4 Fantasy Football Draft Decisions: Eagles' Barkley, Hurts and Smith in Tough Debates

It's time for another fantasy football article breaking down trending draft decisions!

We have done two of those articles already - you can read the first one here and the second one here.

Fantasy football average draft position data can be found on FantasySP in the leadup to the 2026 NFL season! Conduct your fantasy football mock drafts through FantasySP too - you can now customize the scoring settings to tailor to your fantasy leagues!

Should You Draft Saquon Barkley or Omarion Hampton?

Let's open with a running back debate between Barkley and Hampton.

Barkley is going at pick 12.43 on average, while Hampton is at pick 13.57, so they are back-to-back picks. This is a fascinating debate too.

Barkley had a down fantasy year in 2025, but easily outperformed Hampton after playing in 16 games to Hampton's nine. Barkley had 1,140 rushing yards and seven scores across 280 carries. Hampton rushed for 545 yards and four scores across 124 attempts.

Barkley had 273 receiving yards and two scores across 37 receptions. Hampton had 32 grabs for 192 yards and a score.

I like the upside of Hampton, but last year's injury is concerning for sure. Barkley is a bounceback candidate, especially after the Eagles lost A.J. Brown, but he could also just replicate last season again as he enters the back half of his career.

So each running back has some question marks going into this season, making them riskier picks at that point of a fantasy draft. If you are skeptical of taking the two backs, I'd suggest passing on them and looking elsewhere for running back help.

If I had to choose between the two, I'd take Hampton, as I think his ceiling is higher.

Should You Draft Jayden Daniels or Jalen Hurts?

The next draft debate is between two quarterbacks, Daniels and Hurts. Daniels is going near pick 66 on average, while Hurts is at pick 71.

The fantasy battle between those two last year wasn't fair either, as Hurts played in 16 games, while Daniels only got in seven.

Hurts had 3,224 passing yards, 25 touchdowns and six interceptions, plus 421 rushing yards and eight scores over 105 attempts. Daniels had 1,262 passing yards, eight TDs and three INTs, plus 278 rushing yards and two touchdowns across 58 attempts.

Daniels was the better fantasy asset the previous season, but he also played a couple more games. These two dual-threat quarterbacks are pretty close in the fantasy football realm.

Hurts still has the better supporting cast, even after Brown was traded away. That gives him a boost in my eyes, but I also think Daniels is the better player, and thus, the better fantasy asset.

Again, we are talking about two evenly-matched guys at the same positions, so you really cannot go wrong, and there's upside and risk with each guy. I like Daniels' upside just a bit more, so I'd take him if having to choose between the two, although I'd really prefer to skip both quarterbacks and instead draft two guys in the later rounds.

Should You Draft Tee Higgins or DeVonta Smith?

The next battle includes two wideouts - Higgins against another Eagle in Smith. Higgins checks in at pick 38.71 on average, with Smith going at pick 34 on average.

Smith got in two more games (17-15) than Higgins last season, but Higgins was still the better fantasy asset because of his scoring prowess.

Smith went for 1,008 yards on 77 catches, but only scored four times. Higgins scored 11 times, while catching 59 passes for 846 yards.

With Brown gone, Smith looks like WR1 in Philly, but don't forget about rookie Makai Lemon. Higgins is the definite WR2 in Cincinnati behind Ja'Marr Chase, but also has a better quarterback throwing to him, which makes for a great draft debate between the wideouts.

Higgins also has some injury concerns over his career, but I still think he provides the biggest fantasy upside over Smith. So again, it's another close decision in my eyes, but I prefer Higgins over Smith.

Give me the guy on the better offense and with the better quarterback over the guy who should emerge as his team's top wideout this year. We know Higgins' role and production, while we are guessing a bit on Smith's.

Skip some of the risk and grab Higgins. Sorry Eagles' fans, but I am again choosing against your fantasy player here.

Should You Draft Kyle Pitts Sr. or Tucker Kraft?

We have a fun tight end debate to cap today's article. Pitts is going at pick 74.29 so far, while Kraft is at 72.57 - they are back-to-back picks on the ADP list.

Pitts was the better fantasy option in 2025, but probably only because Kraft missed about half the season. Across 17 games, Pitts had 928 yards and five scores across 88 receptions. 

Kraft got in eight games before suffering a major injury. He had 489 yards and six scores over 32 receptions.

Kraft is part of an offense with no dominant pass catchers, but instead several viable options. Pitts should be a bigger part of the Falcons' offense, but with a glaring quarterback issue, he's a riskier fantasy asset. And of course, you have to throw Kraft's injury issue into things.

Both should be top-10 fantasy tight ends this season, if they stay healthy. I prefer Kraft over Pitts, but again, it's very close, and I wouldn't be opposed to taking Pitts over Kraft depending on how the rest of my roster looked.

There's a bigger risk in drafting Kraft coming off the big injury, but I just like his fantasy upside more, so I'm giving him the nod in this debate.

Keep checking back to FantasySP for even more draft decisions leading up to the new season. All fantasy football content can be found here, and our 2026 draft kit is also available now!