Author: rb809rb

The transfer portal is open and chaos is already ensuing. The portal opened on January 2nd and by midday there were over 4,500 Division I athletes in the portal. Andy Staples and Steven Godfrey explain the importance of the portal and how fans should view it. They also look at programs like Kentucky and Penn State and discuss what fans should expect from their teams in the transfer portal. Plus, they discuss the three different ways teams attack the transfer portal and what version works best.

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Then, they look at a team whose coaches are caught between the CFP and the transfer portal for a rival school. Andy and Godfrey discuss the on-going drama at Ole Miss and if they expect all of the assistant coaches to continue coaching through the CFP. Will some of them just stay recruiting with Lane Kiffin at LSU rather than going back to Ole Miss? The guys discuss how, although Ole Miss is a unique situation, the concept of CFP coaches pulling double-duty between game prep and recruiting is consistent across all four playoff teams. Plus, Andy and Godfrey take a look at the SEC’s poor performance in the postseason. They discuss if the depth in the league is overrated and how the conference should be viewed going forward.

Later, the guys take a look at Tulsa’s innovative approach to transfer portal recruiting. Tulsa has launched the Portal House. A house they rented out, revamped and are having their coaches live in to use exclusively for recruits. They are also creating their own reality show from it. Godfrey and Andy discuss this intriguing approach.

Get prepped for the transfer portal madness with College Football Enquirer.

0:00:00 – Understanding the transfer portal

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4:23 – Can Will Stein revamp Kentucky in the portal?

9:33 – What should be expected from Indiana in the portal?

14:13 – Three kinds of ways teams recruit

16:52 – Penn State’s portal expectations

23:47 – Difference of O-Line in the portal

33:11 – Ole Miss coaches returning for CFP semi?

37:51 – Portal distracting CFP coaches

43:48 – SEC overrated?

58:00 – Tulsa Portal House

Check out all the episodes of the College Football Enquirer and the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family at https://apple.co/3zEuTQj or at yahoosports.tv

If, before this season, you had asked either of the long-suffering fanbases of the Atlanta Falcons or the New Orleans Saints if they’d like to see their team playing in a Week 18 game with the NFC South title on the line, they’d have said yes, yes, please yes, without even bothering to clarify any further. But in one of those careful-what-you-wish-for moments, yes, the NFC South title was on the line, but no, neither the Saints nor the Falcons were involved.

Because both the Buccaneers and the Panthers finished the season 8-9, a series of tiebreakers made the Saints-Falcons game a proxy battle for the NFC South crown. Atlanta hung on to win a messy 19-17 game, sending Carolina to the playoffs and Tampa Bay home for the season. Carolina now plays in the postseason for the first time since 2017, and claims its first division crown since 2015, and the Panthers have the Falcons to thank for the final touches.

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The Falcons-Saints rivalry is one of the weirder in the NFL, full of hate and disrespect, though also notably free of large-scale success. Sunday’s game marked the 113th regular-season meeting between the two, and naturally, the two teams came into the game with 56 wins apiece. In all those games, though, there’s never been one quite this strange, with playoff implications that didn’t involve either team.

Both Atlanta and New Orleans entered this game on unexpected, irrelevant late-season runs — New Orleans has won its last four games, Atlanta its last three. And both teams played the first quarter like they’d forgotten how the game of football works. A fumble, an interception, two sacks, a blocked punt, a touchdown called back by penalty … the opening quarter was ugly and, for the Panthers and Bucs, maddening.

The Falcons struck first, Kirk Cousins finding a wide-open Drake London in the end zone late in the first quarter:

But despite the quarterback mismatch — Cousins, the 14-year veteran matched against rookie Tyler Shough — the game ground down into a defensive war of attrition and field goals. Both teams had touchdowns called back because of offensive penalties. After Shough scrambled his way to a second-quarter touchdown to close the score to 10-7, the game remained within one possession for most of the rest of the way.

