u/WhiteHeatFF

I have been absolutely raging about Cyrus Allen over on Bluesky since I saw him at the Senior Bowl in January. Cyrus Allen has been building momentum starting with his 2025 season at Cincinnati where he was 3rd in the nation with 13 receiving TDs. He's dominated the Chiefs training camp and has been one of the buzziest names amongst the rookie class this offseason.

In the most recent edition of the Reading the Offseason Tea Leaves series, I share some of my favorite highlight clips as I build the case for buying into the Cyrus Allen hype.

TL;DR: Cyrus Allen has a path to fantasy stardom and is capable of delivering a WR3 season as a rookie in 2026 with WR2 upside if one of Rice or Worthy miss extended time.

Previously on the Tea Leaves Series:
Arizona Cardinals
Miami Dolphins
Cleveland Browns
New York Jets
Las Vegas Raiders
Atlanta Falcons
Tennessee Titans
Carolina Panthers
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
Indianapolis Colts
Washington Commanders
Minnesota Vikings
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jacksonville Jaguars
Chicago Bears
Dallas Cowboys
Cincinnati Bengals
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
San Francisco 49ers
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
Los Angeles Chargers
Kansas City Chiefs
New England Patriots
Philadelphia Eagles
Seattle Seahawks
Baltimore Ravens
Buffalo Bills
Los Angeles Rams

With the Reading the Offseason Tea Leaf series wrapping up I finally have time to get into my bread and butter. I'm talking about Rookie content. Today I bring you write-ups on all of the QBs that have a chance to be fantasy relevant. Sure, maybe injuries result in Carolina Panthers QB Haynes King seeing the field and he runs enough to be in the QB2 conversation, but that is a ton of projecting for a guy who may never take an NFL snap under center.

In this article I get into:
Fernando Mendoza
Ty Simpson
Carson Beck
Drew Allar
Cade Klubnik
Cole Payton
Taylen Green
Garrett Nussmeier

If there are QBs I did not cover in the article that you want to know more about hit me up in the comments and I'll provide my thoughts on them. Check out my rookie rankings to see how I break the QB class up tier-wise. Thank you guys for supporting my work this offseason!

We’re closing in on the end of this series with only the top 3 teams to go. Thank you guys for all the support, feedback, and for reading this series. Welcome to the thirtieth piece in a long, daily series: Reading the NFL Offseason Tea Leaves. If you don’t already know and this is the first Tea Leaf article you’re reading, this series is meant to be a primer for anyone who’s not yet steeped themselves in the NFL’s offseason events. We’ll be touching on the fantasy implications for all 32 NFL teams in regards to:

• Coaching Changes
• Free Agency
• NFL Draft

The 32-day series will go in reverse order of DraftKings odds of winning the Super Bowl, which means today’s article will cover the Baltimore Ravens who are +1,000 odds.

Article TL;DR: When John Harbaugh left town for the New York Giants he brought with him TE Isaiah Likely and FB and honorary lineman Pat Ricard. TE Charlie Kolar signed with the Chargers, too. These three missing pieces will certainly affect the Ravens run game in 2026, but how much will their presence be missed? The Giants replaced Likely and Kolar in the draft when they selected TEs Matt Hibner and Josh Cuevas. Both rookies are solid in the passing game and are good run blockers. The Ravens also added two WRs and a RB in the draft. WRs Ja’Kobi Lane and Elijah Sarratt will compete with veteran WRs Rashod Bateman and Tez Walker for the WR2 and WR3 roles in the passing game. Rookie RB Adam Randall is extra depth at RB. Word out of camp is that Randall has been bowling people over. He’s still learning the RB position after converting to RB from WR in 2025. Randall is a good route runner for a RB, but he is lacking in the hands department. The two primary pass catchers in this offense will be WR Zay Flowers and TE Mark Andrews once again. Zay Flowers has been pleased with new HC Jesse Minter and OC Declan Doyle. Flowers has mentioned in interviews that Doyle is a “genius”, which may lead us to believe that Flowers will be heavily featured in 2026. QB Lamar Jackson isn’t coming at a discount in 2026 despite his injury marred 2025 season. If you want Lamar in redraft he’s currently sporting a round four to five price tag. Derrick Henry, on the other hand, is seeing the “old geezer” discount, currently priced as RB11 in PPR despite four straight double digit TD season and exceeding 1,100 yards in each season.

Quick plug for the wonderful work our team has done on the Optimus Tools. If you'd like to try out the tools for a week for free use code: CAM26 . With this code you can try out any tier of our subscription. I love the Play-by-Play Situational Analysis tool myself. It's helped me breakdown where players are most frequently used in their offense as I'm working on my rankings.

Previously on Reading the Offseason Tea Leaves:
Arizona Cardinals
Miami Dolphins
Cleveland Browns
New York Jets
Las Vegas Raiders
Atlanta Falcons
Tennessee Titans
Carolina Panthers
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
Indianapolis Colts
Washington Commanders
Minnesota Vikings
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jacksonville Jaguars
Chicago Bears
Dallas Cowboys
Cincinnati Bengals
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
San Francisco 49ers
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
Los Angeles Chargers
Kansas City Chiefs
New England Patriots
Philadelphia Eagles
Seattle Seahawks

We’re closing in on the end of this series with only the top 4 teams to go. Thank you guys for all the support, feedback, and for reading this series. Welcome to the twenty-eighth piece in a long, daily series: Reading the NFL Offseason Tea Leaves. If you don’t already know and this is the first Tea Leaf article you’re reading, this series is meant to be a primer for anyone who’s not yet steeped themselves in the NFL’s offseason events. We’ll be touching on the fantasy implications for all 32 NFL teams in regards to:

• Coaching Changes
• Free Agency
• NFL Draft

The 32-day series will go in reverse order of DraftKings odds of winning the Super Bowl, which means today’s article will cover the reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks who are +1,100 odds.

