FantasyPros Staff | Thu, Apr 2nd 2026, 1:05pm EDT

Fantasy Football 2026 Bounce-Back Players Experts Love

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.

Players Who Deserve A Second Chance

Which player deserves a second chance in 2026 despite a disappointing 2025?

Justin Jefferson (WR – MIN)

“Three wide receivers disappointed fantasy managers last season in a major way: Justin Jefferson, Brian Thomas Jr., and A.J. Brown. As of this point in the offseason, only one of those players has any change in his circumstances from 2025: Justin Jefferson. Jefferson was once regarded as the top player in fantasy football. Last year, with abysmal quarterback play, he disappointed fantasy managers to the tune of 1,048 yards and 2 touchdowns. While the yardage wasn’t terrible for most players, it wasn’t up to Jefferson’s standard, and the 2 touchdowns aren’t what owners expected from a top-tier wide receiver. Minnesota is attempting to upgrade the quarterback position by adding Kyler Murray, and while he isn’t a threat for a large number of touchdowns, he can’t be worse than J.J. McCarthy and company’s quarterback play that led to Jefferson’s poorest season as a pro, which will lead to happy managers who give him a second chance and draft him in the late 1st or early to mid 2nd rounds of their fantasy drafts.”
– Adam Dove (The Fantasy Couriers)

“Justin Jefferson is the easiest second-chance, bounce-back candidate for 2026. 2025 was driven by unstable quarterback play, the offense rotated between J.J. McCarthy and Carson Wentz, and it showed up everywhere in his production. He finished as the WR25 despite seeing 141 targets and a 31.4% share; somehow, he still went over 1,000 yards but pulled in just 2 touchdowns with a 60.3% catch rate. The offense couldn’t stay on the field or create scoring chances, so enter Kyler Murray. The bar for 2026 isn’t a high one for Murray; it’s just keep the offense functional and on schedule, and if he does, Jefferson will return to the elite form we’ve all come to expect from the Vikings’ All-Pro.”
– James Emrick-Wilson (The Armchair Sports Corner)

Isiah Pacheco (RB – DET)

“The season wasn’t exactly a breakout, but writing off Isiah Pacheco misses the underlying signs that still point forward. Even in a down year, he ranked 13th in rushing success rate (min. 50 carries), managed just 1.88 yards before contact (43rd) per attempt, which shows a weak offensive line, and still didn’t fumble once. That’s not dominance, but it’s controlled, efficient football in less-than-ideal conditions. In the right situation, that profile still fits cleanly into a role similar to David Montgomery, where he can help form a steady 1-2 punch like what the Detroit Lions have built alongside Jahmyr Gibbs.”
– Joe Pepe (Beyond The Gridiron)

Jalen McMillan (WR – TB)

“I would debate calling this a “second chance,” considering the disappointment to be injury-related, but savvy fantasy managers should refuse to overlook Jalen McMillan. The Tampa Bay WR missed most of the 2025 season with a neck injury, and his return was overshadowed, but the also-injury-related returns of Mike Evans and (to a lesser extent) Chris Godwin. Evans is now in San Francisco and McMillan will assumedly start his third pro season at full health, meaning his range of outcomes is somewhere between the player who scored 8 TDs on 37 receptions as a rookie (a rate of 1 TD every 4.65 receptions), also finishing as a top-20 WR in each of the final 5 weeks of the season, and the boom-or-bust WR4 with weekly top-10 upside he briefly displayed as a sophomore. The absence of Evans means more targets for Egbuka, Godwin, and McMillan. In some ways, each of that Bucs trio is a second-chance player in 2026, but McMillan’s draft capital is far less than either of his two counterparts (McMillan is ECR 210, compared to the next closest of Godwin, who is ECR 96), making him the ideal second-chance player with true league-winning upside.”
– Tim Metzler (FantasyPros)

Marvin Harrison Jr.

