The best part of my August? Easy: spending time at the cottage with my wife, who may be reading this.Fantasy drafts are a close second. Finding a time and date that somehow works for 12 people. Bugging them for league fees. Watching your favorite sleeper go one spot before your pick. Not easy. Still wonderful.Because you’re busy with life stuff, I dug into The Athletic’s fantasy content to find 16 nuggets that could change how you approach fantasy in 2026. Let’s get into them.This article is from The Athletic’s NFL newsletter. Sign up here to receive it directly in your inbox. It’s free to subscribe. 16 facts to help win your league1. Wide receiver scoring is down. Last year, it was down 8 percent compared with 2024, an inevitable result of defenses emphasizing two high safeties to slow passing attacks.2. It sounds like that continues in 2026, based on defensive coordinators’ comments, so we should prioritize top running backs early.3. That’s what Jake Ciely is doing, aiming for two running backs in the first three rounds. There are 11 RBs in the top 20 players of his overall fantasy rankings:4. If you miss on those 11, the running backs just outside Jake’s top 20 are also strong: Kenneth Walker III (No. 24), Kyren Williams (25) or Josh Jacobs (26).5. Jeremiyah Love (35) is a notable absentee from the list. He should dominate touches in a crowded Cardinals backfield, but he will lose some to James Conner and Tyler Allgeier in a mediocre offense. Pass.6. You might’ve noticed A.J. Brown at No. 13, 10 spots higher than he is typically drafted. The main reason: Brown’s elite downfield ability is a perfect fit for Drake Maye.7. That’s also why Maye is Jake’s QB2, 19 overall spots ahead of his consensus draft position and ahead of Lamar Jackson. That seem high? It shouldn’t. Maye was QB2 last season, behind only Josh Allen.8. But Maye might not be worth an early pick. That’s because the value difference between top picks and replacement players is significantly less at quarterback than at running back or receiver, meaning we want to prioritize the latter positions.9. Just look at the quality of quarterbacks available later in drafts, with last year’s MVP at QB14.10. Another reason to wait at quarterback: In 2025, Maye, Matthew Stafford and Trevor Lawrence finished QB2, QB3 and QB4, respectively, while being drafted QB15, QB23 and QB21.11. In 2025, none of the top five running backs were drafted outside the top 10 at the position, and only one of the top five receivers (George Pickens, WR26) was drafted outside the top 15. So, yeah, skip quarterbacks early and prioritize RBs and WRs.