There are a handful of players who get the same response every time the idea that they could do something good this season is brought up.
No way. That guy is WASHED!
And hey, Father Time is undefeated. The overwhelming majority of top-performing players have indeed been younger than 30 over the years. We should be cognizant of an aging player who has shown signs of decline in recent seasons.
This brings us to today's goal: Highlight 10 players regularly referred to as "washed," determine just how bright the red flags are, figure out who we should expect to benefit if the player's best years are truly in the rear-view mirror and ultimately decide just how washed each man really might be.
As always: It's a great day to be great.
Washed Candidate No. 1: Saints RB Alvin Kamara
- Age: Turned 31 in July
- Why he might be washed:Alvin Kamara averaged career-low yards per carry (3.6) and yards per reception (5.6) in his career-worst 2025 campaign.
- Why he might NOT be washed: Kamara's offensive environment was on par with fellow inefficient rushers like Ashton Jeanty and Quinshon Judkins when it came to RB rush yards *before* contact per carry. He racked up 115 total yards in his only
There are a handful of players who get the same response every time the idea that they could do something good this season is brought up.
No way. That guy is WASHED!
And hey, Father Time is undefeated. The overwhelming majority of top-performing players have indeed been younger than 30 over the years. We should be cognizant of an aging player who has shown signs of decline in recent seasons.
This brings us to today's goal: Highlight 10 players regularly referred to as "washed," determine just how bright the red flags are, figure out who we should expect to benefit if the player's best years are truly in the rear-view mirror and ultimately decide just how washed each man really might be.
As always: It's a great day to be great.
Washed Candidate No. 1: Saints RB Alvin Kamara
- Age: Turned 31 in July
- Why he might be washed:Alvin Kamara averaged career-low yards per carry (3.6) and yards per reception (5.6) in his career-worst 2025 campaign.
- Why he might NOT be washed: Kamara's offensive environment was on par with fellow inefficient rushers like Ashton Jeanty and Quinshon Judkins when it came to RB rush yards *before* contact per carry. He racked up 115 total yards in his only normal game with Tyler Shough under center.
There wasn't a lot to love about Kamara or the Saints offense during the first half of 2025. That said, we are looking at a guy just one year removed from working as the RB5 in PPR points per game! Reports out of training camp signal Kamara could handle a majority of the pass-down work, something that could hinder the overall upside of 52-million-dollar-man Travis Etienne.
But if Kamara's good days are truly over? Goodness will ETN's sliding ADP start to look like a bargain. I was fading the ex-Jaguar at the Round 3-4 turn a few weeks ago, but recently Etienne has slid to the back of Round 4 and occasionally even into Round 5. That price will look like a massive bargain in a potentially ascending Saints offense should ETN be entrusted with a true workhorse role.
Conclusion:7/10 on the Washed Scale. Kamara accepted a roughly $5.5 million pay cut to stay with the Saints. It'd be pretty shocking if this committee reaches 50/50 status considering the money at hand. Maybe AK41 can parlay a lightened workload with heightened efficiency, though even then the Saints' blitzkrieg-paced offense could still yield enough work for Etienne to smash his ADP. Maybe Kamara surprises, but I'm increasingly very fine clicking Etienne at the Round 4-5 turn.
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Washed Candidate No. 2: 49ers WR Mike Evans
- Age: 33 on Aug. 21
- Why he might be washed:Mike Evans ranked among the league's bottom-10 receivers in yards per target (5.9), passer rating when targeted (69.8) and catch rate (48.4%) during his injury-riddled, career-worst 2025 season.
- Why he might NOT be washed: Evans and his QB Baker Mayfield were largely banged up for all of the 2025 season. We still saw Evans demand plenty of targets (27.3% targets per route run, 8th), and some advanced separation metrics still paint him in a very favorable light.
While Evans' status took a pretty steep downturn last season, there's a decent argument to be made that the decline was more so on Baker Mayfield.
It's hardly ideal that Evans has missed 12 games during the last two seasons, but 2025 was the only time that he's played fewer than 13 games in his 12-year career. Maybe Mr. 1K is over the hill and opens up additional target opportunities for the likes of Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, De'Zhaun Stribling and even Deebo Samuel, but already losing Ricky Pearsallreally makes this more of a "sink or swim" situation for Evans and the 49ers' passing game as a whole.
Conclusion:4/10 on the Washed Scale. We probably shouldn't expect Evans to get back to 1,500-yard territory, but a TD-spike campaign in a similar vein to 2025 Davante Adams sure seems to be on the table. After all, Evans stands out as THE primary red-zone weapon inside a Purdy-Shanahan system that has consistently ranked among the league's best units. Evans is my WR20 and that feels low — he's a prime candidate to be ranked far higher during the season than he is in August.