“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)

Rome Odunze (WR – CHI)

“Rome Odunze is the ideal second-chance candidate for 2026, primarily because the path to a featured role has finally been cleared by the departure of DJ Moore. While his 2025 season was hampered by a lingering foot injury, he still displayed flashes of his high-end talent with 661 yards and six touchdowns in only 12 games. Now fully recovered and entering his third professional season, he is positioned to serve as the primary perimeter threat in a high-octane offense. With Moore’s vacated targets set to be redistributed, Odunze has the most favorable opportunity of any young receiver to command elite-level volume. Expect him to shed the “disappointing” label quickly as he steps into the WR1 role he was drafted to fill.”
– Lawrence Iacona (Gridiron Experts)

Omarion Hampton (RB – LAC)

“Omarion Hampton had high expectations going into 2025 and fell short. In the first two weeks, he barely scored 10 fantasy points combined. He followed that up with RB4 and RB7 finishes; everything was looking up. Hampton then suffered a broken ankle in Week 5. He finished the season strong, scoring 14.7 or more points in 3 of his final four games, coming off an injury. He gets his tackles back, a new offensive coordinator, and is set up for a huge 2026 season.”
– David Heilman (Dynasty Trade Calculator)

Malik Nabers (WR – NYG)

“Malik Nabers is a textbook second-chance candidate for 2026 because his disappointing 2025 was purely situational, not a decline in skill. An early-season ACL/meniscus injury cut his year short. Still, when healthy, he’s shown elite route-running, contested-catch ability, and massive YAC upside, maintaining a 35% target share in his career. With Wan’Dale Robinson gone and Jaxson Dart showing plenty of promise under a new coaching staff, there’s fresh energy in the Giants’ passing game that could unlock Nabers’ ceiling. He’s firmly atop the depth chart and poised to resume WR1-level usage immediately. For savvy fantasy managers, Nabers’ talent, opportunity, and improved situation make him a low-risk, high-upside reclamation play poised for a bounce-back season.”
– Dennis Sosic (Fantasy Six Pack)

Josh Downs (WR – IND)

“There’s room for Josh Downs to see more work — in 2-WR sets — with Michael Pittman now in Pittsburgh. Here’s GM Chris Ballard at the owners meetings: “I think Josh Downs is freaking good. I’ve always thought he’s good. I think allowing him some more opportunities, we’re going to see some of the special stuff you’ve seen in the past – but more.””
– Kevin English (Draft Sharks)

Brock Bowers (TE – LV)

“Do not discount the talent of Brock Bowers after a disappointing 2025. After a 2024 that saw Bowers smash the rookie receptions and most yards by a rookie tight end records, Bowers crashed back down to earth. Injuries are partially to blame for Bowers’ slip in production, but the Raiders were hopeless in 2025, period. Now, factor in a fully healthy Bowers that is finally getting a quarterback? Yes, please. Fernando Mendoza will be the Raiders’ pick at number one overall in this month’s draft, and his assignment will be simple: Get Bowers the ball. If there is any situation where Bowers possibly slips in drafts, even at a top-25 cost, it will be worth the choice in 2026.”
– Ed Birdsall (Talking Points Sports)

Ashton Jeanty (RB – LV)

“Despite a first-round ADP in most 2025 leagues, Las Vegas Raiders RB Ashton Jeanty finished as a lackluster RB16 on a points-per-game basis (14.4). The good news is that he played in all 17 games – three of which were top-five performances – boosting his overall finish to RB11. Much of that is to blame on a lackluster Chip Kelly-called offense, poor quarterback play, and an offensive line that afforded Jeanty the 62nd-best run block rating among the position. Even when facing these hurdles, Jeanty had the seventh-most yards created (1,122). Now, he gets an upgraded offensive line with OT Kolton Miller returning from injury and C Tyler Lindembaum signing in free agency. The former Baltimore Raven is a perfect fit for a Klint Kubiak-designed offense where you need an athletic center to pull and a high-IQ player to help make checks at the line. The floor remains steady, and with Indiana Hoosiers QB Fernando Mendoza likely joining the fold in April, Jeanty’s RB1 ceiling will officially be unlocked.”
– Seth Woolcock (FantasyPros)

Brian Thomas Jr. (WR – JAC)

“Brian Thomas Jr. might get a second chance via trade, but even if he remains in Jacksonville, we should bet on a bounce-back year. Despite missing three games, Thomas still led Jacksonville in intended air yards. He also saw 56 targets at 10 or more yards downfield, just five fewer than his rookie year despite missing three games. The usage is there, the talent is there, so the numbers should follow.”
– Ryan McCrystal (Sharp Football Analysis)

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