If every fantasy football season went to script, what fun would any of this be?
This is an unpredictable sport that is played with a goofy-shaped ball that never lets us down. As we prepare for the 2026 season, I’ve got some out-of-the-box thoughts, and while they might spit in the face of consensus now, there is a statistical argument for them coming to light when all is said and done.
If you’re with me on these picks, your cheat sheets are going to change a bit, and that means you need to fire up the Fantasy Football Mock Draft Simulator in order to get a feel for how to best fit the pieces together.
Kyle Soppe’s Bold Fantasy Football Predictions
James Cook Repeats as Rushing Champ, Flirts With Tier 1 RB Status
Cook isn’t flying under fantasy radars by any means; he’s coming off of boards at the 1-2 turn, but it does feel like the masses are a bit hesitant to acknowledge not only what this man has done, but what he has the potential to do.
Ray Davis is a fine RB2, but he doesn’t scare me off of this prediction (he didn’t stand in the way last year) after the Bills elected not to put the ball in his stomach a single time during the postseason. This is a bellcow situation at a high level, and given the superpowers of Josh Allen, do we have any reason to believe that running lanes won’t present themselves?
For his career, Cook is averaging 5.1 yards per carry and that’s without Buffalo posting a single top-10 offensive line grading per our Offensive Line Impact metric. I think we are trending in the right direction in terms of the big uglies up front (BUF RB’s picked up a league best 2.23 yards per carry before first contact last season, up 37.7% from 2024) and that trajectory has me thinking that the 1,621 yards he ran for a season ago can be repeated … or improved upon?
Buffalo Rush Rate/Rank When Leading
- 2022: 43.3% (29th)
- 2023: 51.2% (14th)
- 2024: 53.1% (8th)
- 2025: 58.3% (4th)
We are looking at the complete package, but his star doesn’t shine as bright as some of the others at the position because his highlights aren’t as fun, and his QB is the MVP favorite. I’ve got Cook joining Derrick Henry (2019-20) and LaDainian Tomlinson (2006-07) as the only RBs to repeat as rushing champions in the 2000’s.
Caleb Williams Throws For 4,000 Yards Before Week 16
No Bear has ever thrown for 4,000 yards in a single regular season. Williams nearly got there in 2025, and I don’t think he only becomes the first in franchise history to reach this threshold; I think he does it before Chicago plays any NFC North opponent a second time.
Oh, I’m sorry, was this article labeled “Tepid Takes for the Weak of Heart”?
I didn’t think so.
This is a bet on the talent of Williams coming to light in full in Year 2 under Ben Johnson. Gone is DJ Moore, and while he’s a good player, I’m taking that as a signal that the young core of pass catchers has done enough to show this offensive mastermind that they are ready to take over the world, and I’m happy to be driving the ship when it comes to massive expectations for this offense.
- Jared Goff Deep Passer Rating in Ben Johnson’s first season controlling the offense (2022): 88.8
- The next two seasons: 109.9
During this stretch (Weeks 1-15), Chicago only plays three opponents who ranked in the top 12 in preventing yards after the catch on those non-deep targets. That’s a stat with a bunch of qualifiers, but the point is simple: Johnson’s impact has been felt in the past via deep passes, and the 2026 Bears don’t play many defenses that excel at stopping the short pass.
- The Monsters of the Big Play?
I’m working on the name, but you get the idea: this offense has the potential to be special with Rome Odunze, Luther Burden, and Colston Loveland all having their best football in front of them. Da Bears play four road games in the second half of the season, and three come without real concerns on the weather front (Detroit, Miami, and Minnesota), giving them every reason to keep betting on their young QB as he shows the signs of growth that I think he can.
Last season, Johnson had this team ranked seventh in pass attempts per game, but growing pains resulted in them ranking 15th in completions per contest. We are talking about an additional 2+ completions per game if the efficiency gets to league average, and with the talent on this roster, that brings my prediction into the realm of possibilities.
