Fantasy Football 2026: AFC and NFC North burning questions for your draft planning

Welcome to Part III of my fantasy look-ahead for this coming season, in the form of what I see as the biggest question for each NFL squad from a fantasy standpoint.

You can find the NFC East and AFC East columns by clicking the links. As I mentioned in those pieces, a record 10 NFL teams have new Head Coaches for the 2026 season, and 21 teams have new Offensive Coordinators, so multiple offenses could look a lot different this season. Free agency is starting, trades are happening, and we’ve still

got the draft next month. There will be many more changes to consider before fantasy draft season arrives. We’ll deal with all of that as the offseason rolls on. For now, I’m asking questions based on what we know today. Free agency and trades can be an absolute frenzy, so by the time this publishes, it might be outdated!

This installment covers the NFC North and AFC North. Both divisions had surprising champions last season, and should be very competitive in 2026 (with the exception of the Browns, of course). The AFC North had the league’s two longest-tenured head coaches, and both are gone, so the division might feel unfamiliar this season. The NFC North is once again loaded, with all four teams having legitimate playoff aspirations.

From a fantasy standpoint, there’s a lot to like from both divisions, including two players (Jahmyr Gibbs and Ja’Marr Chase) who many will rank as their RB1 and WR1, plus a former overall WR1 (Justin Jefferson) who will try to erase the nightmare of 2024 from our collective memories.

Teams are listed in order of finish from last season. All fantasy rankings are for Half-PPR scoring, on a fantasy points per game (FPPG) basis, with Week 18 excluded.

NFC NORTH

Chicago Bears.

QUESTION: Has the hype train left the station?

The worst-to-first Bears were among the NFL’s best stories last season. They also were endlessly entertaining. From the record-breaking number of comebacks in the final two minutes, to Ben Johnson’s shirtless and expletive-filled locker room speeches, to the final comeback against the Rams in the divisional round that ultimately fell short, Da Bears were must-see TV in 2025.

From a fantasy standpoint, there was some inconsistency, but plenty of Chicago players were useful assets throughout the season. Expectations are now sky-high, and the biggest concern (too many mouths to feed) was eased with the announced trade of #1 WR D.J. Moore to the Bills. The prospects of Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III, and Colston Loveland just went through the roof. Are those players (and Caleb Williams, who took a big step forward in his sophomore year) going to get too expensive, or is Ben Johnson simply going to turn this team into a fantasy juggernaut like he did with the 2022-2024 Lions? If that’s the case, fantasy managers will want to get as much of the goodies as they can.  

We’ll see where Average Draft Position (ADP) settles, but if you want a main piece of this offense it’s going to be expensive, and especially considering how little track record there is to support those prices. Will it be worth it?

Green Bay Packers.

QUESTION: Where should Tucker Kraft be drafted in 2026?

I debated asking this question for Christian Watson, who was just inside the Top-20 WRs from his return from injury in Week 8 through Week 17. But I’ll go with Kraft, because he has the chance to be in the top tier of players at his position but is coming off a major injury.

At the time Kraft tore his ACL in Week 9, he was just ahead of Trey McBride for the TE1 spot, at around 14 FPPG. He was coming into his own at age 24, the rapport with Jordan Love was zooming, and then it came to an abrupt halt. It’s a cruel game sometimes. Kraft could be ready to play in Week 1, and with Romeo Doubs potentially leaving via free agency there could be less target competition. We’ll know more in the preseason, but if he is good to go, Kraft should be among the first handful of tight ends drafted.

Detroit Lions.

QUESTION: Is the big Jameson Williams breakout ever happening?

The first four years of Williams’s career have been interesting, to say the least. Injuries and a gambling suspension marred his first two seasons, but after he scored two TDs (one rushing, one receiving) in the 2024 NFC Championship game at San Francisco, he’s been a regular on the lists of breakout candidates for the past two seasons. There have been moments, but the explosion hasn’t happened and he’s still the third or maybe even fourth option on his team. The good news is he’s still only 24.

Williams is a big-play threat (17.2 yards per reception in 2025, 17.3 in 2024), on a team with multiple big-play threats and that includes second year man Isaac TeSlaa, whose six TD catches were just one shy of Williams, on 49 fewer receptions. Williams did hit 100 targets and 1,000 yards in 2025, and his WR17 finish (11.1 FPPG) was his best so far. But he scored less than six fantasy points six different weeks, and continues to be a boom/bust option. That will likely continue, which can be frustrating for fantasy managers, but if the booms are frequent and big enough, it’s fine. Is a big breakout coming? If it doesn’t, he’ll probably again just be “OK” in terms of a value at ADP.

Minnesota Vikings.

QUESTION: What would a Kyler Murray signing mean for the Vikings’ offense?