Article TL;DR: The reigning Super Bowl champions are running it back. Well, with everyone except for Super Bowl MVP RB Kenneth Walker. To replace Walker the Seahawks spent a first round draft pick on RB Jadarian Price out of Notre Dame. Price will compete with George Holani and free agent acquisition Emmanuel Wilson for the RB1 role while Zach Charbonnet recovers from an ACL tear. The Seahawks WR room is led by JSN, Cooper Kupp, Rashid Shaheed, and Tory Horton. This WR corp will undoubtedly fuel Sam Darnol to another high-end QB2 finish. AJ Barner is the favorite to start at TE again this year, with Elijah Arroyo playing in two TE sets. Arroyo has improved as a route runner this year per camp reports, and may be able to push Barner for the starting job by the end of the season if Arroyo also makes strides as a blocker. The Seahawks lost their OC, Klint Kubiak, who took a job at the HC of the Raiders. In his place is Brian Fleury, who most recently was the run game coordinator and TEs coach with the 49ers. Mike Macdonald has stated that they won’t change their offensive philosophies that won them the Super Bowl. Expect another run heavy scheme for the Seahawks.

Quick plug for the wonderful work our team has done on the Optimus Tools. If you'd like to try out the tools for a week for free use code: CAM26 . With this code you can try out any tier of our subscription. I love the Play-by-Play Situational Analysis tool myself. It's helped me breakdown where players are most frequently used in their offense as I'm working on my rankings.

One more thing! I'll be at the Scott Fish Bowl Seattle Live event on 8/2 (today) at 1pm at Tom's Watch Bar at Seattle Center. If you're in the area come stop by and say hello!

Previously on Reading the Offseason Tea Leaves:
Arizona Cardinals
Miami Dolphins
Cleveland Browns
New York Jets
Las Vegas Raiders
Atlanta Falcons
Tennessee Titans
Carolina Panthers
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
Indianapolis Colts
Washington Commanders
Minnesota Vikings
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jacksonville Jaguars
Chicago Bears
Dallas Cowboys
Cincinnati Bengals
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
San Francisco 49ers
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
Los Angeles Chargers
Kansas City Chiefs
New England Patriots
Philadelphia Eagles

We’re closing in on the end of this series with only the top 5 teams to go. Thank you guys for all the support, feedback, and for reading this series. Welcome to the twenty-eighth piece in a long, daily series: Reading the NFL Offseason Tea Leaves. If you don’t already know and this is the first Tea Leaf article you’re reading, this series is meant to be a primer for anyone who’s not yet steeped themselves in the NFL’s offseason events. We’ll be touching on the fantasy implications for all 32 NFL teams in regards to:

• Coaching Changes
• Free Agency
• NFL Draft

The 32-day series will go in reverse order of DraftKings odds of winning the Super Bowl, which means today’s article will cover the Philadelphia Eagles who are +1,600 odds.

Article TL;DR: We all knew it was coming. On the start of the new league year the Eagles traded AJ Brown to the Patriots for a 2028 first round pick and a 2027 fifth. That makes the moves the Eagles made in the NFL draft make a lot of sense. The Eagles selected 2025’s Biletnikoff award winner (best WR in the nation) and the John Mackey award winner (best TE in the nation). They traded up in front of the Pittsburgh Steelers to select Makai Lemon while the Steelers were on the phone with Lemon getting ready to select him. They then took TE Eli Stowers, who made Diego Pavia relevant. Seriously, there’s something to an elite talent making an average talent look much better than they are. I first noticed it with Mike Evans and Johnny Manziel, and it’s popped up several times over the years (Jordan Addison & Kenny Pickett recently). In dynasty, these two are primed for successful careers in an offense surrounded by other elite talents. DeVonta Smith is set to absorb the majority of the targets vacated by AJ Brown  going into 2026. Expect a high-end WR2 finish from him at the very least. Saquon Barkley has averaged nearly 300 rush attempts and 57 targets over the last four years, making him one of the safest players in fantasy football from a volume standpoint. Jalen Hurts is set for another QB1 finish with the weapons around him and his rushing TD upside. Sean Mannion takes over as the OC after spending the last two years with the Packers as their Offensive Assistant and QB coach. This will yet again be a run heavy offense, as Nick Sirianni led offenses have finished in the bottom half of the league in pass attempts for his entire tenure in Philadelphia.

Quick plug for the wonderful work our team has done on the Optimus Tools. If you'd like to try out the tools for a week for free use code: CAM26 . With this code you can try out any tier of our subscription. I love the Play-by-Play Situational Analysis tool myself. It's helped me breakdown where players are most frequently used in their offense as I'm working on my rankings.

