January 30, 2026
Arizona Cardinals running back
James Conner (ankle) had his 2025 season cut short when he suffered a season-ending ankle injury in Week 3. The veteran running back was a productive player as recently as 2024, when he recorded 1,508 scrimmage yards and nine touchdowns on 283 touches across 16 games played. However, he will enter the 2026 season at 31 years old and less than a year removed from significant ankle surgery, bringing his future fantasy viability into question. The Cardinals spent most of the 2025 season without both of their top running backs, as 2024 third-round pick
Trey Benson (knee) did not play after Week 4 due to a knee injury. While Benson's injury status clouds his future outlook as well, Arizona appears headed for a backfield split. The team could also bring in additional talent at the position through free agency or the draft heading into 2026. Given his age and unclear health status, Conner's fantasy value in both redraft and dynasty formats is currently trending in the wrong direction.
--Will BradySource: RotoBaller
January 30, 2026
Given his status as the number six overall selection in the 2025 NFL Draft, expectations were high for Las Vegas Raiders running back
Ashton Jeanty coming into his rookie season. Despite having a miserable supporting cast around him in Las Vegas, the 22-year-old managed to rack up 1,321 scrimmage yards and 10 touchdowns on 321 touches. Still, he left a lot to be desired from an efficiency perspective. Jeanty averaged just 3.7 yards per carry and 4.1 yards per touch in 2025. Heading into 2026, the Raiders will have a new coaching staff and potentially a new quarterback in place, which could help to maximize Jeanty's talent. However, the team may struggle to completely overhaul its offensive line, which profiled as one of the league's worst this past season. Jeanty remains an ultra-high-upside fantasy running back in dynasty formats, but both he and his organization will enter 2026 with plenty to prove.
--Will BradySource: RotoBaller
January 30, 2026
After playing in just four games in 2024 due to injury, San Francisco 49ers running back
Christian McCaffrey bounced back in a major way in 2025. The 29-year-old recorded 2,126 scrimmage yards and 17 touchdowns on a league-leading 413 touches across 17 games played. McCaffrey did not have his most efficient season as a rusher, averaging just 3.9 yards per carry. However, he more than made up for it with his work as a receiver, hauling in 102 receptions for 924 yards and seven scores on 129 targets. In 2026, McCaffrey will be in his age-30 season and will be coming off a massive workload, which are both valid reasons for fantasy managers to be concerned. Still, as long as McCaffrey is on the field, he's proven to be an elite running back option for fantasy managers in PPR-scoring formats. Additionally, with tight end
George Kittle (Achilles) set to miss time in 2026 and wide receiver
Jauan Jennings hitting free agency, San Francisco could lean even more heavily on its star running back.
--Will BradySource: RotoBaller
January 30, 2026
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel said that quarterback
Drake Maye (shoulder, illness) missed practice on Friday, according to Mike Reiss of ESPN. Maye was listed as limited in the first two practices of the week on Wednesday and Thursday due to a right-shoulder injury that he suffered in the AFC Championship game against the Denver Broncos on Sunday. The 23-year-old was held out on Friday because of his illness, otherwise he would have practiced. Vrabel said on Thursday that the team isn't worried about Maye's status for the Super Bowl against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, Feb. 8. The second-year QB out of North Carolina still has another full week to get his shoulder closer to 100%. Maye led the NFL with a 72% completion percentage during the regular season and was the QB3 in fantasy scoring, but he has struggled in his first three career playoff games, completing 55.8% of his passes for 533 yards, four touchdowns, and two interceptions while fumbling six times (three lost).
--Keith HernandezSource: ESPN Boston - Mike Reiss
January 30, 2026
Former Penn State running back Nicholas Singleton (foot) suffered a broken foot during Thursday's Senior Bowl practice, according to Rich Scarcella of The Reading Eagle. Singleton broke the fifth metatarsal in his right foot and will have surgery early next week in Alabama. He's expected to attend the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis from Feb. 23 to March 2, but he won't be able to participate in on-field activities now. Injuries have been an issue for Singleton over the last year, as he also had surgery on his thumb last January to fix a torn ligament. It's unclear if his foot injury will change anything, but Singleton has been projected as one of the top-five RBs available in the 2026 NFL Draft. He is Penn State's all-time leader in all-purpose yards (5,586) and total touchdowns (55), and he ranks fourth with 3,461 career rushing yards.
