When he last took the field, free agent running back Joe Mixon was able to turn 20 touches into exactly 100 yards and a touchdown. Unfortunately, that came 15 months ago in a divisional playoff loss that ended the Texans' 2024 campaign. A mysterious offseason foot injury sustained outside the team facility cost Mixon the entire 2025 season, and he was released prior to the start of the new league year. Because so little information was provided about the injury, dynasty managers are left in a precarious position. The soon-to-be-30-year-old Mixon has become a frustrating hold, as the potential value he could bring by latching on with an NFL team after the draft still outweighs much of what can be found on the dynasty waiver wire. Should a depth-seeking contender offer a late fourth-round pick, he'd be an easy sell, but even that kind of offer would likely require an update to his status or sorts, and as fantasy managers have come to realize all too well, waiting on a Mixon status update has become a patient man's game.

Denver Broncos wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr. is coming off the worst statistical season of his young career, even with Denver throwing the ball at their highest rate since Sean Payton took over as head coach. After posting an average depth of target north of 15 yards as a rookie, the undersized speedster has been used puzzling close to the line of scrimmage in recent years, seeing nearly 40% of his targets behind the line of scrimmage in 2025. Denver sent away a first and third-round pick to add Jaylen Waddle to a receiving room that still features the reliable target-earner Courtland Sutton, as well as Troy Franklin and Pat Bryant, whose own skillsets share enough overlap with Mims to create a blockade to any sort of meaningful fantasy production. Mims has fallen to WR98 in RotoBaller's dynasty rankings, but as proven in the Broncos playoff loss to the Patriots, he works best as a downfield threat, so if he can capitalize on the occasional explosive play, he could still have his place in best ball formats.

Denver Broncos running back RJ Harvey ended his rookie season as fantasy's RB21 in Half-PPR formats, assuming lead back responsibilities following a Week 10 foot injury to J.K. Dobbins and finishing as the RB6 over the final five weeks of the fantasy season. Unfortunately, much of that success came on the back of a generally unsustainable touchdown surge, with exactly half of his impressive 12 total touchdowns coming in that five-week span. When it comes to repeatable patterns, his efficiency metrics were far less inspiring. Running behind one of the best offensive lines in football, his yards over expectation per attempt ranked 48th in the league according to the NFL's Next Gen Stats, almost two full yards and 44 spots behind Dobbins. The Broncos re-signed Dobbins on what is essentially a one-year deal with a second-year option, which could be viewed as a small victory for Harvey managers in a strong running back free-agent class. However, with 10 weeks of existing data, in which Dobbins out-touched Harvey 164 to 75, expectations of a year-two breakout should remain tempered. Harvey does offer additional value as the primary pass-catching back in a Sean Payton offense, though with the Broncos spending big to acquire wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, the competition for targets will be stiffer in 2026, following a 2025 season in which Denver's 58.8% passing rate already represented a six-season high in Payton's historically run-heavy offense.

After finishing his 2024 season as the QB4, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield picked things right back up in 2025, playing some of the best ball of his career and garnering early MVP buzz. Through 10 games, the Buccaneers sat at 6-3 with Mayfield averaging more than 240 passing yards per game to go with his 8:1 touchdown to interception ratio. At 30 years old, Mayfield was priced as high as the dynasty QB10. The rest of the way, Tampa went 2-6, with Mayfield throwing for fewer than 188 yards per game, with only 10 touchdowns to his nine interceptions. His receiving core suffered injury after injury, and for whatever reason, he was unable to recapture the early-season magic he had with rookie Emeka Egbuka. Mike Evans has now moved on, leaving Egbuka, Chris Godwin, and Jalen McMillan atop the depth chart, along with two capable pass-catching backs in Bucky Irving and Kenneth Gainwell. Mayfield enters 2026 as RotoBaller's dynasty QB19, and at 31, there's likely little he can do to reclaim QB1 status, even if he is still capable of producing multiple top-12 finishes. A newfound rushing element over his past two seasons helps provide a healthy floor, but at this point, Mayfield profiles as a high-upside QB2 in superflex leagues.