As the game rolled on, the teams with the most interest in the outcome watched nervously. Bucs QB Baker Mayfield, for one, was locked in:

The Saints managed to hang around despite the absence of notables like Chris Olave and Alvin Kamara and the in-game loss of Taysom Hill. Shough, who has grown more comfortable throughout the season, nonetheless struggled to move the ball on a consistent basis. And just when New Orleans appeared to be driving toward a potential game-winning score with only a handful of minutes remaining, Shough floated a pass that Atlanta’s Dee Alford plucked out of the air and returned for 59 yards and an eventual field goal.

Given one more last-ditch drive, Shough orchestrated a 65-yard touchdown in just 1:41, capped by a beautiful one-handed touchdown grab by Ronnie Bell that closed the score to within two points. But the Saints failed to convert the onside kick, and Atlanta ran out the clock and Tampa Bay’s season. Shough finished the day 23-of-35 for 259 yards, one touchdown and that crucial interception. Cousins, in what may or may not be his last game as a Falcon, was 18-of-32 for 180 yards, plus a touchdown and an interception.

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Although the specifics of this game were largely unimportant in the grand scheme of the season, both teams have elements to build on for 2026. Both defenses far outplayed their offensive counterparts, with New Orleans recording four sacks on Cousins and Atlanta’s young defense shutting down Shough and the beleaguered Saints.

The Saints might have found at least a stopgap solution in Shough, who — that late interception notwithstanding — has developed into a serviceable quarterback in the final games of this season. Atlanta, on the other hand, has more consequential decisions at the quarterback position. And given the fact that Atlanta finished 8-9 alongside the division leaders, but managed to eliminate itself from the postseason weeks ago, the Falcons have a lot to regret from this lost season. But they should at least get a nice thank-you gift basket from the Panthers.

If he hadn’t already done it, Cam Little would have broken the record for the NFL’s longest field goal on Sunday.

Instead, the Jacksonville Jaguars kicker now owns the two longest field goals in NFL history.

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With three seconds remaining in the first half of Sunday’s game against the Titans, the Jaguars took over on downs at the Tennessee 49-yard line after the Titans failed to convert on a fourth-down pass. When you’re the Jaguars with Little on your roster, that makes for an easy decision: Send out the kicking unit.

That’s exactly what the Jaguars did. And Little paid off the decision with a 67-yard field goal that split the uprights with room to spare.

The kick gave the Jaguars a 31-7 halftime lead and sent the home crowd in Jacksonville into a frenzy. The Jaguars cruised to a 41-7 victory to secure the AFC South title.

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The field goal was the second-longest in NFL history. The longest? Little hit a 68-yarder in a Week 9 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.

[Get more Jaguars news: Jacksonville team feed]

That kick came in the climate-controlled confines of Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Sunday’s 67-yarder took place outside. And Little stands alone with the two longest kicks in league history. Both are longer than the previous record of 66 yards by former Ravens kicker Justin Tucker.

And with the playoffs looming, the Jaguars can confidently look to Little if they need to kick from even longer. Little hit a 70-yarder in the preseason that would have obliterated Tucker’s previous record.

It didn’t count in the record book, of course. But Little’s capable. And the Jaguars will go into the postseason with one of the league’s most valuable weapons in the kicking game.

Rocco Becht is following Matt Campbell to Penn State.

According to ESPN, Becht will play his final season of college football in State College. Penn State hired Campbell, the longtime Iowa State coach, after a 54-day coaching search that concluded at the end of the regular season.

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Becht has been Campbell’s starting quarterback for the past three seasons. The son of former NFL tight end Anthony Becht has appeared in 42 games across four seasons at Iowa State. In 2025, he was 205-of-339 passing for 2,584 yards and 16 TDs with nine interceptions.

