Try Factor, America's #1 ready-to-eat meal delivery service.

Made from ingredients you recognize. Whole food. Nothing unnecessary. Let’s eat real.

Get 50% off your first Factor box + Free Breakfast for a year *1 free breakfast item per box for 1 year while subscription active.

Try Factor Now

Happy September! Cutdown day came and went Sunday, and the biggest name to lose his job was not cut at all. Josh Jacobs went on the Commissioner's Exempt List with no end date attached, and Green Bay traded for a running back within the hour.

Everything below ran between Friday and this morning. Week 1 opens a week from Wednesday, so this is the last quiet stretch you get.

This morning’s content features some very good stuff to get you prepared for the final draft run, especially the Rankings & Draft Strategy section.

Got feedback? Email me at [email protected]. And if you know someone who’d get something out of this, please pass it along.

In this issue
🚨 The Jacobs Fallout
🔻 Roster Cuts & Moves
🚑 Injury Report
📊 Rankings & Draft Strategy
💎 Sleepers & Breakouts
💰 Betting & Futures
🎯 Pools & Survivor
🎮 Games

Exempt list for Josh Jacobs
Andy Richardson, Fantasy Index, Aug 30
Richardson lands Lloyd in the 25-30 range among running backs and notes Adrian Peterson spent an entire season on this same list.

Jacobs' exempt-list stint leaves the Packers without an answer
Matt De Lima, The Big Lead, Aug 31
None of these three backs is a real answer, which shifts the weight of this offense onto Jordan Love and the passing game.

2026 NFL cutdown day fantasy reaction: Josh Jacobs and Jaydon Blue fallout
Kyle Dvorchak, Rotoworld, Aug 31
Exempt-list time counts toward a later suspension, so Jacobs could serve it now and be credited with time served.

2026 NFL roster cuts: fantasy football impact and winners
Mark Strausberg, Fantasy Six Pack, Aug 30
Jaydon Blue was the shock of cut day, since the industry had him as Dallas's RB2 before Malik Davis took the job.

Winners and losers from every NFL team's 2026 roster cuts
Gary Davenport, Bleacher Report, Aug 31
One winner and one loser for all 32 teams, drawn from the full preseason rather than just Sunday's deadline.

NFL training camp injury report for 2026 fantasy football
Ben Zweiman, Yahoo Sports, Aug 31
Kittle came off PUP on Sunday and has a real shot at Week 1, with Nabers and Pierce also trending up.

2026 draft strategy: rankings, tiers and the league-winning formula
Dave Kluge, Footballguys, Aug 28
Let value fall early and prioritize receivers against ADP, built out into a round-by-round formula for a full roster.

The perfect fantasy football draft strategy for 2026
Dwain McFarland, Fantasy Life, Aug 30
Three recorded drafts from different slots, including a hero-RB build from pick five that took Bowers and receivers after.

The ultimate 2026 fantasy football draft strategy guide
Ian Hartitz, RotoWire, Aug 29
A position-by-position walk through the board with a cheat sheet, aimed at the drafter who wants one plan rather than ten opinions.

Updated 2026 rankings and Top 250 big board
The Wolf, Roto Street Journal, Aug 30
The Wolf moved Lloyd into RB2 range on the exempt-list news and has Omarion Hampton surging through the second-round back tier.

2026 fantasy football sleepers: 5 late-round gems to draft
Max Staley, RotoWire, Aug 29
Five flyers outside the first seven rounds, led by Blake Corum, who paced all qualified backs in EPA per carry.

Emmett Johnson makes his case
Andy Richardson, Fantasy Index, Aug 29
Johnson was in a battle for the backup job behind Kenneth Walker in Kansas City, and it now looks like he has it.

Chris Godwin and more underrated wide receivers
Footballguys, Aug 28
Godwin is practicing while Tampa's other receivers are hurt, which makes his WR40 price look badly out of step.

Week 1 waiver wire pickups and stashes, all positions
Robert Lorge, RotoBaller, Aug 31
Week 1 adds for leagues that already drafted, with Chig Okonkwo at 8.6 percent rostered as the headline stash.

Fantasy football cheat sheet 2026: rankings, tiers and sleepers
Justin Edwards, Bleacher Nation, ~Aug 29
Updated through August 29, with Jeanty down another four spots to RB12 and Deebo Samuel up 19 to WR52.

NFL odds, lines and spreads: 2026 Week 1 picks and predictions
Ross Kelly, SportsLine, ~Aug 30
Twelve Week 1 games sit inside a four-point spread, which makes the model's Jaguars call the rare clean read.

2026 NFL power rankings: evaluating all 32 teams after preseason
Matt Johnson, Sportsnaut, ~Aug 29
Cincinnati's defensive spending buys a league-average unit at best, and the Bengals draw Tampa Bay and Houston as early tests.

Week 1 survivor picks: best knockout pick and teams to avoid
Ross Kelly, CBS Sports, Aug 29
R.J. White is off the Chargers despite the 10.5-point line, pointing to better matchups later and an almost entirely new offensive line.

Fantasy Index Blackout
Fantasy Index, Aug 29
Each week you choose two quarterbacks, two backs, three receivers, two tight ends and two defenses against the Fantasy Index crew.

Matchup Notes is a curation newsletter. I link to the people doing the work, so go read them, subscribe to them, and tell them I sent you.

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER. Nothing here is betting advice.