It’s finally here, the return of NFL football. It’s been 179 days since the Seahawks beat the Patriots in Super Bowl LX. Today, NFL football returns, albeit with a whimper. The Hall of Fame game is always an underwhelming return to action, but this year seems especially so. This year’s exhibition features the Panthers and the Cardinals. The former has +9000 odds to win this season’s Super Bowl, the latter has the lowest odds at +50000. One exciting thing about the Hall of Fame game is the rookie debuts. Jeremiyah Love says he wants to play in this game, but that decision ultimately is in the hands of head coach Mike LaFleur. If he does see any action, it’ll likely be minimal. Meanwhile, Carson Beck is going to get the start for the Cardinals and should get an extended look. On the Panthers’ side, their most exciting offensive rookie, Chris Brazzell, suffered a devastating, season-ending injury on his knee last week. 

While the game may underwhelm, the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2026 absolutely does not. The teams in the game will represent two of the honorees of this class, Larry Fitzgerald and Luke Kuechly. Fitzgerald may not have ever been the best wide receiver in the league, but his consistency and longevity certainly deserve recognition, especially from the lens of a dynasty fantasy football player. He had six WR1 finishes in his career, topping out at WR4 in his rookie season and in 2017. Meanwhile, Kuechly held a special space in my dynasty heart, being the first IDP I ever drafted in my dynasty league. Drew Brees also deserves plenty of praise for his dynasty domination, including ten straight QB1 seasons to start his career. Roger Craig predates the fantasy football era, and Adam Vinatieri is a kicker, so their fantasy impact takes a back seat to those two headliners. 

Back to the players on the field in 2026, Bijan Robinson got his well-deserved contract extension. He’s now the highest-paid running back in NFL history and will keep him in a Falcons uniform through the 2030 season. Wide receivers carry more value in dynasty fantasy football leagues, but a stud running back like Robinson is an extremely valuable asset. He’s only 24 years old, and hopefully will continue to be a high-end dynasty running back through the end of this contract. Running backs are volatile and injury-prone, but Robinson has proved durable and consistent. He’s the consensus RB1 in the DLF Expert Rankings, and only one of the six rankers slots Jahmyr Gibbs over him. He’s the number five player overall, behind Ja’Marr Chase, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Puka Nacua and Justin Jefferson. 

Another player that got a contract this week is Deebo Samuel, who signed with his old team, the San Francisco 49ers. The Niners were starting to get light at the position, with Brandon Aiyuk all but released and Ricky Pearsall undergoing season-ending surgery, so they brought back Deebo. His one season in Washington was, quietly, more successful than most would assume. He finished as the WR25 in PPR leagues, the third-best fantasy finish of his career. He’s clearly lost a step in the passing game, but his versatility as a runner on screens and jet sweeps helps beef up his value. He’s likely competing with rookie De’Zhaun Stribling for starter reps on this team, but could take a back seat to Christian Kirk when he gets back on the field. Samuel could be a valuable piece at times this season, but I wouldn’t consider trading for him if he’s already on a team’s roster. 

For more on the latest headlines, rumors, and position battles from NFL Training Camp, keep checking in with Dynasty League Football. We have our fingers on the pulse of fantasy football 365 days a year, not just during redraft draft season. We also fine-tune our advice and analysis for your dynasty fantasy football teams, focusing on the value of the news now, and for the future as well. The top minds in dynasty fantasy football are publishing dozens of articles a week to help you win your dynasty and devy leagues, with advice and analysis you can pivot into your redraft drafts as well! Not to mention all of the rankings, tools, and data you can find all over the site! The pre-season may start today, but there is never an off-season at Dynasty League Football!

Kyler Murray needed a change of scenery. His tenure in Arizona was underwhelming, plagued by injuries and off-the-field drama. The team had one winning season under Murray, and four fourth-place finishes over his seven seasons. The Cardinals finally released Murray this off-season, and the Vikings brought him in. He’s competing for the starting job with JJ McCarthy, but he seems to have the leg up for the job heading into training camp. Let’s dive into his fantasy football value and see where he stands prior to the 2026 season. 

In superflex leagues, Kyler Murray was at one point the QB1 and the number two overall pick. At his lowest point, this January, he was the QB25 and the 78th player off the board. Now that he’s in Minnesota, his value has rebounded a bit, but it’s still much closer to his career-low than his career-high. He’s the QB21 in superflex ADP, going off the board at 55.25 overall. Prior to November of 2021, Murray was always at least a high-end QB2 in superflex leagues. Prior to that point, his ADP low point since his NFL debut was QB14, so this is still a massive dropoff from even his lowest points in Arizona. In the DLF Expert Superflex Rankings, Murray is the QB20 and the 61st ranked player overall. 

Despite a volatile NFL career, Murray has always been a valuable fantasy football asset. Prior to last year, he averaged at least 17.5 fantasy points in every season, and that’s because of the amount of points he adds in the running game. In Minnesota, he has the best group of weapons he’s ever had, with Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison leading the way at receiver. When they’re not opened down the field, expect Murray to tuck it and run, adding easy points to his fantasy score. His current ADP is a reflection of his injury volatility, and the competition with JJ McCarthy. I expect him to beat out McCarthy for the job, but I can’t guarantee he will stay healthy. At QB21 in ADP, I think he’s worth that injury risk, and has league-winner potential at the quarterback position in dynasty leagues.

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Omniscience. It would be a gift to any one of us. Would we use it for good? Absolutely not. It would be best used to answer our lingering fantasy questions, both this fall and beyond.

Those pesky questions we have. If we just knew the answers, we would rule our leagues forever. Would it take away the fun? Absolutely not. Those banners hang forever.

Below, we will look at some pressing questions in the dynasty game and why they are so pivotal.

This is not an original thought. If you have tuned into a fantasy podcast this summer, a big topic has been who will lead the Jacksonville backfield. After moving on from Travis Etienne, the team has 2025 fourth-rounder Bhayshul Tuten, free agent signing Chris Rodriguez, and LeQuint Allen, who was drafted in the same class as Tuten. There are a lot of parts, and clarity is not a luxury we have here in July.

We hope Tuten is the man here. Without question, his fantasy upside clears Rodriguez’s or Allen’s by a wide margin. Dynasty managers have taken a cautious approach, keeping his value stagnant since the start of the year.

Courtesy of DLF’s ADP Over Time.

The knocks against Tuten are clear. LeQuint Allen is not going to emerge as a workhorse, but he does critical work on third downs, both as a receiver and as a pass blocker. Chris Rodriguez is adept at keeping the offense on schedule, and Jacksonville had interest early in him early during the free agency period. It is also worth noting he and Coen overlapped at Kentucky when the Jaguars head coach was an offensive coordinator in the SEC. The worst-case scenario – an ugly three-headed monster of a backfield – is well within the range of outcomes.

Jacksonville’s backfield handled 429 touches last fall, a reasonable baseline for the number they will hit this fall. As much as I want to be all-in on Tuten, I have an inclination that both Rodriguez and Allen will prove just effective enough in their roles to siphon a significant amount of work and keep Tuten in the 200-touch range over the course of the year. He can be very effective on those touches, but I worry he is best served in a role where he shares work long-term. Not getting too far out of our skies on Tuten feels like the prudent thing to do.

Had he never brought it up, we would have treated Rome Odunze’s injury recovery like any other. But he did mention it, stating that dealing with his troublesome foot is something he considers his ‘new normal’, a statement which raised eyebrows in the fantasy community.