2026 Fantasy Football Bold Takes

By: Andrew Ferguson

It’s only May and I can’t be the only person counting down until we have some football in our lives. This happens every year and the worst is yet to come. Once the NHL and NBA playoffs are over (typically within a day or 2 apart), it’s just baseball. Thankfully, we have the World Cup hosted in North America this year to hold us over. But at the end of the day, it’s the wrong football and that and baseball is not enough to keep me from itching at my neck. 

This year will be my 19th year being the commissioner for my fantasy football league. I’ve had the same group of guys come together since our Freshman year of college and it’s a very competitive league full of managers that take it very seriously. The best part about it is that my brother, who takes it more seriously than anyone, does mock drafts nightly during the summer, and has never won the league and is considered the ‘Cleveland Browns’ of our league. It happens every year. He’s had a rough go at it lately with a combined record of 12-30 over his last 3 years. But this article isn’t about my brother’s struggles, it was just for him to ‘catch a stray’ as the kids say. I’d like to think after doing this for so long and how competitive the leagues are that I’m in, I know what I’m talking about as I’ve had a lot of championships during my 19 year career in fantasy. So listen up on how to win your league this year with players to draft and avoid: 

1) Trevor Lawrence is an MVP Candidate and Finishes as a Top 5 Fantasy QB 

Starting off hot I know. But what if I told you I’m the person that took Matthew Stafford last year with my very last pick to backup Lamar Jackson. It ended up being the other way around. We all know what Stafford did last year if you read my article on his extension :) 

Lawrence finished last year as QB 4 overall. You can still get him in the middle of the draft this year if you decide to forgo the top 5 QBs off the board which look to be Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Drake Maye (Don’t do it), Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels. All of these QBs will be gone by the 5th round of most drafts. All but Allen come at a risk in my eyes. I never take QBs early and I like to wait as this is the easiest position to stream on a weekly basis, or find gold towards the end of the draft. 

I really like Lawrence this year because Liam Cohen came in and it was finally a match made in heaven for Lawrence who had 4 different offensive coordinators in his first 5 years with the Jaguars. This includes a disaster of a head coach hire with Urban Meyer. Creep. Once Lawrence found his groove after the bye week and was comfortable with his new coaching staff, he finished week 9 on with 23.3 fantasy points per game. The number one fantasy QB. Lawrence has plenty of weapons, a good enough run game, and his own legs to be able to repeat a top 5 finish and monster value in the middle of the draft who is currently projected to be the 8th QB off the board.

2) Carnell Tate Wins Offensive Rookie of the Year 

Tate was somewhat of a surprising pick to the Titans at 4. The talent is definitely there but some scouts questioned his volume at Ohio State and opportunities due to Jeremiah Smith inheriting a lot of coverage and Tate not being a true number one. Jeremiah Smith is a freak of nature and depending on what team has the number 1 pick in 2027 and if they are a QB needy team or not, Smith could be the number one pick overall. 

But Tate has already been impressing in OTAs and has built a quick chemistry with Cam Ward. Mainly because their WR room was absolute trash so he desperately needed a weapon. ‘But they have Calvin Ridley!’ This guy is only getting older, hasn’t been reliable or healthy and just hasn’t had a consistent career especially with off the field issues. I don’t see a bounceback season from him at the age of 31 coming off a season where he only played 7 games and had 17 catches for 303 yards. 

So what does a OROTY for a WR look like? Let’s look at the previous winners and the numbers they put up to put in perspective where Tate should be drafted in your league. Since 2021, 3 WRs have won the award. Here is that list with their stats: 

1. 2021 Ja’Marr Chase- 81 catches, 1,455 yards and 13 TDs 

2. 2022 Garrett Wilison- 83 catches, 1,103 yards and 4 TDs 

3. 2025 Tetairoa McMillan- 70 catches 1,014 yards and 7 TDs 

Chase and McMillan were the first WRs selected in their respective drafts and Garrett Wilison was the 2nd (who could’ve easily been the first). Tate is immediately jumping into an opportunity to receive high volume early in his career and I believe given his talent and playing time he’ll receive, he should surpass 1,000 yards as a rookie. He’s currently going as the number 31 WR off the board. Great value as your WR2 or WR3 depending on how your draft goes. I like Tate over guys like Christian Watson and Parker Washington who are projected higher for some reason. 

3) CMC is a 1st Round BUST This Year 

Yeah I said it. If you took McCaffrey last year in the first round, laddy da and good for you. Even last year, his pick came at a huge risk coming off of multiple Achilles scares. He went 6th overall in my league and it was definitely the pick of the year. So why don’t I like him this year? Well it’s because of the evil power plant near the 49ers practice facility that is the root cause of all of 

their injuries. I’m totally kidding but this was a big conspiracy theory this offseason that San Francisco actually looked into and got peace of mind that it was not affecting their players. 

