Like those rinky drafts even I'm talking about like the same guy who's hyping up Cyrus Allen is going out there and drafting Malachi Fields over him. Who I love Malachi Fields. That's not an anti-Maliki Fields take. But my point is like where are we drawing that line in the sand? If we're really that excited, why are we still trusting our prior so much and taking all the. these other guys over him. That's why I'm taking Parker Washington as the 101 in every redraft league. That's the most important lesson of this whole episode. I'm glad you brought that out.

You're welcome. Before we get out of here, I'm putting my money where my mouth is on one of these guys, plus two other picks I've been fired up about in the preseason. If you don't know, you can get $50 in bonus entries instantly when you deposit and make a play with $5 using the code lineup. So here's my play on screen right now that we're rolling with. We got Jaden Higgins, who has just been an absolute stud with over 574 and a half yards. We got Kyler Murray, who we just mentioned, is most likely to be best friends with one of our favorite players this season, Justin Jefferson, at over 2,925 yards.

And then finally, the guy from this video, Denzel Boston, to score four or more touchdowns on the season, wins you 8.15 times your money. But Mello, before we get out of here, did we miss anything? I think we got it all. All right, we'll catch you guys next episode.