# Walt: Walt lists his favorite 2026 fantasy football sleepers — players with ADPs of 100 overall or later whom he expects to outperform their draft cost — including Zachariah Branch, De'Zhaun Stribling, Ja'Kobi Lane, Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs, Kaelon Black, Tre Tucker, Tyler Shough, Dallas Goedert, Tank Dell, Isaac TeSlaa and Chig Okonkwo. He also stakes out several depth-chart roles, such as Branch starting in the slot in Atlanta, Doubs as New England's slot receiver, and TeSlaa as Detroit's clear No. 3 receiver.

**Claimed:** Aug 3, 2026
**Pundit:** Walt — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/walt
**Outlet:** Walter Football — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/walter-football
**How it reached us:** published in writing
**Original:** https://walterfootball.com/fantasy2026sleepers.php

5 checkable claims — 5 depth chart calls — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing bet.

It names 10 players and teams, each linked to their own record.

None of them have settled yet — they grade once their results are in.

Of the 5 unsettled calls enough other pundits have weighed in on, this one lands below the rest of the room on every one.

> This is a list of my favorite 2026 fantasy football sleepers - underrated players who are going way later than they should

*(their words, quoted for attribution)*

## The claims

- **Tre Tucker to be 1st on the depth chart**
  - Kind: Depth Chart Calls · About: Tre Tucker, Las Vegas Raiders
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Romeo Doubs to be 1st on the depth chart**
  - Kind: Depth Chart Calls · About: Romeo Doubs, New England Patriots
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **De'Zhaun Stribling to be 1st on the depth chart**
  - Kind: Depth Chart Calls · About: De'Zhaun Stribling, San Francisco 49ers
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Zachariah Branch to be 1st on the depth chart**
  - Kind: Depth Chart Calls · About: Zachariah Branch, Atlanta Falcons
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Isaac TeSlaa to be 3rd on the depth chart**
  - Kind: Depth Chart Calls · About: Isaac TeSlaa, Detroit Lions
  - Verdict: not settled yet

## Who this take is about

- Tre Tucker — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/tre-tucker
- Las Vegas Raiders — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/raiders
- Romeo Doubs — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/romeo-doubs
- New England Patriots — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/patriots
- De'Zhaun Stribling — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/de-zhaun-stribling
- San Francisco 49ers — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/49ers
- Zachariah Branch — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/zachariah-branch
- Atlanta Falcons — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/falcons
- Isaac TeSlaa — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/isaac-teslaa
- Detroit Lions — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/lions

## What others said about the same people

- Chris Simms on San Francisco 49ers: Simms went through the entire Week 3 slate with straight-up winners and predicted final scores, taking Jacksonville, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Detroit, Houston, Carolina, Kansas City, Seattle, the Giants, Baltimore, New Orleans, Minnesota, San Francisco, Denver and Philadelphia. He also expected Zay Flowers and Puka Nacua to sit, Kyler Murray to play, and said Marvin Harrison Jr. projects as no better than a good No. 2 or high-end No. 3 receiver. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/662b7ba3-1bf6-4ad0-9f93-9f2ab83143fd (scored 88.1)
- Connor Rogers on Detroit Lions: Rogers picked Detroit, Houston, Carolina, Kansas City, Seattle and the Giants to win their Week 3 games, saying the Chiefs win by two touchdowns and the Giants by a field goal. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/83d1e88b-95a0-45ba-83d3-f86297170c6c (scored 100)
- Chris Long on Detroit Lions: Long liked the Rams over the Broncos on Sunday night even without Puka Nacua, and expected the Bills to beat the winless Chargers in Buffalo. He also backed the Bengals over the Steelers, expected an angry Detroit team to handle the Jets, and still thought both the Lions and Vikings could win the NFC North. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/3df9ea25-e57f-4fd7-b20c-c910a1c3633a (scored 100)
- Steven Ruiz on Las Vegas Raiders: Previewing Week 3, Ruiz picked the Ravens to beat the Cowboys in Brazil, Jacksonville over New England in a low-scoring game, an upset by the Broncos over the Rams, the Raiders over the Saints, the Eagles over the Bears, the Lions over the Jets, and his Hail Mary that Houston beats Indianapolis by two touchdowns. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/a30ff469-4972-4c48-855b-ba984e4de9d0 (scored 100)
- Nate Tice on Detroit Lions: Tice matched his guest on every Week 3 game, picking the Ravens over the Cowboys, the Jaguars over the Patriots in a close game, the Broncos to upset the Rams, the Raiders over the Saints, the Eagles over the Bears and the Lions over the Jets. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/b8378e16-ea5c-4107-a883-28aaf0e71134 (scored 100)
- Nate Tice on New England Patriots: Tice picked the Bengals over the Texans in a low-scoring game, the Jaguars at Denver, the Bears over the Vikings, the Patriots over the Steelers and the Rams to edge the Giants, and his Hail Mary was the Cowboys scoring 40 on Washington. He also floated Abdul Carter as a possible All-Pro. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/b6211c80-3d1c-46b8-8a0c-151fc0ba92de (scored 100)