[Get more Nittany Lions football news: Penn State team feed]

His numbers were down from 2024, when Iowa State had current Houston Texans wide receivers Jaylin Noel and Jayden Higgins on the roster. A season ago, Becht was 271-of-456 passing across two more games for 3,505 yards, 25 TDs and 9 interceptions.

Penn State was entering the 2026 season needing a starting quarterback as Drew Allar returned to school in 2025 for his final season of eligibility. However, Allar suffered a season-ending injury midway through the season and Ethan Grunkemeyer took over as the starter.

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Grunkemeyer entered the transfer portal himself after the Nittany Lions’ Pinstripe Bowl win over Clemson.

Becht will be a bridge starter for Campbell at PSU with one season of eligibility remaining. He’s also not the only quarterback coming over from Iowa State, either. Alex Manske, a three-star recruit in the class of 2025, is also transferring to Penn State.

Additionally, tight ends Gabe Burkle and Benjamin Brahmer have committed to Penn State from ISU. Brahmer was the team’s leading receiver with 37 catches for 446 yards and six scores, while Burkle had 26 catches for 302 yards over nine games.

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Iowa State went 8-4 in 2025 as Campbell completed a decade with the Cyclones. He’s the winningest coach in school history with a career record of 72-55 since coming over from Toledo after the 2015 season. Penn State hired Campbell to replace current Virginia Tech coach James Franklin after Franklin was fired following a three-game losing streak that dropped the Nittany Lions to 3-3 halfway through the season.

With all due respect to Saturday’s high-stakes action, for Sunday night’s regular-season finale there was only one choice.

The historical footage of the Ravens-Steelers rivalry isn’t particularly grainy, having begun just before the turn of the millennium, but Baltimore and Pittsburgh’s two battles per year are loaded with lore. A wacky AFC North season had to come down to an on-field, win-or-go-home primetime installment that the football world will be watching.

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Since our attention will be captured, we might as well have a wager a few on the game, just to see if we can’t make some memories for when we look back at this particularly intense chapter between these modern-classic foes.

Odds courtesy of BetMGM.

Baltimore Ravens (-3.5, 41) at Pittsburgh Steelers

Lamar Jackson is back practicing in full, something the market expected in opening this line at a field goal or more last Sunday night.

While Baltimore got a big win with Tyler Huntley at the helm in Green Bay last Saturday, the Ravens’ average expected play level is obviously higher with Jackson, and it changes the projected point spread from around a pick’em to where you’re having to lay points with the Ravens on the road. What complicates things is the level of reliance on the version of Jackson we’ll get — and how long we’ll get it for.

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Even at the best of times for Jackson, the Steelers have been able to slow the Ravens’ offense during his MVP-caliber seasons:

• Jackson’s career averages:

  • 56.6 rushing yards per game

  • 35 rushing TDs in 115 games

  • Fewer than 2.0 sacks per game

• Jackson’s averages against Pittsburgh:

  • Almost 3.0 sacks per game

While the Steelers’ defense has left something to be desired this season, at 21st in Expected Points Added per Play (EPA/Play), in the Week 14 matchup in Baltimore, Pittsburgh’s was third-best, forcing -0.15 EPA/Play, while limiting the damage from Derrick Henry to 94 yards on 25 carries and no touchdowns.

While a few judgment calls went against the Ravens at home, it was clear that a point spread of -5.5 gave Baltimore too much credit. Four weeks later, and there’s been only a two-point adjustment to the line for the shift in home field.

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Part of that may be stemming from the absence of DK Metcalf — the field-stretcher for Aaron Rodgers — which was felt last week in a loss at Cleveland, and Metcalf had his best game as a Steeler in Week 14. He’s also averaged just 50 yards in his other 14 games this season, and where the Steelers were able to gash the Ravens was when the veteran quarterback was able to check Pittsburgh into plays that left the defense confused, leaving wide-open options.

[Check out all of Yahoo’s sports betting content here in our new betting hub]

All season long, the assumption has been made that the Ravens would eventually flip a switch and match their output to their power rating in the market, but even at their healthiest that hasn’t been the case against other playoff-caliber opponents.

