The Atlanta Falcons are entering the 2026 season with two quarterbacks and no clear answer at the most important position on the field.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski confirmed this week that Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr. are splitting first-team reps at organized team activities. The arrangement is deliberate. “It’s all very intentional,” Stefanski said, according to Josh Kendall of The Athletic.

Penix, who suffered a partially torn ACL in his left knee during a Week 11 loss to the Carolina Panthers in November, is throwing on the field but has not yet participated in team drills. The injury required his third ACL reconstruction surgery; the first two came on his right knee during his college career at Indiana in 2018 and 2020. The most recent surgery involved his left knee. Despite that history, Penix told reporters he has been throwing since March and expects to be ready for Week 1. Multiple reports from OTAs indicate he is on track to start the season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Tagovailoa arrived in Atlanta in March after the Miami Dolphins released him following a 2025 season in which he threw a career-high 15 interceptions in 14 games before being benched for the final three games. The Dolphins are absorbing $54 million in guaranteed money owed to him in 2026,  the largest dead-cap hit in NFL history. Atlanta signed Tagovailoa to a one-year veteran-minimum deal, giving them a starter-capable option while Penix completes his recovery.

Tua, the fifth overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, brings more NFL starting experience than Penix,  76 starts across six seasons in Miami. He has consistently posted among the highest completion percentages in the league during his career, grading out as one of the more accurate passers in the game. He has, however, struggled to push the ball downfield consistently.

The health comparison between the two quarterbacks is genuinely complicated. Penix has three ACL reconstructions on his resume. Tagovailoa has four documented concussions, which were central to his departure from Miami and which drew scrutiny throughout his time with the Dolphins.

Whether Tua is truly competing for the Week 1 start or serving as a high-quality bridge option will become clearer as training camp approaches. For now, the split reps reflect a Falcons organization that is keeping its options open.

Rashod Bateman is heading into his sixth NFL season with very little fantasy relevance and a shrinking footprint on the Baltimore Ravens’ offense.

The former 27th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft has never delivered the consistency his draft pedigree implied. Injuries derailed his first two seasons; he played just 18 games combined in 2021 and 2022, and a full year of health in 2023 produced only 32 catches for 367 yards and one touchdown. His 2024 campaign was the exception: 45 receptions for 756 yards and nine touchdowns in 17 games, a breakout that earned him a three-year, $36.75 million extension through the 2029 season.

Then 2025 happened.  Despite playing 13 games, Bateman managed only 19 catches for 224 yards and two touchdowns on 39 targets. Injuries to the ankle and shoulder, and illness, hampered him throughout. By season’s end, he had become something of an afterthought in a passing game that increasingly ran through Zay Flowers, Mark Andrews, and Devontez Walker.

The 2026 offseason has done nothing to improve his standing. Baltimore overhauled its coaching staff, replacing 18-year head coach John Harbaugh with Jesse Minter and tabbing 29-year-old Declan Doyle, who came from the Chicago Bears, as offensive coordinator. Neither has a prior professional relationship with Bateman.

In the 2026 draft, the Ravens added wide receiver Ja’Kobi Lane in the third round (80th overall) out of USC. The 6-foot-4, 208-pound Lane gives Baltimore a physically imposing jump-ball threat it has lacked for years. The Ravens also drafted tight end Matt Hibner in the fourth round out of SMU, a pass-catching option who overlapped with Minter at Michigan and could absorb targets that might otherwise flow toward Bateman. Together, the new additions further crowd a receiver room that already includes Flowers, Walker, and returning tight ends.

Bateman has theoretical job security given his contract, walking away from a deal that runs through 2029 with $20 million guaranteed is not something Baltimore can do casually in the near term. But a second consecutive down season would put him firmly on the roster bubble by 2027. At this stage, his fantasy utility is minimal in most formats.

Jaguars Not Expected to Move Brian Thomas Jr. Despite Disappointing Sophomore Season

The Jacksonville Jaguars are not shopping wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr., according to Jaguars.com reporter Demetrius Harvey, despite a 2025 season that left many fantasy managers and analysts questioning whether his elite rookie performance was sustainable.

Thomas, 23, was the 23rd overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft out of LSU and immediately lived up to his draft pedigree. In his rookie campaign, he hauled in 87 passes for 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns across 17 games, setting franchise rookie records in all three categories and earning a Pro Bowl selection. Those numbers made him one of the most coveted young receivers in dynasty fantasy leagues heading into Year 2.

