Not every disappointing season tells the full story. Injuries, bad luck, and shifting roles can sink a player’s value one year and create a buying opportunity the next. Our experts highlight fantasy football bounce-back players for 2026 who underperformed in 2025 but have the talent, usage, and situation to deliver at a discount.
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Players Who Deserve A Second Chance
Which player deserves a second chance in 2026 despite a disappointing 2025?
Marvin Harrison Jr. (WR – ARI)
“WR Marvin Harrison Jr. deserves another chance. The former top-5 pick was plagued by injuries (concussion, appendix, foot, and heel) in 2025 that fully prevented him from benefiting from the Jacoby Brissett-led Arizona offense. Michael Wilson took full advantage when Harrison Jr. missed time, but he was a complete non-factor when MHJ was healthy (29% target rate per route run fell to 12% when Harrison was healthy). If Harrison had stayed healthy, we would have seen some monster performances down the stretch similar to what we saw with Wilson. Weeks 1-13, Harrison was the WR27 in PPG. In his last five healthy games…12.8 PPG – low-end fantasy WR1 numbers. MHJ will be 24 years old in 2026. Year 3 WR breakouts still happen. And despite the tumultuous first two years, he has shown he can command high-value targets that lead to fantasy scoring – i.e., air yards and end zone/red zone targets.”
– Andrew Erickson (FantasyPros)
Chuba Hubbard (RB – CAR)
“The Panthers are a team that could surprise a lot of people this year, and Chuba Hubbard would be the biggest beneficiary of this change. In free agency, they added offensive line depth and high-end defensive pieces in Jaelen Phillips and Devin Lloyd. As their young talent grows, this might be a dark-horse top-10 offense led by a solid coaching staff with no other notable running back competition. Hubbard had calf injuries all of last year, but is only a year removed from being 12th in fantasy points per game. Jonathan Brooks has not played football in almost 3 years, and Hubbard was a unanimous All-American with 2,000 rushing yards in his Sophomore year.”
– Justin Weigal (FantasySharks)
Emeka Egbuka (WR – TB)
“It’s not as if people are burying Emeka Egbuka after his herky-jerky rookie season, but I’m focusing on the primo early-season production and largely disregarding the subsequent falloff. Egbuka got off to a torrid start, with 25 catches for 445 yards and five touchdowns in his first five games. He was WR3 in PPR scoring over that span. Egbuka tweaked his hamstring in Week 6, and though he played through it, he wasn’t as effective. It didn’t help that Baker Mayfield‘s performance fell off after a hot start. Over the first five weeks of the season, Egbuka averaged 20.5 PPR points a game and caught 65.8% of his targets. From Week 6 on, Egbuka averaged 7.8 PPR points and caught 42.7% of his targets. With Mike Evans having left for San Francisco, I’m betting on a healthy Egbuka taking over as Tampa Bay’s lead receiver and outperforming an ECR that currently sits in mid-round WR3 territory.”
– Pat Fitzmaurice (FantasyPros)
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