Luke Wilson answers your first fantasy football questions of the 2026 season. Hunting for defenses worth prioritizing in drafts, keeping tabs on who just got paid, the uber rare bit of fullback talk, a dash of FI lore, and more.
Question 1
Is there a defense this year that's worth going after before the late rounds of a draft?
Ian Allan (Fantasy Index) (Redmond, WA)
Always feel like this is a bit of a loaded question, since D/ST scoring can vary quite a bit from league to league. My hometown league sees defenses regularly score 30-plus points a week. But we'll give it a whirl:
In 'vanilla' scoring formats, two defenses stood well clear of the field last year: Seattle and Houston. Both those teams were contenders, and both drew fantasy playoff schedules against teams that were mostly either out of the running or not all that imposing offensively. Houston in particular benefitted from a closing sequence that included the Cardinals, Raiders, badly-hobbled Chargers, Chiefs, and the Jones-less Colts twice. Houston's overall strength of schedule this year remains agreeable, but a closing sequence that includes Jacksonville, Philadelphia and Green Bay isn't all that inviting (one of their draws against Tennessee was squandered in Week 18. Thanks for nothing, schedule makers.)
So if 'good team, good defense, soft closing schedule' is our North Star, these are the defenses that stick out: New Orleans (Week 16 vs. Arizona, Week 17 at Atlanta; 2nd easiest strength of schedule overall), Pittsburgh (Week 16 vs. Carolina, Week 17 at Tennessee), Denver (Weeks 11-15: Las Vegas, Pittsburgh, Miami, N.Y. Jets, Las Vegas), and Minnesota (Week 17 at N.Y. Jets; yes, I'm amenable to prioritizing them for that matchup alone).
Of course, I certainly won't fault you or anyone for just taking Houston (who just added big Kayden McDonald to their marauding front) or the Myles Garrett Rams and calling it good. They're still what we in the industry call 'pretty good'.
Hope I did you proud, boss.
Question 2
Ian, Where can I get a copy of players that signed contract extensions for 2026 season? Good to know players teams are counting on this season. Craig
Craig Leedy (Sacramento, CA)
Howdy Craig. Notable contract extensions in the calendar year 2026 for our purposes:
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba: 4 years, $168.6 million ($69.1 million guaranteed at signing)
- Drake London: 4-yr/$141m ($52.9m guaranteed)
- Christian Watson: 4-yr/$92m ($31m guaranteed)
- Devon Achane: 4-yr/$64m ($17.4m guaranteed)
- Matthew Stafford: 1-yr/$55m (fully guaranteed)
- Jayden Reed: 3-yr/$50.25m ($20m guaranteed)
- Darnell Washington: 4-yr/$42m ($20.25m guaranteed)
- Brenton Strange: 3-yr/$36m ($17m guaranteed)
- Jalen Coker: 3-yr/$35m ($13m guaranteed)
- Michael Pittman: 2-yr/$35m ($24m guaranteed)
- Javonte Williams: 3-yr/$24m ($16m guaranteed)
- Dalton Schultz: 1-yr/$12.6m ($6.6m guaranteed)
- Dontayvion Wicks: 1-yr/$12.5m ($9m guaranteed)
- Jake Tonges: 2-yr/$8m ($5.5m guaranteed)
- Dallas Goedert: 1-yr/$7m (fully guaranteed)
- Treylon Burks: 1-yr/$2.35m ($400k guaranteed)
These weren't technically extensions (the players did reach free agency, albeit briefly), but we'll lump them in just the same:
- Alec Pierce: 4-yr/$114m ($84m guaranteed)(!)
