Lineup Fantasy Football Show - 6 Fantasy Football STEALS Nobody Is Talking About ft. Football Analysis

Episode Date: August 14, 2026

Mitch and Mello are joined by Garret from Football Analysis to break down 6 fantasy football draft steals for the 2026 NFL Season. The exact guys flying under the radar in your dynasty and redraft leagues right now. If you're drafting soon, these are the value picks that could be the difference between a league winner and a bench clogger. Play $5 and Get $50 in Bonus Entries on Underdog with code LINEUP: https://play.underdogsports.com/vgwg/p-lineup Use code LINEUP50 for 50% off Smash Accept Subscriptions for a limited time: https://www.smashacceptff.com/pricing Timestamps: 0:00 - Fantasy Football Draft Steals 0:56 - Brian Thomas Jr. 5:21 - D'Andre Swift 9:22 - JK Dobbins 13:04 - Harold Fannin Jr. 16:43 - Chris Godwin 20:38 - Isaiah Likely Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome into the lineup fantasy football show. I'm Mitch Anderson. I'm Justin Mello. And Mello, we are joined by a very, very, very special guest today. We've got Garrett from Football Analysis here to help us break down six fantasy football steals here for 2026. What's going on, Garrett? Appreciate you guys having me on. Looking forward to it, the rare fantasy football discussion.

So I'm really looking forward to this one and breaking guys down and hearing your guys' thoughts. Dude, I'm so excited to have you on because you are one of our first guests, if not our first guest. that doesn't come from exactly this fantasy football space. And so I love getting the analysis and the breakdown from someone with a different perspective that's viewing football more as a whole entity rather than just this little game we all love. But you are the guest. And as always, we're going to let you go first with one of your favorite fantasy football

steals for this year. Yeah, so one of my favorite steals, this one player is named Bijon. No, I'm kidding. I like deep cut. I like Brian Thomas Jr. from the Jags. BTJ is a player I loved coming out of LSU in 2024. I thought he was a really overthought prospect even back then. A lot of people said that he's only a guy that runs slot fades

and he's not going to be able to translate to the NFL. And in his rookie year, he had over 1,200 yards and double-digit touchdowns. And obviously, he didn't have the year that anyone intended last year. But one of the points that I was personally bringing up entering 2025 was, I do expect there to be a bit of a regression with Brian Thomas Jr. And what I will say is I didn't think it was going to be that much of a regression in 2025. But what should have been noted and what I feel like was not noted as much as it should have been entering last year was a lot of his production in 2024 came towards the end of the year with Mack Jones as a starting quarterback. And he had the big 80 plus yard touchdown against the Colts with Trevor, but a lot of it was with Mac.

And now that we are a full year into Liam Cohen's system, and now that BTJ is coming off of the sophomore slump, I personally refuse to believe that a player at 21 going in 22 years old, that's, you know, 6-3, runs a sub 4-440, I refuse to believe that a guy goes for 1,200 yards and double-digit touchdowns as a rookie and doesn't go for over 1,000 yards again at any point in his career. Now, we're only in year 3, and he hopefully has, you know, several more years in his career. I just refused to believe that that was a one-year wonder, given all of the physical tools he has. I love that you came in. You saw my Parker Washington jersey, and you just chose violence immediately. Even as a Parker guy, like, we've talked about this on the show.

I completely agree with you. You look at the rookie year. He was the wide receiver four overall in fantasy, and we've mentioned it, whether it's this year or a year in the future, like, that talent doesn't just disappear. And I think there were circumstances last year and whatever was going on with him that, obviously you were disappointed if you drafted him, but we love getting pieces of this Jacksonville offense. We love this Liam Cohen led team. And so I can see the upside argument for Brian Thomas Jr. And if he hits wide receiver 33 price tag, like if he is the guy in Jacksonville, whoever it is, it's going to pay off in spades. I'm totally with you. And Mitch, I don't have the Parker jersey behind me because I'm not your level of sicko about Parker Washington.

