Fantasy football may have wrapped for most managers about a month ago, but NFL playoff performances are still useful for gauging 2026 fantasy value. Below are several players whose stock has risen as the temperature dropped\u2014either because they heated up in late December or delivered in the postseason.<\/p>\n
RB LaMondre Stephenson, New England Patriots
\nCredit Mike Vrabel for not benching Stephenson after his earlier fumble trouble. The Patriots leaned on him in the playoffs, giving him 45 touches across the last two weeks, including 25 in the AFC Championship against Denver. He enters the postseason with 194 rushing yards, which leads the league. Treveyon Henderson, meanwhile, had just three carries (albeit memorable ones) in the Denver game. All season Henderson has been the explosive option while Stephenson handled the tough, steady work, and New England has favored the grinder in the postseason. Stephenson has also been more involved in the passing attack late\u201416 catches for 190 yards and two scores over his last six games versus Henderson\u2019s 3-16-0. If Stephenson posts a heavy workload in the Super Bowl, expect his ADP to climb in next year\u2019s drafts.<\/p>\n
TE Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears
\nLoveland\u2019s breakout\u2014capped by a 6-118-2 night in Cincinnati and a walk-off score\u2014became more than a one-off after Christmas. He finished his final four games (including playoffs) with 48 targets, turning them into 28 catches for 378 yards and two touchdowns. That level of usage will likely make him an expensive pick in 2026 fantasy drafts, but it\u2019s justified: Caleb Williams is rising as a passer and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson\u2019s scheme suits Loveland\u2019s skill set.<\/p>\n
RB Blake Colm, Los Angeles Rams
\nSean McVay\u2019s offense normally funnels fantasy production into a small group, but that group expanded in 2025 as Colm emerged as a complement to starter Kyren Williams. Colm was the team\u2019s most efficient back in the recent loss to Seattle (12 touches for 79 scrimmage yards) and saw double-digit touches in six of the last eight games. He finished the season with six rushing scores, five coming after Thanksgiving. Williams remains the clear starter for 2026, but Colm should have roughly eight to 12 touches in a healthy contest and could see more if he\u2019s the hotter option. He\u2019s a plausible flex play next year and could become even more valuable with an injury ahead of him.<\/p>\n
WR Marvin Mims Jr., Denver Broncos
\nMims spent much of the year on the periphery but was forced into a bigger role in the playoffs, finishing with 12 catches for 155 yards on 14 targets across two games. The Broncos\u2019 receiver room is crowded\u2014with Troy Franklin and Pat Bryant still developing\u2014but Mims will still be only 24 next year. Despite limited opportunities, he managed 11 regular-season touchdowns and contributes as a dynamic kick returner, so he\u2019s begging for a larger role moving forward.<\/p>\n
WR Jalen Coker, Carolina Panthers
\nCoker\u2019s path from undrafted free agent out of Holy Cross to a contributor is noteworthy, but his late-season development is what matters for fantasy buzz. In his final six starts he produced 28 catches for 378 yards and four scores, including a 134-yard game against the Rams. He has the size and contested-catch ability to finish with 8\u201310 touchdowns in a full season, even with Teitairoa McMillan on the roster. Expect Coker to become one of next summer\u2019s trending sleepers, and consider getting ahead of that wave.<\/p>\n
Fan Take: These playoff performances matter because they can reshape opportunity and perception heading into the 2026 season\u2014players who seize late-season snaps often become focal points next year. For fans, that means new fantasy targets and evolving team dynamics to watch as rosters and game plans adjust.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Fantasy football may have wrapped for most managers about a month ago, but NFL playoff performances are still useful for gauging 2026 fantasy value. Below are several players whose stock has risen as the temperature dropped\u2014either because they heated up in late December or delivered in the postseason. RB LaMondre Stephenson, New England Patriots Credit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[859],"tags":[860],"class_list":{"0":"post-39215","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-nfl"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}