RADIO
Joey Pollizze's fantasy football bold predictions for 2026. His top fantasy football projections and calls, including for Christian McCaffrey, Ashton Jeanty, and more.
Every season, things happen that fantasy managers don't see coming. On this exact bold predictions list last year, we predicted that Christian McCaffrey would finish as the overall RB1, and Baker Mayfield wouldn't finish as a top-10 fantasy QB. We also got some things completely wrong, like predicting that Calvin Ridley would finish as a WR2 and that Justin Fields would finish as a QB1.
We will be running back another bold predictions article for this season. The five bold predictions featured below are considered long shots to happen, but each of these things could happen by the end of the 2026 campaign. These predictions are bold at the end of the day, so keep that in mind when reading through these.
Let's dive in and look at five bold predictions for the 2026 fantasy football season.
Bookmark our updated and revamped fantasy football rankings portal for all league formats!PPR rankings | Half-PPR rankings | Non-PPR (Standard) rankings | Rookie rankings | Superflex rankings | Best Ball rankings | Underdog rankings | Dynasty rankings | IDP rankings | Injuries
Malik Willis Finishes As A QB1
Miami Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis has a tall task in front of him. He will be the starting quarterback on a Dolphins team that lacks a true WR1. Willis will enter the season with Malik Washington, Jalen Tolbert, Tutu Atwell, Caleb Douglas, and Greg Dulcich as the primary pass catchers in the passing game. However, his lack of weapons won't stop him from finishing as a fantasy QB1 by the end of the season.
Willis' rushing upside alone will carry him throughout the year. The 27-year-old has made three total starts over the past two years. In those three starts, he ran 41 yards (Week 2, 2024), 73 yards and one touchdown (Week 3, 2024), and 60 yards and two touchdowns (Week 17, 2025). He also replaced an injured Jordan Love in last year's Week 16 contest against the Bears and ran for 44 yards while playing just over 60% of the team's snaps.
Haven’t seen this in a very long time:
Malik Willis had time in the pocket during red zone drills and he took off to the corner for the touchdown!#MiamiDolphins #PhinsUp pic.twitter.com/bjYf8B4b1j
— Big E (@ian693) August 8, 2026
In those four contests, Willis has averaged 54.5 rushing yards and 20.8 fantasy points per game. While it is only a four-game sample size, the new Dolphins signal-caller has the potential to finish as a QB1 due to his immense rushing upside. With Miami expected to trail in many games this season, that will mean more dropbacks, more passing attempts, and more scrambles.
Don't sleep on Willis because he has no pass catcher to throw to. He's a nice upside quarterback selection in the later rounds. The former third-round pick scored 31.5 fantasy points in his only start with the Packers last season.
Ashton Jeanty and Omarion Hampton Finish As Top-4 RBs
There were a lot of fantasy managers who were disappointed with Ashton Jeanty and Omarion Hampton last season. Jeanty was going late in the first round, but struggled with consistency throughout his rookie season. He only finished as the RB13 in half-PPR formats. As for Hampton, an ankle injury early in the year spoiled his first NFL season. He played in only nine games in 2025.
But things should be different for both running backs this year. Not only do both running backs post better numbers than a season ago, but both finish as top-4 running backs. Both Jeanty's and Hampton's situations have improved from last year, and there is a real chance that both running backs will explode in Year 2.
Jeanty has the opportunity in front of him to really emerge as an elite fantasy running back. He ranked as the RB1 in opportunity share, RB5 in juke rate, RB4 in evaded tackles, RB5 in dominator rating, and RB7 in targets last season. The Raiders then signed Tyler Linderbaum to a massive contract in free agency, and head coach Klint Kubiak comes over from Seattle after helping Kenneth Walker III win Super Bowl MVP.
Hampton's potential workhorse role should help him finish as a top-4 fantasy running back. Although he played only nine games last year, he was highly efficient in those contests. He ranked as the RB12 in fantasy points per game, RB11 in yards per touch created, RB13 in dominator rating, and RB11 in opportunity share.
Those numbers for Hampton came behind a beat-up Chargers offensive line. Now that group is healthy. The Chargers also added offensive guru Mike McDaniel as their offensive coordinator. This is the same playcaller who helped De'Von Achane finish as a top-5 fantasy running back in back-to-back seasons. Hampton has the upside in a good Los Angeles offense to be a fantasy superstar in 2026.
Parker Washington Finishes As a Top-14 WR
There is no wide receiver who has gotten more hyped up in Jaguars camp than Parker Washington this offseason. As a result, his ADP is slowly rising higher and higher. Fantasy managers, though, should be buying into that hype because there is a real chance that Washington truly breaks out this upcoming season.
