Matt Harmon Fantasy analyst Thu, November 5, 2026 at 12:26 AM UTC · 11 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Few things in life excite me more than offensive ecosystem talk. Deployment of players, weaponizing concepts and schemes; it's the best.
Figuring out the right offensive environments can also be our best path to uncovering value and ascending players in fantasy football. With eight weeks of data, we can see which teams have improved since the start of the season and which are going in the other direction. I'll spend more time on the improving teams and quickly explain why the fallers rank where they do right now. We'll use a metric I came up with to do it.
My Offensive Efficiency Score is simply the average of each team's rank across metrics I use to measure a unit's effectiveness (dropback EPA, rush EPA, points per drive, drive scoring rate, success rate and explosive play rate). Nothing special. However, the variety of variables accounts for teams that attack in different ways — teams that move the ball successfully but aren't explosive get measured the same as an inverse team.
Here's how the league stacks up after eight weeks.
Offensive efficiency scores for all 32 NFL teams through Week 8.
Quietly, plenty of interesting things are happening in the Dolphins offense. In a league full of humiliating units, this isn't one of them. Miami looks put together, well-coached and runs plenty of sound concepts.
While not flush with household names, young skill-position talents like boundary rookie receiver Caleb Douglas, slot-man Malik Washington and especially Ollie Gordon at running back have offered strong moments. The run game has taken off with Gordon at the helm, as the team has leaned into gap concepts. They rank sixth in yards per carry on gap runs and only the Patriots and Titans run it at a higher rate.
Miami has a stretch of games against the Lions, Colts, Bills and Jets defenses coming over the next month. You can play some of these Dolphins options against those weaker stop units.
After three brutal games to start the year against some of the best defenses in the league, the Patriots offense has been on fire over the past month.
That schedule caveat might be necessary but it's also fair to point out that Drake Maye has been getting it done without a stacked hand. A.J. Brown has been injured and not impactful when he's played, while other role players have stepped up. The offensive line has dealt with injuries and the run game remains middling.
Maye is back in the elite quarterback territory with his play over this recent stretch. Week 9's matchup against the Packers will be telling, especially as we assess how many of these young pass-catchers he can take with him to fantasy relevance.
The Steelers finished 31st and 30th in Weeks 1 and 2 in the offensive efficiency metric. They have ranked between fourth and 18th in every week since, with three finishes in the top eight.
The Steelers have really leaned into a bully ball mentality. From Week 5 on they use jumbo personnel (six offensive linemen) on 11.5% of their plays, the third-highest rate in the league. They slowed down their pace, pass rates and have gotten under center more often. This has led to the explosion of Jaylen Warren, who has flat-out been one of the best running backs in the NFL. Pittsburgh ranks first in rushing EPA in this span.
The passing game under Aaron Rodgers isn't quite as effective (23rd) but they do find some steady plays in the quick game and weaponize their tight ends. I enjoy watching this offense much more now than I did early in the season and it's no longer a "hands-off" environment for fantasy.
Washington has ranked between 10th and 15th in all three of their games in this span. Based on the current personnel, it's tough to imagine this team featuring a high ceiling but the floor is strong, as long as Jayden Daniels stays healthy.
That means we can at least consider the highly involved players as flex candidates in the right matchup. Antonio Williams ran the most routes on the team last week and is on track for a strong post-bye rookie bump.
The Jets attack is one of the most improved offensive units in the NFL this season, up from 31st in 2025 to 11th overall this year. They've gotten even better the last month with Braelon Allen breaking out and Omar Cooper Jr. excelling as a rookie.
The challenge for fantasy is this unit's crowded nature. They got three-deep at receiver with Cooper, Garrett Wilson and AD Mitchell, have two highly drafted tight ends and two strong backs when Breece Hall returns. You felt the consequences when Cooper failed to record a target last week, despite good film, and Mitchell went off against the Raiders.
With the unit looking viable and the defense struggling, we should get some good scripts for the Jets offense to put up points. We'll just have to try and pinpoint the right matchups.
The Texans have four top-seven weekly finishes in the efficiency metric this season. There have been some real frustrations with this unit and I have a decently long list of complaints but C.J. Stroud is playing well enough to cover up some of the sins.
The Texans need to give up on being this run-heavy unit and really lean into the passing game given Stroud's play and the receiver depth. The Texans ranked fifth, 10th and eighth in pass rate over expected from Weeks 4 to 6 but dipped down to 21st in Week 7 before their bye. How they approach this week's game coming back from their bye week will tell us a lot about whether OC Nick Caley is up for changing his stripes.
