Marvin Harrison Jr. & More Players Facing Make-Or-Break Dynasty Fantasy Football Seasons

This column is all about players who, for the sake of sounding dramatic, have a ton riding on this season. From a dynasty fantasy football perspective, there are so many ways the future can go based on what happens over the next several months. Will values rebound to where they once were, or will the proverbial nail be hammered into the coffin for the final time? Let's take a closer look at two QBs and two WRs.

Players Facing Make-Or-Break Seasons In 2026 Dynasty Fantasy Football

Bryce Young | QB | CAR

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, Bryce Young has, so far, failed to live up to the expectations that come with being the first player off the board. He's played in at least 14 games in all three seasons, so we have a pretty solid sample size, and here are his career-best marks in a variety of categories:

Passing yards - 3,011
Passing TDs - 23
Completion % - 63.6

Those aren't great numbers in a vacuum, but they're especially bad numbers for the guy taken ahead of every other player in his draft class.

We've seen flashes of strong play from Young throughout the years. He's kept his INT numbers relatively in check (averaging about 0.6 INTs per game) and posted surprising rushing numbers for a 5-foot-10, 204-pound quarterback who was not known for his game-breaking rushing ability. He's topped 215 rushing yards in each season and has eight rushing TDs in his career.

However, the sack numbers are eye-opening. Young was brought down a whopping 62 times as a rookie, 29 times in Year 2, and 27 times in Year 3. I genuinely believe in his skillset and his ability to lead an NFL franchise, but I wonder about his ceiling from a fantasy perspective. He's essentially a low-end QB2 with minimal upside.

His supporting cast has gotten better over the years. His core of Tetairoa McMillan, Jalen Coker and newly-drafted Chris Brazzell gives him a trio of wideouts all 6-foot-3 or taller. Toss in the backfield of Chuba Hubbard and Jonathon Brooks, and Young could certainly do much worse.

Playing in the NFC South will always keep the Panthers in the mix for the division, but if Young wants that contract extension, he'll have to step up in a big way in 2026. If he doesn't, there's a very good chance that both the Panthers and dynasty managers will be looking to move on.

C.J. Stroud | QB | HOU

The No. 2 overall pick from the 2023 class was C.J. Stroud. The difference between him and Young was apparent immediately. While Young struggled mightily in his rookie season, Stroud threw for over 4,100 yards, 23 TDs and just five INTs. At the time, it looked like the Panthers made a franchise-altering mistake by passing on Stroud.

Fast-forward a few years and, while I can't imagine too many managers would prefer Young over Stroud, their difference is much closer than it was when they first entered the league. After Stroud's stellar Year 1, he's come crashing back down to earth.

Young

2024 - QB20
2025 - QB19

Stroud

2024 - QB18
2025 - QB21

They've been essentially the same QB from 2024-2025. Like Young, Stroud needs a strong season to demonstrate he's worthy of a lucrative contract extension. If I had to pick one in dynasty formats right now, I would lean toward Stroud. He's proven it before and has a better offensive environment to produce in.

A supporting cast of Nico Collins, Jayden Higgins, Jaylin Noel, Dalton Schultz and David Montgomery is about all you can ask for. He's a strong target for me in dynasty startup drafts.

For more comparison:

Stroud's 17-game average for passing yards over three years? 4,019.
Young's 17-game average for passing yards over three years? 3,064.

Young may have twice as many career rushing TDs as Stroud (8-4), but I don't believe that's a sticky enough stat to be predictive moving forward.

Stroud has a lot riding on his 2026 performance. A season reminiscent of 2024 will catapult him back into the low-end QB1 range. Another dud outing, coupled with either no new contract or something far below what we would expect, will keep him as a middling QB2 at best.

Marvin Harrison Jr. | WR | ARI

Our Rookie WR Model has data from 2017 to 2026. Marvin Harrison (97) has the second-highest model score in the entire database behind only Ja'Marr Chase (100).

Now, that's not to say that any singular predictive metric is going to be 100% accurate, but when you see guys like Malik Nabers, Jaylen Waddle, DeVonta Smith and CeeDee Lamb also near the top of the leaderboard, you know Dwain McFarland is onto something.

Harrison has been arguably the biggest bust over the last two seasons. He played in all 17 games as a rookie back in 2024 and saw 116 targets. However, he turned those into just 62 receptions for 885 yards. He did score eight TDs, but overall, it was a janky season at best.

Last season, Harrison missed five games due to a variety of ailments. A concussion, appendicitis, and heel injuries limited him to just 12 games, and they were inconsistent at best. While we don't want to be throwing around the phrase "injury prone" because of some bad luck, it wasn't a great Year 2 for the fourth-overall selection.

Looking to 2026, our projections have all three of the Cardinals' top pass catchers topping the 100-target/800-receiving-yard threshold. The offense will funnel through Jeremiyah Love (RB) and Trey McBride (TE), and we even have fellow wideout Michael Wilson finishing ahead of Harrison this fall.

Is an old-fashioned Year 3 breakout in store? Or are dynasty managers going to have to adjust their expectations for Harrison moving forward? Only time will tell.

Brian Thomas Jr. | WR | JAX

Another talented wideout from the 2024 class, Brian Thomas erupted as a rookie to the tune of:

133 targets
87 receptions
1,282 receiving yards
10 TDs
17 games

However, he came crashing back down last season. He appeared in 14 games and barely topped 90 targets and 700 receiving yards while only scoring twice.

Which version is the real Thomas?

Similar to the Cardinals' situation, our projections have the top three pass-catchers in Jacksonville all in the 100-target/800-receiving-yard range. We give the nod to Parker Washington as the No. 1 option, while Thomas is slated to battle with veteran Jakobi Meyers for the No. 2 role. Toss in some periodic offensive touches for Travis Hunter, and who knows exactly how the target distribution will work in 2026.

Thomas and Harrison are very similar. Both came in with a lot of promise and had solid rookie seasons. Then, a down Year 2 has caused everyone to question which version they should expect to see on the field heading into Year 3.

If Thomas wants to be paid like one of the premier wideouts in the league, he's going to have to really separate himself from the likes of Washington and Meyers. If he's simply going to be a fine No. 2 as opposed to an elite No. 1, his dynasty value is going to reflect that moving forward.

However, if things click this fall for Thomas (and Harrison), we could be looking at a pair of undervalued dynasty assets still very much in their prime.

Players Mentioned in this Article

BryceYoung
QBCAR
PPG
14.3
Proj
242.8
C.J.Stroud
QBHOU
PPG
14.1
Proj
257.0
MarvinHarrison
WRARI
PPG
8.8
Proj
145.4
BrianThomas
WRJAC
PPG
8.3
Proj
150.4

Published Jul 7, 2026, 6:55 AM ET