2026 Fantasy Football - Kickers & Defenses

 

As has been my tradition the last few years this is my one and only defense and kicker rankings as both positions have an inherently high amount of variance and randomness.

2026 Fantasy Football - 1st Ranks - Tight Ends

Tight end is healing after a number of seasons where it seemed like Kelce and a couple others were the only viable fantasy TEs and the rest were a rotating crap shoot we now have a very promising group of young tight ends, and a league where 2 and 3 tight end sets are becoming the new norm.

 

Tier 1 (1-3) – Elite Tier
Rank	Player	Tm	Tar	Rec Yds	Rec TDs	FP	Pos ADP	Diff	1st Rank	1st Pos ADP	1st Vs 2nd
TE1	Brock Bowers	LVR	139	1092	8	260	1	0	1	1	0
TE2	Trey McBride	ARI	143	1007	8	256	2	0	2	2	0
TE3	Colston Loveland	CHI	98	748	7	187	3	0	3	3	0

 

Nothing to see here, only thing I think we can have a conversation about is whether Loveland is TE2 or in Tier 2.

2026 Fantasy Football - 1st Ranks - Wide Receivers

 

Wide Receiver is absolutely stacked with 15 players in my top 2 tiers and 52 rounding out the top 4. The league shifting a bit more towards bigger lineups and slightly more rushing means the latter receivers are a bit more of crapshoot but all in the level of talent in the league at wide receiver is patently ridiculous.

2026 Fantasy Football - 1st Ranks - Running Backs

 Running back is starting to build up some really nice depth at the top and plenty to talk and argue about in the middle. There feels like a slightly bigger group of bell cows but getting the right side of backfield splits will be continue to be the most impactful skill in fantasy.

Tier 1 (1-4) – Elite Tier
Pos	Player	Tm	Rush	Rush Yds	Rush TDs	Tar	Rec Yds	Rec TDs	FP	Pos ADP	Diff	1st Rank	1st Pos ADP	1st Vs 2nd
RB1	Jahmyr Gibbs	DET	270	1391	15	99	689	5	406	1	0	2	1	-1
RB2	Bijan Robinson	ATL	297	1443	12	97	686	5	388	2	0	1	2	1
RB3	Christian McCaffrey	SF	287	1313	10	110	856	4	389	3	0	3	3	0
RB4	Jonathan Taylor	IND	306	1451	13	54	349	2	310	4	0	4	4	0

The top four stays the same, we’ll have to watch the McCaffrey injury news but that’s about it. The biggest question I would guess some may have is should this just be a 2 or 3-man tier. Maybe… I just find Taylor too consistent, maybe he should be tier 2 by himself but that seemed like being too cute.

2026 Fantasy Football - 1st Ranks - Quarterbacks

 Three weeks ‘til the season and thoughts on the season are crystalizing, I will try to keep up with news as I write these up but will assuredly miss some things as they are posted so please keep that in mind. As always there are two things to consider, the positional rank is a linear rank where you go in order and the tier rankings which lumps players into interchangeable groupings to help better quantify where there are drop-offs and gaps. QB is as deep as it’s been in quite a while with established vets, journeymen solidifying starting spots, and young players rounding into form. Lastly, it’s important to remember the projections I use are single points of data where-as the rankings take into account upside and risks that a single stat line cannot.

 

For this 1^st set of rankings I want to take into account a lot of the changes we’ve seen in the last couple of weeks. I made a set of rankings before the I made the projections and I want to compare the two sets of rankings and the changes in ADP over the last couple of weeks.

 

Tier 1 (1-2) – Elite Tier
Rank	Player	Tm	Att	Pass Yds	Pass TDs	INT	Rush	Rush Yds	Rush TDs	FP	Pos ADP	Diff	1st Rank	1st Pos ADP	1st Vs 2nd
QB1	Josh Allen	BUF	502	4183	28	12	100	542	12	407	1	0	1	1	0
QB2	Lamar Jackson	BAL	472	3955	25	7	90	543	4	345	2	0	2	2	0

 

Not much to say up top, but Allen and Jackson still are the top. Jackson, as the projection suggests, has some downside built in mostly from injuries but a bit from the volume that Henry takes in the redzone.

