Fantasy Football Bounceback Candidates for 2026

There are disappointments every season in fantasy football. Sometimes, a player disappoints because it’s the beginning of the end. But other times, it’s just a blip, a pit stop on the way to another good season the next year. This is about those players. Think Josh Jacobs, 2022 to 2024. He ran for 1,653 yards and 12 touchdowns one year, then 805 and 6 the next. In 2024, he rebounded to 1,329 yards and 15 touchdowns. Maybe these players don’t have the heights of Jacobs (before or after), but these are players who had a down year last year, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re done as contributors.

Fantasy Football Bounceback Candidates for 2026

Lamar Jackson, QB, Baltimore Ravens

It’s not just the injuries. Sure, Jackson missed four games last year, and that hurt his counting numbers. But even when he was on the field last year, Jackson wasn’t his old self. Other than his rookie season (when he spent half the year as a backup), the two-time MVP had never averaged under 19.7 fantasy points per game in his career. Last year? 16.5. He went from 245.4 yards per game in 2024 to 196.1 in 2025. His interception rate nearly tripled, from 0.8% to 2.3%. Most troubling for a quarterback like Jackson, his rushing plummeted, from 53.8 yards per game in 2024 to 26.8. His running has been in a free fall overall — he averaged at least 9 rushing attempts a game through 2023, then 8.2 in 2024, then a (relatively) miniscule 5.2 last year.

But look at the splits. Before Jackson missed games to injury (Weeks 1-4), he was averaging 217.3 yards per game. His INT rate was 1.1%. He was running for 41.5 yards per game on 7.9 attempts. Was he peak Lamar Jackson? Eh, maybe not. But he was good, trailing only Josh Allen in fantasy through the first month. After his return, his passing yardage dropped to 186.7. His INT rate jumped to 2.9%. He ran for 20.3 yards per game on 4.0 attempts. He was out there because a desperate Ravens team needed him to be out there, not because he was his old self. Maybe Jackson never runs like he used to, but he will still run some, and he’s proven to be a good enough passer that there’s still every justification taking him as a top-three fantasy QB in 2026.

Bucky Irving, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

After an out-of-nowhere big rookie year, Irving came back to earth in a big way in 2025. He missed seven games, his yards per attempt fell from 5.4 to 3.4, he only scored 1 rushing TD after 8 as a rookie (though, to be fair, he went from 0 receiving scores to 3). And the dirty little secret here? I think there’s a decent chance that his baseline skill level is more 2025 than 2024. I think he’s better than he was in 2025 than he showed, but I think 2024 will always be his best season. That said, Irving has a whole different thing going for him heading into 2026: Attrition. Rachaad White will be gone. Sean Tucker might be as well. The Bucs have enough other needs that they aren’t likely to make a big move in the backfield. Translation: This is Bucky’s job. Even if he never puts up that 5.4 YPA he did in 2024, even if he never leads the league with 3.5 yards after contact per attempt (min. 125 carries, per StatsHub) like he did as a rookie, raw counting stats should bounce back for Irving in 2026. A good season is on the way.

Kenneth Walker III, RB, Seattle Seahawks

If you look at raw fantasy point totals, there’s nothing from Walker to bounce back from. In his four seasons, he’s scored 202.5, 199.4, 181.2 and now 191.9 PPR points, so he’s not changed much from year to year. But of course that’s why it’s silly to look at yearly totals. For one thing, Waler played all 17 games last year, the first time in his career he’s done so — in fact, the first time he hasn’t missed multiple games. For another, he set a career low in attempts per game, at 13.0. And his goal-line work all but disappeared, with Walker getting 8 goal-line carries in 17 games last year after at least 10 in fewer games in every preceding season. Well, Walker is heading into free agency. Either he stays in Seattle, where Zach Charbonnet will miss most or all of 2026, and he’ll be the guy, or another team will sign him, and anyone spending money on a free agent like Walker isn’t doing it with an eye to a committee. He’s going to be a bell cow somewhere.

Justin Jefferson, WR, Minnesota Vikings

Nobody thinks Justin Jefferson got worse last year. It was (basically) all J.J. McCarthy, with a dose of Max Brosmer and Carson Wentz, dragging him down. And while there’s no clear, obvious path to an improvement at quarterback in Minnesota next year, the team will do something. Whether it’s a doubling down on McCarthy and another offseason to try to fix him, or an offseason addition, I trust Jefferson and Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell enough to believe that whoever the quarterback is in Minnesota in 2026 will make for a better option for Jefferson than what he had last year.

Malik Nabers, WR, New York Giants

Healthy rookie year follow by ACL tear sophomore year. And as sensible it is to be wary of a guy in the first year back from such an injury, Nabers’ injury coming in Week 4, plus the possible (likely?) departure of Wan’Dale Robinson in free agency opening up targets for Nabers offsets many of those concerns.

Garrett Wilson, WR, New York Jets

The Jets quarterback situation is a disaster, right? So why do anything with Wilson? Well, that’s always been true of Wilson, and he’s had three 1,000-yard seasons and a fourth where he was averaging a career-high 76.4 yards per game before injuries ruined the rest of his season. The Jets offense writ large might be a disaster, because the Jets offense writ large is always a disaster. But Wilson, assuming he’s back to health in 2026, can be the bright spot.

Terry McLaurin, WR, Washington Commanders

• Melvin Gordon, 2019: Held out for four games, then played and saw his yards per carry drop from 5.1 to 3.8. The next year, it rose back to 4.6.
• Chris Johnson, 2011: Held out until just before the saw, then played and fell from 12 touchdowns to 4. Increased his touchdown production the next year.
• Larry Johnson, 2007: Held out training camp, then played and got injured, missing eight games. His yards per carry fell from 4.3 to 3.5, then rose back to 4.5 the next year.
• Brandon Aiyuk, 2024: Held out during camp, then played and got injured. Production was at a career low before the injury, including 0 touchdowns in 7 games.

There are plenty of examples of this, and while there is certainly some confirmation bias there (i.e., no one is going to note when a good player just keeps being good after a holdout, but a good player becoming bad after an *inciting incident* is an easy narrative), a year after a player holds out feels like a good time to buy the dip. And McLaurin having 582 yards in 2025 after five straight years over 1,000 in the wake of his holdout last year certainly qualifies as a dip.

Isaiah Likely, TE, Baltimore Ravens

Likely has looked primed for a breakout for a few years now, but he’s always been stuck behind Mark Andrews in Baltimore. And in 2025, he was firmly stuck there, putting up his worst season by targets (36), receptions (27), yards (307) and touchdowns (1). When the Ravens doubled down on Andrews with an extension last year, it more or less ended the upside we all saw for Likely in Baltimore. But the important part of that last sentence is the “in Baltimore” part. Because Likely is a free agent now, and he’s all but assured of leaving the Ravens. Like with Walker above, anyone spending on Likely this offseason will likely (pun intended) be doing so with designs on making him the team’s top pass-catching tight end. It’ll be his first extended run as a team’s No. 1, and that means his floor in 2026 looks a lot like his ceiling in Baltimore (42-477-6 on 58 targets in 2024), with room for much more beyond that.