--Keith HernandezSource: The Reading Eagle - Rich Scarcella
January 30, 2026
The Minnesota Vikings announced on Friday that long-time executive Rob Brzezinski will lead the team's football operations through the 2026 NFL Draft after the organization fired former general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, according to Will Ragatz of Sports Illustrated. The Vikings won't have an immediate search for a new GM. Brzezinski has been in the Vikings organization since 1999, first serving as the vice president of football administration and later as the executive vice president of football operations. Depending on how things go during this year's draft, Brzezinski may be a candidate for the full-time GM role moving forward. The Vikings went 14-3 with
Sam Darnold as their quarterback in 2024, but they failed to make the postseason with young QB
J.J. McCarthy struggling in his first NFL season. Meanwhile, Darnold led the Seahawks to the Super Bowl.
--Keith HernandezSource: Sports Illustrated - Will Ragatz
January 30, 2026
The Minnesota Vikings fired general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah on Friday, sources told Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network. This is a big surprise after the Vikings gave Adofo-Mensah a multi-year contract extension just last offseason. He had been the team's GM since the start of the 2022 season. The Vikings went 14-3 thanks to the help of quarterback
Sam Darnold in 2024, but they decided to let him leave in free agency and ride into the future with
J.J. McCarthy, who was taken in the first round in 2024. That decision alone could have cost Adofo-Mensah his job, with Darnold leading the Seattle Seahawks to another 14-win season and a Super Bowl appearance this year, while McCarthy struggled with consistency and health. The Vikings also announced on Friday that Rob Brzezinski will operate as the interim GM.
--Keith HernandezSource: NFL Network - Tom Pelissero
January 30, 2026
New Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy is ready to hit the ground running in his new gig in the Steel City and is excited about the roster that he's inheriting, according to Brooke Pryor of ESPN. "This is not a start-over opportunity at all. This is a football team that was in the playoffs last year. This is a playoff roster," McCarthy said. The former Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys head coach is focused on filling out the rest of his coaching staff for 2026 before the team makes any decisions on impending free agents. The Steelers made the postseason in 2025 but were blown out by the Houston Texans in the Wild-Card round. Quarterback
Aaron Rodgers will be a free agent in March, and it's unclear if he even wants to play another year, let alone return to Pittsburgh. In addition to question marks at the most important position, the Steelers really could use more receiver depth behind
DK Metcalf.
--Keith HernandezSource: ESPN.com - Brooke Pryor
January 30, 2026
The Cleveland Browns are hiring former Baltimore Ravens run-game coordinator Travis Switzer as their new offensive coordinator on Friday, according to Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer. Switzer coached for the Ravens for the last nine years, serving as the run-game coordinator each of the previous three seasons. He becomes one of a handful of former Ravens assistants to join Monken, who was the Ravens' offensive coordinator, in Cleveland. With Monken and Switzer coordinating Baltimore's offense, running back
Derrick Henry had 1,921 yards in 2024 and 1,595 yards in 2025. Switzer also has experience working with wide receivers and tight ends. Both Monken and Switzer will have their work cut out for them in Cleveland, a team that will most likely be holding a quarterback competition this summer.
--Keith HernandezSource: The Cleveland Plain Dealer - Mary Kay Cabot
January 30, 2026
The Seattle Seahawks were a bit worried several weeks ago when quarterback
Sam Darnold (oblique) tweaked his left oblique in practice while preparing to take on the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round of the playoffs, but general manager John Schneider said that Darnold "hasn't flinched" about his injury this postseason. He played through the injury for the second week in a row in the NFC Championship win over the Los Angeles Rams, throwing for a season-high 346 yards while also tossing three touchdown passes. "I think we were all more panicked in what was going on than he was," Schneider said. "He was kind of looking at us like we had three heads, like, 'What's everybody so worried about?' He's like, 'I'll be good.'" Darnold has been listed as limited in practice so far this week, and he'll have another week to heal up before the Super Bowl versus the Patriots on Feb. 8. Fantasy managers setting playoff lineups shouldn't be concerned about Darnold's oblique.
