Welcome to the weekly Fantasy Notebook, the must-stop spot for keeping your finger on the pulse of Fantasy Nation. NFL news and developments drive fantasy values. The Notebook is here to keep you in the loop on all of it throughout the season -- and into the offseason.
A Big Week Ahead
A couple of things stand out this week. Yes, Super Bowl LX would be one of them as the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots square off in this year's NFL Championship game -- and all that goes with it: Parties, family, friends, and all fixings.
If you're digging into the fantasy side of things, Footballguys has you covered with our Everything Season Long and DFS for the Super Bowl page.
Also, if the usual network pregame coverage isn't tickling your fancy, I'll be co-hosting the annual Football Diehards Super Bowl Roundtable from 3 to 6 pm ET on SiriusXM Fantasy. You'll get ample fantasy discussion with a dash of legal sports wagering talk -- and an escape from the network television fare . . .
Footballguys Rookie Guide
It's almost time! The 2026 Footballguys Rookie Draft Guide Version 1 will be available Monday, Feb. 9. Get the lowdown on this year's incoming class with scouting reports, rankings, grades, player comparisons, sortable statistics, and more.
Version 1 will be available free of charge.
Sign up here to be among the first to download as soon as it's available . . .
A Little Housecleaning
As this is the final week of the 2025 season, there will be some adjustments to the schedule as we shift into off-season mode. It starts with the Email Update going from daily to twice weekly -- with Monday and Friday deliveries. Fridays will feature Sigmund Bloom's Week in NFL News.
This schedule continues until the NFL Draft in late April, when we crank back up to daily . . .
Back to Our Regularly-Scheduled Programming
With the preliminaries out of the way, we can get back to getting a handle on this year's head coaching changes. And while there are still some i's to be dotted and t's to be crossed, it's safe to say the 2026 NFL Head Coaching Carousel has stopped spinning.
In case you missed any of it, the Fantasy Notebook reviewed the first four hires of the season -- the Giants, the Falcons, the Titans, and the Dolphins -- two weeks ago. Last week's Notebook covered the Steelers, the Bills, the Ravens, and the Browns.
And Then There Were None
This week, we'll sort out the final two openings in this year's class, with Las Vegas and Arizona making their calls . . .
Raiders Make Future News
As NFL.com framed it, "Sin City has eyes on its next head coach -- even if it will have to wait."
According to multiple reports on Sunday, the Las Vegas Raiders are zeroing in on Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak as their new head coach.
Las Vegas can't officially hire Kubiak until after Super Bowl LX, but all signs point to a partnership between the two . . .
How Kubiak Got Here
At just 38 years old, Kubiak had immediate success in running Seattle's offense in his first year as a coordinator with the team. The Seahawks arguably saved some of their best offensive efforts of the season for the playoffs, scoring 72 combined points across two postseason games to reach the Super Bowl.
Kubiak, who also had one-year stints coordinating offenses for the Minnesota Vikings (2021) and New Orleans Saints (2024), got his start in the league as an offensive quality control coach for the Vikings in 2013. He was also a Denver Broncos offensive assistant from 2016-2018, briefly working under his father, Gary Kubiak, who was Denver's head coach for the first year of that span.
His history of success led to widespread popularity in this year's coaching cycle.
Kubiak, a finalist for the Associated Press Assistant Coach of the Year award, also interviewed for head coaching jobs with the Cardinals, Falcons, Ravens, Dolphins, and Giants.
Following his second interview for the Raiders' vacancy, Las Vegas has locked in on him . . .
How the Raiders Got Here
The Raiders are coming off a 3-14 season, their worst since 2014, and are now, after a one-and-done 2025 season for Pete Carroll, on their fifth different full-time head coach since 2021.
Las Vegas ranked at the bottom in every notable offensive category, including rushing yards per game (77.5). The team endured a 10-game losing streak and fired offensive coordinator Chip Kelly and special teams coordinator Tom McMahon.
Their 25th-ranked defense in points allowed wasn't much better . . .
The Good News?
There's reason for hope. As noted above, offense is Kubiak's specialty.
Seattle ranked third in points (28.41 per game), eighth in total yards (351.4), tied for 10th in rushing yards (123.3), eighth in passing yards (228.1), 13th in offensive efficiency (50.76), and 15th in EPA (30.86).
Their performance was an improvement from 2024, when they were 18th in points (22), 28th in rushing yards (95.7), 19th in offensive efficiency (43.35), and 18th in EPA (minus-0.24).
Seattle was also first in points margin (11.24) this year after finishing 15th (0.41) last season.
As ESPN.com's Ryan McFadden suggested, the Raiders are well-positioned to jump-start the rebuild.
They are projected to have the second-most cap space in the league to work with during free agency.
They already have building blocks on the offense in tight end Brock Bowers and rookie running back Ashton Jeanty. Maxx Crosby has been a constant in the backfield of opponents for years.