The 2025 season told a different story. Thomas started all 14 games he appeared in, but finished with only 48 receptions for 707 yards and two touchdowns on 91 targets, a significant step backward in volume and production from his debut campaign. He battled wrist, shoulder, and ankle injuries throughout the year, and his drop rate became a genuine concern, with eight drops recorded on the season.

His diminished output coincided with two major developments on the depth chart. Parker Washington, a 2023 sixth-round pick from Penn State who entered the season as a complementary option, emerged as one of Jacksonville’s most reliable pass-catchers. Washington finished the regular season with 58 receptions for 847 yards and five touchdowns, earning the 14th-highest PFF receiving grade among all wide receivers in the NFL. Then, just before the trade deadline on November 4, the Jaguars acquired Jakobi Meyers from the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for fourth- and sixth-round picks. Meyers immediately steadied a banged-up Jacksonville receiving corps and went on to earn a three-year, $60 million contract extension with the team.

With Washington and Meyers now locked in as key contributors, and Travis Hunter returning from a knee injury that ended his 2025 season early, the Jaguars’ target landscape heading into 2026 is more crowded than it has ever been during Thomas’ short career.

Still, the organization’s message has been consistent: Thomas is not available. His rookie-year talent is considered real, the injuries that disrupted 2025 are documented, and his third season represents the clearest opportunity yet to confirm whether that breakout was a foundation or a fluke. For fantasy managers willing to absorb the risk, the buy-low window may not stay open long.

The A.J. Brown Connection

The question of whether Brian Thomas Jr. has a future in Jacksonville is not just a depth-chart conversation. It has quietly become tangled up in one of the bigger trade storylines in the NFL right now.

NFL insider Jason La Canfora reported that at least one personnel executive around the league identified the Jacksonville Jaguars as a potential fit for Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown. The logic, per the reporting, centers specifically on Jacksonville’s receiver situation. Brian Thomas Jr. regressed significantly in his second NFL season, while 2025 top draft pick Travis Hunter is now expected to spend the bulk of his professional career at cornerback rather than receiver, a combination that leaves a meaningful void on Jacksonville’s offense that a proven veteran like Brown could address. 

James Palmer of Bleacher Report stated that he doesn’t rule out a trade, noting that Eagles general manager Howie Roseman has quietly been working the phones beyond the Patriots. Critically, prior to the 2026 NFL Draft, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reported that the Jaguars were considering using Thomas Jr. as an asset to facilitate a trade, potentially with Brian Thomas Jr. himself included in the package going to Philadelphia.

Still, the rumor hasn’t died.

One anonymous general manager told La Canfora, “I still think it’s done before camp.” Beat writers who cover the team have pushed back, noting that Jacksonville already has four credible options in Parker Washington, Travis Hunter, Thomas, and Jakobi Meyers, and that the team is engaged in contract talks with Washington to keep him beyond 2026.

Xavier Legette’s path to a meaningful role with the Carolina Panthers is narrowing, not widening, heading into the 2026 NFL season.

The Panthers selected Legette 32nd overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, making him the final pick of the first round that year after Carolina traded up to land him. Two seasons in, the production has not matched the draft capital. Legette has yet to crack the top 60 fantasy wide receivers in either of his first two NFL years, finishing his 2025 campaign with 35 catches for 363 yards and three touchdowns across 15 games, numbers that left him as Carolina’s third receiver despite the opportunity in front of him.

That opportunity may shrink further in 2026. Tetairoa McMillan, the 2025 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, enters the season entrenched as the team’s clear No. 1 receiver. Behind him, Jalen Coker posted 33 receptions for 394 yards in only 11 appearances last season, emerging as a dependable second option for quarterback Bryce Young despite significantly less playing time than Legette. That Coker outproduced him in far fewer games was not lost on Carolina’s coaching staff.

Now the Panthers have added another challenger. Carolina selected Tennessee receiver Chris Brazzell II with the 83rd pick in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft. A First-team All-SEC selection in 2025, Brazzell led the SEC in receiving with 1,017 yards and nine touchdowns and ran a 4.37-second 40-yard dash at the Combine. At 6-foot-4, he gives the Panthers a physically imposing deep threat, a profile similar to what Legette was supposed to deliver when Carolina moved into the first round to get him two years ago.