Previously on Reading the Offseason Tea Leaves:
Arizona Cardinals
Miami Dolphins
Cleveland Browns
New York Jets
Las Vegas Raiders
Atlanta Falcons
Tennessee Titans
Carolina Panthers
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
Indianapolis Colts
Washington Commanders
Minnesota Vikings
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jacksonville Jaguars
Chicago Bears
Dallas Cowboys
Cincinnati Bengals
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
San Francisco 49ers
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
Los Angeles Chargers
Kansas City Chiefs
New England Patriots

We’re closing in on the end of this series with only the top 5 teams to go after today’s post. Thank you guys for all the support, feedback, and for reading this series. Welcome to the twenty-seventh piece in a long, daily series: Reading the NFL Offseason Tea Leaves. If you don’t already know and this is the first Tea Leaf article you’re reading, this series is meant to be a primer for anyone who’s not yet steeped themselves in the NFL’s offseason events. We’ll be touching on the fantasy implications for all 32 NFL teams in regards to:

• Coaching Changes
• Free Agency
• NFL Draft

The 32-day series will go in reverse order of DraftKings odds of winning the Super Bowl, which means today’s article will cover the New England Patriots who are +1,600 odds.

Article TL;DR: The smoke behind AJ Brown to the Patriots finally became fire when the new league year started on June 1st. This trade provided Drake Maye a bonafide WR1 he can feed 120+ targets to. The Patriots also acquired former Packers WR Romeo Doubs in free agency, signing him to a 4-year $68M contract. These two WRs will likely see over 80% of the offensive snaps, leaving Kayshon Boutte and Kyle Williams as their WR3 and WR4. If Boutte moves into a power slot role I think he’ll see a boon in efficiency. Kyle Williams will remain their field stretcher, opening up layers beneath the defense for Maye to throw into. Hunter Henry is on the last year of his contract. Behind him, it’s practically only rookie TE Eli Raridon after Julian Hill suffered a season ending injury during voluntary workouts. Despite ADP trends may lead you to believe, Rhamondre Stevenson is set to lead this backfield again. HC Mike Vrabel mentioned at the start of training camp that Stevenson’s pass blocking is still the best on the team, and that TreVeyon Henderson has made some progress in this area. Stevenson and Henderson will be in the RB2 conversation this year. The Patriots added rookie RB depth with Jam Miller and Myles Montgomery. Neither are likely to do anything in fantasy this year. Drake Maye is set for negative regression in his efficiency metrics. His rushing floor will keep him in the QB1 conversation. There’s more on this in the article.

Previously on Reading the Offseason Tea Leaves:
Arizona Cardinals
Miami Dolphins
Cleveland Browns
New York Jets
Las Vegas Raiders
Atlanta Falcons
Tennessee Titans
Carolina Panthers
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
Indianapolis Colts
Washington Commanders
Minnesota Vikings
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jacksonville Jaguars
Chicago Bears
Dallas Cowboys
Cincinnati Bengals
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
San Francisco 49ers
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
Los Angeles Chargers
Kansas City Chiefs

We’re closing in on the end of this series with only the top 20% of the teams to go. Thank you guys for all the support, feedback, and for reading this series. Welcome to the twenty-sixth  piece in a long, daily series: Reading the NFL Offseason Tea Leaves. If you don’t already know and this is the first Tea Leaf article you’re reading, this series is meant to be a primer for anyone who’s not yet steeped themselves in the NFL’s offseason events. We’ll be touching on the fantasy implications for all 32 NFL teams in regards to:

• Coaching Changes
• Free Agency
• NFL Draft

The 32-day series will go in reverse order of DraftKings odds of winning the Super Bowl, which means today’s article will cover the Kansas City Chiefs who are +1,600 odds.

Article TL;DR: Mahomes suffered an ACL and LCL injury to his left knee that ended his 2025 season. Mahomes reworked his contract and was extended an additional two years to earn a total of $504.75M over the next eight, that’s right, eight years! If Mahomes isn’t ready to start the season they have hedged their QB room by trading for Justin Fields and drafting Garrett Nussmeier in the 7th round. 2026 will likely be a run-heavy year for the Chiefs, who signed former Super Bowl MVP Ken Walker to a 3-year $40M contract with achievable incentives for him to earn an additional $5M. My second favorite RB prospect, Emmett Johnson, was selected in the 5th round by the Chiefs and there has been good buzz coming out on him all offseason. WR Rashee Rice has avoided a suspension so far and is cleared from his offseason knee surgery to participate in camp. He is coming at a discount as fantasy managers only heard negative news on Rice all offseason. WR Xavier Worthy is fully healed from the dislocated shoulder he suffered in week 1 of last year. Expect his usage to look different from 2025. He’s another buy-low option to get a piece of a Mahomes led offense. WR Cyrus Allen tore up the American Bowl, Senior Bowl, and was one of the prospects with the most Top 30 visits with teams ahead of the NFL draft. Travis Kelce is back on what is essentially a 1-year deal worth $12M. Expect another TE1 season from Taylor Swift’s husband. TE John Michael Gyllenborg was a priority UDFA signing for the Chiefs. He’s athletically gifted and came from a run heavy scheme at Wyoming. There’s probably nothing to get excited about here, but we’re all looking for Kelce’s successor and “JMG” has the profile to become it. Eric Bienemy takes over as the Chiefs’ OC. Bienemy has a long history with Andy Reid, and has spent most of his career as a running backs coach. The tea leaves indicate this will be a run-heavy offense in 2026. Don’t forget that when you’re evaluating the backfield.

