We’re more than a third of the way through the season, and the top of the league is starting to sort itself out. The bigger question is which teams are real contenders and which are just collecting wins. That line matters, and in the hobby it can make a big difference.
San Francisco keeps making the case that it belongs at the very top, even with the injury damage piling up. Mike Evans went down midway through Monday’s win after aggravating an Achilles injury, and that pushed the 49ers to eight pass catchers who have missed at least one game in 2026. The team has even avoided placing players on injured reserve because it has run out of room, and it’s barely Halloween.
None of that has slowed the unbeaten start, largely because Brock Purdy keeps carrying the load. The fifth-year quarterback has turned into one of the league’s best, with a 15:2 touchdown-to-turnover ratio, 1,460 passing yards, and top-tier numbers in completion percentage and yards per completion among quarterbacks who have played at least four games. He’s up to 69.6 percent completions and 8.5 yards per completion, both good for third best in that group.
His card market has kept pace. After Week 2, Purdy’s market was already up 15 percent, and his 2022 Prizm Silver PSA 10 rookie was selling for $750. Since then, it has doubled, with his flagship rookie now fetching nearly $1,000 a dozen times over.
The road ahead doesn’t look especially threatening, either. It feels like San Francisco has to lose at some point given how banged up it is, but games against the Falcons, Raiders and Cowboys should leave the 49ers favored in each one. The next time they may see an even matchup is November 29, when they host the Seahawks, and that could give Purdy’s market even more room to run.
Another quarterback whose stock could be heading in the right direction is C.J. Stroud. It’s been an uphill climb, but one of my favorite quarterbacks before the season is starting to heat up.
Houston is 2-4 after a last-second win in London over the Jaguars, but Stroud can’t really be blamed for the record. He has topped 300 passing yards in two of his last three games and has turned the ball over only once in six contests, a major rebound after he threw seven turnovers in the 2025 postseason.
The Texans’ receiving group has also quietly changed shape. Last week’s addition of Marvin Harrison Jr. has helped turn what looked like a weakness after Jayden Higgins’ season-ending ACL tear in the preseason into a real strength. The caveat is obvious, since everything still depends on Nico Collins staying healthy, but Houston suddenly has depth at wideout with Harrison Jr., Jaylin Noel, Kayshon Boutte and the returning Tank Dell.
That matters because the run game has been a mess. Houston owns the eighth-worst rushing attack in the NFL, and the efficiency numbers are even uglier.
As a result, the offense has had to run almost entirely through Stroud, who is on pace for more pass attempts than he had in his Rookie of the Year season. The Giants, Chargers, Browns and Colts are next, and that stretch should give him a chance to stack wins with the numbers, which could move his card market closer to where it was in the preseason.
Tennessee finally got back in the win column, but the result had more to do with Indianapolis’ special teams than Cam Ward. The Titans’ first victory since December 21, 2025, came despite Ward throwing for just 120 yards, and he became one of only three quarterbacks to win a game this year while finishing below 120 passing yards, joining Bo Nix and Jameis Winston.
That outing fits the broader picture for the 2025 No. 1 pick. Ward’s Silver Prizm PSA 10 rookie was going for around $700 before the season, but now it has sold multiple times for $425 or less. Carnell Tate’s market in the first Topps NFL product has taken a hit too, though Topps Chrome could change that somewhat.
The problem in Tennessee goes beyond one bad passing day. The Titans are only missing one projected starting offensive lineman from the start of the season because of injury, and the free-agent additions of Wan’Dale Robinson and Daniel Bellinger haven’t done much to lift an offense that was already one of the worst in the league in 2025. If Ward investors have been waiting for a sell window, Sunday’s win may be the best chance they get, because the last 18 games have made the exit point pretty clear.
In Other News...
Titans Suddenly Face A Real Question About Alontae Taylor
A quiet but notable subplot emerged before Tennessees game against Indianapolis when Robert Saleh made the call to bench starting cornerback Alontae Taylor as part of a reset. Saleh framed the move as a way to help Taylor adjust to life as an outside corner in the teams defensive system, and Taylor took the news in stride, acknowledging the decision while stressing his motivation to adapt and improve.
For the Titans, the situation raises a real roster and development question at a position that has been under the microscope all season. It also landed on a day when there was some good news elsewhere, with Julius Chestnut earning AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors for his punt block, while the team continued sorting through injury updates and practice participation ahead of the matchup. [Read more 🡒]
Titans Fans Noticed A Familiar Voice Suddenly Missing In Nashville
For more than a decade, Blaine Bishop has been one of the more familiar football voices around Nashville, mixing his former Titans perspective with weekday radio on 104.5 The Zone. The ex-safety had been with the station since January 2010 and had co-hosted the Cover Two show with Zach Lyons, giving listeners a steady, recognizable presence well after his playing days ended.
Bishop is no longer part of that lineup. His last appearance on Cover Two came on Oct. 15, and producer Ross Johnston has been filling in since then, leaving a noticeable change for Titans fans who had grown used to hearing Bishop's take alongside Lyons every week. [Read more 🡒]
Titans Could Make A Painful Deadline Choice Fans Knew Was Coming
At 1-5, the Titans are once again staring at the kind of deadline that usually forces a hard reset, and this time the conversation is not about buying help but about deciding which veterans still fit the long view. The reported stance is clear enough: outside of the rookie class, Cam Ward and Jeffery Simmons, just about everyone else can be discussed if the return helps Tennessee build draft capital before the Nov. 10 deadline.
That makes the next two weeks worth watching around players like Calvin Ridley, Tony Pollard and Cody Barton, all of whom could draw different levels of interest depending on what a contender needs. Ridley has been linked to the Rams, Pollard has been tied to the Bengals and Barton has been floated to the Bills, but those are only speculative fits for now, the sort of deadline chatter that says as much about where the Titans are headed as it does about where these veterans might land. [Read more 🡒]