But he is a guy I like a lot too. But the nice thing is right now. now the camp hype is going so crazy with Parker Washington that it's almost, it's certainly elevating Parker Washington in drafts. And it's starting to make Brian Thomas a little bit more affordable because people are buying into all this hype with Parker, you know, Jacopi Myers there obviously, there's still the Travis Hunter believers that I'm not going to say Brian Thomas is the forgotten man by any means, but we're almost watering down his reputation or, or the perception of him in the fantasy community. And getting, You're right.

This is a guy who was a first round pick. This was a guy who had an incredible season his last year in college, took that into his rookie year. It would be pretty stunning to see him never have any sort of significant production or fantasy relevance again. So if his ADP does continue to slip, we've been so vocal on this show about how much we want pieces of this Jacksonville offense.

And he could be the biggest beneficiary of this offense taking a major step forward for the whole season here in 2026. Yeah, we're seeing him and Parker Washington's ADPs right now on a collision course. Like, it's looking like it's actually probably going to flip in the next week or two, and pretty soon BTJ is going to be drafted as their wide receiver too. Yeah, I mean, he's just, he's so good. I mean, I just, I just refuse to believe that it's just this one-year wonder. And, and I say this, you know, complimentary to BTJ, not to bring down Jacoby or Parker or Brent Strange who had a good year last year, but nobody in that offense and very few, players have done what he did at 21 going at 22 years old. So I refuse to believe that it's just,

oh, thanks for one year. Thanks for that. Thanks for those highlight plays and see what we're going to transition the offense elsewhere. For sure. I think he is certainly the most naturally talented receiver on this offense. I got somebody a little bit less flashy for you, probably a lot less flashy actually, but it's somebody I've definitely been drafting because I think he's a steal, and that is DeAndre Swift of the Chicago Bears. He doesn't have top five running back upside, but he's one of those guys that just stays of value year after year after year. And it's statistically certifiable because he has hit on his ADP six of his seven years in the league. He's also finished as a running back two quite literally every single year of his career with his worst

fantasy finish being the running back 21. So you just know what you're getting with DeAndre Swift. and that's reliability. Yet he's going off the board as the running back 24, which based on his track record, he's basically guaranteed to be a profit at ADP where he is going. And in fact, last year was his best career year in terms of fantasy points as well as fantasy finish. And he looked apart as well as he accumulated his stats,

boasting pro football focus's fifth highest rushing grade. So it wasn't even like it was just off volume or being part of this great Chicago offense, which it is a great offense. he himself looked very good last year. He deserves a ton of the credit for his productivity. And for those worried about Kyle Munungai and the role that he could have, even down the stretch when you really take a look under the hood

and when you would have expected Kyle Menungai to be a lot more involved at the end of the season based on some of the narratives in his production, he still was pretty thoroughly outstaffed by Swift. He was outstaffed every single game throughout their last five games of the season. He was also outplayed. he was outproduced. So with all of this in combination, I just think Swift's going to continue to stay a steel and fantasy every single year.

The offensive line is still good. Ben Johnson is still to play caller. He's one of the most obvious steals on the board if you're looking for just a safe running back too. And I think people are just kind of bored of him. Like they treat him like he's just a flavorless glass of water. But you know what? Water quite literally keeps you alive.

And DeAndre Swift is the type of running back that can do the same for your fantasy team. So like, who cares if not all the flavors there? Yeah, I mean, I'm not grabbing a water when I want to go party, but if I'm just trying to have a good day and feel good about everything going on, I'm going to have a water. Because like you said, it sustains you. That's exactly what DeAndre Swift does for your team. It sustains you. He beats his ADP every year. It's just not going to have the crazy upside that a lot of these other guys are going to have.