Previously on Reading the Offseason Tea Leaves:
Arizona Cardinals
Miami Dolphins
Cleveland Browns
New York Jets
Las Vegas Raiders
Atlanta Falcons
Tennessee Titans
Carolina Panthers
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
Indianapolis Colts
Washington Commanders
Minnesota Vikings
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jacksonville Jaguars
Chicago Bears
Dallas Cowboys
Cincinnati Bengals
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
San Francisco 49ers
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
Los Angeles Chargers

Thank you guys for all the support, feedback, and for reading this series. Welcome to the twenty-fifth  piece in a long, daily series: Reading the NFL Offseason Tea Leaves. If you don’t already know and this is the first Tea Leaf article you’re reading, this series is meant to be a primer for anyone who’s not yet steeped themselves in the NFL’s offseason events. We’ll be touching on the fantasy implications for all 32 NFL teams in regards to:

• Coaching Changes
• Free Agency
• NFL Draft

The 32-day series will go in reverse order of DraftKings odds of winning the Super Bowl, which means today’s article will cover the Los Angeles Chargers  who are +1,700 odds.

Article TL;DR: We’re all projecting a major uptick in offensive production for the Chargers after they brought in OC Mike McDaniel to call plays. The Chargers improved their OL with the additions of C Tyler Biadasz and G Cole Strange. Two unofficial lineman were also brought in when the Chargers signed FB Alec Ingold and TE Charlie Kolar as free agents. With tackles Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater coming back, this will be a much improved line than the what we saw at the end of last year. Justin Herbert will likely regress in his rushing totals since he won’t be running away from 300 defensive lineman immediately after hiking the ball. The WR corps is nearly identical to last year, sans Keenan Allen. The Chargers also drafted speedster WR Brenen Thompson, and you know Mike McDaniel was pounding the table for a guy who ran a 4.26 forty at the combine. Thompson’s tape displayed that he can be more than just a clear out option. I wouldn’t count on him surpassing McConkey, Johnston, or Harris as a rookie. In May the Chargers signed TE David Njoku to a 1-year $3M deal with an extra $5M of incentives built in that he can earn. We should pump the brakes on TE Ornode Gadsden breaking out in 2026 as this TE room has added competition. RB Keaton Mitchell signed a 2-year $9.25M deal and the Bolts resigned RB Kimani Vidal to a 1-year $1.1M contract. Omarion Hampton is in line to lead this backfield, but we’ve seen McDaniel create value for two RBs when he had Raheem Mostert and De’Von Achane splitting snaps. Mitchell isn’t an Achane level talent, but there is optimism for him to have spike weeks in a McDaniel offense. The biggest winner of the Chargers offseason is QB Justin Herbert. If most things break right for the Chargers, Herbert is going to be on his way to a top-5 season. His ADP is currently in the backend of the single digit rounds, and if you don’t have a QB by then I’d recommend targeting Herbert at his current price.

Previously on Reading the Offseason Tea Leaves:
Arizona Cardinals
Miami Dolphins
Cleveland Browns
New York Jets
Las Vegas Raiders
Atlanta Falcons
Tennessee Titans
Carolina Panthers
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
Indianapolis Colts
Washington Commanders
Minnesota Vikings
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jacksonville Jaguars
Chicago Bears
Dallas Cowboys
Cincinnati Bengals
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
San Francisco 49ers
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans

Thank you guys for all the support, feedback, and for reading this series. Welcome to the twenty-fourth  piece in a long, daily series: Reading the NFL Offseason Tea Leaves. If you don’t already know and this is the first Tea Leaf article you’re reading, this series is meant to be a primer for anyone who’s not yet steeped themselves in the NFL’s offseason events. We’ll be touching on the fantasy implications for all 32 NFL teams in regards to:

• Coaching Changes
• Free Agency
• NFL Draft

The 32-day series will go in reverse order of DraftKings odds of winning the Super Bowl, which means today’s article will cover the Houston Texans who are +1,800 odds.

Article TL;DR: The Texans made a deal with the Detroit Lions to acquire David Montgomery, solving the question marks at running back. Nico Collins signed a 2-year $60M extension to remain in Houston through 2027. The big winner from both of these offseason moves is CJ Stroud. Stroud has become underrated this offseason after rising into the top of the QB ranks after his rookie season. In the draft the Texans selected TE Marlin Klein with the 59th overall pick. Klein is likely stuck behind Dalton Schultz through the end of Schultz contract, which has 2 years remaining on it.

Previously on Reading the Offseason Tea Leaves:
Arizona Cardinals
Miami Dolphins
Cleveland Browns
New York Jets
Las Vegas Raiders
Atlanta Falcons
Tennessee Titans
Carolina Panthers
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
Indianapolis Colts
Washington Commanders
Minnesota Vikings
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jacksonville Jaguars
Chicago Bears
Dallas Cowboys
Cincinnati Bengals
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
San Francisco 49ers
Green Bay Packers

Thank you guys for all the support, feedback, and for reading this series. Welcome to the twenty-third  piece in a long, daily series: Reading the NFL Offseason Tea Leaves. If you don’t already know and this is the first Tea Leaf article you’re reading, this series is meant to be a primer for anyone who’s not yet steeped themselves in the NFL’s offseason events. We’ll be touching on the fantasy implications for all 32 NFL teams in regards to:

• Coaching Changes
• Free Agency
• NFL Draft

The 32-day series will go in reverse order of DraftKings odds of winning the Super Bowl, which means today’s article will cover the Green Bay Packers  who are +1,800 odds.