On the season, Green Bay ranks 11th in dropback EPA and 31st in rushing. That 20-point gap is tied for the second-largest in the NFL. I don't have much faith the Packers will improve on the ground. The current version of Josh Jacobs isn't enough to fix the struggling unit, despite his fantasy production, and the offensive line is the load-bearing issue.
As such, I expect this team to continue to be pass-centric and as long as they lean into that, they should be able to improve in these rankings over the course of the season.
The Bucs have gone the other way of some of the last couple of teams discussed and fully leaned into their rushing attack. Over the last two weeks, Baker Mayfield has completed seven of his 14 pass attempts. The Bucs won both games.
The Bucs have leaned into more gap runs as the season has gone on and the offensive line is responding with some excellent play. Over the last four weeks, they rank third in explosive rushing rate. Bucky Irving was one of the best running back selections this year.
Cam Ward is coming off the best game of his NFL career. That is buoying the jump in the rankings, as they were the sixth-best offense in Week 8 but no better than 19th in any other.
The Titans leaned into no huddle on 41% of their plays in Week 8, their highest rate of the season by far. This could be an aberration against the Bengals defense but I'm open to the possibility that a spread offense with a high pass rate (fifth in pass rate over expected) just suits Ward better.
The Ravens were pacing to be an elite offense early in the season. Everything has fallen apart with Lamar Jackson's injury. He looks likely to miss the rest of the season, as does his backup Tyler Huntley.
The Ravens traded for Jacoby Brissett on Wednesday , the best outcome they could hope for given the miserable situation they're in. Brissett has familiarity with the coaching staff and should pick up the offense in time to start in Week 10. He's enough to keep the ship afloat and keep Baltimore out of the league basement by the end of the season.
The Saints desperately need to get left tackle Kelvin Banks back. You can directly map their offensive collapse with his removal from the offense. Banks is back at practice this week, so his return in the next few games will go a long way toward saving this unit.
Hopefully, he can also elevate what's been one of the NFL's least effective run games. The team also desperately needs Travis Etienne Jr. to come back and be the player they paid him to be this offseason. The current stable of backs just won't cut it.
Injuries along the offensive line have sunk a unit that was one of the most enjoyable in September. They've ranked 23rd and 24th the last two weeks. Unfortunately, if they can't get an infusion of health along that line, they don't stand a chance at matching their September numbers against quality opponents.
The Falcons are unfairly penalized by a monsoon game in Tampa Bay in Week 8, where Michael Penix Jr. completely collapsed. Otherwise, they've hovered between 14th and 20th in Weeks 5 to 7. I think that's probably more appropriate for their current standing — an average NFL offense that can spike due to high-end talent in Drake London and Bijan Robinson.
Two games against the Seahawks and Broncos have set back the once-soaring Chiefs. It's also shown that if you can shut down their explosive ground game, they don't have the horses to throw on good defenses. The Chiefs need to get serious about their receiver issues for once and make a trade before the deadline. It's that simple.
You can totally ignore this one. The Bears are unfairly penalized by a 28th-place ranking in Week 5, Tyson Bagent's disaster and final start against the Packers. They've ranked 13th, seventh and fifth in Caleb Williams' three games since returning from injury. Chicago is one of the best offenses in the NFL; I have no doubt.
It feels like everyone wants to find one smoking gun that's behind the Seahawks stalling on offense but it's not that simple — despite the inclination to crush OC Brian Fleury for being unable to mimic Klint Kubiak's 2025 output. There's blame to go around.
The offensive line has been spotty but you hope that improves with Quenton Nelson settling in at left guard. The run game needs Jadarian Price to break out as a more explosive option. Sam Darnold also hasn't played well and now he's set to miss some time with an injury . Drew Lock actually captained this team's second-best offensive outing in Week 2 this year. Lastly, while Jaxon Smith-Njigba can handle an immense share of the passing volume, the lack of a true second threat has held this unit back. The extra attention he's received this year has also forced Darnold to make too many post-snap decisions, which is the biggest reason he's struggled.
Odds are, Seattle can fix one or two problems on that long list. It's not ideal that the ledger goes as deep as it does. Even if they fix a couple, I still think this tops out as an average unit overall.
The Colts' season is over. They know it; they've acted on it. I don't think 26th is their floor. If/when Jonathan Taylor and even Josh Downs are shipped off this roster over the next week, you can make a strong argument that this is the least talented offense in the NFL. I won't be looking for much fantasy viability out of anyone on this team going forward.
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