Additionally, they hold the top pick in the 2026 draft, with which they are expected to select Indiana quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza.
And of course, Kubiak will be working closely with NFL legend and minority owner Tom Brady . . .
Run Heavy or Run Effectively?
Upon his arrival in Seattle last February, Kubiak suggested the run game would be Seattle's offensive identity. He was then asked why that's important. "Sometimes you've got to drop back 50 times to win the game," he said. "And sometimes you've got to run it 50 times.
"We want to be able to win multiple ways."
That more diverse attack has been his calling card.
The two offenses Kubiak previously coordinated finished outside the top 10 in designed rush rate, with the 2021 Vikings ranking 11th (39.6 percent) and the 2024 Saints 14th (39.8 percent).
Over the six games in which Kubiak called plays for Denver in the second half of 2022, the Broncos were 20th (35.9 percent) . . .
Unleashing Jeanty?
Jeanty's rookie season was a battle. He gained 863 of his 975 rushing yards after contact in 2025 as poor blocking and an unimaginative scheme conspired against him.
The hope is that Kubiak unlocks the generational talent we were told Jeanty brought to the table when he was selected with the sixth pick overall in the 2025 NFL Draft.
There's reason for optimism.
Alvin Kamara finished as RB9 in total points working under Kubiak in 2024. Kamara, who missed three games to injury that year, was RB5 in average points per game. In 2025 in Seattle, the duo of Ken Walker III (RB22) and Zach Charbonnet (RB25) averaged 11.3 and 11.2 points per game, respectively, while sharing carries.
There will be no sharing for Jeanty, who was drafted as RB6 with the 12th pick overall in fantasy drafts last summer. So even if his RB11 finish was disappointing, it wasn't horrible given the circumstances. Expecting a rebound in a more productive offense -- even one run by a rookie quarterback -- isn't a reach . . .
Stay Tuned
Fantasy investors will be eagerly watching to see if the Raiders make good on the widely held view that Mendoza will indeed be the first choice in April's draft. We'll also look for signs that a healthy Bowers can regain the traction to battle Arizona's Trey McBride at the top of the tight end ranks, and for a viable option (or two) to emerge at wide receiver.
We'll also be watching this weekend as the presumptive head man in Las Vegas next season tries to complete his current mission.
As you would expect, Kubiak said on Monday that he's laser-focused on coaching the Seahawks in the Super Bowl, not on the Raiders' job.
"Been working my whole life to get to coach in this game, and that's where our focus is," Kubiak told Mike Dugar of The Athletic.
That's fine. Kubiak should be focused on the Super Bowl for now, but with staff hires pending in Vegas, the clock is ticking . . .
The Cardinals Keep It in the Division
As Darren Urban of the team's official website wrote, "The NFC West was the best division in football this past season, and now, it's produced the Arizona Cardinals' next head coach."
The team announced on Sunday that they are hiring Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur to replace Jonathan Gannon.
He agreed to a five-year contract.
LaFleur has a deep familiarity with the NFC West, having spent three seasons with the Rams and four seasons -- 2017 to 2020 -- with the San Francisco 49ers.
The younger brother of Packers coach Matt LaFleur, Mike has been the Rams' offensive coordinator the past three seasons.
LaFleur, who turns 39 in March, is the 11th coach the Cardinals have had since moving to Arizona.
He's the sixth straight head coach hired by the Cardinals who does not have full-time NFL coaching experience . . .
There's Work to Do
LaFleur embarks on trying to complete a quick turnaround, which owner Michael Bidwill said he hoped would take place "in the first year, not in the second year," in the vaunted NFC West, which had the three other teams make the playoffs this year.
It won't be easy.
LaFleur will be leading a team whose offense dropped off in 2025 to become the 19th-ranked unit in the league, a year after being ranked 11th.
The Cardinals' defense was ranked 27th last year after being ranked 21st in 2024 . . .
Offensive Enough
LaFleur comes to Arizona with a coaching pedigree and experience as an offensive playcaller. In addition to his stint as Rams' offensive coordinator, he was the New York Jets' offensive coordinator from 2021 to 2022.
Though head coach Sean McVay has been the Rams' playcaller, LaFleur played a vital role in the Rams' success over the past three seasons, which saw three straight playoff berths and double-digit-winning campaigns.
In his three years with the Rams, the Los Angeles offense was fifth in passing yards, first downs and touchdowns, sixth in yards and points per game, and eighth in red-zone efficiency.
McVay, LaFleur, and quarterback Matthew Stafford, who threw for the fourth-most passing yards of his career in an MVP-caliber season, were at the forefront of an L.A. offense that was first in points and yards in 2025 ahead of a run to the NFC title game.
As a result, the 2025 Rams ranked first in points per game, total yards per game, total yards per play, passing yards per game, and first downs per game.
