Early-round busts can ruin a fantasy football season. At best, they’re an annoyance, putting fantasy managers in a hole they must dig out to claim a fantasy title. However, it’s usually unwise to mindlessly hold a grudge against a player and remove them from the draftable player pool after a dud.
Some players who bust are no longer useful because they fell off a cliff. Yet, others are bounceback candidates, and the following wide receiver and running back should rebound next season.
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2026 Bounceback Candidates
Ladd McConkey (WR – LAC)
Ladd McConkey’s half-PPR average draft position (ADP) before the 2025 season was 27 overall, making him the WR11. The second-year wideout finished as the WR29 in total half-PPR points (147.9) and the WR38 in half-PPR points per game (9.2).
It was unquestionably a sophomore slump for McConkey. However, it wasn’t a complete disaster. Most notably, Justin Herbert, the offense and McConkey were at their best when Joe Alt was healthy.
Per Pro-Football-Reference, Alt played the majority of only four games (Week 1 through Week 3 and Week 8) and had a 15.9% offensive snap share in Week 4 and 41.5% in Week 9. According to the Fantasy Points data suite, McConkey recorded the following stats in Alt’s four mostly healthy contests:
- 91.3% route participation rate
- 9.0-yard average depth of target (aDOT)
- 23.7% air yards share
- 23.3% target share
- 0.21 targets per route run (TPRR)
- 28.9% first-read rate
- 31 targets (7.8 per game)
- 21 receptions (5.3 per game)
- 251 receiving yards (62.8 per game)
- 1.72 yards per route run (Y/RR)
- 1 touchdown
- 1 end-zone target
- 10.4 half-PPR points per game
- 13.6 expected half-PPR points per game
To put McConkey’s 13.6 expected half-PPR points per game into perspective, Chris Olave was the WR9 in half-PPR points per game (13.7) in 2025, and Nico Collins was the WR10 with 12.7 half-PPR points per game.
The sample of four games was small, but McConkey didn’t just feast on cupcakes, either. Instead, those games were against the Chiefs, Raiders, Broncos and Vikings. The Vikings allowed the fewest half-PPR points per game (20.4) to wide receivers, the Chiefs allowed the fifth-fewest half-PPR points per game (23.7) and the Broncos allowed the sixth-fewest half-PPR points per game (24.2).
Alt will provide the offensive line with a boost in his return from ankle surgery for the 2026 season. He won’t be alone, either. Rashawn Slater sustained a torn patellar tendon in August. Herbert and the offense will benefit immensely from getting his talented bookend tackles back. The offense could also get a lift from Mike McDaniel as the new offensive coordinator after firing Greg Roman and replacing him with Miami’s former head coach. Gamers should expect better fantasy results from McConkey in 2026.
Saquon Barkley (RB – PHI)
Saquon Barkley ripped off 2,005 rushing yards in only 16 games in 2024 as part of a huge fantasy season, finishing as the RB1 in half-PPR points (338.8) and the RB1 in half-PPR points per game (21.2). No other running back reached even 20 half-PPR points per game in 2024. After the big showing, Barkley had a 3.3 ADP this past offseason. Sadly, he couldn’t duplicate his excellence and finished 2025 as the RB14 in half-PPR points (213.8) and the RB14 in half-PPR points per game (13.4).
Among 49 running backs with at least 100 rush attempts in the regular season, Barkley was…
- 10th in rushing yards per game (71.3)
- 33rd in yards per carry (4.07)
- T-23rd in yards before contact per attempt (2.11)
- T-38th in yards after contact per attempt (1.96)
- T-20th in explosive run rate (4.6%)
- 42nd in success rate (46.1%)
- 43rd in stuff rate (50.0%)
- T-17th in rushing touchdowns (seven)
- 9th in expected half-PPR points per game (15.4)
Barkley was below average by many measures, and Philadelphia’s offense was frequently disjointed and underachieved with Kevin Patullo as the club’s offensive coordinator. The Eagles fired Patullo. A new offensive coordinator could inject life back into Philadelphia’s offense and Barkley.
Furthermore, after Pro Football Focus (PFF) ranked the Eagles fourth in run blocking in 2024, they dipped to 11th in 2025. Tyler Steen was Philadelphia’s only offensive lineman who played in all 18 games for the Eagles in 2025, and Jordan Mailata played in 17, sitting with other starters in Week 18. Lane Johnson played only 10 games in 2025 after playing at least 15 in each of the previous three seasons.
A healthier Johnson, reinforcements along the offensive line through the draft or free agency or all of the above could do wonders for Barkley’s 2026 outlook. Among 60 running backs with at least 40 rush attempts where they weren’t contacted until zero yards or further down the field in 2025, Barkley was 15th in yards per carry (6.99), 15th in explosive run rate (7.9%) and 23rd in success rate (72.4%).
Barkley remains explosive and can gash defenses when he’s awarded with a runway. Assuming Philadelphia’s new offensive coordinator is an upgrade over Patullo and the offensive line run blocks closer to their 2024 level, Barkley can bounce back in 2026.
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Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.