One win, where the already-clinched Packers weren’t able to match the Ravens’ desperation and aggression, doesn’t confirm the high regard that Baltimore carries here, considering the Ravens have blown fourth-quarter leads to the Bills early and the Patriots late.

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Even if the Ravens do manage a 10-point lead on the road, there’s always room for Rodgers to make this game close late, but it’s more likely that we’re in for the usual tightly-contested game that John Harbaugh and Mike Tomlin have found themselves in for almost two decades.

Pick: Steelers +3.5

Player props

Lamar Jackson under 232.5 passing and rushing yards (-115)

We’ve cited the historical numbers for Jackson against the Steelers, and while the names may change on Pittsburgh, the general game plan shouldn’t. While a sore Jackson may give Baltimore a better chance to win than Huntley, it doesn’t mean he’ll be freely running, since he hasn’t done as much of that this season anyway. Plus, there’s always the chance that Jackson can’t make it through all 60 minutes.

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Jonnu Smith over 2.5 receptions (+100)

Pat Freiermuth was the leading receiver for the Steelers with Metcalf unavailable last week, but he was used as a field-stretcher up the middle, catching three of five Rodgers’ passes. The other big change in personnel for Pittsburgh is the season-ending injury to fellow tight end Darnell Washington. Once he went out, Smith became Rodgers’ outlet, catching all five targets but for just 12 yards.

Marques Valdes-Scantling longest reception over 16.5 yards (-118)

Throwing conditions are never any good in Cleveland in December, but Rodgers tried to get the ball deep down the field to Valdes-Scantling anyway. Despite catching three passes for no more than nine yards, MVS had an average depth of target of 13.0 yards from his team-high nine targets in the absence of Metcalf. Against the Ravens’ secondary, prone to coverage breakdowns, there could be some more success if Rodgers keeps looking to stretch the field with his former Packers teammate.

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Anytime touchdown

Zay Flowers (+160)

After seven total touchdowns in his rookie season, it had been a frustrating stretch of more than a season and a half for anyone invested in Flowers to score, as he found the end zone just five times in 30 games despite 210 targets and 19 carries, while other lesser-talents were scoring at an unusually high rate relative to their overall usage. However, Flowers has scored in three consecutive games, including an 18-yard rushing touchdown, and a mathematically improbable stat line might be starting to correct itself.

With so much attention expected to be paid on Henry after his scoring splurge last week, and the Steelers’ reputation for spying well on Jackson, Flowers should find some single-coverage opportunities against the Steelers’ aging secondary.

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Kenneth Gainwell (+195)

While Jaylen Warren is the likely goal-line option each week, Gainwell can score in a variety of ways (four times on the ground and three through air), as he’s turned into a key security blanket for Rodgers. From a matchup perspective, Gainwell had eight touches/targets in the red zone in Week 14 to just two for Warren, scoring on one of four carries, while being a main character in the passing game with seven targets.

Jonnu Smith (+450)

The Steelers have started handing the ball off to Smith, and while I’m not sure what the football reason is for this, we don’t argue with the strategy — we just bet it. That evident desire to get Smith the ball alone might be enough to make them a valuable long-shot bet, but the injuries mentioned above also moves Smith up the hierarchy for a big-bodied scoring option for Pittsburgh.

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You can find more valuable betting analysis from Yahoo Sports betting contributor, Matt Russell, at THE WINDOW.

Can Josh Hoover be the third transfer QB to lead Indiana to the College Football Playoff in 2026?

According to ESPN, the TCU QB has signed with the Hoosiers out of the transfer portal. Hoover’s impending arrival likely means that current Indiana QB and Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza will declare for the 2026 NFL Draft.

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Mendoza’s declaration would not be a surprise in the slightest. He’s the favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick in April. The Las Vegas Raiders — a team in desperate need of a QB — clinched the top pick on Sunday.

