Fantasy Football: Dynasty prospects to watch at the Panini Senior Bowl
- The stars will be out at the Senior Bowl: From Texas A&M wide receiver KC Concepcion to a plethora of the class’ top running backs, this year’s Senior Bowl features several talented skill-position players.
- Keep an eye on Mike Washington Jr. and Tanner Koziol, among others: The Arkansas running back and Houston tight end, respectively, have what it takes to rise up the board in this draft class, starting with solid Senior Bowl showings.
- 2026 NFL Draft season is here: Try the best-in-class PFF Mock Draft Simulator and learn about 2026’s top prospects while trading and drafting for your favorite NFL team.
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Landing spots are king in dynasty fantasy football. Until we know how the 2026 NFL Draft plays out, all we can do is evaluate a rookie on their own — which is only half of the puzzle. Still, that’s where we are at this point in dynasty leagues.
It’s a down year for dynasty prospects, but don’t let that deter you from finding hidden gems or securing highly drafted stars. Keep an eye on these potential fantasy studs during the 2026 Panini Senior Bowl, with practices kicking off Tuesday and the game taking place Saturday.
Wide Receivers
The Star: KC Concepcion, Texas A&M
With elite separation skills and a knack for generating yards after the catch, Concepcion is widely expected to be one of the first wide receivers off the board in the 2026 NFL Draft. He slots in at 26th on the PFF Big Board and is poised to be a mid-to-late first-round pick in dynasty rookie drafts.
His 19 drops over the past three seasons — tied for the second most in college football — are a concern and something to watch for during Senior Bowl week. But his ability to separate, which ranks in the 96th percentile over the same span, can make up for that.
He also possesses electric return ability, à la Chimere Dike, after returning two punts for scores this past season. It’s an unorthodox and inconsistent form of fantasy production, but it’s a welcome six points every once in a while if your league rewards that.
Editor’s Note: Concepcion was a late withdrawal from the Senior Bowl. Others to watch include Ja’Kobi Lane (USC) and Malachi Fields (Notre Dame).
The Riser: Brenen Thompson, Mississippi State
Thompson hit 20 mph or faster on 23 plays in 2025 — the second most among college football wide receivers. While speed is far from a clean predictor of success in fantasy or the NFL, Thompson uses it well.
He was charted as open on 85.5% of his 138 targets over the past three years, a 94th-percentile clip. As an undersized receiver (5-foot-9, 180 pounds), he isn’t one to make contested catches, but he stretches the field, having recorded 26 targets (eighth most in the Power Four) and 478 receiving yards (fifth most) on throws of 20-plus yards in 2025.
Editor’s Note: Thompson was a late withdrawal from the Senior Bowl. Others to watch include Ted Hurst (Georgia State) and Kevin Coleman Jr. (Missouri).
The Sleeper: Lewis Bond, Boston College
Bond comes in at No. 288 on the early PFF Big Board but should rise with good showings in the lead-up to the 2026 NFL Draft. Only seven wide receivers hauled in more passes than him over the past three seasons, including none in the Power Four.
He found the most success on shorter routes in 2025, logging 66 catches for 513 yards on throws targeted nine yards or less downfield. That puts him right behind more highly touted prospects Chris Bell and Zachariah Branch.
Running Backs
The Star: Jonah Coleman, Washington
What’s not to love about a pass-catching running back in a PPR league? While Coleman’s receiving production doesn’t jump off the page, he didn’t drop any of his 59 targets in two years at Washington and could develop nicely into a more all-around back in the NFL.
More importantly, he is a consistent runner who never fell below an 83.0 PFF rushing grade in his four college seasons. The Senior Bowl likely won’t tell us anything new about Coleman, whose landing spot will be a far more crucial part of his dynasty evaluation, as he excelled in zone run schemes but floundered in gap schemes across two years at Washington.
Editor’s Note: Coleman was a late withdrawal from the Senior Bowl. Others to watch include Nick Singleton (Penn State) and Kayton Allen (Penn State).
Jonah Coleman | 2024-2025
| Zone | Man | |
| PFF Rushing Grade | 91.1 | 75.3 |
| Att. | 258 | 85 |
| Yards/Att. | 5.5 | 4.6 |
| Yards After Contact/Att. | 4.1 | 3.6 |
| TDs | 18 | 6 |
The Riser: Mike Washington Jr., Arkansas
There is a lot to like about the 223-pound Washington, who frequently bounced off defenders for chunk gains in 2025. He averaged 3.86 yards after contact per attempt, the sixth-best mark among draft-eligible Power Four running backs, and his 48.3% breakaway run rate placed him in the top five of the same group.
