Fantasy Football 2026: 25 random thoughts

July 4th has come and gone, and it’s time to officially kick-start your fantasy football draft prep for 2026, if you haven’t done so already. I’m here to help you with that. The beginning of draft season for season-long redraft leagues is only about six weeks away.

Today I’m sharing 25 random thoughts for the upcoming season of fantasy football. Some are profound, some are hunches, and some are more like intrusive thoughts that I can’t shake as the season approaches.

You can find all my fantasy columns by following this link. Recent pieces include facts and stats for each of the main fantasy position, the best rookie landing spots, and the biggest fantasy question for each NFL team. And I’m just getting started. I’ll have more fantasy football draft prep pieces to share in the coming weeks, including rankings and tiers, sleepers, and players to target and avoid at average draft position (ADP), so keep it right here at Big Blue View.

Fantasy rankings referenced in the column are for Half-point PPR, on a points per game basis, and exclude Week 18.

Random Fantasy Football thoughts for the 2026 season, as of July 5, 2026:

1. It’s been 19 long years since a running back repeated as the fantasy RB1 (LaDanian Tomlinson, 2006-2007). Christian McCaffrey already has three RB1 finishes to his name in his brilliant nine-year career, including last season. But like Saquon Barkley a year ago, CMC is coming off a season where he led the NFL in total touches (he logged 450, including playoffs). Saquon fell off considerably last season. Will CMC follow? His heavy 2025 usage, plus his age (30) and injury history, suggest regression, and that someone will unseat him. McCaffrey is currently ranked as the RB3 and overall player No. 7 in ADP, so he’s a huge risk-reward play in Round 1.

2. More than half of the teams in the NFL have a new offensive coordinator and/or play caller this season. I have thoughts on each situation, which are too lengthy to share here. I’ll just say this: I think you’ll see overall offensive improvement with a number of teams, including the Chargers, Raiders, Eagles, Titans, and Ravens, among others.

3. Don’t sleep on Jayden Daniels. That’s the entire thought.

4. Kyle Pitts has played five seasons, but is still only 25. Travis Kelce didn’t have a 1,000-yard season until he was 27. The Falcons have a very unproven receiver corps after Drake London. I’ve been sucked in by this thirst trap before, but I think Pitts is finally coming into his own and will deliver a Top-5 tight end season in 2026. Wait, did I really just say that?

5. Remember Mark Andrews? The guy who used to be a perennial Top-5 tight end? You’ll definitely remember him by the end of this coming season, after he rings up double-digit TDs for the third time in his career.

6. I have no idea how to rank Jacksonville’s receivers. They’re this year’s...