[Get more Hoosiers football news: Indiana team feed]

But we won’t officially know Mendoza’s draft intentions for a while. No. 1 Indiana plays No. 5 Oregon in the Peach Bowl on Friday night and a win puts the Hoosiers in the national title game on Jan. 19.

Hoover has played in 35 games over the past three seasons at TCU. In 2025, he was 272-of-413 passing for 3,472 yards and 29 TDs with 13 interceptions. Hoover has thrown 71 TDs over the past three years and averaged 8.4 yards an attempt in both 2024 and 2025.

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After Indiana hired coach Curt Cignetti ahead of the 2024 season, the Hoosiers signed Ohio QB Kurtis Rourke out of the transfer portal for his final season of eligibility. The former MAC Player of the Year threw for over 3,000 yards and 29 TDs as Indiana made the College Football Playoff for the first time.

Mendoza then arrived from Cal after the 2024 season as the Hoosiers continued their ascent. Indiana won the Big Ten in 2025 and is the only undefeated team at the top level of college football. Mendoza has thrown 36 TDs over 14 games so far this season and is averaging 9.6 yards a pass. He easily won the Heisman Trophy ahead of Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia and Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love.

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Like both Rourke and Mendoza, Hoover will have one season of eligibility remaining. The Texas native was a four-star recruit in the class of 2022 and the No. 15 quarterback in the nation out of high school, according to Rivals.

Myles Garrett made NFL history on Sunday with his 23rd sack of the season, breaking the league’s coveted record for most sacks in a single season.

When it happened, game officials allowed a stoppage in play of roughly a minute for Garrett to celebrate with his Browns teammates. The delay occurred at a critical juncture late in the fourth quarter of the game between Garrett’s Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals that Cleveland won, 20-18.

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For this, Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor was not pleased. Neither was All-Pro receiver Ja’Marr Chase. Taylor told reporters in his postgame news conference that the delay interfered with the Bengals’ hurry-up offense as they attempted to rally from a 17-12 deficit in the game’s final five minutes. The sack put the Bengals at second-and-16 near midfield.

[Get more Bengals news: Cincinnati team feed]

Taylor: ‘The umpire just held the ball’

“There’s five minutes left in our season,” Taylor said. “We’re playing for our lives here, and I was never told that we’re gonna stop the game. And in a critical moment like that. And the refs just said that they made a decision that they were gonna stop the game. And they said they tried to do it as quickly as possible. I didn’t feel that.

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“We didn’t sub. We’re trying to be on the ball and go and play with tempo, and the umpire just held the ball so that we couldn’t do anything.”

During the game, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, who was on the receiving end of Garrett’s sack, raised both arms in frustration after the play as officials held on to the game ball instead of placing it for the next play. Garrett, meanwhile, was swarmed by his teammates to celebrate the achievement.

Why did officials allow game to be delayed?

Taylor told reporters that he approached officials to try to get an answer for why gameplay was paused to allow the Browns to celebrate.

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“Trying to get an answer was not easy,” Taylor said. “They just said that they made a decision as a crew to stop the game when that happened. I guess it didn’t matter when it happened. They were gonna stop the game and let it happen.

“I was never informed of that. They didn’t say one word.”

Ja’Marr Chase: Where’s the flag?

Chase, meanwhile, wanted to know why officials didn’t throw a flag for the celebration as players left the Cleveland bench to congratulate Garrett on the field.

“I don’t think they could do that,” Chase said. “I never knew you could let the whole team get on your field — that’s like me catching my 10th pass and the whole team running on the field. People get flagged. You can’t do that.

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“Congrats to him and everything. But they’ve gotta call a flag on that play.”

When informed that Taylor said that officials had planned all along to stop play to allow a celebration, Chase said that he expects the same treatment for any of his career achievements.

“Well,” Chase said, “they better stop the game when I do something on my back end.”