Fumbles proved to be a pain point for Washington, though. He racked up 10 from 2022 through 2025. The Senior Bowl will be the first offseason opportunity for him to showcase ball security and perhaps get a little more work as a receiving back.
The Sleeper: Le’Veon Moss, Texas A&M
Moss didn’t appear overly explosive or elusive in 2025 before suffering an ankle injury in mid-October that sidelined him for the rest of the regular season. But he did well to follow his elite blockers and flashed on zone runs, where he logged an 85th-percentile PFF rushing grade (76.7).
Detractors will point to Moss’ lack of pass-catching work and generally modest underlying numbers as reasons to avoid him in dynasty drafts, but keep an eye on him during the draft process — starting with the Senior Bowl — as a high-potential back who racked up more than 1,100 yards after contact across four years at Texas A&M.
Tight Ends
The Star: Justin Joly, North Carolina State
Joly averaged between 1.75 and 1.80 yards per route run in each of his four college seasons — remarkable consistency in a stable metric from year to year.
Yards per route run proved to be a valuable predictor of NFL success this past draft cycle, with top rookie tight ends Tyler Warren, Colston Loveland, Harold Fannin Jr. and Oronde Gadsden II all ranking in the 90th percentile or better over a three-year college sample. Joly placed in the 93rd percentile across the past three years and should be among the top tight ends off the board.
The Riser: Tanner Koziol, Houston
It’s hard to believe that Koziol saw 60 more targets than the second-most-targeted tight end over the past two seasons. He was that integral to Ball State’s and Houston’s offenses. Dynasty managers should be keeping a close eye on the 6-foot-7, 250-pound pass catcher.
Koziol is another tight end who placed above the 90th percentile in yards per route run over the past three seasons. He presented a big target for quarterback Conner Weigman, who found him for more than 400 receiving yards and five scores on throws over the middle this past season.
The Sleeper: Josh Cuevas, Alabama
Cuevas rebounded from quiet seasons in 2023 and 2024, after a breakout year at Cal Poly in 2022, to become one of the SEC’s most productive tight ends in 2025. His 5.6-yard average target depth isn’t overly appealing for fantasy purposes, but his reliability over the middle could become an asset in the NFL.
Although an NFL offense won’t be relying on Cuevas to stretch the field, if he continues to showcase strong hands and a penchant for creating separation (93rd percentile in 2025), he may become a good stash in dynasty leagues.
Quarterbacks
The Star: Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt
While the top of this year’s quarterback class lacks the polish of previous years’ cohorts, there are plenty of middle-round options. Pavia isn’t necessarily a star in this year’s class, but he is among the top quarterback prospects after making waves over the past two seasons and putting Vanderbilt football in the spotlight.
Pavia finished the 2025 campaign as the second-highest-graded quarterback in college football (92.2) and produced the fifth-best big-time throw rate (7.4%). He also provides yards in the run game, where he amassed the most rushing yards and rushing first downs, as well as the second-most forced missed tackles, among quarterbacks over the past four years.
Due to the state of this year’s quarterback class, dynasty managers in superflex leagues will be homed in on any risers after Fernando Mendoza, and Pavia is a prime candidate with dual-threat ability.
The Riser: Luke Altmyer, Illinois
Altmyer is a relatively average quarterback by PFF stable metrics, and although his best selling point is his lack of negative plays, he takes too many sacks — including seven against Indiana’s championship-winning defense.
For dynasty purposes, he may end up being a third-string quarterback you pick up off waivers to stash for a few years. He could also be a pre-draft riser whose 64.6% accurate-pass rate (11th best among 73 qualifying Power Four quarterbacks) sees him become more than that.
The Sleeper: Cole Payton, North Dakota State
It isn’t a true draft cycle without a flashy North Dakota State quarterback. Following in the footsteps of Easton Stick, Trey Lance and Cam Miller, Payton throws an incredibly accurate deep ball and is a threat on the ground.
No FBS or FCS quarterback earned a higher PFF overall grade than Payton (95.8) in 2025. The southpaw passer completed 62.5% of his 20-plus-yard attempts for more than 1,200 yards in 2025.
We’ll have to wait to see how Payton looks against stronger Senior Bowl competition before declaring him anything more than a sleeper, but he possesses an intriguing profile for fantasy football.
