Lineup Fantasy Football Show - Buy These 5 "Boring" Players to Win Your Fantasy Football League in 2026

Episode Date: April 9, 2026

We share five of our favorite "boring" values to buy and target in Dynasty Fantasy Football leagues...including one LEAGUE WINNER! Analysis and thoughts on the 2026 Fantasy Football season's biggest sleepers and breakouts in Dynasty Leagues! 0:39 - Josh Downs 5:55 - Javonte Williams 10:05 - David Montgomery 15:41 - Derrick Henry 19:56 - Zay Flowers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we're identifying five players that are being overlooked and undervalued in your fantasy leagues, including one guy that could be a league winner in 2026. Welcome into the lineup fantasy football show. I'm Mitch Anderson. I'm Justin Mello. And we are not going to waste anybody's time. Let's get right into things. If you caught our article a few weeks ago, we actually did something super similar to this on FP track.

We will not be naming any of the guys in that article. These are five brand new names. But Mello, I'm going to let you start things off. all right let's start off with a boring guy that's going to be the name of the game here what a way to excite everyone coming in here i know boring let's talk about josh downs of the indianapolis colts in my mind he's kind of like the most forgettable receiver in the nfl who actually is legitimately good uh he's just 24 years old still he's being ranked as the wide receiver 50 on keep trade cut in dynasty leagues last year

obviously felt a little bit disappointing, especially with how good the Colts offense was as a whole, that Josh Downs wasn't really the main beneficiary of it. But even with that disappointment, he was the wider receiver 48 last year. And now we're ranking him a couple of spots lower in Dynasty when he's still not even 25. And I think the situation just improved in Indianapolis for him. Everyone's talking about the Al-Pierce contract that he got, huge deal from the Colts to stay there in Indianapolis. People are talking about the Michael Pittman trade and what it means for Tyler Warren in year two. But I feel like not as many people are talking about what it means for Josh Downs and what his outlook is going forward.

And I actually kind of think he might be the biggest beneficiary of this Michael Pittman trade. When you look at the last couple years, Michael Pittman had exactly 111 targets each of the last two years. maybe more importantly was the first read on 24% of his targets, which led the Colts in that metric last season. He dominated in the short to intermediate games, had an a dot of 8.4 yards, which is actually exactly what Josh Downs average steps of target was last year as well. Josh Downs also a guy dominates in that short to intermediate game, especially as a slot receiver. lined up in the slot, 76% of snaps last year. So to recap all of this, the Colts lost. their high volume first read type of receiver who dominated in the short to intermediate game.

And to me, Josh Downs seems like the obvious guy to steal a lot of those targets, a lot of those looks. I know he's not the same prototype of receiver as Michael Pittman. I know their statured are different. Their styles are a little bit different. But I think they can play pretty similar roles. And I think Josh Downs could be the guy to take in a lot of those targets that Pittman is vacating. and I know all of this I've laid out so far is pretty theoretical, but we've also just straight up seen it before just two years ago and Josh Down fled the Colts and receptions. He was pro football focus as 13th highest graded receiver in 2024.

So we've seen him do it before. We've seen the talent shine through. And he's just kind of, I think people are kind of slot shaming him a little bit. And that might be why he's like perceived his boring. We're slot shaming him. But he's a good player. and I love the situation he's in right now, so I could see him being a league winner.

I was so excited about him last year. I think he's such a great post-type sleeper, but this is such a good pick for this, because Michael Pittman leaves, and immediately who's everyone talking about, Alec Pierce, and you talk about the archetype of what he does on the field, and it doesn't exactly match what Michael Pittman did, and you put the numbers and the color to that so well.

But, you know, Alec Pierce, the more big, exciting deep threat, and the guy who was a free agent this year and got the big contracts, so everyone's talking about that. And then, of course, we're also talking about Tyler Warren. And granted, I do think a good amount of those vacated targets will go to Tyler Warren. Yeah, for sure. But I agree.

I think the main beneficiary is Josh Downs, who's a guy that even last year coming off of when he was the leading receiver for the Colts, we still were kind of undervaluing him. And now you're getting him coming off of a relatively down, no pun intended, relatively down year like you had mentioned. And so I think like you're getting him at an unbelievable price right now. Yeah, but he is like, I think he fits this episode so well too because he's kind of a forgettable guy. Like he's not the most flashy, he's not the most exciting. But he's a guy who I think we both agree could be a great value.

