2026 Fantasy Football Instant Mock Draft, No. 9 Pick: Analysis, key takeaways and full roster
As we get ready for the 2026 fantasy football season, there's no better way to prepare than doing mock drafts. And while live mock drafts will give us a great idea of how things might shake out, sometimes they're hit or miss and can be time consuming. Fortunately, Yahoo is offering its Instant Mock Draft tool again this season, available with your Fantasy Plus subscription. If you want to give the tool a spin for free, you can do an Instant Mock Draft for the first three rounds. Head here for more details.
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In this series, I'll be performing an instant mock draft out of each pick slot for 12-team leagues with default half-PPR scoring. Today, we're picking a team from the No. 9 spot. Below is the full roster, plus key takeaways.
More Instant Mock DraftsNo. 1 | No. 2 | No. 3 | No. 4 | No. 5 | No. 6 | No. 7 | No. 8 | No. 9 | No. 10 | No. 11 | No. 12
Full RosterQB: Jalen Hurts, PHI
RB: James Cook III, BUF
RB: Cam Skattebo, NYG
WR: Justin Jefferson, MIN
WR: Jaylen Waddle, DEN
TE: Jake Ferguson, DAL
FLEX: Parker Washington, JAX
Kicker: Ka'imi Fairbairn, HOU
Defense: Lions
Bench: Jonathon Brooks, CAR
Bench: Jayden Reed, GB
Bench: Makai Lemon, PHI
Bench: Kenneth Gainwell, TB
Bench: Kaelon Black, SF
Bench: MarShawn Lloyd, GB
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StrategyI love picking at the top or the bottom of the first round in fantasy football. The idea of not having to worry so much about ADP eases the mind, knowing you're going to want to reach on players with so many picks in between yours. Not that we reached too much in this draft, but something to keep in mind for the next few as we wrap things up in the series.
Many of our Yahoo analysts are preaching balance in the early rounds, prioritizing RBs and WRs. I went even further and addressed the QB position earlier than I'm accustomed to this season. In general, late-round QB feels like the same play in formats not named Superflex. But our first four picks here were a mix of safe, proven fantasy stars (Cook, JJ) as well as potential breakouts (Skattebo, Waddle). Feeling a bit better about my WR room, I went in on running backs late in the draft, buying a few lotto tickets.
Can JJ Return to Fantasy Stardom?That's probably the biggest question surrounding my team in this No. 9 mock. All signs point to a resounding yes. Jefferson gets a capable QB in Kyler Murray. The team is healthier and deep at RB and WR. His Success Rate was down 10% from his career norm in 2025. Jefferson also had the lowest catch% of his career (59.6). Those two factors getting back to their norms while maintaining a heavy target rate should boost the Vikings' wideout back into WR1 territory. Joel Smyth goes over his top-50 stats for 2026, highlighting Jefferson in a few.
Murray also has a pretty good career completion percentage (67.1) and we know Kevin O'Connell can work some QB magic. I will say, I do like Jefferson a bit later than the early second round. If he drops down your board, pounce. Analyst Ray Garvin did a deeper dive into whether or not Jefferson can be a top-five fantasy wideout with Murray under center.
Why Hurts vs. Late-Round QB?I felt that I needed a steady option at QB rather than waiting on someone with a lower floor than Hurts. There's a chance that floor gets lowered if Hurts rushes like he did last season. That's the floor though. If we get positive regression, those numbers (421 yards, 8 TDs) could go up. There's a chance the Eagles need to lean into the run game with A.J. Brown gone and fewer reliable weapons in the passing game, opening up more designed plays for Hurts and dump-offs for Saquon Barkley.
If the passing game clicks, we're prepared, too. That was why I selected Makai Lemon, one of the top rookies for 2026. He was being held out of training camp due to hamstring injury but recently returned to practice. Lemon is on track for Week 1 and could be used to quell the loss of Brown. We don't have to rely on that QB-WR stack but if it emerges during the season, bonus.
Trying to Win the Running Back LotteryI get the question marks around Skattebo coming off those injuries. I think youth will prevail and he'll be a fine RB2 with some upside. Skattebo had one game with 20+ points and another with 30 points. We want that type of ceiling in an RB2. If Skattebo is going to hit that 20-30 range every so often, that's what will win me a week.
I feel pretty good about Brooks as my third back. He recently popped up on Matt Okada's All-Breakout Team and ADP risers/fallers for this week. Brooks and Chuba Hubbard may start the season closer to a split, but that's fine. An RB who is getting half his backfield's touches is an RB who will have fantasy value. As long as Brooks performs well enough and stays healthy, he'll be playable in PPR formats. But all it'll take is Chuba underperforming (like last season) or being held back by lower-body injuries (like last season).
You don't pay Gainwell if you don't have a role for him. So I'm convinced Gainwell will (at least) get a handful of targets each week. Sean Tucker scored seven times last season but was otherwise lackluster. Bucky Irving was another starter held back by injury last season. Will there be weeks I can probably flex Gainwell? I think so. And he'd be one injury to Irving away from being a viable weekly RB2/3.
Black is a player who has the coveted backup role to Christian McCaffrey. If history stays true, CMC would be in line for a letdown this season. You can read more about the RB1 curse from Joel Smyth here. Essentially, McCaffrey generally underperforms after finishing as the RB1 in fantasy scoring the previous season (this has happened twice). If that's the case, Black could find himself as the lead back in a very fantasy friendly system. The rookie wouldn't be CMC-level but could get into that RB2/3 realm with one injury. Are you sensing a trend yet?
Continuing, Lloyd has a clear path to a lot of usage this season (even if Josh Jacobs isn't suspended). There's a chance Jacobs is handed a suspension, which would mean Lloyd is the clear RB1 for Green Bay. Even if Jacobs is out there Week 1, I'd expect Lloyd to have some role. Jacobs averaged 4.0 yards per carry, his lowest in a full season since 2021. Lloyd is a great bench stash right now. Lloyd is one of Hayden Winks' favorite sleeper picks outside the top-100.
Final ThoughtsI wanted Juwan Johnson at TE, a favorite of Scott Pianowski this season. He was snagged and I went with Ferguson, someone in a good passing environment with upside if a receiver gets hurt. This team feels very strong, but also very boom/bust if things swing one way or the other. It makes for an interesting fantasy season. Don't shy away from being bold this season.