The real reason I don’t like him is because I don’t trust aging running backs. It’s that simple. He’s currently projected to be the 3rd RB off the board at the age of 30. He also just put up

monster volume this year while actually being fully healthy for all 17 games, 311 carries (2nd in the league), and 102 catches. Sounds like a homerun of a pick right? Now I’m not saying I hate CMC this year totally, read the headline. I think he’s not going to put up 1st round numbers like he did last year. There are safer approaches to winning your league and CMC has proven that 

when he’s not 100%, he’s not playing. He has to digress at some point and I’m not going to let it happen on my roster. When he has injuries, your whole fantasy team is derailed and he misses a lot of time. He also wasn’t very explosive last year having only 7 runs of 20+ yards so a big part of his fantasy success was due to the volume which I see taking a hit since SF drafted Kaelon Black out of Indiana in the 3rd round and giving McCaffrey more breaks this year. 

4) Saquon Barkley Leads the NFL in Rushing Yards Again 

‘Whoah, slow down a minute, you just said you don’t like aging RBs. Saquon will be 29 this year. You like Saquon over CMC?’ Yes, I know it sounds crazy. Let’s not forget that Saquon just ran for over 2,000 yards less than 2 years ago. And in 2025, he ran for 1,140 and people think that’s a bad number. It’s definitely a big drop off but that’s just bound to happen when you’re at those types of totals. And he did miss one game. So where am I coming up with all of this foolery? 

Last year’s Eagles O-Line was a mess with injuries and just flat out didn’t play as well as they did in 2024 when Barkley put up historic numbers. The rushing game was not the same and even Jalen Hurts couldn’t get his little tush pushed like he used to. Saquon was getting hit behind or at the line way more in 2025 than he did the year before. The biggest reason I feel confident in a bounce back season for Barkley is Sean Mannion’s offensive scheme he brings to the Eagles. It will be a lot less running out of the gun and the offense should see way more open lanes for Saquon to burst through. Once he hits the 2nd level, nobody is catching him. A lot of his yardage in 2024 came from big plays and expect to see a lot more of that in 2026. Saquon is currently going off the board as RB8, a steal in the 2nd round as your first RB selection or your RB2. 

5) Brock Bowers Finishes as TE1 Over Trey McBride 

Probably one of the most mild takes on this list but I have reason to believe it’s important to talk about given where these 2 are currently being drafted. Trey McBride is your TE1 coming off the board early 2nd, or late 2nd. This means you’re most likely passing up on a RB1 or WR1. A big decision to make. These 2 TEs dominate the position right now and when it comes to fantasy, 

it’s Brock/McBride, then everyone else. 

I do expect McBride’s numbers to fall off for a few reasons. QB play in Arizona is a toss up right now. Brissett and the Cardinals don’t seem close to a deal on his contract. That leaves rookie Carson Beck as the next man up to potentially start as Kyler Murray left for the Vikings. The Cardinals, believe it or not, actually have quite a few weapons to spread the ball around to which the offense wasn’t fully able to do last season. Marvin Harrison Jr. missed time with injuries so I expect him to start getting a higher volume share. The rise of Michael Wilson came

out of nowhere so he will also demand his cut of whatever yardage a rookie QB has to offer. The Cards also drafted RB Jeremiah Love out of Notre Dame with the 3rd overall pick after they already signed Tyler Allgeier in free agency. And James Connor is just sitting in the corner figuring out how he fits into all of this. So a lot of target demands to go around with not as many yards to follow in my opinion. The Cardinals were a very bad team last year and were forced to pass the ball a lot. I expect them to still be a bad team this year, but with a much heavier focus on the run game. 

So where is my defense on Brock Bowers? Watch him play and you’ll be as sold as I am. Brock dealt with a plethora of injuries in 2025, had Geno Smith (not the good version) throwing him the ball, but still put up 12 points a game (half PPR), which was 2nd only to McBride. The Raiders got a huge upgrade in many categories of their offense that benefit Bowers specifically. Fernando Mendoza is obviously the biggest upgrade to their QB room. And if he doesn’t start right away, his Step Bro Kirk Cousin is capable of feeding Bowers plenty of targets early. Klint Kubiak also comes in as the new head coach that will give a brand new life to this offense. He’s worked with some talented TEs in the past that includes George Kittle. But Bowers should be his best weapon down the field. The Raiders also didn’t bring in any WR help for the QB room and is arguably the worst in the NFL. So again, Bowers will be the most talented downfield threat for Mendoza/Cousins. 

Bowers is currently going late 2nd/early 3rd in drafts. I’d rather get my WR1 AND RB1 with a chance to get Bowers in the 3rd than selling out and sacrificing another position to land McBride.