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Washed Candidate No. 3: Rams WR Davante Adams
- Age: 34 in December
- Why he might be washed:Davante Adams hardly looked washed on his way to catching a league-high 14 touchdowns last season, but he did only average 56.4 receiving yards per game along the way — his lowest mark since 2015.
- Why he might NOT be washed: Because he just scored 14 touchdowns last season! Maybe the man isn't running by defenders quite the same way, but the future Hall of Famer continues to boast a silky-smooth release package that helped him constantly dominate in the red zone.
Will Adams and Matthew Stafford be quite as efficient in 2026 as they were in 2025? Maybe not, though it might not matter if the volume stays the same. Consider: Adams racked up 28 end-zone targets throughout last season — 10 more than any player! The highest mark in the TruMedia database (stretches back to 2009)! And he did it in just 14 games!
This ridiculously fantasy-friendly goal-line role really soothes things for Adams, who isn't needed as frequently between the 20s thanks to the presence of all-world WR Puka Nacua. Now, failure for Adams to cash in his opportunities could lead to more of that red zone work going to Puka … or RBs Kyren Williams and Blake Corum … or the team's collection of tight ends … but of all the players on this list, Adams sure seems to have the most realistic age-friendly role going his way.
Conclusion:5/10 on the Washed Scale. Adams has still only missed more than three games once in his 12-year career. Similar to Evans: It's tough to rationally outline a meaningful path to busting without simply assuming the veteran will get hurt considering the lack of receivers on their depth chart who look capable of replicating their red-zone prowess. Maybe in Adams' case the answer is simply Puka going more nuclear than usual, or rising second-year TE Terrance Ferguson standing out, but as things currently stand: It's tough to argue with RotoWire Projections having the veteran wide-out catching the sixth-most touchdowns in the league.
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Washed Candidate No. 4: 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey
- Age: Turned 30 in June
- Why he might be washed: Running backs tend to age worse than other positions, and despite Christian McCaffrey's quality counting numbers from last season, his 3.9 yards per carry was his fewest since his rookie season. An additional 450 touches on the ole odometer probably doesn't help.
- Why he might NOT be washed: Running backs might age worse than other positions, but McCaffrey isn't your average running back. After all, he racked up more PPR points from receiving alone than Saquon Barkley had overall last season. The man had the eighth-most PPR points from receiving of any player in the NFL!
Only four running backs age 30-plus have averaged at least 15 PPR points per game in the last decade. The history of RBs coming off high-touch ceilings also isn't great:
- Average games played the next season AFTER having 350-plus touches: 13.3. The median was 16 (including playoffs).
- However, things have been better in recent years, as 12 of the last 13 qualifiers (sorry CMC) played at least 13 games the next season.
- Average PPR points per game the next season dropped to 16.6 (-3.9).
- Not ideal, though this still produced pretty solid average (RB14.7) and median (RB12) position ranks.
- Average yards per carry went from 4.7 to 4.1 (-0.6).
- Again, not great, but natural regression from a great season is probably more so the culprit as opposed to an arbitrary touch number.
In CMC's case, his yards per carry mark was already down last year, and his receiving role is so unique for the position that it'd make sense if his later-year production is ALSO unique for the position.
But if the wretched Injury Gods decide enough is enough? Third-round rookie Kaelon Black stands out as the likely handcuff to roster, though Jordan Jamescould have something to say about that. Ultimately, both Black (abductor) and James (rib) are sidelined at the moment — this RB2 battle remains one of the bigger fantasy-relevant storylines to watch throughout August.
Conclusion:3/10 on the Washed Scale. I'm not scared here: CMC is my third-ranked player overall and someone who (per usual) is a clean bill of health away from working as one of the single-most valuable players in fantasy football. The receiving work is just too ridiculous to ignore: McCaffrey would have been the overall PPR RB14 last season even without a single rush attempt!
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Washed Candidate No. 5: Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers
- Age: 43 in December
- Why he might be washed: Look at him! He's old! And we've accordingly seen Aaron Rodgers' once-elite counting and efficiency stats dwindle, as these days the grizzled veteran is far more concerned with staying in one piece than trying to extend plays.
- Why he might NOT be washed: Well, Rodgers might be old, but he can still sling the pigskin 60-plus yards in the air! He tied Patrick Mahomes for the longest throw of the season!
Rodgers' best years of his career are obviously in the past, but here's the thing: We can take advantage of his passive, geriatric ways by simply drafting his running backs! Olds have consistently force-fed their team's backs in the passing game over the years.
Of course, if Rodgers is WASHED washed, that could simply nose-dive the entire operation in Pittsburgh. This offense ranked 15th in scoring last season, but would it be the most shocking development ever if the 2026 Mike McCarthy-Rodgers partnership sinks into bottom-10 territory? Targets are fun for running backs … so are touchdowns!
