The road to the Super Bowl is complete, and while the fantasy football season is over, we can still gather intel based on postseason performances for 2026. Yahoo analyst Matt Harmon shares what each team eliminated in the Championship round has to do this offseason to improve.
Denver Broncos: Continue to develop young talent
What a frustrating end to an otherwise excellent season from the Denver Broncos.
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The No. 1 seed in the AFC got a signature performance from its defense and was clearly the best unit on the field in the Conference Championship game. They held key mismatches over the Patriots offense on the line of scrimmage and in the secondary, and those showed up all afternoon. However, even before the weather turned snowy in the second half, the air came out of the offense to the point that they just couldn’t amass more than seven points against a team that needed a turnover deep in its own territory to score their lone touchdown of the day.
Jarrett Stidham performed as you might expect from a solid backup quarterback; he was even downright good to start the game. In the first quarter, he had a 118.2 passer rating and all four of his completions went for first downs. Sean Payton had a good set of scripted plays dialed up to start the game and Stidham was executing. Once they got off that script, the offense just didn’t have much in either the run or pass phase to get the better of a Patriots team that has played well on defense in the postseason.
All I’d be thinking about if I were a Broncos fan or player, right or wrong, is that if we had our starting quarterback, Bo Nix, in this game, we’re playing in the Super Bowl two weeks from now.
But they didn’t, they lost and that’s all there is to it. Reality and the bottom line in the NFL are cold and Denver has a few weeks to stew on what could have been.
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Once the cloud fades and they turn the page to the next season, perhaps Broncos leadership can look back clearly on what was an excellent season of progress. Yet, just like the season before, most of the heavy lifting was done on the defensive side of the ball.
Denver finished the regular season ranked 15th in EPA per play and 19th in success rate. That was right in line with its 16th and 18th finishes in 2024. This time last year, my recommendation for the Broncos after losing in the wild-card round was to “hone the offense around Bo Nix.” This season was a start but not the end of that pursuit. The team took RJ Harvey and Pat Bryant in the 2025 NFL Draft on Day 2, saw second-year receiver Troy Franklin take a step forward and added J.K. Dobbins and Evan Engram in free agency.
Dobbins was a big win as a free agent add and was missed once he went down. Engram was a nothingburger for this team and, after running just 14 routes on Sunday, is not going to be on the roster next season. The young players look like contributors and could be even better in 2026 but I’m not sure Denver should rest on its laurels with Bryant, Franklin or even Harvey.
If there are playmakers available at wide receiver for this team, they would be welcome additions. Even No. 1 receiver Courtland Sutton was inconsistent this season and will turn 31 in 2026. Franklin and Bryant don’t look like future WR1s at this stage, so don’t rule out a big swing at receiver.
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That player could come from the tight end spot. Engram will be released and Adam Trautman is a free agent. Sean Payton has often discussed the virtues of having a dynamic, movable chess piece (aka, the vaunted joker) and the right addition at tight end could do the trick.
The most critical position to watch, especially for fantasy in 2026, will be the running back room. Harvey was a hit for the team in Round 2, specifically as a weapon in the receiving game, and ultimately finished the season as a top-20 back in fantasy. However, he never cleared 80 yards rushing as a rookie and was under 4.0 yards per carry in all but two games since Week 11 after Dobbins went on IR. It’s clear that a more sustaining dimension is needed in the rushing department. That could come from Harvey taking a step forward in Year 2, or Dobbins returning, but don’t rule out a big back being added somewhere along the way.
Los Angeles Rams: Run it back — with some twists
It’s the least satisfying answer in an exercise like this but the best path forward for the Rams in 2026 is to run as much of that offense back as possible while making a few minor tweaks along the way.
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Part of the reason it’s so unsatisfying is due to the harsh truth in the NFL — that sustainability is never as faithful a mistress as it seems. For the Rams, specifically, that’s going to haunt them this offseason. Not just because they came so close and yet fell short after an excellent season, but because two of their key players are well into their careers, past their typical prime years.
Few, if any, quarterbacks were better than Matthew Stafford in 2025. Will that be the case next season as he turns 38 years old next month? There is nothing in Stafford’s game film this past year that even hinted at the cliff being right around the corner. His 17th year in the NFL was his best and very well may net him MVP honors. I’d be stunned if he retired in the coming weeks before the NFL Scouting Combine, even if he had to fight like hell through a back malady to play this season, but I’d be equally surprised if he was as mind-numbingly efficient in 2026 as he was in 2025.
Davante Adams led the NFL with 14 receiving touchdowns in 2025 despite playing just 14 games. He was the perfect addition for a team that needed to improve in the red zone, and his lining up as an X-receiver allowed Puka Nacua more pre-snap flexibility. Two massive check marks for Adams in Year 1 with the Rams.
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Yet, Adams turned 33 years old in December, finished the regular season injured and didn’t look himself in the Rams’ first two playoff games. Wide receiver is a young man’s game — now more than ever. A wide receiver age 33 or older has cleared 1,000 yards just four times since 2015; Larry Fitzgerald twice (2016 and 2017), Julian Edelman (2019) and Adam Thielen (2023). All of those players took at least 59% of their snaps in the slot, while Adams had the sixth-lowest slot rate in the league (11.8%) among starting wide receivers last year. His being a highly productive player at his age as a near pure X-receiver would be a trend-breaker.
Some natural regression always comes for these teams at the top but the best way to stave off regression is to continue to fortify the unit in the offseason. The Rams defense, particularly in the secondary, let them down big-time at the end of the season. However, they can’t afford to lock into one side of the ball with their offseason checklist. The backfield is set with Kyren Williams and Blake Corum under contract and, while additions could be made along the offensive line, they should return all five starters from the Conference Championship.
I wonder if they at least consider adding another dynamic pass-catcher to the mix, especially since you can’t realistically count on Adams beyond 2026 when his contract runs out and he’ll turn 34. The Rams have two first-round picks this season and there will be wideout options at that 13th overall selection to consider. A tight end might make some sense, too, considering McVay’s heavy flirtation with 13 personnel. Much of that depends on how the team feels about rookie Terrance Ferguson. Long-time Ram Tyler Higbee is a free agent and, while Ferguson made some mistakes at the catch point, he has the athleticism to break out next season.
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Part of what makes the Rams such a uniquely good fantasy offense is how concentrated their passing-game volume is. That would be threatened by some of the additions I’m tossing out. However, the Rams are much more concerned with ensuring their offense is ready to push for another top-five finish in 2026 while holding off any regression. That could mean some new faces are introduced to this unit in the offseason because standing pat on everything from 2025 rolling right over would be a misstep.
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