With the Atlanta Falcons wrapping up the final session of mandatory minicamp on Wednesday, it was quarterback Tua Tagovailoa leading the first-team offense as the team worked on third-and-goal situations. Following his release from the Dolphins, Atlanta signed Tagovailoa to a one-year, $1.2 million deal, and as Michael Penix Jr. continues to work his way back from the ACL tear that ended his 2025 season, the seventh-year veteran has been given an early advantage in a battle expected to carry into training camp. The Falcons spent a first-round pick on Penix in the 2024 NFL Draft and face a critical decision about his fifth-year option following the 2026 season, so there is a belief that he'll be given every opportunity to claim the starting job once healthy, but new head coach Kevin Stefanski has long valued accuracy as one of the most important traits of the position. While Tagovailoa has completed exactly 68% of his passes since entering the league as a first-round pick in 2020, Penix ranked near the bottom of the league in on-target throw percentage in 2025. With a strong supporting cast of Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts, whoever claims the starting job could have fantasy viability throughout the year, and if that becomes Tagovailoa out of the gates, RotoBaller's QB30 could have early-season appeal as a streaming option.

Miami Dolphins wide receiver Malik Washington averaged only 18.6 receiving yards per game in 2025, but playing in all 17 games, his 317 yards were the most of any receiver currently on the roster. Miami has moved on from Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, and the team spent five of its 13 draft picks on either receiver or tight end. With the competition for targets wide open heading into 2026, Washington has a strong chance to serve as the team's WR1 in a new-look offense that will undoubtedly still run through running back De'Von Achane and potentially tight end Greg Dulcich. 2025 starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa ranked 30th in the league with 6.9 yards per attempt, contributing to Washington's low yardage total despite a respectable 62 targets, whereas new starter Malik Willis has proven to be much more aggressive, leading the league with 12.1 yards per attempt across his four 2025 appearances. With a spot near the top of the depth chart and a downfield passing attack that could take advantage of some of the abilities that allowed him to rack up more than 1,300 yards in his final collegiate season, Washington has a chance to carve out something close to an every-week role for fantasy and could prove to be a steal as a player going in the late double-digit rounds of startup drafts.

In a year that saw 22 tight ends selected in the 2026 NFL Draft, Baylor's Michael Trigg was not one of the players to hear his name called, and he ultimately signed with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent. Finishing second in the nation with 694 receiving yards from the tight end position and landing in the top five with his six touchdown grabs, talent has never been a concern for Trigg, but off-field issues are what led him to go undrafted. While the Cowboys organization has a checkered history of character concerns, that reputation has improved immensely in recent years, and if Trigg can keep things focused on football, he could earn his way onto the roster. Dallas is already deep at the position with Jake Ferguson and dedicated blockers Luke Schoonmaker and Brevyn Spann-Ford, but in a league trending toward heavier 12 and 13-personnel usage, it should come as no surprise if more teams start keeping four tight ends on the roster. Trigg offers a receiving element that neither Schoonmaker nor Spann-Ford would be able to provide should Ferguson miss extended time, and while he'll first need to make the team, RotoBaller's dynasty TE42 could ultimately prove to be a taxi squad stash with long-term fantasy upside.

When the Indianapolis Colts took running back Seth McGowan in the seventh round of the 2026 NFL Draft, they added to a room in serious need of depth behind three-time Pro Bowler Jonathan Taylor. With Taylor playing in all 17 games and leading the NFL with 323 carries in 2025, there was little work to be split up behind him, and the next three backs on the roster combined for fewer than 50 attempts. Two of those backs, veterans Ameer Abdullah and Tyler Goodson, are no longer on the roster, leaving McGowan to battle it out with 2025 fifth-round pick DJ Giddens for the team's primary backup role. In a disappointing rookie season, Giddens was held out of several games as a healthy scratch while averaging only 3.7 yards per carry. With quarterback Daniel Jones potentially facing a ramp-up period to begin the year as he recovers from the Achilles injury sustained in December, the Colts' running game becomes all the more important, and a balance will need to be struck in preserving Taylor after 2025 marked his first full season since his 2021 breakout. A big, physical back, McGowan will have his chance to make an impression when the pads come on for training camp in late July. Whoever ultimately wins the job between McGowan and Giddens will have little standalone value behind Taylor, but in a run-heavy offense behind a running back with a history of missing time, the role comes with some of the highest insurance upside in the league.