But he's a very solid pick at cost every year and one that you're going to rely on. I like it. And the game against the Eagles last year on Black Friday, him and Menongai, I think, think there was a graphic that kept popping up. I think him and Menungi were the first two teammates to have, it was like 125 yards in its touchdown in over a decade. It's like the first time since 2014 when they, when they did that last year on Black Friday. And there's times where I like to use this analogy, kind of in life, not just in football, even though we're talking about football, where, look, it's going to get the job done, just run the ball, don't overthink it, just get the job done,

move the sticks. DeAndre Swift, ironically, is going to do a lot of that this year. So I like the pick. And I'm glad. Isn't that stat so funny that that wasn't Jamir Gibbs and David Montgomery under Ben Johnson? Just a year or two before? I was just about to say that. Like, I'm glad you brought that up because it's like, even if you're a Monongai guy, it's like you can have both because quite literally this same exact clay collar,

we saw have Jamir Gibbs and David Montgomery both produce at a very high level in the same offense. Yeah. So there's still enough room for both of them to succeed. So you guys are just saying like DeAndre Swift's better than Jemir Gis. is that the take away? Exactly. Oh, 100%. That's actually going to be

the title of the video. You want to get clips, just go ahead and tweet that one out. Just sound clip that one right there and then, you know. Give me 60 seconds. I'll explain why DeAndre Swift is better than Jamir Gibbs. The Andre Swift confirmed better than Jamir Gibbs.

The worst decision the Lions ever made was move on from DeAndre Swift so they could go draft Jamir Gibbs. That was down. DeAndre Swift is literally the best running back to ever wear a lion's uniform. Yeah. Yeah, I don't think they have anybody else in their lineage.

Yes. Yeah. All right. Well, you know what, Mello, you went with an unsexy running back, so I'm going to go with the sexiest running back out there. Let's talk about J.K. Dobbins, who to me, kind of profiles here as this year's Javante Williams. I know that's just the thing everybody's saying right now.

But I have to admit, I wasn't that high on him going into the year. And, you know, back in March, Mello and we were first kind of talking about what 2026 has in store, I've done a complete 180. I think this is a guy who the injuries are terrifying as a fantasy manager. But when he's been on the field, there's no reason. believe he doesn't still have the juice. The ace extended him two years, $16 million over the off season. We always say follow the money and this coaching staff clearly still intends on leaning on him, just got paid about the same or more in average annual value than David Montgomery,

Giovante Williams, Rico Dowdell, Tyler Alger, all of which besides Alger are being drafted ahead of Dobbins. But then if you actually look at the on-field production, last year he ranked seventh in yards per carry among running backs with 100 or more carries. Not only that, he was fourth an explosive run rate and eighth in success rate, which with J.K. Dobbins, explosive is not always the first word that comes to mind with me. So I was very shocked to see this, but I've gained so much seam on him. And to me, he's a guy that I think all of your leaguemates will be scared off because of the injury risk. But if he does stay healthy, he is an absolute steal at his price right now. He's going to be this year's Javante

Williams-Sidel. He tears his ACL. No, but all jokes aside, like, if he does stay healthy, I mean, he was, I think we might have mentioned this on another show. Like, he kind of was last year's Chip Fonte Williams before he got hurt. And like, if he can just stay healthy, you can do it again. You look at RJ Harvey and some of the inefficiencies he had last year. You look at they did draft Jonah Coleman. You're not sure how involved he'll be year one. Garrett, I'm curious. I need somebody who's in the trenches. Yeah, absolutely. With the actual football analysis, fantasy brain to the side because I'm totally infected with fantasy brain. I need somebody else. How do you think this Broncos backfield shakes out with like the rookie and Jonah Coleman, R.J. Harvey gone into tier two. How do you project it?

I mean, I was not a big Jonah Coleman guy. I don't think he's going to be a threat to J.K. Dobbins. And we're at a point with J.K. Dobbins where if he doesn't produce now, then we're talking about him having a Dalvin Cook, Zeke Elliott final year where it's like, all right, buddy, you don't produce. Then we could find another running back next year that's six years younger. And we don't have to worry about them, unfortunately, or their body, unfortunately,

breaking down the way JK Dobbins has not had good injury luck throughout his career. So if there's going to be, I would say, a buy low, medium and then potentially,

like you guys said, be this year's Javante Williams, especially behind that offensive line. And it is worth noting that Sean Payton is no longer the team's play caller. There were some questions last year. You know,

hey, can we get, you know, fresh mind in here? Davis Webb is going to be the play caller. So I'm looking forward to this. I like the idea of J.K. Dobbins entering 2026. That's my question. Am I in love with J.K. Dobbins or am I in love with the idea of J.K. Dobbins? That'll be a whole other episode.