What should officials have done?

Few individual records in football carry as much weight as the single-season sack record. It’s a monumental achievement worthy of celebration.

At the same time, there’s plenty of time and opportunity for the Browns to celebrate. And the Bengals have a legitimate gripe about the game not being allowed to play out by the normal rules of gameplay.

The New York Jets’ defense reached a new, historic low on Sunday afternoon.

The Jets failed to pick off Mitchell Trubisky in their 35-8 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. With the Jets finishing the season at just 3-14, well out of playoff contention for a 15th straight season, they are now the first team in NFL history to go an entire campaign without at least one interception.

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The NFL first started tracking interceptions as a stat back in 1933. Since then, no team has recorded fewer than two in a single season. The 2018 San Francisco 49ers team was the previous worst in this category with two, one fewer than both the Houston Texans in 2020 and the Houston Oilers in 1982. Only two other teams in NFL history have failed to record five interceptions in a single season.

[Get more Jets news: New York team feed]

Though it hasn’t been all bad, the Jets’ defense has struggled for most of the season. They entered Sunday with just four recovered fumbles on the year, better than only three teams in the league, and allowing just more than 29 points per game, which is better than only two others. Their passing defense allowed an average of about 213 yards per game, which is right in the middle of the pack compared to the rest of the league, but they still couldn’t come up with a single interception.

Buffalo led the entire way at Highmark Stadium on Sunday, and carrying a 21-0 lead into the locker room at halftime. Trubisky, who started in place of Josh Allen with the Bills already firmly in the playoffs, went 22-of-29 for 259 yards with four touchdowns. Ray Davis led them on the ground with 151 yards on 21 carries, and Keon Coleman had 49 yards on two catches. The Bills now sit at 12-5.

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Brady Cook went 11-of-22 for 60 yards for the Jets. He threw a touchdown late in the game to get points on the board when he found Andrew Beck for a 2-yard score. Khalil Herbert had 42 yards on 12 carries, and Isaiah Williams had 24 yards on five catches. The Jets have now lost five straight and seven of their last eight to end the year.

While first-year head coach Aaron Glenn has a lot more to fix than the lack of turnovers this offseason, the problem was just another example of how rough the year truly was in New York.

In Week 18 — the last of the 2025 NFL regular season — there isn’t much at stake in terms of fantasy football. Most leagues wrapped up in Week 17 and while there was meaningful football played for the standings, it’s always tough to gather much from the final week for fantasy. But what we can do is highlight some takeaways from Week 18 that we can use for fantasy football almost a year from now, for the 2026 regular season. Let’s recap some top performers.

Tyler Shough makes for an intriguing deep sleeper at QB

The Saints’ rookie QB had one of the better finishes to the 2025 regular season. It took Shough a bit to get acclimated after taking over the reins for New Orleans in Week 9. From then on through Week 17, Shough had been the QB11 in fantasy scoring, averaging 17 fantasy points per game going into Sunday’s game versus the Falcons. He scored another 21.92 points against Atlanta on 333 passing and two touchdowns, even without Chris Olave and a depleted backfield.

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Assuming the Saints make some improvements on offense and Shough gets a full training camp over the summer, he makes for an intriguing late-round QB option. If this season has told us anything, it’s that waiting on QB can pay off big if you nail a few options in the later rounds.

Jaydon Blue could be in the backfield mix for Dallas

The Cowboys found a gem in Javonte Williams, who finished the fantasy season (through Week 17) as the RB11 in fantasy scoring at 225.3 points. But Williams still has a long history of injury and this feels more like a peak or outlier season. Blue was a fifth-round pick out of Texas and showed some flashes of upside in Week 18 versus the Giants, rushing 16 times for 64 yards and a TD.

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Williams will hit free agency and could go elsewhere if he asks Dallas for too much. You’d think the Cowboys add more bodies anyway but we could see Blue go into 2026 as a potential option to lead the backfield. He’s someone to monitor this offseason.