And if nothing else could be a really nice flex option or spot start, maybe even a wide receiver two for your dynasty team or your redraft team for the next few years. It's to be seen if Daniel Jones is going to come back looking exactly the way he did last year off of the torn Achilles. but to be drafting this guy, what, he's 24 years old and he's the wide receiver 50 in Dynasty. In the United on Key Trade Cutt and Dynasty is just so wild to me of like, how unrealistic is it that he just did this with Michael Pittman there leading the team in receptions? Like, would we be that shocked if he did it again without Michael Pittman here?

And in, theoretically, a better offense? Am I crazy for thinking, like for saying I think he will lead the team in receptions in 2026? No, no, not at all. I actually genuinely think. he will lead the Colts Interceptions in 26. I love it. Planned your flag. It's planted, brother.

Clip it in a good way. Let me move on. But before I jump into my first player, if you're enjoying the video, please make sure to hit that like button. It helps us so much. And hit that subscribe button if you've been enjoying the content and want to catch it every time we drop a brand new episode. Let's jump into my first guy.

In the article, we had talked about Dak Prescott and how, to me, he's the epitome of this exercise. And I called him Joe Burrow Light as a pocket passer with incredible weapons. and a bad defense who's consistently outperforming his ADP. I'm not going to talk about Dak Prescott. I'm going to talk about his running back, Giovante Williams. He finished last year as the RB10 in fantasy football, and just quietly this offseason signed a three-year, $24 million extension in February.

He is 26 years old and going as the RB20 off the board. There's nothing super flashy about him, which is why to me he really jumped off the page here. You could have told a completely different story years ago in Denver when everyone was so, so excited. And then, of course, he tore ACL in 2022 and kind of fell off the fantasy radar until last year. Then he resurfaces the projected lead back for a high-powered Dallas Cowboys offense. And we all, I don't want to say ignored it, but we all chose to not value that situation as much as we should have. And lo and behold, he pops off and he becomes one of the biggest values in fantasy football in 2025.

Now, he's the projected running back in a Dallas Cowboys offense that looks to be high-powered, that's got George Pickens back, that has an awful defense again, and we're valuing him as the RB20. And so at 26 years old, you don't have two, too many years left with Giovante, which is a fair critique. But if you're competing right now or are planning to be competing within the next two to three years under that contract, I don't see how you can value a guy that just ran for 4.8 to carry for 1,200 yards and 11 touchdowns at the RRR. B20. Like, for comparison, if you look, we have 27-year-old Travis E.T.N. with the Saints, and now we're having conversations that Alvin Kamara might still be there in the running back room being valued above him. And then there's another guy I know you're really worried about

who, I think this one's more debatable, but Kairn Williams going above him as well. And so I think Javante is not as flashy as these guys, but he's like an absolutely screaming value at this price to me. Boring. No, I like it, though. It's good. It's good because... You think I'm going to draft that boring guy? Yon, bro. Not a chance in the world.

No, it's interesting because he's... You mentioned like post-type sleeper. Before with Josh Downs, I think it's kind of similar with like to Vante Williams. He's like the year after the year after the year after the injury. It finally came to fruition in Dallas for him. The extension's obviously very telling. You mentioned like George Pickens his back CD Lamb. That might be part of the reason he's kind of perceived as like boring as well as he's

surrounded by so many other great weapons. But he was great last year, especially the first half of the season. He got a little bit banged up toward the end of the season, but nothing significant should be good going into next year was phenomenal for the Cowboys, high-powered offense. And you're right.

Like, putting Travis E.T.N. above him in any rankings, redraft, dynasty, whatever, crazy to me. I can't logically make any sense of that one. I think it is malpractice to be doing that. So crazy. I think this is also one of those examples of everyone's going to be like, I want to find the next Giovante Williams for 2026. What if the next Giovante Williams is just Giovante Williams again?

