This will be my eighth season planting flags on my favorite fantasy football players. In the past, I have mentioned names such as Aaron Jones in 2019, Kyren Williams in 2023, Robbie (Chosen) Anderson in 2020 and Darnell Mooney in 2025. Obviously, not everyone has been a hit. However, this is one of my favorite articles to write each season.
In this article, I am going to break down why these players get me hot and bothered heading into 2026. If you have followed my work, some of these names shouldn’t surprise you. However, a few are names I’ve quietly been growing on throughout the offseason and hadn’t had the opportunity to discuss. Without further ado, here are my top flag plant players I will go to battle for in 2026.
- Fantasy Football Research & Advice
- Fantasy Football Expert Rankings
- 2026 Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- AI Fantasy Football Tools
Fantasy Football Flag Plants
Bhayshul Tuten (RB – JAX)
“[Bhayshul] Tuten will need to prove himself as an every-down back and hang onto the football. If he can do that, the moon may be the first stop on his fantasy ride.” That was how I finished my running back must-haves article. With all the reports out of training camp, the moon might be setting the bar too low.
The Bhayshul Tuten hype train has left the station, and you’d be lucky to catch it at its next stop. Taken with the second pick of the fourth round in 2025, the coaching staff was vocal that he was a target for them. Fast forward to this offseason, Travis Etienne Jr. is gone, leaving the lead role on one of the league’s most potent offenses open.
If you have listened to any fantasy football analysis this offseason, you likely have a good understanding of why Tuten has been shooting up draft boards.
The main selling point is that he is only competing with Chris Rodriguez Jr. for the bulk of carries. Rodriguez has never had a season over 500 rushing yards and has missed most of camp with a foot injury. Now let’s dive deeper into why Tuten is a league winner.
Tuten is an explosive play waiting to happen. He is 5-foot-9 and 209 pounds, and ran a 4.32-second 40-yard dash at the combine. Although he didn’t have a run of 15+ yards on his 83 carries last regular season, he had three straight gains of 13+ yards in the Jaguars’ playoff game. He also had 16 carries inside the 15-yard line, making the sample size even smaller. In the end, it’s hard to hold his lack of explosive plays in the regular season against him.
Speaking of short yardage, Tuten had six carries inside the 5-yard line compared to Etienne’s 11 last season. He converted them into four touchdowns compared to Etienne’s two.
One of the biggest concerns for Rodriguez joining the team is his potential to steal the goal-line work. In his limited work last season, Tuten proved he can be trusted in the red zone and has a knack for converting his opportunities. If he splits these carries with Rodriguez, he could still be good for fantasy. But if he can win this role outright, that could make him great.
The cherry on top is that Liam Coen has been frequently praising Tuten in camp. Whether he’s saying Tuten is primed for a big year or will be heavily involved, it’s exactly what you want to hear from an impending breakout player. A lot of this reminds me of Chase Brown and the Bengals after they signed Zack Moss. I was on the Moss train that offseason and I’m not making that mistake again.
Mike Evans (WR – SF)
We all know the main storyline here: Can Mike Evans stay healthy in 2026? Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing what will happen. Because of that, I believe the question then becomes: How many missed games are baked into his WR27 average draft position (ADP)? The answer is too many.
Evans’ injury history over his 11-year career has been exaggerated. He has played 13+ games in all but one season (2025), and has played 15+ games in eight seasons.
What is worrisome is that the last few seasons have been plagued with hamstring injuries, which are notorious for continuing to reappear year after year. Plus, Evans is approaching his 33rd birthday, making all injuries significant. However, if he ends up playing 13+ games, fantasy managers will be ecstatic.
Another reason I am willing to take the risk of injury with Evans is that when he plays, he should be a locked-in top-12 player on this offense each week. As a result, there are no lineup headaches you have to deal with.
Unlike DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, Christian Watson and Courtland Sutton (who all go around his ADP), there are no questions of when you play him. Regardless of matchup, if Evans is healthy, he is in your lineup.
Not only is Evans a future Hall of Fame receiver, but he is also joining a perfect situation. Brock Purdy‘s play style and Kyle Shanahan’s scheme should be able to get the most out of the big-bodied wideout.
We have also recently learned that Ricky Pearsall will miss the entire 2026 season. Add that to George Kittle coming off an Achilles tear, and Evans will never starve for targets.