Bhayshul Tuten should have full confidence if Travis Etienne Jr. walks

Another name that will hit free agency at RB is Etienne, who is coming off a resurgent season, finishing as a top-10 fantasy back. Etienne thrived in Liam Coen’s offense in 2025 but we also saw the rookie Tuten as a capable option throughout this season. He scored in the blowout win over the Titans on Sunday, his seventh TD of the season. If Etienne walks, Tuten could get first crack at being the lead back in a very exciting offense for 2026.

Zach Charbonnet could be the Seattle RB to draft in 2026

It’s unclear if the Seahawks will retain RB Kenneth Walker III after this season. Despite rushing for over 1,000 yards, Walker had a very disappointing season for fantasy, thanks to frustrating usage by OC Klint Kubiak. It’s also very clear Kubiak prefers Charbonnet in goal-line situations, which is gold in fantasy. He finished the season strong with 35 carries for 184 yards and three TDs over the final two games.

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Even if Walker is back, Charbonnet should be the priority back in Seattle thanks to his touchdown equity. If Walker bolts in free agency, Charbonnet could be a sleeping giant in drafts.

Alec Pierce should be on your sleeper radar

Pierce was one of the better pickups off the waiver wire in fantasy this season. He used a 132-yard effort in Week 18 to push himself over 1,000 receiving yards for the season. That’s pretty impressive given the QB room for the Colts (Daniel Jones, Philip Rivers, Riley Leonard). Pierce is very clearly one of the best deep-ball WRs in the NFL. If Indy can shore up the QB position or Jones can return from injury and pick up where he left off, Pierce should be a quality late-round receiver option in PPR formats.

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Parker Washington clearly a favorite in the Jacksonville passing game

It feels like all season we’ve been waiting to write off Washington in the Jags’ passing attack. Injuries and inconsistent play thrust the third-year receiver into a significant role in Coen’s offense. It’s clear after Week 18 that both Coen and QB Trevor Lawrence love Washington and what he can do out of the slot.

In three pretty important games, Washington finished with a combined 19 catches on 29 targets for 347 yards and two TDs. He’s also going to lead Jacksonville in receiving despite playing limited snaps in four of the first six games.

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Travis Hunter is coming off major injury. Brian Thomas Jr. regressed big time. Jakobi Meyers signed an extension. But Washington is entering a contract year and should be the priority WR from this exciting passing offense to target in 2026.

Is Michael Wilson the greatest wide receiver of all-time? My column

Seriously, is Wilson this good? How did the Cardinals overlook him this entire time? Was it just Kyler Murray not sustaining the passing game? I’m asking a lot of questions you don’t have the answers to. But after this run, Wilson is very clearly the best WR on Arizona’s roster and will be a very, very, very popular sleeper pick at the position in 2026 drafts.

He capped off a ridiculous second half with five catches for 98 yards and a TD in Week 18 versus the Rams. Even prior to Sunday, Wilson finished the fantasy season as the WR16 in total points. That’s insanity. All this, initiated by Jacoby Brissett taking over at QB. Imagine what these two could do in a full season …

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If it’s Brissett again under center in 2026, Wilson has to be one of your favorite clicks in drafts. If it’s Murray (which it likely won’t be), maybe I’m a bit concerned. But it feels like, because of this season, he might get overhyped and overdrafted, which could hurt his value. It’s going to be one of the more polarizing offseason storylines for drafting nerds (like me).

Colston Loveland has all the upside in the world

We know next season it’s going to be Trey McBride in his own tier and then every other tight end for fantasy. Does Loveland have a chance to be the TE2 behind McBride? That would be a bold prediction but the talent is clearly there. The rookie finished with 10 catches on 13 targets for 91 yards and a score in Week 18 versus the Lions. It was his sixth TD of the season and second game above 20 fantasy points.