Looking for position-specific fantasy rankings? You can jump to PFN’s updated PPR | QB | RB | WR | TE rankings here.
Zay Flowers Gives Us The Best Raven WR Season of the 2000’s, And It’s Not Close
Part of this prediction is a low threshold (the mark to top is Derrick Mason’s 2007 season at 15.11 PPR points per game), but it has more to do with Flowers’ potential as he prepares for his fourth professional season.
Declan Doyle is the new OC in town, and he comes over from Chicago, where he was attached to the hip of Ben Johnson, an OC that I just waxed poetic about and is considered one of the best offensive minds in the sport.
That feels like a good thing. With him operating in this role, the Bears ranked third in YPA when throwing short of the sticks in 2025, and that just so happens to be a place where the former first-round pick thrives.
Career, Targets Short of the Sticks
- 171 targets
- 139 catches
- 81.3% catch rate
Yep, that’ll play. The players ranking in the Flowers range in terms of catch rate on those passes over that stretch are the receivers you’re drafting with all sorts of confidence this year:
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba (83%)
- Ja’Marr Chase (81%)
- Nico Collins (79.7%)
- Puka Nacua (79.5%)
Luther Burden is a different type of player, but he was identified as the most dangerous pass catcher on that offense and they schemed up magic for him on those shorter targets (31 catches on 35 targets).
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The upside isn’t elite like those alphas, and I’m not arguing otherwise. But I will say that all of his pass-catching metrics level up a touch when Isaiah Likely is off the field (he’s a Giant now, so 100% of Flowers’ routes will come without that risk) and that he’s a soon-to-be 26-year-old who has seen his yards per route increase with each passing season.
If you want to soft bet against Derrick Henry continuing to be DERRICK HENRY in his age-32 season (2,662 career carries) or want to bet on Lamar Jackson without spending up at the QB position, Flowers is the man for you.
Some view him as boring, and that’s resulted in him falling in some early drafts I’ve done. That’s a mistake you pounce on and ride to a championship.
Neither Trey McBride nor Brock Bowers Lead TEs in Fantasy Points
This is more a math thing than anything else: I’ll almost always take “the field” in a bet like this, even with two players considered to be a cut above the rest.
This isn’t a McBride or Bowers conversation as much as it is a depth of the position one.
Last season, 12 different names appeared on the Top-15 TE fantasy games list, a reminder of just how talented the position is these days. That’s not to say that everyone on that list has the potential to sustain their production for a month, let alone four, but we’ve seen unprecedented production from young tight ends and as their offenses mature around them, I think there’s more equity in “the field” (names like Colston Loveland, Tyler Warren, Kyle Pitts, George Kittle, Tucker Kraft, and Sam LaPorta) than most assume.
Bowers missed five games a season ago, and that’s a good reminder that no one is immune to injuries. Few can also outrun regression over the long run, and, in different regards, both Tier 1 tight ends do face some of that.
- Arizona led the NFL with 427 completed passes in 2025
- Bowers led the Raiders in receptions (not per game, total)
Fewer completions in the desert would naturally mean less food on the plate of McBride, and any level of growth from the pass catchers in Sin City (Tre Tucker has gradually upped his involvement, Jalen Nailor was brought in from Minnesota, Jack Bech was a second round pick less than 18 months ago, and Michael Meyer is still there) could naturally regress some of Bowers’ monster role.
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With all of that talent, it feels irresponsible to suggest that we know for certain who the top producer at the position is going to be. The top-2 tight ends come off the board in Round 2, and there are only two others taken before the late 60’s overall. With midseason QB changes likely to happen in both Vegas and Arizona, I think the gap between the “elite” TEs and the rest of the field is being overblown as we approach the 2026 season.
I’m not forced to pick a TE1 to supplant the Dynamic Duo at the top for the purposes of this prediction, but I will say that I think the NFC North has a real chance at giving us the TE who finishes 2026 averaging the most PPR PPG.
