“This is going to be my year.”
It might be the most popular saying at the beginning of every year, as everyone wills themselves towards bigger and better. A cold, hard dose of reality tells us that isn’t always the case.
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In the NFL, every player walks into a new season believing it’ll be their best. The one that secures a huge contract. The one that puts them in the history books forever.
Injuries, circumstances and more are bound to change that, impacting some more than others. Now it’s time for those players to rebound or bounce back. After all, Chumbawamba was right with its most famous lyrics.
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“I get knocked down, but I get up again.”
And there are more than a few players ready to get up again in 2026. Here’s a look at some players primed to bounce back next season.
NFL players who will bounce back in 2026
Geno Smith, New York Jets
The 2025 season was an exercise in Murphy’s Law for Smith and, essentially, anyone involved with the Las Vegas Raiders. The Raiders posted a 2-13 record in Smith’s 15 starts and led the league with 17 interceptions, but let’s not forget the variables around him. Jakobi Meyers? Traded. Brock Bowers? Injured. Offensive line? Nonexistent. Chip Kelly? Fired.
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It would be an impossible task for any quarterback to find success in that situation. Smith’s numbers took a big hit across the board, but he is also only one season removed from a solid three-year run as the Seattle Seahawks’ starter. He totaled 4,320 passing yards in his final season in Seattle and completed 70.4% of passes, finishing the year with 10 wins.
Now he returns to the Jets, who have never been a soft landing spot for any quarterback – including Smith after he was drafted by the organization in 2013. However, those aren’t the same Jets – at least on paper – this season. Smith will be surrounded by proven weapons in Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson in addition to premium draft picks Omar Cooper Jr. and Kenyon Sadiq.
With a quality offensive line and a veteran coordinator in Frank Reich, Smith could easily bounce back in 2026. He might not lead the Jets to the “promised land” as Aaron Glenn suggested, but New York’s goal is to be a competent NFL team next season and Smith is more than capable of that. He’ll just have to hope that what happened in Vegas stays there.
Isiah Pacheco, Detroit Lions
Pacheco is the perfect player for the Lions. He’s an angry runner who tries to punish the ground and the defender who stands in his way. He fights for every inch. He brings a physicality and attitude to every play that makes football purists fall in love. Yet the running back has dealt with his fair share of injuries over the years because of that style.
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A fractured fibula derailed his 2024 season and a knee injury complicated things in 2025. He still managed to play in 13 games, but he simply wasn’t as effective: Pacheco finished with 462 rushing yards across 118 carries, one touchdown and averaged just 35.5 yards per game as part of the Chiefs’ backfield committee.
Pacheco won’t be the RB1 in Detroit either, but his role is seemingly more defined. He steps into David Montgomery’s spot on the Lions’ depth chart after he was traded to the Houston Texans during free agency. While Dan Campbell told reporters on June 4 that Jahmyr Gibbs will be the “bell cow” for the Lions, it isn’t out of the question that Pacheco could be more effective even with fewer opportunities than Montgomery. Pacheco’s physicality lends itself to goal line chances and Gibbs can’t stay on the field forever.
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Xavier Worthy, Kansas City Chiefs
Worthy took a big leap in the second half of his rookie season and then capped it off with a solid run in the postseason, headlined by a Super Bowl 59 performance where he totaled 157 yards and two touchdowns. It meant that Worthy was entering his second season with great expectations, which ended faster than it started.
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The receiver collided with his teammate, Travis Kelce, during Kansas City’s Week 1 opener in Brazil and suffered a torn labrum. Worthy played through the injury all season before announcing in a Jan. 14 social media post that he underwent successful surgery.
“Coming for it all next year let’s work road to recovery,” Worthy said in the post.
There’s no reason to believe Worthy couldn’t deliver on that. The speed is still there and the Chiefs have reshaped the roster in an effort to regain their form in 2026. Perhaps no move matters more than the signing of Kenneth Walker III in this case. Defenses will have to respect the Chiefs’ rushing attack next season, something that only helps a player like Worthy. He finished his rookie season with nine total touchdowns, but that dropped to just one in 2026. With a clean bill of health and some roster improvements, expect those numbers to take a step in the right direction once again.
Brian Thomas Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars
What a difference a year makes. Selected to the Pro Bowl in 2024, Thomas was also a contender for Offensive Rookie of the Year, recording 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns – appearing to be the next big receiver out of LSU. That script quickly flipped in 2025 following the arrival of Liam Coen. Thomas finished with 707 yards and two touchdowns, which sparked trade rumors this offseason.
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After battling injuries in 2025, Thomas indicated that he feels much better this time around.
“It doesn’t hurt to run,” Thomas told reporters on June 1. It comes after Trevor Lawrence indicated on May 26 that they had worked on improving their chemistry this offseason, adding that they have gotten some extra reps in. The quarterback believes that the connection is “clicking more and more every day,” saying that Thomas is going to have a great year.
Buy into the bounce back.
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Ladd McConkey, Los Angeles Chargers
Thomas and McConkey might play on opposite coasts, but they have a lot in common. Like the Jaguars WR, McConkey also experienced a significant drop in production from Year 1 to Year 2. The Chargers were crushed by injuries, especially along the offensive line in 2025. It limited the ceiling of the offense, but the reason for optimism isn’t health – it’s the play-caller.
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Mike McDaniel is coordinating the offense for the Bolts now, bringing an endless amount of motion and creativity to an offense that could use a jolt. McDaniel’s Dolphins motioned on 67.5% of snaps in 2025, according to Sharp Football Analysis. By comparison, the Chargers were around league average at 50.6%.
McConkey’s route-running prowess was displayed in 2024 and putting the receiver in motion more should help him get more free releases to become a problem in space once again. In terms of outside factors, Keenan Allen is no longer on the roster – something that helps in multiple ways.
Justin Herbert won’t have the trusted pass-catcher and Allen’s targets will have to go elsewhere. Expect McDaniel to make McConkey the focal point of the passing attack, which will mark a return to form in 2026.
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Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens
It was a miserable 2025 season for Andrews, who totaled 48 catches, 422 yards and five touchdowns in 17 games. A quick look at the numbers would tell you that this is a player on the wrong side of 30 who has been declining – at least in terms of per-game averages – every year since his best season in 2021.
However, this version of the Ravens is notoriously without Isaiah Likely in the tight end room, who followed now-former Baltimore coach, John Harbaugh, to the Giants. For the first time in a long time, Andrews can operate as the team’s clear TE1. And that is a big deal in Declan Doyle’s offense, who could opt to roll out more three-receiver sets.
The offensive coordinator learned under Ben Johnson with the Chicago Bears in 2025, following a two-year run as the Denver Broncos’ tight end coach. His new philosophy should freshen things up for the Ravens’ offense, which became stale last season. Don’t be shocked if Andrews finds the fountain of youth as a result. The lack of competition for targets and potential matchup advantages against smaller defenders can make him a nightmare to defend once again.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL bounce-back candidates in 2026: Who made the list?
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