2026 Fantasy Football Bounceback Players: Who To Target?

Welcome back to the fantasy football season! Draft Buddy is back for its 25th(?) year [editor’s note: 26], and now it’s better than ever. Scott Fish Bowl 16 is up and running. Make sure to sign up so you can get in and donate, donate, donate! Mandatory OTAs are running around the country, and the weather is, well, the weather is doing whatever the weather does these days. The point is, football will be here before you know it.

Today, I want to talk to you about bounceback players. You know, the guys who hurt you in 2025, but the stars are aligning for them to shine in 2026. So welcome in and don’t mind the mess; we’re all a little mad in here.

WR Rome Odunze, Chicago Bears (FantasyPros WR29)

As of this article, Rome Odunze is in a tier along with fellow fantasy disappointments Marvin Harrison Jr., Brian Thomas Jr., and the now highly paid Alec Pierce. I’m honestly a little surprised that he’s as high as he is, considering he was WR49 from Week 4 on in ‘25 in terms of points per game. The intriguing part? Weeks 1-3 he was WR3 in PPG. That’s WR3 overall.

The exodus of DJ Moore to Buffalo creates a void in the Bears’ passing game. Many people are assuming Luther Burden or Colston Loveland to step into that void and take the sophomore leap. However, Odunze has an advantage the other two don’t; he’s Done The Thing before. Is it a guarantee? No, absolutely not. This is a game with an oblong spheroid, after all, and the ball often bounces weirdly. But a WR29 cost is a great price to pay to find out.

RB Ashton Jeanty, Las Vegas Raiders (FantasyPros RB6)

It feels strange to list the 2025 RB13 as a “bounce-back” player, but considering the lofty expectations and frequent 1st round draft capital for Ashton Jeanty in 2025, I believe it’s warranted. Even though the Raiders didn’t do a lot to shore up a leaky offensive line, there are actual adults in the room now. Gone are the days of Pete Carroll not knowing the plays and Geno Smith looking lost on the field. Insert Klint Kubiak, who made the ghosts disappear for Sam Darnold for at least one season, as well as rookie QB Fernando Mendoza. 

Even if Kirk Cousins starts the season for the Raiders, the rising tide that is Kubiak should be enough to lift the offense to general relevance on a weekly basis. But just like in 2025, the Raiders don’t really have great RB options behind Jeanty. This means the backfield is essentially entirely his. Well, as much as a backfield can be in 2026. It probably won’t be a massive step forward for the sophomore RB, but solid progress? It’s almost hard for him not to given the situation.

RB Quinshon Judkins, Cleveland Browns (RB21)

“How dare you recommend a player on the Cleveland Browns?!” Valid. So valid. Even bad teams can and do hold viable fantasy options, though, and Quinshon Judkins is exactly that. First, let’s get the bad out of the way. It’s the Browns. They have an entirely new offensive line. Their QB situation has somehow not changed at all, and Deshaun Watson is locked in a “riveting” QB battle with sophomore Shedeur Sanders. Judkins is coming off a brutal ankle injury with a horrible track record of recovery.

With that all said, I can genuinely understand the RB21 ranking. However, Judkins simply has an upside that most RBs around him in the rankings don’t have. Joe Flacco wasn’t great for Cleveland in 2025, but he was a real QB for them, and when Judkins got up to speed with Flacco as the QB, his worst finish was RB18. Granted, only three games, but he showed he can Do The Thing, even in Cleveland. So the bar at QB is very low, and while Judkins finished outside of RB24 in six of eight games to finish the season, his recovery is showing reasons to have faith in ‘26.

QB Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (QB20)

Okay, I know Baker Mayfield had a rough finish to his season, so I get the reasoning behind not ranking him as a top 6 QB. But in a season where he spent a good portion of the year throwing to Sterling Shepard, Tez Johnson, and Kameron Johnson, we need to take the 2025 season for Mayfield with a grain of salt. A hamstring injury in Week 4 hampered even his top target, now sophomore Emeka Egbuka. While the injury didn’t cause Egbuka to miss any games, it clearly hampered his explosion throughout the season and threw off his timing with Mayfield.

QB is that position where if you only have to start one, it’s a virtual wonderland because you can wait a long time and still get a very good one. Mayfield is a perfect example. Even though Mike Evans is now playing for San Francisco (how weird is that?!), Mayfield has shown repeatedly that he can thrive no matter who he’s throwing to. Well, almost no matter. A fully healthy Egbuka and veteran Chris Godwin will certainly help.

TE Jake Ferguson, Dallas Cowboys (TE12)

I can hear it now. “Jake Ferguson was only good last year when CeeDee Lamb was out of the lineup.” That’s not entirely true, he had really decent volume all year thanks to how much Dallas threw the ball. His production definitely followed the pattern, though, so after his white hot start to the season, Ferguson faded a bit down the stretch. So why do I say he’ll bounce back?

In short, George Pickens. If ever there was a situation that screams “flash in the pan,” it’s Pickens. He put up awesome numbers in 2025, no doubt about it. Now he’s on the franchise tag and wants a new big deal. Of course, there are conflicting reports about whether or not he’s even signed his franchise tag and if he will hold out into training camp or the preseason. We already know his production will suffer if/when he does. And then it’s Ferguson’s time to shine. And he’s already shown you that he can.