Article TL;DR: Christian Watson and Jayden Reed inked new contracts to remain with the Packers. Watson signed a 4-year $92M deal and Reed a 3-year $50M extension. It’s clear who the WR1 will be, and now Reed and Golden will compete for the WR2 role. Tucker Kraft is recovering from a torn ACL he suffered in week 9 of the 2025 season. His goal is to be ready for week 1 of 2026. We should temper our expectations for Kraft. In an expert auction draft I witnessed at the Fantasy Football Expo he went for $2 less than Trey McBride, which feels absurd. Josh Jacobs is set to lead the backfield again in 2026. Last year he ranked 3rd in goal line success rate and 5th in total goal line plays. Jacobs may receive a suspension from the league due to a domestic abuse case. If he were to face a suspension it’s likely to occur in 2027 based on suspension trends. Jordan Love is a safe QB2 with upside with all of these weapons on the Green Bay offense.

If you’re at the Fantasy Football Expo and happen to see this post the day it was posted come say hi to me. I’m a part of the dynasty expert panel and will be talking ball with other dynasty experts at noon today at the expo.

Previously on Reading the Offseason Tea Leaves:
Arizona Cardinals
Miami Dolphins
Cleveland Browns
New York Jets
Las Vegas Raiders
Atlanta Falcons
Tennessee Titans
Carolina Panthers
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
Indianapolis Colts
Washington Commanders
Minnesota Vikings
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jacksonville Jaguars
Chicago Bears
Dallas Cowboys
Cincinnati Bengals
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
San Francisco 49ers

Thank you guys for all the support, feedback, and for reading this series. Welcome to the twenty-second  piece in a long, daily series: Reading the NFL Offseason Tea Leaves. If you don’t already know and this is the first Tea Leaf article you’re reading, this series is meant to be a primer for anyone who’s not yet steeped themselves in the NFL’s offseason events. We’ll be touching on the fantasy implications for all 32 NFL teams in regards to:

• Coaching Changes
• Free Agency
• NFL Draft

The 32-day series will go in reverse order of DraftKings odds of winning the Super Bowl, which means today’s article will cover the San Francisco 49ers  who are +1,900 odds.

Article TL;DR: Mike Evans is a 49er after signing a 3-year $42M deal that is incentive laden in years two and three of the contract. San Fran continued bolstering their WR room in the draft, taking De’Zhaun Stribling with the 33rd pick. Veteran WR Christian Kirk was also brought in on a 1-year deal. Suddenly, this WR room is packed with talent. Evans is clearly the WR1. The WR2 in the offense will be decided during camp. If Ricky Pearsall can stay healthy he’s my bet to win the WR2 role to start the year. George Kittle tore his achilles in January. There is optimism about his week one availability, but the tea leaves point in TE Jake Tonges direction who signed a 2-year $8M deal that is heavily incentivized by percentage of snaps played and hitting achievable catch and yardage goals. There’s also a bonus option of $2.2M for 2027. Tonges is a value at TE heading into the 2026 season. Christian McCaffery is due for a bit of negative regression in 2026 after seeing the heaviest workload of his career in 2025.  Isaac Guerendo, Jordan James, and rookie 3rd round pick Kaelon Black will compete for the RB2 role. All of the reports coming out of the 49ers camps indicate it will be Black backing up CMC. A toe injury prevented Brock Purdy from achieving another QB1 season last year, but our Optimus Tools indicate that he has the upside to achieve a top 5 QB season in 2026. Backup QB Mac Jones was a trade target for NFL teams this offseason, but the 49ers wanted more than NFL teams were willing to pay. Jones will become a free agent in 2027 and will wind up a starting QB in 2027. Stash him in superflex dynasty leagues. This article is the longest one of the series and I highly recommend reading the whole thing.

Previously on Reading the Offseason Tea Leaves:
Arizona Cardinals
Miami Dolphins
Cleveland Browns
New York Jets
Las Vegas Raiders
Atlanta Falcons
Tennessee Titans
Carolina Panthers
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
Indianapolis Colts
Washington Commanders
Minnesota Vikings
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jacksonville Jaguars
Chicago Bears
Dallas Cowboys
Cincinnati Bengals
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions

Thank you guys for all the support, feedback, and for reading this series. Welcome to the twenty-first  piece in a long, daily series: Reading the NFL Offseason Tea Leaves. If you don’t already know and this is the first Tea Leaf article you’re reading, this series is meant to be a primer for anyone who’s not yet steeped themselves in the NFL’s offseason events. We’ll be touching on the fantasy implications for all 32 NFL teams in regards to:

• Coaching Changes
• Free Agency
• NFL Draft

The 32-day series will go in reverse order of DraftKings odds of winning the Super Bowl, which means today’s article will cover the Detroit Lions  who are +1,900 odds.

Article TL;DR: The Detroit Lions opted to rebuild their offensive line with their first pick in the NFL draft, selecting one of my favorite lineman in offensive tackle Blake Miller out of Clemson. In 2025 the Lions lost 4x Pro Bowl C Frank Ragnow to retirement. This offseason they released their 1x Pro Bowl OT Taylor Decker. The line is still anchored by OT Penei Sewell, but it is considerably worse than the elite line we remember from the early 2020s. RB David Montgomery was traded to Houston. Filling his shoes is former Kansas City Chiefs RB Isiah Pacheco. Pacheco is likely in line for 20-30% of snaps, while RB Jahmyr Gibbs dominates the remainder of the workload. The offensive line’s performance shouldn’t affect Gibbs value in fantasy. Drew Petzig takes over as the OC after spending the last three years as Arizona’s OC where he led a rushing offense that was in the top 10 in 2023 and 2024. This signing is an indication that their knee cap biting brand of football isn't going to change. Goff is perennially undervalued, finishing as a QB1 in the past four years and is being drafted as a QB2 in 2026. There aren’t any new pass catchers to commit to memory. Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, and Sam LaPorta will dominate the target share again in 2026. WR Isaac TeSlaa finished 12th in EPA per play last year amongst the WRs. His big play ability is intriguing for best ball formats and as a bye week fill-in. Detroit’s offense will roll again in 2026.