 

Tier 2 (3-7) – Very Good Tier
Rank	Player	Tm	Att	Pass Yds	Pass TDs	INT	Rush	Rush Yds	Rush TDs	FP	Pos ADP	Diff	1st Rank	1st Pos ADP	1st Vs 2nd
QB3	Jayden Daniels	WAS	492	3807	29	10	119	675	5	374	5	-2	3	5	0
QB4	Drake Maye	NE	545	4286	31	12	91	505	4	380	4	0	5	4	-1
QB5	Jalen Hurts	PHI	476	3865	28	12	106	484	8	372	6	-1	6	6	-1
QB6	Joe Burrow	CIN	501	3947	30	10	31	110	2	312	3	3	4	3	2
QB7	Dak Prescott	DAL	565	4626	36	14	55	246	2	379	8	-1	7	8	0

 

Starting to see some differences from ADP, nothing huge I just think that Daniels has Jackson upside, and Burrow can’t stay healthy but that offense has the weapons to be an absolute juggernaut.

 

Tier 3 (8-17) – Very Good with Questions Tier
Rank	Player	Tm	Att	Pass Yds	Pass TDs	INT	Rush	Rush Yds	Rush TDs	FP	Pos ADP	Diff	1st Rank	1st Pos ADP	1st Vs 2nd
QB8	Caleb Williams	CHI	583	4487	29	12	74	383	3	358	7	1	8	7	0
QB9	Bo Nix	DEN	626	4710	33	14	73	328	4	382	15	-6	14	15	-5
QB10	Patrick Mahomes	KC	588	4820	30	9	72	387	3	376	14	-4	9	13	1
QB11	Justin Herbert	LAC	509	4109	27	10	79	360	3	336	9	2	10	9	1
QB12	Jared Goff	DET	559	4775	36	15	20	40	1	357	16	-4	13	16	-1
QB13	Trevor Lawrence	JAX	564	4305	34	20	79	364	6	376	10	3	15	11	-2
QB14	Jordan Love	GB	487	4189	28	10	50	206	2	317	19	-5	16	19	-2
QB15	Brock Purdy	SF	514	4505	29	13	62	243	4	346	12	3	11	14	4
QB16	Matthew Stafford	LAR	562	4517	34	14	26	75	1	339	13	3	12	12	4
QB17	Baker Mayfield	TB	516	4048	32	17	58	251	2	331	18	-1	18	20	-1

 

First half a tier difference in my rankings is Nix, Denver had a charmed season but year over year variance and year 3 in a Payton offense with the addition of Waddle I believe sees Nix and this passing game take another step. Love has weapons and at least early the defense may need some scoring help from the offense without Parsons.

 

Tier 4 (18-25) – Intriguing Tier
Rank	Player	Tm	Att	Pass Yds	Pass TDs	INT	Rush	Rush Yds	Rush TDs	FP	Pos ADP	Diff	1st Rank	1st Pos ADP	1st Vs 2nd
QB18	Jaxson Dart	NYG	500	3780	24	8	87	493	8	354	11	7	20	10	-2
QB19	Kyler Murray	MIN	508	3958	28	14	81	486	4	345	17	2	19	17	0
QB20	Sam Darnold	SEA	523	4141	33	22	30	103	4	325	22	-2	17	22	3
QB21	Tyler Shough	NO	525	4135	28	17	75	310	4	326	20	1	23	18	-2
QB22	CJ Stroud	HOU	502	4090	25	10	56	245	2	301	23	-1	25	23	-3
QB23	Malik Willis	MIA	456	3792	21	10	100	547	6	321	21	2	21	21	2
QB24	Cam Ward	TEN	478	3290	26	12	50	204	3	275	25	-1	22	24	2
QB25	Aaron Rodgers	PIT	548	4525	30	7	25	119	1	335	28	-3	24	28	1

 

This tier may make or break your leagues. I only have one big difference from ADP and it’s my biggest in the draftable tiers. I just don’t trust Dart to stay healthy and play smart. He performed better than I thought down the stretch last year and I understand the upside, but I just want to see how he evolves year two. The long and short of it is he’s a guy I’m willing to be a year late on. Willis has a chance to be much better than this I just don’t trust the small sample size flash from Green Bay last season and don’t think he has the pieces around him to be too much higher than this.

