2026 Fantasy Football Quarter-Season Awards
Now that we have four games under our belt for this NFL season, it is time to look back at some of the best of the best and worst of the worst from fantasy drafts this offseason. These four weeks have been some of the more injury-riddled in recent memory, and it shows in some of the start-sit decisions we have had to make before bye weeks even start. As we go through these awards, keep in mind that any player who has suffered a serious injury will not be taken into consideration. This will mostly apply to the more negative awards.
Fantasy MVP
The Fantasy MVP is always an interesting topic because it is so subjective and could be interpreted in so many different ways. You can interpret this as simply the best player so far. There will be a different award later for the best ‘value.’
Finalists: Jahmyr Gibbs, Kenneth Walker, Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Winner: Jaxon Smith-Njigba
In what has been a bit of a down-year for the wide receiver position to this point, Jaxon Smith-Njigba has somehow not only replicated his otherworldly efficiency last year, but has blown it out of the water. The PPR WR1 through 4 weeks is averaging 29.2 points per game, leading all scorers and squashing any potential doubt about him being able to transcend what is still a relatively low-volume passing offense in Seattle. His QB has missed almost half of the snaps this season and it just doesn’t matter, as the Podfather over at PlayerProfiler coined the term “The Tom Savage Corollary,” a nod to DeAndre Hopkins’s incredible ability to produce in Houston with some of the worst QB play imaginable, sometimes the most elite receivers are just too good to fail. JSN’s 17-game pace has him at 136 receptions, 2,044 receiving yards, and 26 touchdowns. Not too bad for a guy who made it all the way to pick 8 in some drafts.
Fantasy Industry Plant
Every offseason, there are a few players who just get pushed up all summer to an astronomical price strictly due to hype from the fantasy community or sometimes a random comment from a coach or a beat writer. You could argue that the top three preseason candidates for this award are all out of the running, with Parker Washington off to quite the hot start and Jonathan Brooks and De’Zhaun Stribling both already on IR.
Finalists: MarShawn Lloyd, Marvin Harrison Jr., Omarion Hampton
Winner: Omarion Hampton
All we heard all offseason from the talking heads in the fantasy community (including myself unfortunately) was how elite this Chargers offense was going to be with new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel and the talented group of weapons they have. The one guy I was never really sold on though was Omarion Hampton at cost. The Chargers second-year back closed draft season at RB9 and 15th overall, going ahead of names like Kenneth Walker, Brock Bowers, and Derrick Henry without very much evidence that he is a good NFL RB and with the Chargers bringing in more backfield competition this offseason in Keaton Mitchell who is much more of a fit for the McDaniel scheme anyway. The result so far has been a total disappointment, with Hampton averaging just over 10 PPR points per game and leaving fantasy managers wondering what to do with their supposed RB1. The meteoric rise of the entire Chargers offense throughout the summer put all of their fantasy-relevant players in a position to disappoint.
Best Pick
Everyone drafting in the later rounds is looking for that league winning upside. Each year, there is at least one guy drafted outside the first 3 rounds who goes onto be rostered on at least 30% of championship rosters. These guys have been the best values at their ADP through 4 weeks.
Finalists: Matthew Golden, Chuba Hubbard, George Kittle
Winner: Chuba Hubbard
The Panthers’ bellcow RB has handled north of 80% of the touches in their backfield after a summer of plummeting down draft boards in favor of backfield counterpart Jonathan Brooks, whose photo is in the Webster Dictionary right next to the term Fantasy Industry Plant. Hubbard has 5 touchdowns through four games and is currently the RB8 averaging nearly 20 PPR points per game. Chuba’s ADP by the time the season had started had sunk all the way down to the mid-90s by the end of draft season, while Brooks was up in the early 70s. This situation should serve as a reminder that sometimes the allure of the unknown takes fantasy gamers away from reality, and betting on a guy who has never made it through an NFL game over a proven NFL veteran who has done it before might not always make sense. Aside from the lesson in this situation, Hubbard has had an absolutely elite season with top-tier usage, and the Carolina offense is not showing any signs of slowing down.
Worst Pick
Injuries can be devastating to fantasy seasons, but it just feels worse when you can’t even use them as an excuse for having made a bad pick. There have been lots of disappointments thus far this season from players drafted in the front halves of drafts. Here are a few.
Finalists: Saquon Barkley, George Pickens, Kyle Pitts
Winner: Saquon Barkley
Well, turns out it wasn’t a Kevin Patullo issue, at least not entirely. Barkley looking like a shell of his former self has carried over into 2026, and now the Eagles have lost two starting offensive linemen this week while Saquon pulled up with a hamstring injury in Week 4. The Eagles offense as a whole has been a total disaster under new coordinator Sean Mannion, and it appears that Nick Sirianni may be on the way out at head coach in Philadelphia as well. Barkley is the RB40 currently, having yet to find the end zone this year and despite actually being relatively efficient as a runner, he finds himself all of the sudden in one of the worst fantasy environments in football. Barkley was going at the ½ turn in drafts this offseason and has just been a total waste up until this point, having yet to even reach 10 PPR points in a game thus far. The future is looking very bleak for Barkley, and fantasy managers may need to see if they can extract any value from him just based off his name.
The Waiver Wire Wonder
The old adage that ‘the league is won on the waiver wire’ may be less true than ever these days, as fantasy gamers are becoming sharper and sharper every year, but there are still players every year who come out of nowhere and end up being key cogs to championship runs.
Finalists: Bryce Young, DeVaughn Vele, Mike Gesicki
Winner: Bryce Young
It has been a bit of a slow start for folks who need some juice off of the waiver wire for their fantasy teams. The one exception is Bryce Young, who has been an absolute Godsend to teams who lost Jaxson Dart, Caleb Williams, or drafted Justin Herbert this season. The overall QB3 is on pace to crush all of his career highs in passing numbers, and has answered all the questions about whether he is a franchise QB and whether he can support two fantasy relevant wide receivers as well. Young leads the league in pass yards and is tied for 3rd with 9 passing touchdowns. The only knock on Young thus far is that he has played a relatively soft schedule, but if he is able to continue on this trajectory, Bryce managers will have gotten a top 5 quarterback completely for free. So far, Young is the only true difference maker you may have been able to get off of waivers.
The All-Fantasy Teams
First Team
QB: Josh Allen
RB: Jahmyr Gibbs
RB: Kenneth Walker
WR: Jaxon Smith-Njigba
WR: Ceedee Lamb
WR: Chris Olave
TE: Trey McBride
D/ST: Vikings
K: Spencer Shrader
Second Team
QB: Brock Purdy
RB: Bijan Robinson
RB: Kyren Williams
WR: Amon-Ra St. Brown
WR: Zay Flowers
WR: Christian Watson
TE: Brock Bowers
D/ST: Steelers
K: Will Reichard
Third Team:
QB: Bryce Young
RB: Derrick Henry
RB: Jonathan Taylor
WR: Jalen Coker
WR: Jamar Chase
WR: Nico Collins
TE: George Kittle
D/ST: Seahawks
K: Matt Gay
