The Fantasy Football Roundtable concludes this week after a seven-week run this preseason, during which RotoWire football writers answered the most important questions facing fantasy managers this draft season. Their advice and insights will help you win your leagues.
The hope of every fantasy manager is his roster will be home to the season's best fantasy player. How do we know who that will be? Well, one way to answer that question is to ask who will be next year's top pick? Which indeed is this week's Roundtable question ...
This week's question: The 2027 1st Overall Pick is ... ?
Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, Lions
The boring answer is often the right one. As a rock-solid 1.01 for his age-24 season, Jahmyr Gibbs is also the favorite to go first overall in 2027. I wouldn't pick him over the field as an odds-on favorite, but he's an easy choice when compared against any individual player, offering a unique combination of talent, role, age, durability and team context (with the last part being crucial in relation to fellow superstar Bijan Robinson).
If you're looking for a bolder prediction, I think Omarion Hampton and Brock Bowers will jump into the first round, with Nico Collins and Luther Burden moving up to around the 1-2 turn. Here's my stab at the Top 15:
1. Jahmyr Gibbs
2. Bijan Robinson
3. Ja'Marr Chase
4. Omarion Hampton
5. Puka Nacua
6. De'Von Achane
7. Christian McCaffrey
8. Brock Bowers
9. Ashton Jeanty
10. Amon-Ra St. Brown
11. Jaxon Smith-Njigba
12. Malik Nabers
13. Nico Collins
14. Jonathan Taylor
15. Luther Burden
-- Jerry Donabedian
Jerry's 2026 Fantasy Football Rankings
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Omarion Hampton, RB, Chargers
In 2025, Omarion Hampton had mostly a lost season. The running back broke his ankle and missed half the season. He also had to deal with an offensive line that had terrible injury luck while being one of the worst units in the league. It also seems unlikely that Hampton was at full health when playing the last four games of the season after coming back from the injury. Still, he averaged 14 PPR points per game. Before the injury, his 15.4 PPR points per game was much more encouraging. Despite the unfortunate season, fantasy managers are selecting Hampton soon after the top-5 running backs are off the board. The big question is why not earlier?
One of the biggest offseason moves in the NFL was Mike McDaniel being hired to run the Chargers' offense. There's little question that McDaniel believes in riding a lead back. When McDaniel was head coach in Miami, De'Von Achane, at 191 pounds, got 293 touches per year since 2024. There's little chance Hampton, at 220 pounds, will see less work than Achane did in Miami. Also, Hampton was in the 84th percentile in broken tackle rate and 74th percentile in yards after contact last year. He's well suited for McDaniel's outside zone run scheme. Factor in the Chargers' two elite offensive tackles and second-round rookie Jake Slaughter who will help cushion the loss of center Tyler Biadasz to a season-ending knee injury in training camp, and the offensive line projects to be improved. Not enough? Los Angeles has two fullbacks and three good tight ends. Expect Hampton to have more than enough blocking to excel. So yes, when this season is over, Hampton will be 1.01 in 2027 fantasy football drafts.
-- Jim Coventry
Jim's 2026 Fantasy Football Rankings
Check out our fantasy football ADP report for a comprehensive tool with live-updated ADP data for multiple league formats and sites.
Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, Lions
Sometimes the easiest answer is the correct one: Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs will (again) be the consensus fantasy football 1.01 in 2027. We have little reason to expect a steep drop-off from the Lions' perennial top-5 scoring offense in 2026, and accordingly it'd be surprising if main characters like Dan Campbell, Jared Goff or Penei Sewell go anywhere.
The way this goes wrong is if the Lions make some sort of newfound big-time investment at RB … but wouldn't you say that chance is possible in places like Atlanta, San Francisco and Indianapolis as well?
Ultimately, the Lions join the Bills as the two most consistent high-scoring offenses of the last half-decade; Gibbs has a good case as the best real-life RB alive, and there's a 350-plus touch ceiling without David Montgomery around. Throw in the fact that Gibbs will only be 25 next March, and I think there's a good chance I'm answering next year's "Who will be the 2028 1st overall pick" the same way.
-- Ian Hartitz
Ian's 2026 Fantasy Football Rankings
Streamline your draft-day decisions using our printable cheat sheet and stay ahead of the competition with our up-to-date rankings for all formats.
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Dominate your fantasy football league this season with our 2026 RotoWire fantasy football draft kit. Packed with expert insights, rankings and strategy tips, the kit features our interactive mock draft simulator to prepare you for every scenario. Streamline your draft-day decisions using our printable cheat sheet and stay ahead of the competition with our up-to-date rankings for all formats.