Multiple reports are linking Murray to the Vikings, and if he ends up starting there, what will it mean for Kevin O’Connell’s offense? J.J. McCarthy hasn’t developed into what Minnesota envisioned when they took him with the 10^th pick in 2024, and the main pass-caching weapons all suffered from poor QB play in 2025. None felt that more than Justin Jefferson. JJ was easily the most disappointing first-round pick in fantasy last season, and perhaps no player sank more fantasy seasons. It’s very hard to bench a complete stud like Jefferson when he isn’t producing, which makes it even worse. I see some of you nodding along.

Murray hasn’t always been a floor raiser (Trey McBride scored more TDs in 12 starts with Jacoby Brissett last season than he did in three-plus seasons with Murray), but he’s has never had a coach O’Connell, or a skill group like Minnesota’s. O’Connell already resurrected the career of one former Top-3 pick in Sam Darnold. Why not another? Let’s see if he signs there before we get too ahead of ourselves.

AFC NORTH

Pittsburgh Steelers.

QUESTION: What is this?

Perhaps no NFL team currently raises more questions than the Steelers. For the first time in about two decades, Mike Tomlin is not their Head Coach. Mike McCarthy replaced him, and he’s generally had pretty good offenses (but he’s also had the luxury of two outstanding QBs in their primes). Who is the Steelers’ QB? Is Aaron Rodgers coming back? Will they keep Kenneth Gainwell or will he walk? Who are the receivers going to be? Right now, they only have three under contract: D.K. Metcalf, Roman Wilson, and Ben Skowronek, and those last two only have 79 career catches between them.

Could the Steelers have some fantasy value in 2026? Sure. But for now, almost everything about this offense is wait and see. So let’s stick a pin in them and wait.

Baltimore Ravens.

QUESTION: Should we expect a return to vintage Lamar?

I’d ask a question about Derrick Henry’s age, but that dude is just “built diff”, as they say, and I won’t worry about him going off the age cliff until it happens.

So let’s talk about Lamar. After an MVP year in 2023 and an even better season in 2024, he was neck-and-neck with Josh Allen for the QB1 spot. But he battled injuries throughout 2025 and fell off significantly, with his rushing in particular dipping a lot. After consecutive seasons with at least 800 rushing yards and four rushing TDs, he only had 349 yards and two TDs in 2025, in 13 games. Lamar turned 29 in January, and it’s possible that his days of massive rushing totals are behind him. Is he worth a late second round pick in 2026? How far does he have to fall before you simply can’t pass him up?

Cincinnati Bengals.

QUESTION: Can Joe Burrow stay healthy?

The Bengals have opened the checkbook to give Burrow the receivers he wants, but some of the cost of that has been ongoing offensive line problems. Burrow suffered yet another serious injury in 2025, and while he did return to action at the end of the season, it was already too late. Burrow has now missed 22 starts in six seasons, and has suffered a major injury in half of those seasons. In a division with Myles Garrett, T.J. Watt, and now Maxx Crosby, well, let’s just say “good luck, Joe.”

As goes Burrow, so goes the team. Joe Flacco was an OK fill-in for a few games, but Jake Browning wasn’t, and given the cost to draft Chase Brown, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins (plus Burrow himself), Burrow’s health is about as important as any player in the league, for fantasy.

Cleveland Browns.

QUESTION: Deshaun Watson? Really, Cleveland? Come on, really???

The Browns are the only team in the NFL that has failed to score 300 points in each of the last two seasons, and after scoring the fewest points in the league in 2024, the only team they outscored in 2025 was the lowly Raiders. This is a bad offense.

But as awful as it’s been, there were a couple of very bright spots last season in rookies Harold Fannin, Jr. and Quinshon Judkins. Fannin, with 9.4 FPPG, actually outscored fellow rookies Tyler Warren and Colston Loveland, and believe it or not, finished the season as the TE5, despite poor QB play. As for Judkins, he didn’t have a contract until after the season started, but to the surprise of many he hit the ground running and was the RB16 from Week 2 (his first game) through Week 13, but then got banged up and fell off. He’s a very good back and should dominate carries as long as he’s healthy.

If recent Browns’ history is a judge, both Fannin and Judkins, plus anyone else who might be worth a flier, will be limited by the offense they’re in, and especially by the play that the team gets at QB. Deshaun Watson’s tenure in Cleveland has been atrocious, and he’s coming off a pair of Achilles tendon tears. But there’s still a lot of money tied up in him and if I had to guess, he’ll be the opening day starter, ahead of Shedeur Sanders. How much can Fannin, Judkins, and the rest overcome what is almost certain to be bad quarterbacking? That’s the question fantasy managers will have to ask themselves as they ponder clicking on any Browns.

That’s it for the North divisions. Coming next: The Souths, so keep it here!