 

Tier 5 (26-32) – The Last of the Starters
Rank	Player	Tm	Att	Pass Yds	Pass TDs	INT	Rush	Rush Yds	Rush TDs	FP	Pos ADP	Diff	1st Rank	1st Pos ADP	1st Vs 2nd
QB26	Daniel Jones	IND	407	3077	20	13	52	274	2	241	24	2	26	25	0
QB27	Bryce Young	CAR	425	3052	25	15	62	327	4	276	26	1	27	26	0
QB28	Geno Smith	NYJ	457	3523	25	18	49	220	2	262	30	-2	29	30	-1
QB29	Fernando Mendoza	LVR	381	2610	22	10	39	126	3	227	27	2	28	27	1
QB30	Jacoby Brissett	ARI	452	3333	24	10	49	198	3	272	29	1	30	29	0
QB31	Tua Tagovailoa	ATL	383	2989	21	11	20	55	1	217	31	0	31	31	0
QB32	Shedeur Sanders	CLE	381	2724	20	22	39	314	2	207	32	0	36	33	-4

 

Jones and Smith have chances to get into that intriguing tier once again, and Mendoza might be useful down the stretch as he takes over the offense.

 

Tier 6 (33-53) – Backups
Rank	Player	Tm	Att	Pass Yds	Pass TDs	INT	Rush	Rush Yds	Rush TDs	FP	Pos ADP	Diff	1st Rank	1st Pos ADP	1st Vs 2nd
QB33	Deshaun Watson	CLE	131	939	7	4	17	91	1	78	34	-1	32	32	1
QB34	Kirk Cousins	LVR	139	954	8	3	10	28	1	79	33	1	33	35	1
QB35	Marcus Mariota	WAS	48	370	3	2	12	69	1	36	81	-46	38	41	-3
QB36	Michael Penix Jr	ATL	122	957	7	3	11	32	1	74	35	1	35	34	1
QB37	Carson Beck	ARI	85	625	5	2	21	66	1	54	36	1	34	36	3
QB38	Riley Leonard	IND	114	862	6	9	31	140	2	72	37	1	58	41	-20
QB39	Tyler Huntley	BAL	57	475	3	2	24	116	1	45	81	-42	42	41	-3
QB40	Jameis Winston	NYG	76	578	4	3	9	36	0	42	81	-41	48	41	-8
QB41	JJ McCarthy	MIN	19	146	1	1	5	24	1	15	38	3	41	37	0
QB42	Cade Klubnik	NYJ	38	294	2	1	9	29	0	26	81	-39	65	41	-23
QB43	Tanner McKee	PHI	39	313	2	0	7	4	0	24	81	-38	53	41	-10
QB44	Mac Jones	SF	36	313	2	1	5	13	0	21	81	-37	43	41	1
QB45	Joe Flacco	CIN	74	580	4	3	6	14	0	43	81	-36	46	41	-1
QB46	Mason Rudolph	PIT	30	245	2	1	7	20	0	18	81	-35	64	41	-18
QB47	Kenny Pickett	CAR	32	231	2	2	6	18	0	19	81	-34	76	41	-29
QB48	Ty Simpson	LAR	46	366	3	1	7	20	0	31	81	-33	51	41	-3
QB49	Trey Lance	LAC	41	333	2	2	16	70	0	28	81	-32	63	41	-14
QB50	Kyle Allen	BUF	38	317	2	2	6	14	0	23	81	-31	47	41	3
QB51	Davis Mills	HOU	53	432	3	2	6	20	0	30	81	-30	54	41	-3
QB52	Gardner Minshew II	ARI	28	208	2	1	7	28	0	18	81	-29	61	41	-9
QB53	Spencer Rattler	NO	28	224	1	1	6	38	0	18	81	-28	60	41	-7

 

Quarterback feels like it’s in a bit of a settled position, there will obviously surprises good and bad but all-in-all most rankings won’t have too many shocking ranks or tier breaks.