Justin Jefferson
vs Trey McBride

“Jefferson looked especially miserable last year while enduring the worst season of his career. With J.J. McCarthy completely overwhelmed as an NFL quarterback, Jefferson finished with 84 catches, 1,048 yards, and two touchdowns.”

“Justin Jefferson (WR – MIN) | ADP: 11.8 (WR6) While he has been a fantasy superstar since entering the NFL, Justin Jefferson is coming off a massively disappointing season.”

“Justin Jefferson (WR – MIN) Finishes Outside the Top 20 Wide Receivers The prediction: Jefferson, currently going as a top-six receiver, finishes this season outside the top 20 at his position. This is partly a skepticism play on his new starting quarterback’s fit in this specific offense, particularly real questions about accessing the middle of the field effectively. Even last year, on a per-route basis, Jefferson already graded as only a fringe top-15 to top-17 receiver in efficiency metrics, not a true elite option, once poor quarterback play is set aside.”

“Jefferson has been a fantasy superstar since he entered the NFL. Unfortunately, the veteran is coming off a massively disappointing season, finishing last year as the WR21, averaging 11.9 PPR fantasy points per game despite finishing seventh in the league with 141 targets.”

“With a better quarterback, Justin Jefferson is a top-five pick, but with J.J. McCarthy ‘s past poor play and the uncertainty of Kyler Murray , we get a discount on one of the best wide receivers in the league.”

“Last year, Jefferson was still sixth in target share (28.5%) and seventh in first-read share (35.1%), so we should all expect the Minnesota passing attack to run through their alpha wide receiver again in 2026.”

“Last year, Justin Jefferson had a horrible runout as the WR28 in fantasy points per game (WR14 in expected fantasy points per game). Obviously, a ton of his season was impacted by the level of quarterback play, but Jefferson also slid to 36th in separation score and 38th in route win rate (among 109 qualifying receivers, per Fantasy Points Data).”

“Justin Jefferson is the fifth-best wide receiver in the Madden universe, apparently”

“This wasn’t Jefferson’s fault, however. Among wide receivers with 50+ targets, Jefferson ranked 58th in catchable target rate (71%). J.J. McCarthy stunk, and all indications are that Kyler Murray is the clear favorite to be the starter in 2026, and possibly beyond.”

“Jefferson should immediately become Murray’s go-to receiver, making an overall WR1 finish well within reach.”

“The Ballers agree that if Kyler takes the leading QB role, they are confident that Jefferson will be back as a top-tier WR. However, they see him more as a back-end WR1.”

“Speaking of positional advantage, Trey McBride is averaging 15.4 half-PPR points per game and leads all tight ends in targets and receptions. It’s all McBride and Michael Wilson in Arizona, with these two accounting for nearly 60% of the target share. With 10+ targets in all three games this year, McBride’s fantasy floor is elite.”

“ARI @ SF (SF-8.5, O/U 47.5) Trey McBride is the only Arizona Cardinal that you can start with confidence this week, as Jeremiyah Love has only seen 27 opportunities in two weeks on a bad offense.”

“The apple of Brissett’s eye all afternoon, McBride led the team in targets with 13, catching nine passes for 95 yards and a score in an upset victory over the Los Angeles Chargers. McBride will look to keep the train a’ rollin’ in a more difficult matchup at home against Seattle next week. Stud:”

“Star TE Trey McBride had nine for 95 and the score, while veteran WR Kendrick Bourne racked up eight catches for 75 yards. First-round RB Jeremiyah Love got in the end zone for the first time in his career, while WRs Michael Wilson and Marvin Harrison Jr. also chipped in with big plays. Arizona has pretty solid weapons but it’s notable that the Cardinals had as much success as they did against a Chargers defense that was No. 5 in total defense last year and returned most of the unit.”

“While Trey McBride is a must-start, there are serious questions around the rest of the Cardinals.”

“Brock Bowers , Colston Loveland , and Trey McBride are the obvious examples heading into this season.”

“Trey McBride (TE – ARI) Trey McBride has a top-20 ADP after catching 126 passes for 1,239 yards and 11 touchdowns last season.”

“Trey McBride (TE – ARI) Whether you prefer Brock Bowers or Trey McBride doesn’t really matter. Neither should be drafted this high. Last season, McBride averaged 18.6 PPR points per game, and Bowers averaged 15.5 in 2024, the better season of his two years in the NFL.”

“Taking a look at the top options from last season, McBride averaged 11.2 fantasy points per game, and Bowers averaged 9.4 points per game.”

“Cardinals TE Trey McBride has become a prolific fantasy scorer.”

“In full-PPR formats, running backs and wide receivers split the top 10 in points per game 50/50, while running backs made up 10 of the top 20 spots in those leagues ( Trey McBride was in there as a tight end).”

“Let’s use last season’s leading TE scorer, Trey McBride , as an example. He scored 315.9 PPR fantasy points last season. In TE-premium, where he gets an extra half-point for each of his 126 receptions, McBride scored 378.9 fantasy points.”