Field's favorites: The nine players who should go earlier than their ADPs - ESPN

I go into my fantasy football drafts every year with two things: a plan and a list.

The plan is how I approach each draft I'm in, and the list is the players I'm most bullish on who I'm willing to «overpay» for relative to where they are being ranked and projected by our ESPN analysts.

We've coined the list «Field's Favorites» for several years now, and it's time to unveil the 2026 version.

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My belief in Herbert's fantasy stock is rooted in two factors: my faith in Herbert the player and my confidence in Mike McDaniel the playcaller. Herbert has been a solid, but not elite, fantasy quarterback throughout his career while playing in far less friendly offenses. McDaniel can help him reach elite status. In Tua Tagovailoa's second year under McDaniel, he led the NFL in passing yards and had three top-two QB weekly finishes. Unlike Tagovailoa, Herbert is a threat to run, as he had more rushing yards in 2025 (498) than Tagovailoa has compiled in six combined NFL seasons. I have Herbert way up at QB6.

It took time, but Loveland became a focal point player for the Bears during the most consequential stretch of their season. Over the team's final four games (including the playoffs), Loveland saw 10, 13, 15 and 10 targets in high-leverage games, leading all Bears players in each of those games. Loveland is a dynamic talent fully capable of being that guy for the Bears this season, even amid a talented group of pass catchers. Though it's hard for anyone to threaten Brock Bowers and Trey McBride as the top two tight ends in fantasy, Loveland is my third-ranked TE and ranks 36th overall in my top 160, almost a full round ahead of his current ESPN ADP of 45.3.

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