Previously on Reading the Offseason Tea Leaves:
Arizona Cardinals
Miami Dolphins
Cleveland Browns
New York Jets
Las Vegas Raiders
Atlanta Falcons
Tennessee Titans
Carolina Panthers
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
Indianapolis Colts
Washington Commanders
Minnesota Vikings
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jacksonville Jaguars
Chicago Bears
Dallas Cowboys
Cincinnati Bengals
Denver Broncos

Thank you guys for all the support, feedback, and for reading this series. Welcome to the twentieth piece in a long, daily series: Reading the NFL Offseason Tea Leaves. If you don’t already know and this is the first Tea Leaf article you’re reading, this series is meant to be a primer for anyone who’s not yet steeped themselves in the NFL’s offseason events. We’ll be touching on the fantasy implications for all 32 NFL teams in regards to:

• Coaching Changes
• Free Agency
• NFL Draft

The 32-day series will go in reverse order of DraftKings odds of winning the Super Bowl, which means today’s article will cover the Cincinnati Bengals who are +2,000 odds.

Article TL;DR: This is one of the longer tea leaf articles. Bo Nix is poised for another QB1 season despite being valued like a QB2. Jaylen Waddle gets a major boost in value as Denver’s #1 WR. Justin Joly has a write-up you should read. He’s Denver’s TE of the future. JK Dobbins is back on a highly incentivized 2-year deal worth $16M. RB Jonah Coleman will compete with RJ Harvey for the RB2 role. Harvey’s vision needs to improve or he may be relegated to a smaller workload than his ADP suggests. I encourage you to click in and do your own tea leaf reading.

Previously on Reading the Offseason Tea Leaves:
Arizona Cardinals
Miami Dolphins
Cleveland Browns
New York Jets
Las Vegas Raiders
Atlanta Falcons
Tennessee Titans
Carolina Panthers
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
Indianapolis Colts
Washington Commanders
Minnesota Vikings
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jacksonville Jaguars
Chicago Bears
Dallas Cowboys
Cincinnati Bengals

Thank you guys for all the support, feedback, and for reading this series. Welcome to the nineteenth piece in a long, daily series: Reading the NFL Offseason Tea Leaves. If you don’t already know and this is the first Tea Leaf article you’re reading, this series is meant to be a primer for anyone who’s not yet steeped themselves in the NFL’s offseason events. We’ll be touching on the fantasy implications for all 32 NFL teams in regards to:

• Coaching Changes
• Free Agency
• NFL Draft

The 32-day series will go in reverse order of DraftKings odds of winning the Super Bowl, which means today’s article will cover the Cincinnati Bengals who are +2,000 odds.

Article TL;DR: The Bengals are running it back in 2026. In the draft they added WR Colbie Young and TE Jack Endries. Young will compete with Andre Iosivas and Charlie Jones for WR3 duties. I like Iosivas to win the WR3 role again this year. Mike Gesiciki likely leads the TEs in snaps this year, backed up by Erick All and Jack Endries. Erick All sat out all of 2025 recovering from his second ACL tear. He’s a gifted athlete but how much of that athleticism is leftover remains to be seen. Endries popped with Mendoza at Cal before transferring to Texas last year. It’s likely none of the TEs matter that much for fantasy. Chase Brown will be the lead back in 2026 once again. This is a contract year for Brown who is coming off his first career 1,000 yard rushing season. Brown will be looking for a pay day after making a total of $4.1M on his rookie contract. Behind Brown is veteran Samaje Perine, sophomore RB Tahj Brooks, and UDFA RB Jamal Haynes. The other fantasy gems in this offense are household names. I’m talking about Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins. Higgins is coming at a slight discount compared to previous years, while you have to pay the premium for both Burrow and Chase. It’s going to be a good year to stack Cincinnati Bengals in your fantasy lineups.

Previously on Reading the Offseason Tea Leaves:
Arizona Cardinals
Miami Dolphins
Cleveland Browns
New York Jets
Las Vegas Raiders
Atlanta Falcons
Tennessee Titans
Carolina Panthers
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
Indianapolis Colts
Washington Commanders
Minnesota Vikings
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jacksonville Jaguars
Chicago Bears
Dallas Cowboys

We’re over halfway through this series! Thank you for reading, and welcome to the eighteenth piece in a long, daily series: Reading the NFL Offseason Tea Leaves. If you don’t already know and this is the first Tea Leaf article you’re reading, this series is meant to be a primer for anyone who’s not yet steeped themselves in the NFL’s offseason events. We’ll be touching on the fantasy implications for all 32 NFL teams in regards to:

• Coaching Changes
• Free Agency
• NFL Draft

The 32-day series will go in reverse order of DraftKings odds of winning the Super Bowl, which means today’s article will cover the Dallas Cowboys who are +2,500 odds.

