Rich’s NFL Power Rankings: The Players With the Most to Prove In the 2026 Season

Rich refuses to rank NFL teams before anyone has played a game, which is why the weekly power rankings do not start until next week. "I wait till the last second. I'm a last second guy."

What he offered instead is the list the room actually wanted, built from the two things Chris Brockman loves arguing about. Who is under the most pressure, and who has something to prove. Rich's observation is that those are the same question. "It's who's most pressured to prove something."

At ten he went with a receiver who has already proven plenty in two previous stops, and whose situation has changed entirely. DJ Moore now catches passes from Josh Allen, a quarterback everyone has spent years saying only needed a true number one, Stefon Diggs stretch notwithstanding.

Rich framed the opportunity from Moore's perspective. "I can be the wide receiver one here in Buffalo. I can be a guy who is top 10 wide receivers." And if Allen wins MVP and Buffalo reaches a Super Bowl, Moore gets to raise his hand and say he stepped up.

At nine, Rich broke his own format and went with a coach. Zac Taylor's roster has no excuses left. Joe Burrow is entering the season healthy, Ja'Marr Chase gave everyone a scare and says he is ready, Tee Higgins and Chase Brown are ready, and the franchise moved a tenth overall pick to bring in Dexter Lawrence.

The quarterback has also set the terms publicly, saying it is now or never. Rich's point is about what happens if never arrives. Despite the franchise's historical patience, Taylor would be sitting somewhere warm.

At eight, Rich took the entire Atlanta quarterback room. Tua Tagovailoa starts Week 1 and, in Rich's assessment, has a great deal of proof to produce, not least because the internet has already gotten to work. The preseason snap he fumbled has been mashed up with a Longest Yard moment, and a comment on his own Instagram post reading "Love you, Tua" has raised questions about which account it came from.

Michael Penix Jr. is the other half of the item, and Rich likes the setup if he gets in.

At seven, Rich declared what he would not do. "I will not put Jalen Hurts on this list. I will not do it."

So he put Sean Mannion on it instead, the Eagles' offensive coordinator, and explained the job as a rotating sentence. Kellen Moore had his time in the barrel and now wears a headset in New Orleans. Shane Steichen had his and now has one in Indianapolis. "It's an every other year thing. It's now your year, Sean."

The specifics are not small. No A.J. Brown, and the play calling in his hands. "He's got to prove that he's got the Eagles in the right hands."

At six, Rich wanted a receiver to finally look like the player everyone watched in college. Marvin Harrison Jr. is the Maserati that needs to come out of the garage. TJ Jefferson noted he put Harrison in the Hall of Fame as a sophomore, and Rich connected it to the current cycle, since everything being said about Jeremiah Smith now was said about Harrison then. Rich thinks the offensive situation is finally there for it, and mentioned Jacoby Brissett sits on his separate list of potential surprises.

At five, Jayden Daniels, and Rich chose the placement carefully out of respect, having considered putting him higher. The thing to prove is narrow and fair. "He's got to prove year one. That's the Jayden Daniels, not year two." The unstated case is that last season was the injuries.

At four, George Pickens, and Rich addressed him directly. He saw the franchise tag. He sees a player betting on himself by playing on it, and telling everyone around him he can be a leader.

The phrase Rich reached for came from Mike Tomlin, whose coaching point going back to Pickens' Georgia days was about doing the routine things routinely. "I see you, George Pickens. Prove it. That you are the man still."

At three, Malik Willis, and Rich acknowledged the roster around him does not look as deep in playmakers as most quarterbacks enjoy. That is not the point. "It's your team. We've been waiting for a long time."

He also made the case that Willis has already shown something. The kid from Liberty made his bones when Green Bay took him from Tennessee and dropped him into genuinely high-leverage situations, where he was good. Rich also named the consequence. If it does not work, Miami is in the mix for a quarterback in next year's draft.

At two, Deshaun Watson, and the timeline is what makes it brutal. Rich thinks Watson may get about two weeks to prove it, with the Browns opening 0 and 2 heading into a home opener.

That prediction has been the subject of an ongoing argument between Rich and Brockman, and Rich conceded the argument only after Joe Thomas said the same thing. That set off a familiar detour about how information changes value depending on who delivers it, with both men agreeing that a thing they tell their wives lands very differently when one of her friends says it.

At one, Kyler Murray, and Rich thinks the stakes extend past the quarterback. "Does Kevin O'Connell have a lot of chips at the center of the table with Kyler Murray holding the cards?"

The argument is about supporting cast. With all due respect to everyone Murray played with in Arizona, Rich and the room agreed that only DeAndre Hopkins is in the area code of Justin Jefferson, and Hopkins was somewhat on the back nine by then. There is no version of this where the roster is the excuse.

There is also an obvious reward attached. If Murray proves it, he gets paid.

Rich closed with the names that almost made it, which is often the more interesting list. He toyed with Dan Campbell. He considered Davis Webb, who is calling plays in Denver after Sean Payton handed them over. He nearly included Justin Herbert, with a caveat that made Jefferson happy: Herbert has nothing to prove until January.

Brian Thomas Jr. almost cracked it. John Harbaugh was floated and immediately dismissed. C.J. Stroud was on the sheet until Rich talked himself out of it. "If he gets paid, what's he got to prove?"

Jefferson's compliment at the end was really about restraint. He was grateful Rich left the usual suspects off it, no Dak, no Lamar.