Another year with QB Caleb Williams gives you some more chemistry and rememeber, Loveland didn’t start to play significant snaps until Week 7 this season. Despite all that, Loveland still finished as the TE14 in points. We know the ceiling is there. If Loveland can get an 80%+ snap share at TE for Chicago, he can finish as a top TE in 2026.

The Philadelphia Eagles entered Week 18 with a shot at overtaking the Chicago Bears for the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs.

But as the Bears lost, 19-16 on a walk-off field goal to the Detroit Lions, the Eagles weren’t in prime position to capitalize. Head coach Nick Sirianni opted to rest his starters against a four-win Washington Commanders team playing with third-string quarterback Josh Johnson.

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The Commanders beat the Eagles’ backups 24-17, and the Bears held on to the No. 2 seed in the NFC despite losing, relegating the Eagles to the No. 3 seed.

[Get more Eagles news: Philly team feed]

What Eagles lose by not clinching No. 2 seed

The Bears and Eagles will each host playoff games in next week’s wild-card round. If both teams advance to the divisional round, the Bears would host the Eagles with the winner advancing to the NFC championship game.

That’s the primary advantage the Eagles surrendered when they started Sunday’s game with Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley and Co. on the bench.

The games were played at the same time, and Sirianni couldn’t have known that the Bears would lose. But he prioritized rest over giving the Eagles their best chance at the No. 2 seed, and they’ll go into the playoffs as the No. 3 seed instead.

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Why did Sirianni rest starters?

Sirianni explained his decision to prioritize rest while speaking with reporters on Friday.

“At the end of the day, it’s not a guarantee we can get the 2 seed,” Sirianni said. “But I guarantee that I can rest the starters. Just thought that was the best thing for our football team.”

He was asked postgame if he had any regrets given the outcome.

“No, you go through your process, Sirianni said. “You make the best decision for your football team.”

Starting safety Reed Blankenship, who did not play on Sunday, told reporters postgame that he agreed with Sirianni’s decision.

“You can play the what-if game,” Blankenship said. “I mean, yeah, when the Lions win — when you’re on the sideline, like ‘man, I wish I would have played.’

“But you don’t know that. I’d rather have a week of rest and have my body recovered than go out there and be in a dog fight and then feel bad going into a playoff game.”

Starting receiver DeVonta Smith was 44 yards short of a 1,000-yard season entering Sunday’s game. He did start and told reporters that Sirianni had offered him the choice to do so. He didn’t record another catch after tallying 52 yards to eclipse 1,000 for the season.

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He told reporters after the game that he wasn’t given an option to keep playing with the No. 2 seed still at stake.

“Everybody told me to get the hell out,” Smith said, per The Athletic’s Brooks Kubena.

Eagles still had a shot after Bears lost

The Lions secured their win over the Bears as the result of Commanders-Eagles remained in the balance. With Detroit’s win in the books, the Eagles forced a Commanders punt with 1:04 remaining and a chance to tie the game.

But backup quarterback Tanner McKee threw three incompletions and took a sack for a turnover on downs, allowing the Commanders to kneel out the clock on their win.

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Both the Bears and the Eagles finish at 11-6, and the Bears hold the tiebreaker. As the No. 2 seed, Chicago will host the rival Green Bay Packers (9-7-1) in next week’s wild-card round in a rematch of one of the best games of the NFL season that the Bears won on a walk-off touchdown in overtime.

The Eagles will host a banged-up San Francisco 49ers team that finished 12-5, but struggled while playing without multiple injured starters in a Saturday loss to the Seattle Seahawks that determined the No. 1 seed in the conference.

Both matchups are tough, and neither the Bears nor the Eagles, of course, are guaranteed to advance to the divisional round.

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The Eagles reduced the risk of injury and wear and tear on their starters while sacrificing their best shot at hosting a divisional-round playoff game. Only time will tell if that decision pays off as the Eagles seek their second consecutive Super Bowl championship.