Article TL;DR: The Cowboys locked down their RB1 this offseason, signing Javonte Williams to a 3-year $24M deal. George Pickens was franchised tagged, so he will be back in Dallas on a 1-year deal worth $27.2M before becoming an unrestricted free agent next year. Expect Dallas to find the money to keep him around long-term before he hits the market after putting up the best season of his career in 2025. Ryan Flournoy will be the team's WR3 this season after Tolbert signed with Miami. Flournoy was primarily used as a clear out deep threat in 2025, but he displays the skills to work the short and intermediate areas of the field, too. If CeeDee Lamb or Pickens get injured he will be a priority add next season. The ‘Boys made it a priority to sign UDFA TE Michael Trigg immediately after the NFL draft. Trigg is likely stuck behind Jake Ferguson for a few years while he develops. Trigg has the upside to become a TE1 further down the line, and only fell out of the draft due to character concerns. Ferguson is a safe backend TE1 in fantasy this year, and will likely retain this status in 2027. The Cowboys are essentially running it back again in 2026. This is a high octane offense that we will want pieces of so long as Dak is healthy.

Previously on Reading the Offseason Tea Leaves:
Arizona Cardinals
Miami Dolphins
Cleveland Browns
New York Jets
Las Vegas Raiders
Atlanta Falcons
Tennessee Titans
Carolina Panthers
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
Indianapolis Colts
Washington Commanders
Minnesota Vikings
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jacksonville Jaguars
Chicago Bears

We’re over halfway through this series! Thank you for reading, and welcome to the seventeenth piece in a long, daily series: Reading the NFL Offseason Tea Leaves. If you don’t already know and this is the first Tea Leaf article you’re reading, this series is meant to be a primer for anyone who’s not yet steeped themselves in the NFL’s offseason events. We’ll be touching on the fantasy implications for all 32 NFL teams in regards to:

• Coaching Changes
• Free Agency
• NFL Draft

The 32-day series will go in reverse order of DraftKings odds of winning the Super Bowl, which means today’s article will cover the Chicago Bears who are +2,500 odds.

Article TL;DR: The Bear’s Offensive Coordinator left town to work with Lamar Jackson in Baltimore. The Bears promoted from within, giving Passing Game Coordinator Press Taylor the opportunity to orchestrate the offense. WR DJ Moore was traded to the Bills and WR Olamide Zaccheaus signed with the Falcons. In their place the Bears signed WR Kalif Raymond to a 1-year $3.5M deal. Raymond is familiar with Ben Johnson’s offense and should be a plug and play WR3 for the Bears. With the 69th pick in the draft the Bears selected one of my favorite players when they took TE Sam Roush out of Stanford. Roush will likely replace Cole Kmet when he becomes a free agent after the 2027 season. 20 picks later the Bears selected WR Zavion Thomas from LSU. This came as a surprise to many who had Zavion Thomas much lower on their big boards. Thomas is a superb athlete who excels in the return game. There’s been chatter about the team finding ways to weaponize Thomas’ talents. In rookie camp he was used as a RB, which should raise our eyebrows. Who will earn the most targets on the Bears? That’s been the hot topic this offseason and I’m here to tell you we should be buying into Burden, Odunze, and Loveland at their current values. Caleb Williams is setup for long-term success and will likely ascend into the QB1 overall conversation by the end of 2026.

Previously on Reading the Offseason Tea Leaves:
Arizona Cardinals
Miami Dolphins
Cleveland Browns
New York Jets
Las Vegas Raiders
Atlanta Falcons
Tennessee Titans
Carolina Panthers
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
Indianapolis Colts
Washington Commanders
Minnesota Vikings
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jacksonville Jaguars

Is your rookie draft coming up soon? Did it already happen and you’re scouring the waiver wire looking for a hidden gem to add to your taxi? You might find my rookie rankings to be helpful no matter what stage of the dynasty offseason you’re in.

My process for developing rankings starts with film. I watch 3 entire games for every single player. I record notes on every single play that possesses value. If a player gets out and blocks with good technique it’s in my notes and boosts their value due to their ability to potentially see the field at the NFL. Next is a stat deep dive to unearth the quantitative data to accompany what my eyes saw. This year, I was able to get through 110 players prior to the NFL draft.

I had the opportunity to attend the Senior Bowl as media, filming practices and interviewing the players. I came away with 400+ pieces of film to analyze from drills and scrimmages. Ya know who really can’t catch? Kaytron Allen. Cyrus Allen put on a route running clinic, moving way up my board. After watching Ja’Kobi Lane struggle with physical DBs, and standing next to him with his pads off it became obvious that he will need to add muscle before he can win at the NFL level. He’s definitely not a player you’d want to send across the middle of the field until he’s added 15lbs.

After the combine and the draft I adjusted my board, and did so once again after the early offseason camps. What I’ve linked is my pre-training camp rookie rankings. This page will continue to be updated over the course of the summer if you’d like to bookmark it and come back at a later date.

AMA about this rookie class and let’s chat about your favorite prospects in the comments.

We’re halfway through this series! Thank you for reading, and welcome to the sixteenth piece in a long, daily series: Reading the NFL Offseason Tea Leaves.  This series is meant to be a primer for anyone who’s not yet steeped themselves in the NFL’s offseason events. We’ll be touching on the fantasy implications for all 32 NFL teams in regards to:

• Coaching Changes
• Free Agency
• NFL Draft

The 32-day series will go in reverse order of DraftKings odds of winning the Super Bowl, which means today’s article will cover the Jacksonville Jaguars who are +3,000 odds.