Legette does enter the summer with experience on his side. He understands the system, has developed a working relationship with Young, and has shown flashes of big-play ability when targeted downfield. Those advantages give him a head start on Brazzell as training camp opens.

But the margin for error is thin. Another season where Legette drifts toward the back end of the depth chart would further erode his standing not only in Carolina but in dynasty fantasy leagues, where he has already started to slip. 

Check out Gridiron Experts Rookie Rankings Here

Rodgers Announces 2026 Season Will Be His Last

Aaron Rodgers is playing his final season. The Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback told reporters Wednesday that he plans to retire at the end of 2026, ending what will be a 22-year NFL career.

“Yes. This is it,” Rodgers said when asked directly whether this would be his final season. He spoke during the team’s first organized team activity of the spring, one day after reporting to the Steelers’ facility to begin the offseason program.

The announcement removes any ambiguity about Rodgers’ future. After months of uncertainty following Pittsburgh’s 30-6 wild-card loss to the Houston Texans in January, Rodgers agreed to a one-year contract worth up to $25 million to return to Pittsburgh for a second season. He made the decision, he said, shortly after the 2026 NFL Draft,  in part because the Steelers hired Mike McCarthy as head coach, reuniting Rodgers with the man who coached him for 13 of his 18 seasons in Green Bay.

At 42, Rodgers no longer throws the ball the way he once did. He averaged just 6.7 yards per attempt in 2025, ranking 27th among qualified passers, and posted a 68.7 PFF grade, 29th at the position. But he finished the regular season with 3,322 yards and 24 touchdowns against seven interceptions in 16 starts, led Pittsburgh to the AFC North title, and returned the franchise to the playoffs for the third straight year.

His résumé speaks for itself. Rodgers is a four-time NFL MVP, four-time first-team All-Pro, ten-time Pro Bowler, and the Super Bowl XLV MVP. He enters 2026 fifth on the NFL’s all-time passing yards list and sits at 527 career touchdown passes,  just 13 away from passing Peyton Manning for third place on the all-time list.

Whether Rodgers chases that milestone, or anything else, may matter less to him than how the season ends. He has one year, one team, and one chance.

“There’s definitely a full circle moment,” Rodgers said of reuniting with McCarthy for what will be his last ride in the NFL.

Jaylen Warren’s role in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense could be heading in a very positive direction following confirmation that Aaron Rodgers is coming back for another season in Pittsburgh.

Rodgers and the Steelers agreed on a one-year deal worth up to $25 million with $22 million guaranteed, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The 42-year-old quarterback is entering his 22nd NFL season, this time under new head coach Mike McCarthy, who coached Rodgers for 13 seasons during their time together in Green Bay.

For Warren, the reunion matters because of how Rodgers operated the Steelers’ offense in 2025. Rodgers ranked as the fastest-releasing quarterback in the league, averaging just 2.59 seconds to throw per Next Gen Stats, preferring screens, checkdowns, and swing passes over downfield shots. Running backs were central to that rhythm, and Warren figures to be the primary beneficiary of that approach once again.

The backfield landscape has shifted since last season. Kenneth Gainwell, who emerged as one of Pittsburgh’s most productive offensive weapons in 2025 with 65 receptions and 422 receiving yards, signed a two-year, $14 million deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in free agency. To replace him, the Steelers signed Rico Dowdle to a two-year, $12.25 million contract. Dowdle posted back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons with Dallas and Carolina, respectively, and caught 39 passes in each of those two campaigns. He runs with more power than either Warren or Gainwell, but his pass-catching profile is markedly different, making Warren the clear frontrunner for receiving work out of the backfield.

The offensive scheme is also expected to shift. With McCarthy taking over from the departed Mike Tomlin and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith no longer running his multi-tight end packages, the Steelers’ offense should look substantially different in 2026. McCarthy has long built his passing games around quick, precise concepts — a framework that should suit Warren’s hands and ability to find open space on short routes even more than Smith’s system did.

Warren, 27, entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 2022 and has steadily carved out a well-established role in Pittsburgh’s offense. He is under contract through the 2027 season after signing a two-year extension in 2025.

Whether Rodgers can improve on a 2025 campaign that ranked him 29th among qualified quarterbacks in EPA per dropback remains the central question for the entire Steelers offense. But if the short-game approach holds, Warren’s pass-catching opportunities are unlikely to decline.