## More depth chart calls

The same kind of call, about other players and teams.

- Pat Fitzmaurice on Jonah Coleman: In his Week 3 waiver column, Fitzmaurice makes several depth-chart calls around injuries: Jonah Coleman leading Denver's backfield, Marcus Mariota taking over in Washington, Michael Penix Jr. starting once healthy, and Malik Washington serving as Miami's top receiver, plus availability expectations for Detroit's injured safeties. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/2cbd48f6-15ea-4aa5-84bc-bcc50d94d09a (scored 0)
- Pat Fitzmaurice on Aaron Jones: In previewing the 10 most intriguing fantasy performers of Week 2, Fitzmaurice expects Atlanta's quarterback problems to persist with Tua Tagovailoa unlikely to play and Michael Penix Jr. not ready to return, flags Falcons slot corner Billy Bowman Jr. as a possible Week 2 returnee, and describes Aaron Jones as Minnesota's lead back and Kaelon Black as the clear backup to Christian McCaffrey in San Francisco. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/31adc8bb-8f15-453f-bbcf-cab44e29b8b3 (scored 100)
- Matt Severance on Deshaun Watson: The CBS Sports preview backs Tampa Bay to beat Cleveland in the Bucs' Week 2 home opener, and states that Deshaun Watson — not Shedeur Sanders — will be Cleveland's starting quarterback in Week 2. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/944568ce-7205-409f-8354-a392016fd8bf (scored 100)
- Rafael Zamorano on Deshaun Watson: Zamorano reports Watson will start Week 2 at Tampa Bay and suggests there's little reason to expect improvement, raising the possibility Watson's five-year contract never yields more than single-digit wins. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/d7d7e0a2-61e0-4525-970b-b01a2356f11b (scored 100)
- Bradley Locker on Carson Wentz: PFF's unsigned adjusted power rankings after Week 1 of the 2026 season place the Bills first, the Rams second and the Dolphins last, with notes on quarterback situations in Seattle, Minnesota and Cleveland. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/a3716f21-0488-4fc8-a414-c25c2d781a6e (scored 100)
- Pat Fitzmaurice on Rashod Bateman: In his Week 2 waiver wire column, Fitzmaurice recommends a slate of pickups he expects to outperform their current rostership (Kaelon Black, Deebo Samuel, Tyler Shough, Geno Smith and others), lays out several depth-chart expectations (Black as the 49ers' No. 2 back, Shedeur Sanders eventually taking over in Cleveland, Penix returning for Atlanta), and flags Fool's Gold/drop candidates such as Mike Gesicki, Kendrick Bourne and Rashid Shaheed. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/6218d3c2-61e7-4ace-9976-b51eeefdf22c (scored 0)

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Accuracy is 0-100 against what actually happened. The naive guess is what a strategy requiring no knowledge would have scored on the same call — the difference is the skill, and it is what the MissedTakes Score averages.

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