Article TL;DR: The only thing I can claim with certainty is that Trevor Lawrence is poised for another QB1 season. The Tea Leaves for the rest of the fantasy relevant players are incredibly abstruse. Bhayshul Tuten has a wide range of outcomes in 2026 and beyond. He’s priced as an RB2 with RB1 upside. Newly acquired battering ram Chris Rodriguez and pass catching back LeQuint Allen are complementary backs that might steal enough of the snap share to prevent Tuten from delivering on his upside. The full gang of WRs is back from last year, plus rookie kick return specialist Josh Cameron. There’s a strong chance you’re unable to rely on a single Jacksonville WR week in and week out. I wish I could provide any amount of clarity, but the truth is you’re probably better off taking your favorite flavor of Jacksonville WR if you want to buy into the pass catchers in this offense. I personally like Travis Hunter and Jakobi Meyers if I’m choosing a Jags wideout. After a strong season from Brenton Strange, Jacksonville rewarded fantasy managers by drafting two TEs. Nate Boerkircher is a strong blocking TE and Tanner Koziol was a target vacuum in college. Jacksonville beat writers have noticed Koziol’s talent this offseason, but he is likely a few years away from being fantasy relevant due to the glut of WR talent. Best of luck when acquiring anyone on this team outside of Trevor Lawrence. I’d recommend the cheapest option at each position to mitigate your risk when selecting Jags. If Bhayshul Tuten plays the majority of snaps in the first two weeks the premium you have to pay to acquire him may be worth it for strong contending rosters.

Previously on Reading the Offseason Tea Leaves:
Arizona Cardinals
Miami Dolphins
Cleveland Browns
New York Jets
Las Vegas Raiders
Atlanta Falcons
Tennessee Titans
Carolina Panthers
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
Indianapolis Colts
Washington Commanders
Minnesota Vikings
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Welcome to the fifteenth piece in a long, daily series: Reading the NFL Offseason Tea Leaves.  This series is meant to be a primer for anyone who’s not yet steeped themselves in the NFL’s offseason events. We’ll be touching on the fantasy implications for all 32 NFL teams in regards to:

• Coaching Changes
• Free Agency
• NFL Draft

The 32-day series will go in reverse order of DraftKings odds of winning the Super Bowl, which means today’s article will cover the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who are +5,000 odds.

Article TL;DR: There is a huge, Mike Evans sized hole over in Tampa Bay. Thankfully for the Buccaneers they have a glut of talent at the WR position between Emeka Egbuka, Chris Godwin, Jalen McMillan, and third round draft pick Ted Hurst. RB Rachaad White took less money than the Bucs paid their newly acquired RB to go play for the Commanders. The Buccaneers brought in Kenneth Gainwell from the Steelers on a 2-year $14M contract and re-signed Sean Tucker to a 1-year $3.5M deal. Bucky Irving is still recovering from an offseason shoulder surgery as of June. Zac Robinson takes over as the OC after two successful years running the Falcons offense. All of the offseason moves from the Buccaneers should help Baker Mayfield achieve his fourth consecutive QB1 finish.

Previously on Reading the Offseason Tea Leaves:
Arizona Cardinals
Miami Dolphins
Cleveland Browns
New York Jets
Las Vegas Raiders
Atlanta Falcons
Tennessee Titans
Carolina Panthers
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
Indianapolis Colts
Washington Commanders
Minnesota Vikings
Pittsburgh Steelers

Welcome to the fourteenth piece in a long, daily series: Reading the NFL Offseason Tea Leaves.  This series is meant to be a primer for anyone who’s not yet steeped themselves in the NFL’s offseason events. We’ll be touching on the fantasy implications for all 32 NFL teams in regards to:

• Coaching Changes
• Free Agency
• NFL Draft

The 32-day series will go in reverse order of DraftKings odds of winning the Super Bowl, which means today’s article will cover the Pittsburgh Steelers who are +5,000 odds.

Article TL;DR: The Steelers and long-time Head Coach Mike Tomlin parted ways this offseason. Replacing Tomlin is Mike McCarthy, who was apparently a good enough signing for Aaron Rodgers to return on a 1-year $22.5M deal. Back-to-back 1,000-yard rusher Rico Dowdle was signed to replace Kenneth Gainwell in the backfield. Dowdle and fellow RB Jaylen Warren are on similar contracts through 2027 and will likely serve as a 1-2 punch, with both seeing nearly 50% of snaps. The Steelers bolstered their offensive line during the draft, selecting tackle Max Iheanachor in round one and guard Gennings Dunker in round 3. WR Michael Pittman was acquired in a trade and the Steelers drafted WR Germie Bernard in round two to give Rodgers additional weapons in the short to intermediate areas of the field. TE Darnell Washington signed a 4-year $42M deal in June to remain with the team through the 2030 season. After 5 consecutive seasons where the Steelers were in the bottom half of the league in terms of total offensive yards, they’ll look to reverse their fortunes behind a Mike McCarthy led offense. McCarthy’s offenses have been in the top half of the league for total yards in six of the last seven seasons.

Previously on Reading the Offseason Tea Leaves:
Arizona Cardinals
Miami Dolphins
Cleveland Browns
New York Jets
Las Vegas Raiders
Atlanta Falcons
Tennessee Titans
Carolina Panthers
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
Indianapolis Colts
Washington Commanders
Minnesota Vikings