Harmon, Winks Break Down 17 Rookie Preseason Cases After Week 1

Q: Which highly touted 2026 rookie running back remains a massive fantasy stash despite suffering a concerning high-ankle sprain?

The rookie running back was **Jeremiyah Love**. Despite suffering a **high-ankle sprain** after an impressive preseason debut, Love was still described in the Yahoo Fantasy Forecast discussion and related fantasy coverage as a **major stash** for 2026. The reason is his talent and projected workload: he flashed three-down ability, handled heavy touches early, and appears to have a strong path to meaningful usage in Arizona once healthy. The injury is a real concern because high-ankle sprains can linger and may cost him early-season time. Even so, the broader fantasy analysis continued to treat Love as one of the top upside rookie backs in the class, not someone to drop or dismiss.

2 articles · Updated · Yahoo Sports · Aug 21

Week 1 of the preseason drove Yahoo Fantasy Forecast’s latest rookie review, with Matt Harmon and Hayden Winks sorting immediate standouts from early disappointments and weighing what that means for 2026 fantasy drafts.
17 rookie cases anchored the episode, spanning running backs Jeremiyah Love, Jadarian Price and Nicholas Singleton, wideouts including Jordyn Tyson and Carnell Tate, and quarterbacks Fernando Mendoza, Carson Beck, Cade Klubnik and Drew Allar.
The show opened with a buy-or-sell test on rookie preseason hype, then moved player by player through early impressions rather than offering a single classwide verdict.
It closed with a fantasy hotline segment reacting to viewer-submitted bold predictions, widening the discussion from Week 1 tape to season-long expectations for the 2026 rookie class.