We also know that no matter what Shanahan says about “limiting” workloads, we have seen he can’t resist getting his best players involved. Christian McCaffrey is a prime example of this and also has a questionable injury history.
In the end, Evans will be a top-12 receiver in points per game and is a great value at his current ADP. As long as he plays 10+ games, you’re going to be glad you drafted him.
Chase Brown (RB – CIN)
I don’t think any other running back is set up as well as Chase Brown is this season. The London, Ontario native is primed for his third straight top-12 season. Only this could be the year he cracks into the top five at the position.
The Bengals are projected to score the fourth-most points per game (26), only behind the Rams, Bills and Lions. We know that as long as Joe Burrow is healthy, this team will be humming on offense. They also have the best offensive line they’ve had in years.
After extending Dalton Risner and Amarius Mims looking like a potential star at right tackle, we may finally see above-average offensive line play for this offense.
The offensive line could be one of the main reasons we see Brown take the next step into fantasy superstardom. His last two seasons have looked very similar, with one key difference: Receptions.
From 2024 to 2025, Brown saw an increase of 23 targets, going from 65 to 88. His 88 targets last season were the fourth-most at the position, only behind Christian McCaffrey, Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs. That’s pretty good company.
We also have evidence that his workload is very secure. In 2024 to 2025, Brown had 229 and 232 rushes, respectively, with a difference of only 29 rushing yards. He also had 11 total touchdowns in both seasons.
If we see a similar workload and target volume, the Bengals’ offensive line should help increase efficiency, and the offense could provide even more touchdown upside. After all, would anyone be surprised if the Bengals’ lead back in 2026 scored 15 touchdowns?
Brown may not be the most talented of the elite backs, but he is a very good player in one of the best offensive environments.
Colston Loveland (TE – CHI)
I know, here’s another person writing about how great Colston Loveland is. Frankly, even though I am all in on him, even I am a little tired of hearing people say how great he’s going to be. However, I couldn’t have 34% exposure in best ball and not have him make this list. As a result, I’m going to make this short.
All reports out of training camp have been glowing. Whether it’s Ben Johnson calling him a knowledge “sponge” or beat reporters in awe of Loveland’s receiving ability, we are on the verge of having another elite fantasy tight end.
Everything out of training camp is nothing that we didn’t see in his rookie season. Towards the end of the season, we saw the Bears’ passing game run through the rookie. This included his final four games (including playoffs), with 10+ targets in three of them and over 90 yards in two of them.
Now that DJ Moore is gone, there is even more opportunity. Add that to the natural progression of a tight end entering his second season, and we have the perfect recipe for fantasy points.
Plus, if you need a little Hamburger Helper, fellow camp standout Luther Burden III left practice with a groin injury. We all hope Burden can return to dominating camp, but in his absence, Loveland’s ceiling is even higher.
Jalen Hurts (QB – PHI)
I’ll be honest, this is more of a narrative pick. Jalen Hurts is one of the only quarterbacks outside of Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen who can produce in the passing game and explode in the rushing game. He may not be the best NFL quarterback, but he is great for fantasy.
Over the last five seasons, Hurts has never finished lower than the fantasy QB9. He has done this despite playing only 17 games once (usually missing at least the last game with the playoffs locked up).
Across those five seasons, Hurts has scored 60 rushing touchdowns. That’s an average of 12 per season, and last season was the only time he failed to score 10 touchdowns. Hurts also recorded his lowest rushing attempts total of the five seasons with 105. The next closest was 2021, where he ran the ball 139 times.
Some believe these changes from last season showcase a trend that will continue. Personally, I don’t believe that’s the case. The Eagles’ offense was terrible, the locker room was a mess and the production was never consistent.
Sean Mannion is the new offensive coordinator. With the influx of talent over the middle of the field, we may see a new version of Hurts. Historically, this has been the weakest part of his game, but he also hasn’t needed to rely on the middle of the field to find success. I’m very interested in seeing if we can see Hurts progress his game in a new offense and take another step.
At the end of the day, Hurts is a flag plant, as I believe the path to top-end production is being overlooked. All it will take for him to be a top-five quarterback is regression to the mean for this entire offense, and regression for his rushing attempts and touchdowns. If he does develop his passing, that’s when we could see him rival the top two at the position.
Subscribe: YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | iHeart | Castbox | Amazon Music | Podcast Addict | TuneIn