Yeah, my brother in Christ, it is Javante Williams. Again, we're going to be doing this again. Literally. Yeah, it's kind of funny last year. Like, I get why there was like some skepticism around Javante last year. But it was like, we were like, oh, is Bubey Sandler? is actually the guy or day three pick, Jaden Blue. It was like, no, it's the guy who was supposed to be good from the start and just had

some injuries. Like it's one of those things like hindsight 2020 seems so obvious. But now we're right back here where we know he's good. We know he's still going to be the starter in this offense. It seems like a no-brainer. We saw him prove it and the price has not reflected that at all. We've gotten rid of so much of the unknown, the ambiguity and it has not moved enough for me. No, I agree. So I think that is another great example of a boring or forgettable guy who could be a league winner. I got another running back for you now.

I think a lot of ways is a little bit similar, not exactly, but I'm going to be talking about the newly acquired David Montgomery for the Houston Texans. Is that a yawn I hear? Yeah. I was hoping I could spread that to you. honestly like if I didn't consciously realize that you on I probably would have subconsciously onto myself but David Montgomery probably more of a win now guy and dynasty but he's still yeah this one for sure yeah he I mean he is older but he's still a couple years away from 30 which is kind of like that soft clip or that cliff age for running backs so I still I still think he's got a couple years left he's actually on a two year deal right now with the Texans so I think it's more than just a one-year rental, even though it is closer to a win-now move than

like a long-term kind of thing. I think part of the reason he has this like boring label on him is any player in the NFL pretty much would be boring if they played next to Jamir Gibbs for multiple years. Just as Jimere Gibbs, one of the most electric players in the NFL. Yeah. The Thorn in his side, like, yeah, of course people aren't going to think you're that fun or that exciting. But the Texans paid decent draft capital for him as an aging running back with a sizable contract. So the fact that they were willing to do that, I think speaks volumes. They view him as a

really important part of this offense going forward. They think he's really critical for the success of this team, which really is also in real life football, kind of a win now team. This is kind of a win now move going out and getting David Montgomery. I think there are concerns around this offense as a whole and the offensive line. But those have already existed for years now and this offense has already been a little disappointing for years now. And it still didn't stop Joe Mixon, who was also on the back half of his career, from being the RB9 in points per game in 2024. So it is still very possible to be productive as a running back in this offense. Does that not feel like 20 years ago? No, literally. Like I think I was still in elementary school when

that happened. And he was, he was great that year, though. He had some injuries. Yeah. He had like that hip drop tackle on him that took him out for like a month until I just. 24. But when he was on the field, he was incredible. That's another weird story. Joe Mixon, like, the end of his career is something like I've never seen before. But David Montgomery is definitely able to take advantage of that now because he will be the guy there. I think it's really telling too that he already was a very viable fantasy asset and a starter in fantasy leagues while playing second fiddle to Jim Aaron Gibbs. now he's going to have complete control of this backfield.

We won't even get started on Woody Marks again because we've already like... Don't let me. Don't let me get started. I'm not even going to finish that sentence because it'll get me too mad if I start talking about Woody Marks. But all of a sudden, David Montgomery has this backfield. And because of that has incredible upside. And I think a pretty safe floor too for at least a year, if not multiple years. And people aren't really acknowledging it.

Yeah. I think this is like one of those picks. that you don't think about David Montgomery. You just don't. You know why? Because he's David Montgomery and he's boring. But you look at the situation and he is the projected starting running back for the Houston, Texans. Now, they could go out and make a draft pick over the next few weeks and that all shifts. I don't see that. Like you said, they moved enough capital for him and they kind of money talks, draft capital talks about what kind of investment you make in a guy and how you want to use him. And so I'm not threatened by Woody Marks in that offense.

I think David Montgomery is going to be the guy. And I know people are so down on the Texans offense, but I think we are too down on them and a little bit too emotional about it because of what we saw in the postseason. People just hate C.J. Stroud now. Yeah, nine. No, seven. No, he is nine, though.

