Fantasy Football 2026 Bold Predictions: DJ Moore Big Year Loading

Everyone loves a good “what if” scenario. But "what if's" are tame.

Someone might wonder: “What if Blake Corum scores more than 6 TDs this season?” A hot take would boldly assert: “Blake Corum will outscore Breece Hall.”

Hot takes are born from extreme possibilities, rather than childlike imagination.

Hot takes tell. They don't ask.

And these are my hot takes for 2026. Not "what if's." Don’t get ‘em confused.

Hot Takes for Fantasy Football 2026

Sutton AND Waddle Finish Top 20

I don't care if Bo Nix is currently recovering from an ankle injury sustained during the AFC Divisional Round of the playoffs. I believe in the Broncos, who have been turning things around with Sean Payton and Nix at the helm.

And this season, Denver's offense is only looking better.

Jaylen Waddle, acquired in March, is only two years removed from his last 1K-yard season in 2023. And Courtland Sutton has had two consecutive 1K-yard seasons during Nix's first two seasons.

So, while everyone is debating who will be the WR1 on the team, I say: Why not both?

As it stands now, Waddle (WR21) and Sutton (WR33) are projected to both nearly break the 1K-yard mark in 2026. If we throw in 7-10 TDs each, they're a top-20 fantasy WR duo.

Sean Payton has elevated DEN's offense since his return to coaching in 2023, where he broke their seven-year playoff drought. And I believe in the continued elevation.

Let. Payton. Cook.

DJ Moore Outscores Justin Jefferson

What an interesting parallel.

On one hand, we have Justin Jefferson who is an immensely talented WR tethered to a pair of questionable QBs.

On the other, we have DJ Moore, a questionable WR now linked to an immensely talented QB.

Surely, Josh Allen raises Moore's ceiling. And the threat of continued QB woes in MIN lowers Jefferson's floor. Remember, we saw only 2 TDs from Jefferson in 2025.

But how will it all shake out? Jefferson is FantasyLife's consensus WR6, while Moore sits at WR26. That's more than a few tiers apart …

For the sake of the take, my money is on the Allen/Moore connection. Allen deserves a WR1 dammit! And I choose to believe he found one.

MIA and ARI Don't Finish Last

Let's just rip the Band-Aid off: The Cardinals won three f*cking games in 2025. THREE! And Miami's offense is now without three key pieces. THREE: Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.

As it stands this morning, ARI(3.5) and MIA(4.5) are barely projected to win more than 3-4 games this season.

Absolutely brutal.

But I get it.

The Cardinals lost Kyler Murray. They’re somehow still stuck in contract negotiations with *checks notes* Jacoby Brissett?! And the Dolphins? They don't even have a WR1 to their name.

But these things never shake out the way we expect them to. So I'm going to call it now: There will be a team who sh*ts the bed even harder than these two teams might.

I don't know who that team will be, but my bet is on MIA and ARI surpassing them in games won for 2026.

The Chiefs Miss The Playoffs

I know the Chiefs were very recently on the heels of a Super Bowl three-peat. And it was incredible. But 2025 showed the cracks in the system.

With only six wins last season, I worry the Chiefs will continue to stand in their own shadow, chasing the memories of who they once were in a now-tight division.

Aside from the Raiders, competition in the AFC West is toughening up. We saw it last year, and I fear we will see it again in 2026.

Patrick Mahomes is coming back from injury. Travis Kelce isn't getting any younger. Rashee Rice is … Just finishing up a 30-day jail sentence and coming off of an 8-week season that also included a 6-week suspension in 2025.

The books have the Chiefs at 10.5 wins, and that feels way too high …

Malik Nabers Misses September

Fun fact: Wake Me Up When September Ends wasn't just a Green Day song. It's what Malik Nabers managers are telling their families each night, as they wait for good news to break from NY.

Nabers' lingering ailments and offseason surgeries have been alarming, to say the least. Not only is he recovering from a knee injury that resulted in ACL and meniscus surgeries in October, but it was announced that his knee also required an additional "cleanup" surgery this offseason.

While some reports allude to Nabers being ready by Week 1, Harbaugh has yet to share a date for his WR1's anticipated return.

The changes in timelines … The lack of timelines … I don't like it. And I don't think Nabers starts for the first several weeks of the season.

Kirk Cousins Starts And ... Holds The Job

Kirk Cousins feels like a figment of my imagination. A kind creature, with pale skin and khaki pants who shows up to offer support when you're at your worst …

And he really could be exactly what Las Vegas needs … for now.

Sure. Fernando Mendoza is the future in Las Vegas, but he doesn't have to be the present.

There's a world where Cousins doesn't play poorly enough to lose the starting job. And would that really be so bad? Mendoza, like any rookie QB, could benefit from some time on the sidelines as he acclimates to the NFL.

From 2015-2022, Cousins threw for more than 4,000 yards in all but one season. And from 2015-2022, he never threw fewer than 25 TDs.

You're either with me or you're not.

I've said what I have to say.

Tampa Bay Bottoms Out in NFC South

The pieces in Tampa are incredible: Baker Mayfield, Bucky Irving, Emeka Egbuka, Chris Godwin!

But Mike Evans chose to leave for less money.

I can't get past what Evans might have seen behind the scenes to make him want to leave his legacy in TB behind. Twelve years … With the same team … And he would rather take less money to leave??

If we look at the players who stuck around, there are even more question marks. Egbuka, Irving and Baker all looked worse toward the end of the season. Their production fell off as the weeks went on.

As for the division, the NFC South is no longer the uncontrolled dumpster fire it used to be. We could see the Saints, Falcons, and even the Panthers fighting their way up the ranks. Remember, 8-9 is all it took to win the division last season, folks.

There's a world where Tampa is playing catch up to the rest of them all season long. (And that’s all without mentioning Irving’s current injury status and Baker’s injury history.)