For fantasy managers who drafted Courtland Sutton, the season has been a frustrating ride. After a couple of solid seasons, his 2026 campaign has been a story of vanishing production, leaving many to ask a tough but necessary question.
The Production Nosedive
Through eight games
of the 2026 season, Courtland Sutton’s stat line is a cause for serious concern. He has just 20 catches for 221 yards and a single touchdown. His most productive game of the season saw him catch four passes for 53 yards. For a receiver who topped 1,000 yards in both 2024 and 2025, this year's average of 27.6 yards per game is a dramatic decline. The volume simply isn't there; he's averaging just 4.6 targets per game, a significant drop from the 7.3 he saw in 2025. In his last four contests, he hasn't received more than five targets in any single game. This low usage makes him an incredibly volatile and touchdown-dependent option, a risky proposition for any fantasy lineup.
An Offense in Flux
The entire Denver Broncos offense has struggled to find consistency, which directly impacts Sutton's fantasy value. Quarterback Bo Nix's performance has been uneven, and the passing game ranks 28th in the league with a meager 181.6 yards per game. This low output creates a shallow pool of fantasy points to go around. Furthermore, the offseason trade for receiver Jaylen Waddle has clearly shifted the offensive hierarchy. While Waddle has also been impacted by the struggling passing attack, he has seen more targets than Sutton, cementing him as a primary option. Pundits and even former players have described the offense as 'dreadful for stretches,' and while the team has managed to grind out a 6-2 record, it hasn't been on the back of a high-flying aerial attack.
The Quarterback Conundrum
Bo Nix’s play is central to Sutton’s predicament. After a breakout 2025 season was cut short by an ankle injury, his 2026 performance has been a step back. Nix's yards per attempt and passer rating are down, and he appears more conservative, which doesn't align with Sutton's skill set as a downfield, contested-catch receiver. The connection between the two has been particularly poor; at one point early in the season, Nix had a passer rating of just 12.9 when targeting Sutton. While teammates, including Sutton himself, have publicly supported Nix and expressed confidence that things will turn around, the on-field results have yet to match that optimism. Unless the passing game as a whole improves, Sutton’s ceiling will remain severely capped.
The Verdict: What to Do With Sutton
Given the data, the answer is clear: Courtland Sutton is, at best, a fantasy bench candidate in most standard-sized leagues. He should not be in your starting lineup until he demonstrates a significant and sustained turnaround. His low target volume, the struggles of the Broncos' passing offense, and his new role as a secondary option behind Jaylen Waddle make him far too risky to trust. While he still gets red-zone looks, his overall usage is just too low to provide a reliable floor. In deeper leagues (12 teams or more), his name recognition and theoretical upside might make him worth stashing on your bench in case of an injury to another receiver or a sudden offensive resurgence. However, in smaller 10-team leagues, fantasy managers could reasonably consider dropping him for a higher-upside waiver wire option who is seeing more consistent targets.
