Making the transition to college fantasy football (CFF) is a much different beast than simple redraft, dynasty, or even Devy fantasy football. For CFF drafts, you will need college players to start every week, and with so many teams and players involved, it is a more challenging but also fun task.
The following takeaways are my thoughts inspired by the Scott Fish Bowl “Tadpole” Bowl League, as I recently finished drafting my team. Keep in mind, for the purposes of this article, the player pool was only P4 players. Therefore, additional G5 depth was not available in the draft. As a fantasy analyst who is mostly Devy and C2C focused, the CFF Tadpole draft was a treat and eye-opening task when appreciating the 2026 college fantasy football landscape.
Target Running Backs
Looking at the number of high-quality running backs available at the beginning of drafts, it is a strong strategy to target the running back position early. There are perhaps a dozen or so workhorse options littered throughout the first few rounds, but it does seem to drop off after that point. Sixteen of the twenty-four picks in my draft were running backs.
That makes drafting a running back early a viable and needed strategy in CFF drafts in 2026. The depth of the wide receiver position allows one to wait longer at that position, unless a true steal or value presents itself.
Depth at TE and QB
The tight end position does have some intriguing, but non-elite names at the top, and brings some depth. The depth is also true at quarterback. Once the top running backs start becoming depleted in the draft, you can easily start pivoting to other positions. Specifically, after the top 12 or so running backs are off the board, I do see attacking the top tier wide receivers as the next most viable strategy. You should and could continue to add some lead backs, but the quality and guarantee of heavy backfield workloads goes down after the first few rounds.
Tight ends and quarterbacks again can be waited on. If you elect to draft one early, I admit there are some higher-end options at either position that certainly can give your team a slight edge. However, here are some quarterbacks that were still available in the 9th round of the Tadpole Bowl. Also, keep in mind that 20 quarterbacks had already been taken before these guys.
Darian Mensah, Bear Bachmeier, Keelon Russell, CJ Carr, Bryce Underwood, Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, Gunner Stockton, CJ Bailey, Malik Washington, Noah Fifita, Anthony Colandrea, and Mason Heintschel. You will see quality quarterback play waiting to be selected still in the mid rounds. Taking some swings on quarterbacks in the middle rounds makes sense, as you allow yourself an opportunity of some high floor and even breakout producers at a bargain bin price.
Late Round Strategy
As always, late in the draft, there are reliable if not underwhelming producers. Drafting a few floor players may make sense, especially if an ideal offensive scenario plays out for that player or team. But there are also the home run or upside shots to be made on breakout players who were efficient in smaller samples or are stepping into large opportunities.
Ambiguous situations can be scary to draft, but yield high-ceiling rewards. Players who are league winners if injury happens elsewhere are viable options to draft in the late rounds. IF you can add and drop players through waivers or free agency during the season, swing even harder for the home run guys in your draft, as high-upside options or even handcuffs can be a viable league-winning strategy.
Takeaways
Ultimately, these were some general takeaways from my draft and from P4 drafts that I have observed specifically in the CFF landscape. CFF leagues require a different mindset than a traditional Devy league, as Devy typically looks for and significantly prioritizes professional upside.
To a large degree, positional scarcity will also drive how a CFF draft plays out. While each league and draft may differ slightly, understanding the above strategy and using it as the board allows would seem to be the most textbook way to build a well-rounded college fantasy football team.
