Fantasy Football Player Outlooks for The 2026-26 Season

For the fourth time in the last six seasons, Allen was the top fantasy quarterback in 2025, and that was with playing just one snap in Week 18 to (cheaply) extend his consecutive-starts streak. Allen’s on-target and completion percentages bounced back to career highs, but those were inflated by throwing short more than ever. His 7.1-yard average target depth was a career low as a career-high 65.0 percent of his attempts went less than 10 yards and career-low 10.4 percent traveled 20-plus yards. The Bills lacked a quality downfield options, and outside of Khalil Shakir lacked any better-than-decent WR options. Allen, of course, makes up for middling passing production ( 215.8 yards per game, 20th), with elite rushing production. He led QBs with 579 rushing yards last season, the only QB with at least 500 yards in each of the last five seasons, and scored 14 touchdowns, his third consecutive year with double-digit scores. A league-high eight of those TDs came on QB sneaks, of which he should again get a healthy dose. With offensive coordinator Joe Brady now head coach, the offensive structure won’t change, and as long Allen’s pass attempts are in the neighborhood of 500, his rushing should do the rest. The Bills traded for WR DJ Moore, and while he won’t necessarily take the top off defenses, he’ll be Allen’s top target, in addition to Shakir and tight end Dalton Kincaid. Allen, who’s healthy after offseason foot surgery, hasn’t finished lower than QB2 in fantasy since 2019 and it would be an upset if he did this year.

Injuries and the Ravens’ general offensive regression spelled doom for Jackson last season. He missed four games with hamstring, toe, ankle and back injuries and played hurt through at least a few more, averaging just 23.2 pass attempts, a career low as a starter. Jackson’s passing efficiency was relatively stable and he was still an effective downfield thrower (6/0 TD/INT on 20-plus yard attempts), he just didn’t get enough attempts. The biggest drop-off, though, was in his running where he averaged career lows in attempts (5.2) and yards per game (26.8) as the leg injuries deflated his wheels. The Ravens’ offense had its own problems, continually stalling in the red zone (47.5 TD%, 27th), among other issues. The team cleared out the coaching staff, hiring defensive-minded head coach Jesse Minter with the offense headed by Declan Doyle, who helped turn around the Bears last year as offensive coordinator (though he didn’t call plays). Doyle promises more pre-snap motion and play action, which would seem to suit Jackson. The Ravens lost Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum but addressed offensive line concerns in the draft with first-round pick Olaivavega Ioane. They also drafted wide receivers Ja’Kobi Lane (3rd round), who at 6-foot-4 with 4.47 speed is expected to line up opposite No. 1 WR Zay Flowers, and Elijah Sarratt (4th round). TE Mark Andrews and RB Derrick Henry return as well. Assuming Doyle doesn’t wilt as a first-time play-caller and good health all around, Jackson looks primed for a bounce-back season.

After missing nine games in 2024, Prescott stayed healthy last season and finished QB6 in fantasy, topping 4,500 passing yards for the third time in his career and hitting 30 TD passes for the fourth time. It wasn’t just good health that propelled Prescott, though. It was also capitalizing on hefty volume. Prescott was second in the league with a career-high 600 pass attempts, posting a 72.7 on-target percentage (13th) and 67.3 completion percentage (12th) while also throwing downfield at a solid rate, including 11.0 percent of his attempts going at least 20 yards (11th). It was made all the more harder because Dallas receivers ranked 32nd in open percentage (40.2), 28th in separation (3.2 yards) and 29th in dropped passes (26). Yet Prescott finished the season with an 8.3-yard average target depth and 7.6 YPA, both 10th. Pairing George Pickens with CeeDee Lamb gave him two playmaker wideouts, and he made them both 1,000-yard receivers as there was little else to target. The WR duo is back this year, as is quality tight end Jake Ferguson and 1,200-yard rusher Javonte Williams. The offensive line did a good job to keep pressure off Prescott (14th in QB pressure rate) and returns intact. Prescott looks set up for another productive season but because he runs so little (10.4 yards per game), he needs another 600 attempts with strong efficiency to hit the top 5 of fantasy QBs.

Maye’s first full season as starter went better than even Patriots fans probably imagined. He finished QB2 in fantasy, was second in MVP voting and took New England to the Super Bowl. Maye’s league-leading 72.0 completion percentage was the sixth highest in NFL history, all the more impressive considering his average target depth was 9.1 yards, the highest of any QB in the top 20 all-time in completion rate. Maye went downfield at the fifth-highest rate in the league (37.2%), ranking third in completion percentage on attempts of 20-plus yards (52.1) and leading the league with an 8.9 YPA. In addition to finishing fourth in passing yards (4,394) and third in TD passes (31), his rushing production vaulted him up the fantasy rankings. Maye was fourth among QBs with 450 rushing yards, adding four scores. He benefited from an extremely light schedule, however. The Patriots didn’t face a top-10 defense until the playoffs (eight games vs. bottom-10 defenses) and in the Super Bowl against the league’s best defense, the Seahawks, Maye got smoked. He’ll play a first-place schedule this year, but his rushing was largely built on scrambles anyway -- first both in scramble runs (62) and scramble run rate (10.3%) -- and his passing will benefit if the rumored trade for A.J. Brown happens. If not, then he’ll deal with the same group of lackluster receivers he won with last year, except for swapping Stefon Diggs for Romeo Doubs. A top-5 fantasy season is reasonable, especially if Brown joins the team.

After a brilliant rookie season, Daniels’ highly anticipated second season was destroyed because of injuries. He played just four full games and only two that were injury free as wrist, knee, hamstring and elbow injuries derailed his season. A dislocated left elbow in his non-throwing arm finally sent him to the IR for good in December. While his passing and rushing efficiency declined from his rookie year, there’s little to take away statistically from last season. The Commanders could limit his running this year to protect his health, but that's not much of a concern because even a 25 percent reduction from his 2024 numbers in both designed runs and scrambles would put him at about 110 rush attempts. At, say, 5.5 yards per rush, he’d still have more yards (605) than any QB last year. The bigger issue is his surrounding cast. The Commanders don’t have much of a running game, and Terry McLaurin is his only reliable receiving weapon. Washington needs third-round rookie Antonio Williams, who is noted for his route-running and can line up in the slot or outside, to acclimate quickly as the No. 2 wideout. The Commanders also signed promising TE Chig Okonkwo, who runs a 4.52 40 at 6-foot-3, 238, and should fill the Zach Ertz role that benefited Daniels two years ago. Daniels is an injury concern, but his upside certainly outweighs the risk.