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app and use the code lineup, deposit and play $5 and you will get $50 in bonus entries from underdog. But guys, let's get back to the video. This is, I'm going to, is this, is this like two, is this not enough of a sleeper? If it is, if it's not, I can pick somebody else. Harold Fanon, is that? No, go love it. I love that. Okay.

So Harold Fanon is a player that I think could be a legit top five tight end this year in fantasy. And here's why the Browns are, you know, not good. Like they're not a good team. The quarterback play is very questionable. But for Harold Fanon's who still, and by the way, the defense is awesome, I just worry a lot about the quarterback play. But the offense is going to be in situations where we're going to have to throw the ball. And I think there's going to be a lot of times where Shador or Deshom.

I don't think they're the best processor. And Deshawn Watson's just downfall from who he was back in 2020 to now. I mean, we're not even remotely in the same ballpark of caliber of players. It's one of if not the worst quarterback situations in the entire NFL. Maybe Arizona's up there with the Jacoby Brissette, Carson Beck, Gardermanchu battle. But how this translates to Harold Fanon is, I think there's going to be a lot of times where the Browns are going to be trying to run a Todd Monk in offense. and a lot of the time, you know, with any concepts that are going to take time to develop, instead of trusting what their eyes are seeing or what they're going to see in the film room on Monday,

it's going to be easier to, hey, it's second and six. Let's just dump the ball down to Harold Fannan. I think there's going to be a lot of, you know, seven or eight yard receptions from Fannin this year. And I wouldn't be surprised at all if you look up at the end of games, maybe Cleveland loses 2413, but Harold Fannin has a nine-catch 85-yard day. And I wouldn't be surprised at all if he has overrun. 100 receptions in year two, simply because I think there's going to be a lot of volume and there's going to be a lot of targets as way. And he's a player, strictly speaking, for fantasy

purposes. He's going to be incredible. And if you guys are not aware, the Brown's second tight end is Joe Royer. So I think Harold Fanon is certainly in a position to not only, you know, succeed, but be one of the best tight ends this year in fantasy football. He is a guy that we were so excited for until the draft just because they brought in Denzel Bosson and Casey Concepcion, mainly from the bear case of we just saw him get such a large target share last year. But what I will say is the talent is so unbelievably undeniable. And I have wondered if, you know, Melo, we always say talent wins out over situation. And I do wonder if maybe we've been too bearish on him because of that. 100%. Because I believe in the talent wholeheartedly, what he can do after the catch is incredible.

I think he is what a lot of people hoped Kyle Pitts would be. Sorry, Mitch, I know that one hurts your ego as a Kyle Pitts guy. I wholeheartedly believe in the talent. The other thing that makes me a little bit concerned is just the departure of Stefanski. You saw so many manufactured touches going to Fannins way last year. Does that continue? The good news is Munkin is a great play caller in his own right. And we saw the tight ends get pretty heavily involved in the Baltimore offense as well.

So that is the glass half full outlook. And you're right. If you just want to bet on talent because talent does typically win out, Fanon proved it last year. He proved it as a rookie usurping David Najoku immediately and becoming not only really the number one tight end in that offense, but the number one weapon in that offense. So the talent is undoubtedly there.

I also, I don't know if you guys saw this, but they did ask Todd Monkin if he thought Harold Fanon Jr. was going to be a focal point of the offense, and he went like full Kool-Aid man and he just went, oh yeah. So that feels like all the analysis you really need. If someone goes Kool-Aid man, I'm instantly in. I don't care about any of my priors. I'm in.