But the experience goes beyond McVay and the Rams.
LaFleur also spent plenty of time working under 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. He was an offensive intern for the Browns in 2014 when Shanahan was the team's offensive coordinator. He then followed Shanahan to the Falcons, serving as an offensive assistant while Shanahan was the club's OC.
LaFleur became the 49ers' passing game coordinator and receivers coach when Shanahan was hired as San Francisco's head coach in 2017. He was the passing game coordinator from 2019-2020, following Robert Saleh to the Jets when he became the team's head coach.
For the Record
Reports on Wednesday indicate the Cardinals are hiring Nathaniel Hackett as their new offensive coordinator. Hackett's move to the desert comes as a surprise after he was set to join the Miami Dolphins as their quarterbacks coach.
But LaFleur said during his introductory press conference on Tuesday that he will call plays in Arizona.
Asked his playcalling philosophy, LaFleur replied: "The worst play call is a late play call."
He acknowledged that not calling plays the last three years was tough. "I missed it," LaFleur said . . .
Personnel Matters
Blessed with offensive talent such as Stafford, Puka Nacua, Davante Adams, and Kyren Williams in Los Angeles, LaFleur won't have such a starry roster to start with in Arizona.
In Arizona, LaFleur inherits a 3-14 team with the third-overall pick and a question mark at quarterback.
It's still unknown whether Kyler Murray, Arizona's incumbent starter, will remain on the team for the 2026 season, despite having $39.8 million already guaranteed for 2025. Should Murray remain on the roster on the fifth day of the 2026 league year, his $19.5 million base salary for 2027 becomes fully guaranteed.
Brissett and Kedon Slovis are also on the roster, and all three are under contract for 2026.
What's the Answer?
According to ESPN.com's Josh Weinfuss, before Gannon was fired a day after the regular season, the belief inside the Cardinals was that a decision would be reached within the first two weeks of the offseason. However, with Arizona on the hunt for a new head coach, that decision was tabled until the new coach and his staff are in place.
The first step in that process is now done, and, as NFL.com's Grant Gordon noted, plenty of signs point to Murray having played his last downs as the Cardinals' franchise quarterback, and Brissett is unlikely to be a long-term answer at the position.
On Tuesday, LaFleur wasn't ready to address the situation.
"We've got to go back and talk about all these decisions -- quarterback, O-line, specialists," LaFleur said. "Everything. It's our job to build the best roster at each position. Those are conversations we will have."
While we await resolution . . .
There's Plenty to Like Here
It starts with young talent on offense in the form of McBride and tackle Paris Johnson Jr.
McBride finished 2025 with 126 receptions, 1,239 yards, and 11 touchdowns. He averaged 18.6 fantasy points per game. The next closest tight end was Kyle Pitts Sr. at 12.4. McBride, who finished as TE1 overall, scored 315.9 points. That's 105.1 points more than Pitts.
Per Next Gen Stats, McBride's 169 targets ranked third in the NFL behind only Ja'Marr Chase and Amon-Ra St. Brown.
It was three more than Puka Nacua's 166.
Also worth noting, wide receiver Michael Wilson was remarkably productive with Brissett under center last year.
Wilson joined McBride in the Cardinals' 1,000-yard receiving club.
Given how he started the season, with just eight catches for 52 yards and a touchdown over the first five games, Wilson's finish was remarkable. With Brissett taking over for Murray, plus Wilson getting WR1 opportunities with Marvin Harrison Jr. injured, the third-year pro was able to take off behind 65 catches for 855 yards (and the six scores) over the next 11 games.
Offseason developments in Arizona will determine our view of Wilson in 2026, but a new, offensive-minded head coach is a great start.
Of promise and question are the Cardinals' flock of recent first-round picks: Harrison, Darius Robinson, and Walter Nolen III.
Robinson and Nolen have both struggled to get on the field due to injuries, while Harrison has failed to flourish as so many expected . . .
Backfield in Motion
The Cardinals finished the 2025 NFL season ranked at No. 31 in rushing yards per game. Key injuries to running back Trey Benson and James Conner turned out to be a significant blow to the team's offensive structure, which weighed as an additional inhibitor with Murray out.
Conner went down in Week 3. Benson after the Week 4 game. Together, that 1-2 punch was supposed to be the backbone of a run-first offense that had found success the previous two seasons.
In total, Conner and Benson ended up with 61 carries for 255 yards and one touchdown. The run game for the Cardinals has never gotten going consistently all season.
While sorting out the quarterback is Job 1, clarity on the futures of Conner and Benson is something else we'll be watching for in coming weeks . . .
This and That: More Coordination Edition
If you've been reading the Fantasy Notebook for a while, you already know I do deep dives on the incoming class of offensive coordinators and playcallers over the offseason. If you're new around here, you have something to look forward to. But for now, let's make sure you're up to speed on the latest developments . . .
