Everton - 26/27 Draft FPL Pre-Season Thoughts

Written 23rd July 2026 · Everything here very much subject to change, subscribe to the podcast/YouTube channel for all the latest.

This blog is part of Draft FC's Team-by-Team 2026/27 early pre-season series — see all 20 previews in one place here

Safety first

13th on 49 points, safety-first under Moyes, a second season in the new stadium coming up and quietly one of the most fantasy-relevant unfashionable squads in the league. The stated ambition is to bring European football to the Hill Dickinson Stadium, but to do that they will need more firepower across the pitch. Under Moyes the system is an organised 4-2-3-1, a mid-to-low block and proper clean-sheet and defcon potential every week. Under the updated defcon scoring, that profile turns Everton from a team who should be a fantasy boot sale into a supermarket. You just need to shop the defensive aisles and stay away from any flashy sales in the attacking sections (that's the end of the supermarket metaphor I promise).

The defcon royalty

Tarkowski is exactly the player the new scoring was invented for. 170 points, 44 defcon points, nearly every minute played, blocks and clearances for days - close to double figures in defensive actions week in, week out, all season. He's a top-tier draft defender but needs some help if that is to remain. Garner is the midfield version: 159 points and 40 defcon points. I'll be honest and say I'd expect some regression across their roster, but Tarko and Garner should be fairly immune to that. Pickford stays a near-premium keeper, Moyes structure plus save volume is a formula that simply works.

The one I won't be drafting

Dewsbury-Hall put up 151 points and I remain thoroughly unmoved. This is a useful case study in why we always need to look under the bonnet because his output ran well ahead of his underlying numbers, and that combination is exactly the profile that hands back 30 or 40 points the following season. Someone in your league will pick him up, someone else in the league will comment "nice pick" and you can be quietly glad you just gained a bit of extra draft board value somewhere else.

Best of the rest

Ndiaye is Everton's penalty taker and their most reliable attacking asset, but that's really not saying much. 128 points and 6 goals, a perfectly decent mid-round attacker on his own merits, but not one I'll be taking in the top half of the draft.

Up top, Beto and Thierno Barry shared the number 9 minutes, which isn't ideal for either, though Beto's 9 goals in roughly 1,565 minutes is honestly decent going. It's an annoying situation and there's a good chance they both get picked up as FWD3s on draft day.

The window so far: Merlin Röhl in permanently for £20m from Freiburg, Hayden Hackney for £16.5m from Middlesbrough and Tyrique George made permanent for £18m. Gueye is leaving on an expired contract and Coleman too. Keane I'm not convinced starts, so no draft value for me, with Branthwaite likely to resume full-time centre-back duties. Everton still need to sign a right back, left back, central midfielder and winger in order to look in decent shape, otherwise they could be providing the promoted clubs with some hope they can stay up at the expense of one of the big boys.

There is some hype around Hayden Hackney, but after the way Dibling was used last season, not one I'm going near on draft day.

The opening run

Palace at home, Bournemouth away, Man Utd at home, Spurs away, Ipswich at home, Hull away. One properly hard game in 6, with promoted opposition in GW5 and GW6. This is where opening-run logic really bites on draft day. Everton's average players become worth an actual pick with an eye on those first 6 weeks, because a Moyes defence against that schedule should be printing clean sheets and defcons from the opening whistle. Fill your late rounds accordingly, then reassess in October.

Early verdict

Draft the floor - Tarkowski, Garner and Pickford are top-of-tier picks under this scoring, all with the kindest possible opening runway. Be suspicious of the ceilings - Dewsbury-Hall is a regression candidate, the striker spot is a timeshare, and the best attacker otherwise isn't even that good. Everton are the league's most honest fantasy team - what you see is what you get.

Stay shook,

Draft FC Mitch