The Five Biggest Surprises As NFL Teams Release Depth Charts Ahead of 2026 Season

The 2026 NFL season is here, which means—among plenty of other things—it’s time to overreact.

The first order of business? Depth charts.

Before every matchup, all 32 teams release a depth chart compiled by their media relations department. They are unofficial, and therefore nonbinding, but can give us an informal look at how clubs may approach the coming season—or at the very least, the start of it.

Let me again clarify: These depth charts are unofficial. Having said that (twice now), here’s a look at the five biggest surprises across NFL depth charts for Week 1.

Jeremiyah Love is backing up Tyler Allgeier

The Cardinals drafted Jeremiyah Love out of Notre Dame with the No. 3 pick in April’s draft. And yet, despite already being the highest-paid running back in NFL history in terms of guaranteed money, he’s listed behind veteran Tyler Allgeier.

For context, Love is dealing with a high ankle sprain that he sustained during the Cardinals’ second preseason game, and coach Mike LaFleur has made it clear that his offense will use a running back-by-committee approach.

On the Cardinals’ unofficial depth chart ahead of Sunday’s regular-season opener vs. the Chargers, Tyler Allgeier is listed as RB1 and rookie Jeremiyah Love is listed as RB2. pic.twitter.com/XqTskse0uk
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 8, 2026

“Not one running back can take all 65 snaps,” he said this summer. “We’ve seen that story when guys are a little bit overloaded, and whether it hurts them. … [We want to] be able to split those guys up, one, to keep them fresh throughout that game, but two, to keep them as healthy as they can for 17 games is the appropriate way to go.”

That said, Love should—and likely will—be featured heavily within Arizona’s offense. Perhaps this is simply a rookie ribbing by the Cardinals.

J.J. McCarthy, QB3

After losing the Vikings’ starting quarterback job to Kyler Murray during training camp, J.J. McCarthy has now been demoted to the team’s third-string job behind veteran Carson Wentz.

“Carson will be the backup on Sunday,” coach Kevin O’Connell told reporters on Wednesday. “And J.J. will obviously be the third guy. I’m looking at that as a week-to-week thing. Carson has got almost 100 career starts; what he was able to do last year, from a standpoint of very limited repetition but being able to apply a career’s worth of experience—that’s kind of what you need to do as a backup quarterback. … This gives us the best chance to win this Sunday.”

Minnesota drafted McCarthy with the No. 10 pick in 2024 and just two seasons later—while most of the rest of his quarterback draft class is thriving—he has been relegated to the third-team offense.

The Patriots don’t have a punter

Despite sustaining an undisclosed lower-body injury during the preseason, Patriots punter Bryce Baringer made the team’s initial 53-man roster. Two days later, the team placed him on injured reserve, keeping him out a minimum of four games.

The move coincided with New England signing veteran punter Mitch Wishnowsky to the practice squad, leaving the team without a punter on its active roster.

Here’s a look at the #Patriots first unofficial depth chart for the 2026 regular season: pic.twitter.com/AcJqauVFuJ
— Mike Kadlick (@mikekadlick) September 3, 2026

Teams can elevate players from their practice squad to their active roster a maximum of three times, which gives the Patriots three games with Wishnowsky before they have to make another decision before Week 4. For what it’s worth, New England signed Matt Haack during training camp before releasing him during final roster cuts, so he could be their fail-safe option until Baringer is ready to return.

Kayshon Boutte is already a starting WR for the Texans

The Texans traded for wide receiver Kayshon Boutte from the Patriots last month after losing Jayden Higgins for the season due to a torn ACL. If their depth chart could talk, it would tell you that he’s already made quite an impression.

Boutte is listed as one of Houston’s starting wide receivers alongside Nico Collins and Xavier Hutchinson, ahead of Jaylin Noel and Jared Wayne.

“Kayshon is learning the playbook very well, and we’re throwing it all at him,” Texans coach Demeco Ryans said of his team’s new pass catcher this week. “He’s a smart guy; he’s picked up on what we’ve asked him to do. … We’re throwing him out there. We’re trying to go win a football game. We traded for the guy for a reason; I think he’s a really good playmaker, so I wanna see that show up on Sunday.”

Andy Dalton and Tanner McKee are backing up Jalen Hurts

Jalen Hurts is the Eagles’ starting quarterback. There’s no doubt about that. Behind him, though, is where things get a bit murky.

Both Andy Dalton and Tanner McKee are listed as the team’s second-string quarterback(s), with rookie Cole Payton rounding out the room. According to coach Nick Sirianni, there’s a tactical reason behind this.

“We don’t have to make that decision quite yet, or announce that decision, I think, for competitive reasons,” he explained on Wednesday. “Again, I don’t want them to be able to study one guy over the other. I’m not saying we don’t have an answer of who that is yet. I don’t have to share that quite yet publicly.”

On Sunday against the Commanders, the Eagles will likely activate only two quarterbacks while designating another as the emergency third QB. We’ll be on the edge of our seats waiting for the inactives list to come out 90 minutes before kickoff on Sunday.

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