Conclusion:9/10 on the Washed Scale. I'm not expecting a meaningful "last dance" from Rodgers this season. Good news: Basically all of the Steelers weapons have this more than baked into their respective ADPs! Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle are both in RB3 territory, while DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman are on the WR3/4 borderline. These are acceptable prices for talented players looking at a lot of volume, even if we should be aware that a severe drop-off under center could be in play.
Washed Candidate No. 6: Bills WR DJ Moore
- Age: Turned 29 in April
- Why he might be washed:DJ Moore might not be 30 just yet, but he has racked up eight seasons in the NFL, and his last two have featured far more downs than ups in the efficiency and counting number departments alike.
- Why he might NOT be washed: Moore still found a way to flash in 2025 — especially against the Packers — and perhaps wasn't a great fit for Ben Johnson's offense. His rather awesome 2023 (96-1,364-8) season catching passes from Justin Fields and Tyson Bagent wasn't THAT long ago.
Moore's last three seasons haven't painted a very promising trend:
- 2023: 2.31 yards per route run (15th among 59 WRs), 16.9 PPR points per game (WR9)
- 2024: 1.45 yards per route run (43/54), 14 PPR points per game (WR27)
- 2025: 1.23 yards per route run (44/47), 10 PPR points per game (WR44)
Of course, DJM does go from a fairly crowded and balanced Bears attack to presumably working as Josh freaking Allen's No. 1 WR. Reuniting with former Panthers OC Joe Brady also can't hurt … but then again I do get queasy when looking at pretty much every WR addition the Bills have made the last two seasons. Failure for Moore to get back to partying like it's 2023 again could lead to cheaper pass-game options like Dalton Kincaid, Khalil Shakir and maybe even Keon Coleman surprising on the stat sheet.
Conclusion:4/10 on the Washed Scale. This one is destined to make truthers or faders look VERY stupid. Down year? "Moore's numbers were trending down and he couldn't get it done with Ben Johnson." Great year? "Why did you doubt Josh Allen's No. 1 WR?" I tend to lean a bit more to the former bucket, but it's a scary fade! Ultimately, the Bills' "Everybody eats" mantra has returned such great real-life results, it'd be surprising to see them go too far out of their way to force-feed Moore the football, even if he does improve upon a down 2025.
Washed Candidate No. 7: Jets QB Geno Smith
- Age: 36 in October
- Why he might be washed:Geno Smith led the NFL in interceptions and sacks alike as the front man for the Raiders' pitiful last-place scoring offense last season.
- Why he might NOT be washed: All the same (warranted) excuses we make for Ashton Jeanty in the offensive line and play-caller departments would also apply to the QB. This was truly a disastrous offensive environment.
Geno's high-flying act with the 2022-2024 Seahawks was a LOT of fun to watch, though the start of that tenure was quite a bit more productive than the end. We've seen Geno suffer some pretty consistent dropoffs the last four years:
- 2022: 7.7 adjusted yards per attempt (AY/A), 62.8 QBR
- 2023: 7.3 AY/A, 60.3 QBR
- 2024: 7 AY/A, 50.4 QBR
- 2025: 5.9 AY/A, 34.1 QBR
Could a sneaky-solid Jets supporting cast help bring back heights from four years ago? Perhaps, though I admittedly don't love putting too much trust in Frank Reich given his recent history. Failure for this marriage to work could make using early round fantasy picks on Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson a little messed up considering the not-so-great history of awesome fantasy assets emerging from bottom-10 scoring offenses. Vegas believes this will be the league's single-worst scoring offense in 2026.
Conclusion:8/10 on the Washed Scale. At his best, Smith racked up big-time throws with the top QBs in the game, deploying a gunslinger mentality that was incredibly entertaining to watch. Unfortunately, this high-risk act does tend to lend itself to a steeper falloff if the arm strength or decision-making wanes just a bit. The downward trend and questionable (to be nice) play-caller make it awfully difficult to believe, with all due respect, a career journeyman QB is capable of recapturing anything close to a ceiling.
Washed Candidate No. 8: Ravens TE Mark Andrews
- Age: 31 in September
- Why he might be washed:Mark Andrews posted career-low efficiency and counting numbers in 2025. Andrews gained at least 50 receiving yards just *once* last season.
- Why he might NOT be washed: It was a crowded tight end room, underlying advanced separation metrics still painted Andrews in a very promising light, and he joined Brock Bowers as the only tight ends to record a ball carrier speed of 20-plus miles per hour (Next-Gen Stats).