Washington was Trevor Lawrence's favorite target down the stretch last season. From Week 9 onward (excluding a Week 13 game in which he left early), the Jaguars playmaker averaged 15.6 PPR fantasy points per game, had 7.1 targets per game, saw his target share rise to 23%, his receiving air yards per game rise to 80.4, his yards per route run went up to 2.9, and his yards after the catch per game more than doubled to 23.4.
Every day is Parker day 😮💨@Dream_Finders | #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/GnCwKM30Yd
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) August 9, 2026
There is a real world where Washington emerges as the top guy in this Liam Coen offense. That's why the 24-year-old will finish as a top-14 fantasy wide receiver this year. He has been the most involved pass catcher in Jacksonville's offense in training camp and could carry his late 2025 surge into 2026. The slot playmaker scored at least 19 PPR fantasy points in each of his last three games last year.
Christian McCaffrey Doesn't Finish As A Top-24 RB
On this exact prediction list last year, we wrote that McCaffrey would finish as the overall RB1. He then went on to finish as the overall RB1 while averaging 24.5 PPR fantasy points per game. This year, though, McCaffrey will not finish anywhere near the top of the running back position and instead finish outside the top 24 at the position.
There is a lot to be concerned with when it comes to McCaffrey. For starters, he just turned 30 years old in June. This is usually around the age that running backs start to fall off a cliff. It's always a risk to take a running back at this age so early in drafts because this could be the year where his body just really starts to shut down.
Additionally, his insane 2025 workload makes him more susceptible to injuries this year. McCaffrey totaled 450 touches in the regular season and playoffs last season. Running backs who usually see a high workload like that almost never come back and do it again. In every season that McCaffrey has seen at least 335 touches in the regular season, he has missed a significant amount of time the next year.
With McCaffrey entering his age-30 season and coming off a career-high touch season, those are big red flags.
Jayden Reed Is The Packers' Top Fantasy Pass Catcher
The Green Bay Packers will enter the season with three really good pass catchers in this offense. Christian Watson will be the team's primary deep-threat target, Tucker Kraft will get all the hard yards after the catch, and Jayden Reed will fit in where the Packers see fit. Matthew Golden should also see more opportunities in this offense in his second season.
Of these four pass catchers, most fantasy managers would say that Watson or Kraft will lead this team in the passing game. In reality, though, it's going to be Reed.
Reed didn't play a whole lot last season after undergoing surgery on a broken collarbone and a fractured foot early in the season. He only played in seven contests and wasn't really a reliable fantasy option when he returned toward the end of the year. But the departures of both Dontayvion Wicks and Romeo Doubs will help the Packers playmaker be the top fantasy option in this offense.
Jayden Reed vs. Javon Bullard in 1-on-1s today: pic.twitter.com/ljWhYnoqoH
— Kelly Hallinan (@kellyhals) August 4, 2026
Reed was always really efficient with his opportunities. His advanced metrics always suggested that a big-time season could be in store for him, but the Packers always had too many weapons in their offense. Well, Reed could now take off in 2026 with two wide receivers in Wicks and Doubs on different teams.
Back in 2023, Reed ranked as the WR8 in fantasy points per route run and as the RB5 in fantasy points per target. In 2024, he ranked as the WR12 in fantasy points per route run and as the WR1 in fantasy points per target. The departures of Wicks and Doubs leave 131 vacant targets in this offense. If only 25% of those vacated targets go to Reed, that could be enough to make him a consistent fantasy star.
Reed is one of the best value picks in fantasy drafts this year. His potential increased target share, plus advanced metrics from 2023 and 2024, prove a breakout campaign could be on the horizon.
Who Should I Draft Fantasy Football Tool
Read more about the free Who Should I Draft tool here.
Compare up to four players and we'll tell you who to draft...
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player's name. In the second box, search for the second player's name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Draft? button to see who the recommended draft picks are based on fantasy football rankings, projections, and more.
Improvements For Who Should I Draft? You may have noticed our Who Should I Draft? tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your 2026 fantasy football drafts. You'll see NFL player tiles with bye weeks, stats, and projections, ADPs, strength of schedule, enhanced search results with data to compare, and a slick interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Our RotoBaller staff puts together their preseason fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research and updates them constantly throughout the preseason. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do is select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circles), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Player Comparison Searches - Who To Draft
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Draft tool for 2026 drafts for Ashton Jeanty, Omarion Hampton, Parker Washington, Christian McCaffrey, Jayden Reed:
More Fantasy Football Analysis
Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App
Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy football app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, rankings, starts/sits & more. All free!
