2026 Revenge Games To Watch For Fantasy Football

The Social Media Super Bowl is over, and now we have the full look of the NFL schedule for 2026. We still have one brutal Bye-Maggedon in Week 11 that sees six teams on a bye (Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles Rams, New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks), and we have four teams that won't even get an NFL Primetime game, sorry, not sorry, Browns fans.

All in all, we have a clearer picture of what 2026 could bring during the season, which means we also have some games to circle in our calendars and get our popcorn ready for … It's revenge SZN!

Kenneth Walker takes on his old squad (Chiefs @ Seahawks Week 7)

Yeah, definitely get your popcorn ready for this one. While there is no assumed bad blood between the Seahawks and Kenneth Walker, they were the ones to let him go in free agency and he's probably going to want them to regret that. The Seahawks used Zach Charbonnet in tandem with Walker last season, making it a 1A/1B fantasy football headache.

There's going to be none of that in Kansas City, though, as the Chiefs only added Emmett Johnson during the draft. He's not going to top his highest rushing performance of his career (167 rushing yards against the Chargers in 2023), but you know Walker wants nothing more than to prove to Seattle that they should have kept him. The even bigger question will be if Mike MacDonald knows him well enough to bottle him up (my gut says yes).

Geno Smith's offensive line finally holds up (Jets vs. Raiders Week 8)

Just how bad was it last season for Geno Smith in Las Vegas? Uhh, not great:

EPA per dropback: -0.11 (34th)
Passer rating: 84.7 (33rd)
PFF pass grade: 58.2 (34th)
Interceptions: 17 (last)

No, the offensive line obviously didn't help much, but what if Smith actually does write back this time? Just one more time? The Raiders obviously hope they have their quarterback of the future in the building with Fernando Mendoza, and by Week 8, we should probably be seeing him starting ahead of Kirk Cousins. This will be Smith's time to show he still has something left in the tank (at least enough to make Garrett Wilson a WR1 in fantasy, please). I'm sure the Raiders will want to tack on a few more sacks to whatever Smith's tally will be at the time, though …

Is Romeo Doubs THE guy? (Patriots vs. Packers Week 9)

As of writing this newsletter, A.J. Brown is still with the Eagles, which means that Romeo Doubs is THE guy for Drake Maye and the Patriots. He's showcasing his new threads against his old Packers team and hopefully showing that a larger workload suits him.

Doubs finished as the WR47, WR48 and WR43 in PPR points per game during the past three seasons in a very crowded Green Bay wide receiver room. He now gets to catch passes from Drake Maye, who could help elevate his play even further. Does he bring out a cheese grater at the end???

It's the Daboll-Bowl (Titans @ Giants Week 3)

Titans offensive coordinator Brian Daboll gets a shoutout here simply because revenge isn't just for the players. The New York Giants fired Daboll last season after a 2-8 start to his fourth season in New York. Daboll had a 20-40-1 record over his three and a half seasons with the Giants and now gets to showcase his skillset with Cam Ward and the Titans.

We've seen before that some guys are just better coordinators than they are head coaches, but Daboll would probably relish the opportunity to show his old team he still has what it takes to get a win. Hopefully, but like five or six wins preferably for the season if you don't mind.

ICYMI: A banger of a Thanksgiving Slate

Bank on Drake Maye’s Rise to Stardom

For all the people who a year ago were calling Drake Maye a sleeper, who could have predicted a near-MVP season? After passing for 4,394 yards and 31 TDs, adding in 450 rushing yards and 4 scores, and finishing tied for fourth with 20.4 fantasy points per game, Maye has risen the ranks to superstar status. He’ll be 24, is projected for another big year and forward-thinking fantasy managers can see Maye as a QB they can count on for years to come.

UNest works the same way. You don't wait until your kid is 16 to start building their financial future. You start now, when time is your single greatest advantage. A tax-advantaged investment account that grows with your child, set up in under 10 minutes. The long game is always the smartest play, on the field and off it.

LEARN MORE

Around the Watercooler

The latest fantasy and NFL gossip, news, memes and more from our merry band of football nerds …

👀 The Week 17 schedule is here. Game stacks and best ball playoff schedules to target.

📝 Mark your calendars. Every bye week, headlined by Week 11 …

🚀 After a breakout 2025, the sky is the limit for this offense in 2026.

😂 Did you miss the schedule release videos? The best of the best.

🗓️ Eight teams have two MNF games in 2026 … and not a single double-header?!

📉 From WR11 to WR23 … his stock is rapidly falling.

Are We Underrating Travis Etienne’s Upside In NO?

If you are not hunting for upside in your upcoming fantasy drafts, you are doing yourself a disservice. League-winning players rarely come from playing it safe.

There are plenty of indicators pointing to breakout potential, but one underrated category fantasy managers need to pay closer attention to is red-zone usage. After all, touchdowns are what swing matchups and win championships.

Let us dig into a few overlooked players who could see a major spike in opportunities where fantasy points matter most inside the red zone.

🔥 Travis Etienne | RB | NO

The New Orleans Saints feel like one of those teams ready to take a real step forward in 2026. Over their final eight games last season, New Orleans won five, and the momentum feels real. I’m bought in. In fact, they have a legitimate path to winning the NFC South.

Tyler Shough looks poised to build on last season’s progress, and adding rookie WR Jordyn Tyson in the first round should only help keep this offense moving. That is great news for Travis Etienne.

Etienne quietly set a career high with 67 red zone touches last season, finishing as the RB10, and there is every reason to believe that number climbs in a rejuvenated Kellen Moore offense. No Saints running back logged more than 20 red zone opportunities in 2025, making this a clear area of need near the goal line.

We have already seen what Moore can do with touchdown-heavy backs like Saquon Barkley and Ezekiel Elliott. If Etienne locks down that role in New Orleans, the touchdowns could come in waves. Double-digit scores for Etienne feel very much in play down in the Big Easy.

TWO MORE WITH MASSIVE RED-ZONE UPSIDE

Get Out While You Still Can

We no longer have to beg for scraps and leaks; the NFL finally released the full schedule.

We can now use it to suss out any rough patches that our fantasy players might be up against and plan accordingly.

To be clear, not every player with a concerning early-season schedule should be traded. We’re still talking about dynasty here. We don’t jettison players based on one (fairly nebulous) data point. BUT, there’s a small subset of players that already had an uphill battle to meet their current dynasty values, and this was the straw that could break the dynasty manager’s back.

Here are some players you may want to trade away before the season gets underway ...

Jacoby Brissett | QB | ARI

Get what you can while you can, folks. Brissett is coming off a season where he averaged an outrageous 40 pass attempts per game, which allowed him to post a gaggle of top-10 fantasy performances and make him a bit of a Superflex darling.

We already expected Brissett’s pass attempts to decrease drastically, in no small part because the team heavily invested in Jeremiyah Love. Then, of course, we have to factor in his ongoing contract dispute.

And now, even if the 33-year-old QB gets paid and is ready to suit up in Week 1, he has to face the Seahawks, Rams and Broncos within the first seven weeks. All of those teams are in the top four of our D/ST rankings, by the way. So yes, “yikes” is the appropriate reaction. The Cardinals will also contend with the Chargers, Lions and 49ers in that stretch, and none of those defenses are slouches. In fact, the only drop of water in this barren desert of a fantasy schedule will come from the Giants in Week 4.

If things go as poorly for Brissett and company as I expect them to, we might see a healthy dose of third-round rookie Carson Beck to close out the season. In Superflex, see if any QB-needy teams would be willing to part with a 2027 second-round rookie pick.

THREE MORE PLAYERS TO SELL