We saw Andrews catch 11 touchdowns in 2024 before last season's fall-off. And yet, he did have to deal with Lamar Jackson's unfortunate run of injuries, and we did still see some promising separation ability in terms of average separation score (TE6) and ESPN open score (TE1!). Suddenly Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar are out of town — the Ravens need Andrews to prove that last year was more of a blip on the radar than a sign of things to come.
While all positions generally produce superior fantasy performers who are younger, tight end and quarterback have been a bit more immune to Father Time.
Or maybe Andrews really is just done. In that case, Zay Flowers' status as the team's No. 1 pass-game option would REALLY be cemented, while there would also be a better spike-touchdown case to be made for guys like Rashod Bateman and Ja'Kobi Lane.
Conclusion:5/10 on the Washed Scale. The newlook Ravens are lacking proven pass-catching talent. *If* Lamar can get back to looking like the world-beater we saw in 2024, it'd make sense if the majority of his production flows through Flowers and Andrews. This is a rock-solid late-round target at the position priced far closer to his floor than ceiling, though I don't mind throwing a speculative late-round dart at Rashod Bateman or Ja'Kobi Lane in deeper leagues.
Washed Candidate No. 9: Broncos RB J.K. Dobbins
- Age: 28 in December
- Why he might be washed:J.K. Dobbins has had to overcome one devastating injury after another, playing 15, 0, 8, 1, 13 and 10 games during his six-year NFL career.
- Why he might NOT be washed: The man is still only 27 for the time being, and he posted a faster top speed as a ball carrier than guys like Chase Brown and Travis Etienne last season.
This is less of a "washed" idea and more of a "can he really stay healthy" inquiry. And despite Dobbins' pinky promise that he will play 17 games this season, it's tough to look at his career and NOT believe he's at least a bit more injury-prone than your average RB.
That said: Nothing about Dobbins' on-field performance over the years has indicated this is anything other than a really good running back. Overall, he's ranked second, fourth, 16th and most recently fourth in Next-Gen Stats' rush yards over expected per carry in his four career healthy seasons. There's a reason why the Broncos featured Dobbins so heavily over RJ Harvey (164 touches vs. 75) during the first 10 weeks of last season.
Of course, another injury could boost Harvey back into his late-season bell-cow role; kudos to the rookie for posting RB1 numbers down the stretch of last season. Eighty-two percent of RBs who have caught 50-plus passes in a season turned in top-24 PPR per-game numbers in the last decade; there's a decent floor/ceiling combo for Harvey this season … if day-three rookie Jonah Coleman doesn't get annoyingly involved. And based on Coleman's college profile (GREAT at the little things) and glowing training camp reports — it sounds like he could be a problem.
Conclusion:4/10 on the Washed Scale. We've been chasing the Sean Payton fantasy RB dragon for three years now in Denver and haven't seen any results worth writing home about. This projects as a three-way committee led by the extended Dobbins, though Harvey probably still boasts the highest best-case ceiling considering his potential to improve in year two and dominate pass-down opportunities. Ultimately, I've not made a habit of overly drafting any Broncos RB this offseason. The addition of Coleman could squeeze things just enough in short-yardage and pass-down situations to make the most likely answer on which Denver RB to roster: No.
Washed Candidate No. 10: Chiefs TE Travis Kelce
Age: 37 in October
Why he might be washed: While 2025 was actually a slight step up from 2024 in most efficiency metrics, even Aemond Targaryen can see Travis Kelce is still a shell of his former All-Pro self at this point.
Why he might NOT be washed: We did see Kelce's YAC numbers take a turn for the better in 2025. Even if Kelce isn't the same baller from five years ago, he still managed to work as the TE9 in PPR points per game.
Annoying fantasy analysts might try to sell you on Kelce by saying he scored the third-most PPR points at the position last season, but he slides to TE9 on a per-game basis. The difference between Kelce and the TE16 was a mere 1.1 PPR points per game. And that was with the veteran running pretty hot with Rashee Rice (8 games played) and Xavier Worthy (14) each missing plenty of time.
Now, the Chiefs didn't exactly make much of a push to add meaningful weapons to this offense; just realize 2025 featured a 10-year low in targets and was the third consecutive season that Kelce failed to score more than five touchdowns. More of the same downturn here would seemingly produce even more underneath/intermediate opportunities for guys like Rice and Worthy, who in particular should see his role expanded with better health if Andy Reid can be believed.
Conclusion: 9/10 on the Washed Scale. We saw just enough of a bounce-back from Kelce last season to perhaps believe another low-end TE1 campaign could be in store, but it's awfully difficult to expect any sort of top-five boom. I prefer younger, higher-upside guys like Isaiah Likely and Dalton Kincaid around this point in the draft due to the likelihood that Kelce again falls in the sort of range where little more than a single fantasy point is separating a large gap of players.