That's literally, he like, Jason McCarthy passed the torch to C.J. Stroud as soon as the playoffs started. And it showed on the field and it showed more so on Twitter and just in the broader media. Like everyone is clowning on CJ Stroud so hard that it is putting a podcasting. I would have made it to the league if we didn't start podcasting. That's true. I think I could have been. I could have been at least like a backup quarterback if we didn't start podcasting like eight

years after I was draft eligible. But yeah, like people are so scared of the Texans. like, I think David Montgomery is kind of under this same dark cloud that I don't know that he should be. I think he could be a really good value and a nice piece for a few years, even in Dynasty. It's a classic plug your nose. It's not going to feel good. Oh, my God, it's not going to feel good trading for David Montgomery. It's not going to feel good drafting him and redraft.

It'll probably feel fine in best ball because you're taking shots everywhere. But, like, these leagues that you care a lot about, it's tough to bring yourself to do this. but I would say the value is pretty undeniable. And this, I think on this list, this is the most boring guy and the one that fits the mold the most, even if you might not have the highest upside of some of these guys. Yeah, I think that's a total fair way to put it. He's not going to have a top five finish this year,

but he still could be very, very good. I'm going to wrap things up before we get into our final league winner. And I'm going to talk about a guy that two years ago, if you were bringing up his name in a boring players conversation, you would call me insane. In fact, I think a lot of people might still call me insane, but we're going to talk about Derek Henry. And I want to remind you about, I'm going to say a month and a half ago, maybe six or so weeks ago when we first talked about Derek Henry and I was really unsure if I wanted to take the ride

with Tractor Cito one more time. But you, Mello, convinced me. Last year's Running Back 7, being valued as the running back 23, which obviously a huge factor and that is the fact that he's 32 years old. So this is another win now move. Much like David Montgomery, but more so than him, this is an opportunity to buy a guy at an extremely low price that could be the thing that pushes you to a championship. And it might cost you something like a 2027 second or a late 28 first round pick. If you're truly trying to contend, I think David Montgomery is one of the best values you can

get of qualified running backs with 70 or more carries in 2025, which is basically any running back with a pulse for fantasy, Derek Henry finished second in yards per carry with 5.2. I know people talk about the running back cliff and how quickly it comes, but clearly we have not seen it yet from an efficiency perspective. We have been so vocal about this Baltimore Ravens offense bouncing back with a healthy Lamar Jackson, who might honestly be able to take some of the attention away from the running game. I mean, last year, like, it was all Derek Henry when they were missing Lamar and when Lamar was hobbled. Like, we weren't feeling threatened by his mobility. So I think this is a phenomenal screaming value to get David Montgomery if you're a team contending for a championship.

Derek Henry. Derek Henry. I got David Montgomery like glued in your mind right now. I'm glad I convinced you of David Montgomery. Yeah, you did. I thought you were just doing like the Drake Mae, Drake, Drake, Drake, May thing. Derek, Derek Henry, Henry. I actually think you said David Montgomery twice.

So I'm glad I convinced you on David Montgomery. And apparently I convince you on Derek Henry too, since you're, you're bullish on him now. I have no notes on everything you just said. I was shocked to see the numbers, like the efficiency numbers. He was, I think, second in the NFL and rushing yards last year or two in the regular season, maybe third.

I'd have to fact check myself. But he was good despite the struggling offense. I think, like we've talked about it on this show, like Lamar gets back healthy. Everything should start clicking. Right. I will say this, though. I'm a coward.

And maybe some other choice words that I won't say. But if you're thinking it, it's okay. You can even call me. That's fine. But I'm a coward. Drop it below in the comments. Yeah, drop it below in the comments.

I can take it. I've been called worse. But I'm a coward, and I'm so terrified of his age. And could this be the cliff? And I shit you not. This is not a bit I'm doing for this show. This is like a very true story. Not that this is insightful at all.

But last night, I'm not kidding. Literally last night, I had a dream that in our homely, Gleague we're both in, Derek Henry felt like three rounds past ADP. And I got up and I put that sticker up there and I redraft league. And I just started dumping sweat like, what did I just do? I just fucked my whole season. Because that is the scare with Derek Henry.

But if you're in a Diocese league even and you want to win right now, he could have a top five finish in 2026. Yeah. My dream I'm hoping is not a premonition of what's to come because the numbers don't lie, I don't think he's at the clip yet in actuality. And if you can just get one more year out of him, you could get elite production, assuming this Ravens offense as a whole bounce his back. Last night, we let the Derek Henry talk. Yeah. Oh, God, dude. I woke up cold sweats. I was so happy it was a dream. A, because I didn't have to have that cognitive distance about Derek Henry,

but B, because I could have another five months of talking about the draft before I have to actually put up that sticker, which makes me so happy. It's the anticipation. that's the best part. Absolutely. All right. Well, while we're speaking of the Ravens bounce back offense, should we get into our true league winner for 2026? Let's do it.

