After the Bengals retained his top targets in Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, Burrow believes the 2026 Bengals can be special. But for that to happen, he will have to uphold his end of the bargain – staying healthy. He only played in eight games last fall.
If healthy, Burrow should be candidate to win his first league MVP and maybe even his third Comeback Player of the Year Award.
Being fair to Prescott, he showed he can perform to an elite level in his two most recent healthy seasons (2023, 2025). He surpassed 4,000 passing yards and reached 30 touchdown passes in both seasons.
But being the starting quarterback and captain of the Dallas Cowboys comes with constant pressure and being judged off things often beyond his control, and, of course, winning at a high level, something the historic franchise hasn’t done since the mid 1990s. And until he improves on his 2-5 playoff record, there will always be Cowboys fans who refuse to embrace Prescott.
Needing to get the ball to George Pickens as he fights for a new contract and needing to manage the media firestorm that comes with leading the Cowboys, Prescott has to have a big 2026 or the noise may reach a new high.
In April, the Texans exercised the fifth-year option on Stroud. What they didn’t do was present him with a new massive contract extension to ensure he stays a Texan for life. That shows the pressure the second overall pick from the 2023 NFL Draft is under as he enters his fourth year in the NFL.
Stroud has shown signs of regression since being named Offensive Rookie of the Year. As a rookie, he threw for 4,108 yards and only five interceptors. But in 2025, he tossed for just 3,041 yards and turned the ball over 10 times off eight picks and two fumbles.
Still good enough to lead the Texans to playoffs, the consistent early-career decline has led to questions about whether Stroud should be the future of Houston moving forward, especially while alongside one of the league’s top defenses.
It’s possible Stroud’s historically great rookie year placed the bar at an unreasonable level, but in a league that tends to cycle through quarterbacks on a yearly basis, 2026 will dictate if he stays as a budding star or is forced to rehabilitate his career elsewhere.
Honorable mention: Kyler Murray, J.J. McCarthy, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Herbert