Breaking through a wall. Well, I am ready to break through a wall for somebody I keep talking about on this show, and that is Chris Godwin. I cannot express enough that he was the wide receiver two overall in standard and half point PPR, and the wide receiver won in full point PPR through six weeks back in 2024 before suffering that ankle injury. People forget about it, but it happens.

You can't erase history. And last year was inevitably going to be a down year for Godwin. It just wasn't in the cards that he was going to be productive last year. He wasn't healthy enough to play because of that ankle injury from a year before until October. Then in October, he suffered a new fibula injury, which was really bad luck. And by the time he came back and was healthy, which, to be honest, I'm not sure how healthy he even was. Baker Mayfield sure wasn't healthy. He was like the guy from SpongeBob with the paper skin and the glass bones by the end of the season.

Like, he was just beat up every injury or everything that could hurt did hurt for Baker Mayfield down the stretch show. This whole offense was doomed and Godwin's productivity certainly was as well. But despite all of this, we saw the talent shine through in small doses, like when he had seven receptions per 108 yards and two touchdowns against Miami in week 17. And now we go into 2026 with Godwin healthy, with Baker Mayfield healthy, a full off season of rest. Keep an eye, they didn't make the playoffs last year, which was pretty stunning given the start to the season. So they got a full off season of rest. Mike Evans is out of town vacating a lot of targets. and Godwin's role in this offense is firmly secure as the slot receiver.

And keep in mind, the Buccaneers gave him a huge contract after the ankle injury. Mitch, I know you've talked about this. They gave him that extension after he had already suffered that injury, which means they felt confident that he still had plenty of gas left in the tank after he was fully rehabbed, which they knew would ultimately be happening in 2025, meaning they knew they weren't going to get that production in 2025. But for some odd reason, he's going as the wide receiver 40 in drafts. But he's never finished outside the top 40 wide receivers since his rookie year until last year.

He's just a steal at ADP. Our audience has heard me talk about Chris Godwin ad nauseum too. So I want to give Garrett the entire stage here to just give his takes on Chris Godwin. Yeah, I like Chris Godwin. I do worry about his body at this point, which is, that's the biggest thing is how is he really going to come back. And there is a part of me that worries about how many mouths there are to feed in that receiving room with Jailen-McCard. McMillan with a mecca, Abuka, with Godwin. And I'm pretty high on third-round rookie Ted Hurst, but Godwin is a player.

Godwin is a player that can provide a lot of stability in that room when it's hell or high water, you know, third and seven, who are we going to go to? Are we going to go to a third-round rookie? Are we going to go to, you know, Abuku at a down-half or down second half of the season last year? We're going to McMillan, who, unfortunately, was injured last year. We're going to go to a guy that's been in the league for a decade. So I can absolutely see it.

And I would say that Chris Godwin in some ways is kind of the DeAndre Swift of the receiver position, just an unsexy pick, but he's going to get the job done far more often than not. So I can absolutely understand the thought process behind Chris Godwin. Yeah, that is actually so correct. Like I feel like this is the exact same situation where, I mean, I guess you did just say it in 2024. He was the Y receiver 1 through 6 weeks. But I think season long, that's not really his ceiling.

However, I think he's going to return on his ADP and you can feel pretty confident. Yeah, I want it on record. I am not saying Chris Godwin will be the wide receiver one. I need to get out in front of that. I am saying DeAndre Swift is better than Jemir Gibbs, but not that. Thank you. I don't finish this one. But the last thing I'll say too, Garrett, like I'm really glad you brought up those other receivers who I like all those guys as well. And I agree. Tampa Bay has an embarrassment of riches at the wide receiver position. The nice thing, though, is you look at a guy like Jail and a villain or a guy like Ted Hurst profile more as probably X receivers. And then you have a guy like Godwin who's probably more of a Y going to play in the slot. So that gives me a little bit more confident in just him playing a different role than some of those guys. All right, let's hit our last guy here. This is another guy that I feel like I've been hitting all offseason. That is Isaiah Likeley. We just had the report today from Connor Hughes that the Giants appear intent on featuring Isaiah Likely as the number two option behind Malik neighbors. He's moved throughout the formation, displayed clear chemistry with Jackson Dart.