--Keith HernandezSource: ESPN.com - Brady Henderson
January 30, 2026
New Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken told quarterback
Shedeur Sanders that he tried to draft him last year as a member of the Baltimore Ravens' coaching staff, according to Chris Easterling of the Akron Beacon Journal. Baltimore was interested in taking Sanders out of the University of Colorado in last year's draft, but Sanders said he wasn't interested in sitting behind two-time MVP
Lamar Jackson. The Ravens ended up passing on Sanders, and he fell all the way to the fifth round when the Browns took him at No. 144 overall. The 23-year-old appeared in eight games (seven starts) in his rookie season in 2025, completing 56.6% of his pass attempts for 1,400 yards, seven touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. He added 21 carries for 169 yards and a TD on the ground. Sanders mostly struggled, but he also showed playmaking upside. The Browns are expected to bring in at least one QB this offseason, so Sanders won't be a lock to win the starting gig under center going into Week 1.
--Keith HernandezSource: Akron Beacon Journal - Chris Easterling
January 30, 2026
The Buffalo Bills are hiring Denver Broncos senior offensive assistant Pete Carmichael as their offensive coordinator, sources told Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network. Carmichael had new Bills head coach Joe Brady on his coaching staff for two seasons in New Orleans with the Saints during a 15-year run as offensive coordinator. Carmichael will head to Buffalo to coach quarterback
Josh Allen after spending the last two years working with Broncos head coach Sean Payton. Although Carmichael won't be calling plays himself as the OC -- Brady will do that -- he'll bring a wealth of experience and knowledge as the Bills try to get over the hump and get to the Super Bowl with Allen at the helm. Carmichael becomes the fourth assistant coach to depart the Broncos' staff this offseason, as OC Joe Lombardi, receivers coach Keary Colbert, and cornerbacks coach Addison Lynch were all fired this week.
--Keith HernandezSource: NFL Network - Tom Pelissero
January 30, 2026
The New York Giants will interview Los Angeles Chargers quarterbacks coach Shane Day for their vacant offensive-coordinator position on Saturday, sources told Jordan Schultz of FOX Sports. Day is regarded as one of the best QB coaches in the league and has been instrumental in
Justin Herbert's career in L.A. He was a serious candidate to be promoted to OC for the Chargers before they hired former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel. Day has never been an offensive coordinator in the NFL, but he's held various offensive roles with the San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bears, Washington Commanders, Chargers, and Houston Texans. The 51-year-old has been with the Chargers for the last two years under head coach Jim Harbaugh. Day would be coaching under Jim's brother, John, if he gets the job in New York. Day, who has ties to Kyle Shanahan, would be an intriguing hire for the development of first-round quarterback
Jaxson Dart.
--Keith HernandezSource: FOX Sports - Jordan Schultz
January 29, 2026
Las Vegas Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham has verbally agreed to become the next Pittsburgh Steelers' defensive coordinator, a league source told Josina Anderson. Graham will replace former DC Teryl Austin, whose contract expired after the 2025 season. It's the first hire for new head coach Mike McCarthy in Pittsburgh. The 47-year-old Graham was the Raiders' DC since 2022. Before coaching in Vegas, Graham had his first DC job with the Miami Dolphins in 2019. After that, he was the New York Giants' DC and assistant head coach in 2020. Pittsburgh's defense/special teams was better in the fantasy football realm than the real-life one, as they ranked third in overall fantasy points thanks to three defensive touchdowns, but they were in the middle of the pack in terms of points allowed per game. Graham will have plenty to work with in defensive stars T.J. Watt, Cam Heyward, and Jalen Ramsey.
--Keith HernandezSource: Josina Anderson
January 29, 2026
New Orleans Saints wide receiver
Chris Olave will be in WR1 territory in 2026 fantasy football drafts in what will be quarterback
Tyler Shough's first full year as the starter. In his fourth year in the NFL in 2025, Olave set career-highs across the board in targets (156), receptions (100), receiving yards (1,163), and touchdowns (nine) despite failing to play in a full season for the fourth time. The 25-year-old former first-rounder missed the Week 18 season finale due to a blood clot in his lung. Thankfully, the expectation is that Olave will be fully ready for the start of next season. If not for an injury last year, Olave most likely would have reached the 1,000-yard mark in all four of his campaigns. Injuries might be a deterrent for fantasy managers, but the chemistry that Olave showed with Shough is a great sign. Olave will come off the board in the early rounds of fantasy drafts later this year.
--Keith HernandezSource: Pro Football Reference
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