This is a guy that I had originally picked out as one of my two picks, and then I texted you immediately and was like, this needs to be the league winner. The more I dig into this guy, pause, the more I'm like, this is an absolute insane screaming value. That is Zay Flowers. This guy is 25 years old, attached to a top five dynasty quarterback, and finished last season as the wide receiver 12. And yet there is no chatter about him.

And we're valuing him as the wide receiver 29, according to keep trade cut. My first question on the stand, is this short king discrimination again? At 5'9, that might be why we're not talking about him, why we're not talking about Wondale Robinson. Yep. I'll rest my case, though. Zay only registered three games with single-digit point. last year despite playing with Lamar Jackson, who missed four games and was obviously visibly hobbled for the majority of the season when he did play. Now that Lamar Jackson's back healthy,

Isaiah likely is going to vacate about 37 targets in this offense. And I think Zay Flowers is prime to pop off in what is one of my favorite trends in fantasy football. And that is the contract year. We're seeing all these receivers getting paid. You don't think Zay Flowers is going to go out there and ball the fuck out trying to get money. We always say follow the money when it's coming to teams, follow the money when you're a player too. If you had an opportunity to go to your job today and you've got a year to absolutely perform and you could make millions and millions of dollars and set yourself up for life, you're going to give your best performance in a situation that's looking absolutely incredible. The volume was already there, 118 targets last year.

If you want to knock him on the touchdown upside, I do think we've got enough of a sample size that's been 5, 4, 5, respectively. But he is an absolute PPR demon. And I know I'm going to draft some best balls with him. Tyler Murray and Wondale Robinson this summer. Some Chihuahuas, if you will. Oh, it better be a chihuahua. It better be those three guys. I'm not drafted him in a Great Dane.

No, no, you can't. I'm actually going to make that my baseball strategy this summer. It's just draft guys that remind me of the dog in the contest. You actually texted me this like you mentioned. And at first I was like, say flat, I don't know. Like, I'll look at it later. And then I did and I was like, you son of a bitch, I'm in. This rocks.

You convince me on Zay. Not that I was like ever fully out, but you make a lot of great points. He was so sneaky, so good last year. I think it's similar to what we talked about with Derek Henry. Like the whole offense kind of sucked or at least was disappointing with Lamar's injuries and just everything. So it was like you kind of just like throw it to the side and you're like, I don't want any piece of that. But like Zay was still very good last year, super consistent. Like you said, no.

Likely like you mentioned, they haven't really done much. to replace him or add pass catchers. They'll probably do what they do every year. In August signed like some aging veteran like Sifon Diggs or Debo Samuel or something, but like who really cares they will still be the wide receiver one. I think this offense bounces back. The red zone targets are the thing. And I think that's if somebody's playing devil's advocate against you,

he does not get even looked at in the red zone, which is the concern. But you mentioned he still has at least four touchdowns every year of his career. So this isn't like that Deontay. Johnson year where he was like literally allergic to the end zone, head zero. Or Jacobi Myers. Or Jacobi Myers. Yeah. He didn't have a touchdown until like his third year in the league. So he at least will get those big plays, get those touchdowns so good between the 20s to. And we've talked about Declan Doyle on this show before to the new offensive coordinator in Baltimore. It'll be his

first time as a play caller. So he is unknown. We don't know if he'll be good. But he comes from that Ben Johnson coaching tree, which yeah, could be a great addition. because a lot of the time the protegees, the understudies of these great offensive playcllers go on to be really great offensive play callers themselves. So there is absolutely upside there. I couldn't agree more. If you are not asleep yet listening to us talk about the five most boring players that could win your league in 2026, make sure to hit that subscribe button, drop a like, and make sure

you are tuning in next time for a brand new episode where we are going to break down some Dynasty rookie sleepers. We miss anything, Mello? I think we got them all. All right, we'll catch you guys next time.