They view him more as, quote, a utility weapon than a traditional tight end. And yet we're drafting this guy as the 11th tight end off the board. when to me he just has so many glaring green flags heading into the year. From week four on, which is obviously when Jackson Dart had his first start last year, into week 17, Theo Johnson, a fourth round second year tight end, got 64 targets from Dart. Now fast forward, the Giants pay likely three years 40 million to join the team with incentives up to 47 and a half. In the nine games in his career as the starting tight end without Mark Andrews,

Isaiah likely's averaged three and a half receptions for 50 and a half yards in about point seven touchdowns a game, which may not sound like a lot, but if you extrapolate that over an entire fantasy football season, he would have been the tight end three last year. And now he goes into a better offensive environment for him. They're already talking about finding creative ways to use him, and we're drafting him as the tight end 11. So he lacks the competition not only in the tight end depth chart, he lacks it throughout the entire past catching depth chart. I don't know if you're worried about guys outside of Lake Neighbors if you think Odell Beckham and senior is going to be getting more receptions or targets.

But for me, this is the clear number two in the New York Giants offense and the opportunity to be, dare I say, a top five tight end and you're getting him at an absolute steal without having to pay that premium. I will say that I'm going to push back a little bit. I'm not worried about Odo Beckham Senior. He's probably like 60 years old at this point. So I'm not really too worried about him. But, no, I agree with everything that you're saying.

and I do worry about the Giants receiver. Receiver, I was going to, I got caught there between receiving room and receivers, but the receivers, when they brought in Odell and Juju Smith-Schuster in a span of like 48 hours, what's that say about the future of the league neighbors? You know, we want the league neighbors to be the 14 or 1,500-yard player he can be, because he's such an electric player. But Isaiah, Isaiah likely is in a good situation to finally break out. He's been, I feel like he's been a breakout candidate for a couple of years now.

where he's going to finally pass Mark, excuse me, he's going to finally pass Mark Andrews. And that never, you know, that never happened. But now he has the chance he's paid like a, like one of the best tight ends in football, or a better tight end in his usage and role. And Isaiah likely is also not going to get confused with Rob Grunkowski or George Kitto, if you will, in the run game. So speaking strictly with what we're talking about at hand fantasy football, I can absolutely get behind Isaiah likely.

Yeah, that is a good point you bring out. Because I'm a likely guy too, but like people, and I'm guilty of it all the time too, but people in fantasy like tight ends for wide receiver reasons and think that means that they should be on the field as if offensive coordinators and head coaches give a single shit about your fantasy team. It's like, they don't.

They're going to put the guy out there that can play in line and that can block in their run game and set up the play action. And that's probably what hurt Isaiah likely in Baltimore to at least some extent. If that carries over into New York, there is a risk there. But if they just say, like, no, we're just going to unleash him, light him up at receiver. Then from a fantasy football perspective, there's a huge, there's a very high ceiling there,

if he's truly used in that capacity at a very consistent basis. 100%. I'm actually going to push back on Garrett, though. I am worried about Odo Beckham Senior because when Isaiah likely is getting 10 targets a game, he's going to be on social media complaining that his son isn't getting enough playing time. Good call. good call. Well, thank you guys so much for tuning in.

Those are six of our favorite fantasy football steals for this season. Of course, thank you so much to Garrett from Football Analysis for joining us today. Garrett, before we get out of here, do you have anything to plug? Yeah, football analysis on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and I just want to say, appreciate you guys. Appreciate Mitch and Mello for having me on. Dude, you are the best. He does some of the literal best work in the business, so go follow him on Twitter, go subscribe to him on YouTube. And Mello, most importantly, before we get out of him,

here. Do we miss anything? I got nothing. All right. We'll catch you guys next episode.