Most fantasy football leagues begin their playoffs in Week 15 of the NFL regular season. That means we are officially halfway through the 2026 fantasy football season.
If you drafted Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Josh Allen, Jahmyr Gibbs, or Bijan Robinson you are probably sitting pretty atop your league’s standings right now. If you drafted one of the fantasy football busts we underscore below, you’re probably sitting near the basement of your league.
There is nothing worse in fantasy than wasting a first, second, or third round draft pick on a player that does not produce.
Injuries, poor quarterback play, and poor coaching can all contribute to a typical fantasy stud putting up underwhelming numbers.
There is still plenty of time, of course, for some of these dudes to turn things around. All of the players looked at here have the talent to put up big numbers on any given Sunday.
It takes just one week to turn things around, as we saw this past Sunday with the Titans’ Tony Pollard. The Tennessee RB entered this past Sunday’s game against the Browns without one game in 2026-27 in which he had rushed for over 76 yards. He also had just 1 touchdown on the season entering the contest against Cleveland.
Pollard fantasy owners finally struck gold, however, as the veteran back ran for 129 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also had a season-high 26 receiving yards on the day.
Perhaps one of the players we look at below will break out in early November. Or, perhaps, they (and you as an owner) are doomed for more fantasy hell.
These are the 10 Biggest Fantasy Football Busts of 2026 (So Far).
Jameson Williams
Williams was a big tease the first couple years of his NFL career as he showed flashes of brilliance but could just never put it together. That changed in 2024, as he had a 1,001-yard receiving season. In 2025, he was even better as he had a 1,117-yard receiving campaign. He has just one 100-plus yard receiving day so far this season. Williams could soon be removed from this list as he’s had back-to-back strong weeks. After not scoring in his first four games of the season, Williams has four TDs in his last two games. Williams had an ADP of 56 overall this past summer.
Emeka Egbuka
Egbuka was a breakout fantasy star in his rookie NFL season, catching 63 balls for 938 yards and 6 TDs. He was expected to increase those numbers in his second campaign, but he has been lackluster so far in 2026. By this point in the season last year, Egbuka already had multiple 100-plus yard receiving days and he already had 5 receiving TDs total. His highest receiving yard day of this season thus far was a 63-yard performance against the Bengals in Week 1. Egbuka did not play in Week 7 as he dealing with a concussion and a foot injury. Sunday turned out to be the Bucs’ best game of the season thus far, as they blasted the Panthers, 43-13. Egbuka was No. 52 overall in fantasy football ADP this past summer.
Michael Wilson
Wilson made a huge leap in Year 3 of his NFL career. After recording a 565-yard receiving year in 2023, and then a 548-yard receiving year in 2024, Wilson exploded for 1,006 yards receiving and a career-high 7 TDs in 2025. The former Stanford standout was expected to take things to even another level this season under new head coach Mike LaFleur, but Wilson has underwhelmed in 2026. He is averaging 53.5 receiving yards per game and has scored just 1 receiving TD. Wilson had an ADP of 76 this past summer.
Nico Collins
A hamstring injury caused Collins to miss a pair of games early in the season. He had an outstanding game in his return game in Week 4 against the Cowboys as he posted 118 yards receiving and 2 TDs. Unfortunately for Collins fantasy owners, though, he has been quiet since. The Texans WR has not scored a touchdown in the past three weeks and he had just 2 catches for 6 yards this past Sunday in an overtime loss to the Giants. Collins had an ADP of 26 overall in fantasy drafts this past summer.
Jeremiyah Love
Whenever a running back is taken in the first 10 picks of the NFL Draft, fantasy owners salivate. Saquon Barkley raised the expectations of rookie RBs in 2018 when he recorded an otherworldly statistical season (1,307 yards rushing, 11 rushing TDs, 721 yards receiving, 4 receiving TDs). Love was the latest rookie RB receiving Saquon comparisons due to his dual-threat ability. For this, he had an ADP of 22 overall this past summer. Love has just 245 yards rushing total this season with only 1 rushing TD. He has missed the last two Cardinals games due to injury.
Ladd McConkey
Remember when alleged offensive guru Mike McDaniel was supposed to take the Chargers to new heights? Seems like a century ago, as the Chargers are 0-6. McDaniel’s offense is averaging a league-low 15.0 points per game and McConkey has just 200 yards receiving total on the season. McConkey fantasy owners reached peak embarrassment in Week 4 when the third-year WR put up a goose-egg. Yup, McConkey was targeted twice and did not have a catch in a 30-23 Chargers loss in Seattle.
TreVeyon Henderson
Henderson looked like one of the better running backs in the NFL at the midway point of last season, and he had pretty much overtaken Rhamondre Stevenson as the Patriots’ top running back. Stevenson came back strong late in the regular season and in the playoffs for the Pats last season, however, and Henderson again wound up in his original role of nothing more than a third-down back. Henderson just isn’t getting the volume of carries worthy of being No. 51 overall in ADP this season. He has carried the ball just 14 times total in the past three games.
Justin Jefferson
Jefferson still possesses the elite skill to light the league on fire. The problem is, he has no one to throw him the ball. Kevin O’Connell has the Vikings playing an extremely conservative brand of offensive football right now, with Kyler Murray simply trying to limit mistakes. It’s working in the win-loss column for Minnesota as the Vikings are the only undefeated team remaining in the NFL. It’s not working when it comes to Jefferson’s stat line, as the WR does not have a 100-plus yard receiving day yet this season. He has just 1 touchdown in his past four games. The 27-year-old had an ADP of No. 17 overall in fantasy drafts this past summer.
Chase Brown
Chase Brown was going in the second round of most fantasy football drafts this past summer. He was typically around RB8. The Bengals back currently has just 285 total rushing yards on the season, which ranks 27th in the NFL. Fantasy luminaries such as Ollie Gordon II and Braelon Allen have more rushing yards than Brown on the season. The past three weeks have been particularly bad as Brown totaled just 10 yards rushing against the Jags in Week 5, just 39 yards rushing against the Dolphins in Week 6, and just 39 yards again in Week 7 against the Ravens.
Omarion Hampton
Another casualty of the Mike McDaniel “offense” in LA. Hampton has a grand total of 51 rushing yards in his past two games combined. He is averaging 48.1 rushing yards per game and has just 3 TDs on the season. Many fantasy owners took Hampton in (gulp) the first round of their drafts two months ago. The Chargers had their bye week this past week, so perhaps the rest will reinvigorate the Chargers and Hampton. But we’re not holding our breath.
