Official 2026 NFL season Discussion Week 5!!!



Fantasy football preseason takeaways from Thursday-Friday action!

Quarterback:
-Cam Ward looked pretty, pretty, pretty bad. Do three preseason drives REALLY matter? No. Would it have been cooler if he looked somewhat okay during them? Yes

-Start Fernando Mendoza in Week 1, please

-Underrated chance this Falcons offense is BAD bad. Should still be enough volume for Bijan + London to be fine, but man, QB/play-caller combination of Tua/Penix/Stefanski/Rees certainly ranks closer to 32 than 16 across the league

Running back:
-Don't overthink Chase Brown because of Samaje Perine. Don't do it!

-Jeremiyah Love played 7/10 snaps with Jacoby Brissett and looks like the real deal holyfield. Hope that ankle injury doesn't linger. Still not exactly expecting fireworks in Arizona, but at least we didn't see them overly mess around with Tyler Allgeier

-RJ Harvey 11/14 (79%) snaps on first two drives but Jonah Coleman looked good and noticeably did take the only 3rd-and-long snap when Harvey was still out there. Think Harvey could pay off by catching 50+ passes (possible), but don't see the same late-season workhorse handcuff upside with Coleman there

-Would still expect a committee of sorts if Omarion Hampton misses time, but Keaton Mitchell getting starters' rest feels good for his standalone upside

-Good to see Tyjae Spears get 1B treatment/not used as a gadgety pass-down back

-MarShawn Lloyd should be drafted right around Tyjae Spears/Woody Marks

-Woody Marks getting starter rest treatment. Montgomery is the lead back, but could the split be closer to 60/40? Great late-round handcuff

-Brian Robinson every-down role was nice to see. Solid late-round handcuff

-Mike Washington: Solid late-round handcuff

-Braelon Allen looked big and fast but Breece still played 10/11 snaps on drive one + Isaiah Davis (knee) was out

-Jaylen Wright RB2 behind 40+ touches per game workhorse De'Von Achane

-Now the Kaleb Johnson-Arian Foster comps seem a little fucked up

-Kaytron Allen RB3 in Washington, but who knows if that role is worth anything when White/Bill are active

-Seth McGowan dominating Colts RB snaps with JT resting + Giddens (hamstring) sidelined, but losing a goal-line fumble is no bueno

-Big fan of General Ulysses Bentley IV in terms of very much enjoying his name

Wide receiver:
-De'Zhaun Stribling ... DAWG ... but also still projects as the No. 4 pass-game option at best if/when Evans/CMC/Kittle are healthy. Future bright? Sure, but still dubious of actual 2025 weekly fantasy upside

-Jayden Reed still not playing in multi-TE sets but at least Green Bay seems more willing to not rotate in their backup receivers. Reed is good, Love is good, GB is good. Would a few extra routes per game be nice? Sure, but still an upside WR3 in my book

-Tre' Harris resting with starters + ESPN reports earlier about LAC probably not making another WR move. Is gap between him and QJ too wide in ADP? Probably. Could both simply be good picks in this likely awesome offense? Probably

-Ted Hurst playing at all wasn't great considering the dudes who were resting but he is a rookie and some of those routes looked NICEY for a 6'3, 206-pound receiver

-Pat Bryant clear No. 3 WR in Denver

-Caleb Douglas Week 1 starter in Miami for whatever that's worth. Made a sick catch!

-Just Week 1 of preseason but Omar Cooper currently WR4 for the Jets. Not great! Could certainly turn it around later. But not great! I'm just saying this isn't great!

-Pop Douglas seemingly the frontrunner to be the Patriots' third starting WR

-Free Kyle Williams/Kayshon Boutte

-Germie Bernard fun YAC but expecting base PIT offense to be Metcalf/Pittman/Muth/Washington

-Isaac TeSlaa bad August continues

-Ashton Dulin Colts WR3 as long as they hilariously decide that this room doesn't need any additional help

-Jack Bech was the odd-man out when the Raiders went multi-TE. Seems like a decent-to-good chance that's their base offense this season

-Zachariah Branch currently behind Olamide Zaccheus

-Antonio Williams was the sixth WR to get snaps in a game where McLaurin and Diggs were inactive

Tight end:
-Oronde Gadsden playing while Charlie Kolar and David Njoku were chilling isn't great. That said, Gadsden, Dalton Kincaid, and Terrance Ferguson are the three late-round tight ends who are *one* good Week 1 data point in routes away from skyrocketing up ranks. Love the offenses and pass-catching skillz, that's a good chunk of the battle

-Greg Dulcich/Gunnar Helm splitting plenty of snaps with Will Kacmarek/Daniel Bellinger. Aim those late-round darts at Terrance Ferguson instead

-Could very much see Mason Taylor doing his best Knox/Kmet impression and being annoying for year-one Kenyon Sadiq upside

-Won't matter in fantasy land but shoutout Bengals TE Jack Endries for making some fun plays
 


Fantasy football preseason takeaways from Thursday-Friday action!


My fantasy football rough (educated guess) estimate numbers:
(Take it with a grain of salt, and hopefully all the guys stay relatively healthy)

Mike Evans = 800-1000 yards
Deebo = 700-900 yards
Stribling = 600-800 yards
Kittle = 600-800 yards
McCaffrey = 500-700 yards passing, 1000-1200 yards rushing
Brock Purdy = 4,000-4,400 yards

**

I'm not sure if Evans gets his usual 1,000 yards this season, since he has to share the rock
But he should get pretty close
Deebo seems to still be in shape again this season
So if he got 700+ with Marriota throwing to him half the season, he should get at least that again with Purdy
Sribling looks like the real deal, but he's still a rookie, and plus he'll still be like the #3 or #4 target option
Kittle is coning off an achilles injury, so it may take him a few games to get back in shape & 100% healthy
And I think they dial back McCafrey's touches...just a little bit, this season
 
My fantasy football rough (educated guess) estimate numbers:
(Take it with a grain of salt, and hopefully all the guys stay relatively healthy)

Mike Evans = 800-1000 yards
Deebo = 700-900 yards
Stribling = 600-800 yards
Kittle = 600-800 yards
McCaffrey = 500-700 yards passing, 1000-1200 yards rushing
Brock Purdy = 4,000-4,400 yards

**

I'm not sure if Evans gets his usual 1,000 yards this season, since he has to share the rock
But he should get pretty close
Deebo seems to still be in shape again this season
So if he got 700+ with Marriota throwing to him half the season, he should get at least that again with Purdy
Sribling looks like the real deal, but he's still a rookie, and plus he'll still be like the #3 or #4 target option
Kittle is coning off an achilles injury, so it may take him a few games to get back in shape & 100% healthy
And I think they dial back McCafrey's touches...just a little bit, this season

What’s up with CMC? Dude didn’t practice all last week.
Dude had 400 plus touches last year. Can’t touch him in fantasy lol
 
His contract extention runs through 2029 so we got him for 4 years at steal rate. When it's time to extend him again he'll be 30 years old. He still won't be highest paid.
If they stupid they do that but Broncos don’t have a stupid front office. He’s gonna get extended in a year or 2 and he’s going to be the highest paid corner in the league. It’s just how it works. Smart teams get in front of it. Dumb ones wait to pay more.
 
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