- Rashid Shaheed: 3-yr/$51m ($34.7m guaranteed)
- Cade Otton: 3-yr/$30m ($20m guaranteed)
- JK Dobbins: 2-yr/$16m ($8m guaranteed)
- Travis Kelce: 1-yr/$12m (fully guaranteed)
- Marcus Mariota: 1-yr/$7m ($6.4m guaranteed)
- Joe Flacco: 1-yr/$6m ($4m guaranteed)
- Greg Dulcich: 1-yr/$3.25m ($2.9m guaranteed)
- Carson Wentz: 1-yr/$3m ($2.65m guaranteed)
And of course: - Aaron Rodgers: 1-yr/$22.5m ($22m guaranteed)
Question 3
I have a question on what I should do with Judkins. We are a standard scoring 16-team league. $100 salary cap with up to five keepers. Judkins would cost me $6 and be my RB2. I don't trust it. Would I be better off spending that $ (and more) on a safer player like Montgomery or Etienne? Or let it roll with Judkins and keep his rookie protection onward? Thank you.
Sam Pickering (Oak Park, IL)
Howdy Sam! For starters, obviously Judkins gets a boost with the format: He won't catch a ton of passes with Dylan Sampson, Fannin and a sneaky deep receiver group flitting about, but he should be unchallenged in short yardage situations. Even on lesser offenses, that's a more palatable combination in a standard scoring environment.
At six bucks I think you pretty much have to hold your nose and keep him. I'm sure Derrick Henry and Jonathan Taylor are going to command several times that price. They will also handily outproduce Judkins, but the relative value of Judkins for the price of a custom Starbucks drink order is too good to cut loose. You're a Browns fan this fall amigo.
I wouldn't mind bidding the price up on Etienne if someone's actually letting him make it to market in 16-team even if you do keep Judkins though. Yes, accidentally winning that bid could make your team pretty pear-shaped, but I wouldn't let anybody get on that ride too cheaply either.
Question 4
Last year Luther Burden was a "bust" in your "Sleepers, Busts and Hidden Gems" section. This year he is the No. 1 "sleeper." I was wondering if there are any examples of players in the magazine's past who made that dramatic one-year swing from bust to sleeper -- or vice versa -- and how did they perform in that second year? Thanks
John Grupp (Pittsburgh, PA)
Yes, Burden goes from sharing the last spot on last year's Busts list to leading off this year's Sleepers (much to my 'Darth Luther' shareholding delight). Not a common feat in Fantasy Index history.
The last time it happened was the 2024 season. That year we actually had not one, but two guys make the 'bust to lust' leap: Coming off of a rebound 2023, Matthew Stafford migrated back into our good graces for the 2024 magazine. The other: Seahawks era Noah Fant, who did improve on his meager 2023 numbers across the board that year (albeit not as much as we'd hoped). Stafford also failed to meet our output expectations that year, so if you're into the whole Madden curse thing and need a Burden-Odunze tiebreaker, there you go.
Question 5
Fullbacks have gone out of style, but one offseason move caught my attention, and wasn’t discussed in the magazine. With John Harbaugh and Patrick Ricard moving from Baltimore to NY, what impact might that have on Skattebo and Derrick Henry? Was Ricard used in front of Henry frequently? I have to imagine Ricard taking out larger defenders so Skattebo can beat up on secondary players could make for some favorable situations too, given Skattebo’s violent running style. Thanks!
Aaron Vander Vorst (West Fargo, ND)
Great question Aaron! Yes, the fullback position has largely been absorbed into the multi-TE personnel package craze, but there are still a handful clinging to the boundaries. Ricard's usage somewhat telegraphs the position's fight for survival.
A near every down presence in his 2021-'22 heyday, under Todd Monken Ricard's usage pulled back sharply: He topped 50 percent of Baltimore's plays just 13 times the last three seasons, and just once in 2025 prior to Week 16.
It is difficult to know what kind of usage to expect here. At a whopping 300 pounds, Ricard trotting in from the sideline pretty well tells the defense what's coming. When you have Derrick Henry and the threat of Lamar Jackson's legs, that's often not really a concern. With the smaller Skattebo and slower Dart, will it make as much sense? Outside of short yardage scenarios, probably not.
This is still John Harbaugh we're talking about; he'll want Nagy to send in Ricard to dynamite the gap clear for whoever's running behind him a few times a week, and rumor has it the Giants are angling to be just about the run-heaviest team in the NFC. But we shouldn't expect to see 'Pancake Pat' on more than 10-12 plays most weeks.
