2026 NFL midseason: Our MVP, top rookies, best coach, surprises, disappointments and more

The 2026 NFL season has reached its midpoint, and a cluster of midseason lists is ranking the league's standout performers and most notable underachievers. Yahoo Sports' midseason feature covers an MVP, the top rookies, the best coach, surprises and disappointments, while Sports Illustrated's 2026 NFL Midseason Report focuses on first-half surprises, second-half storylines and Super Bowl picks. The coverage also includes separate examinations of the league's biggest disappointments and unexpected success stories, extending the awards conversation beyond a single all-purpose ranking.

The reporting is spread across Yahoo Sports, Sports Illustrated, SB Nation, FantasyLife, azcentral.com and The Arizona Republic. Yahoo Sports is running both the broad midseason awards feature and a list of the NFL's six biggest disappointments so far. SB Nation contributes its own version of the six biggest disappointments, alongside a midseason surprises list featuring six teams and players nobody saw coming. FantasyLife frames the same review through a fantasy football lens, naming a fantasy MVP and biggest disappointments. The Arizona Republic's coverage asks which teams join the Ravens and Chargers among the most disappointing NFL teams.

These lists arrive as the first half of the season gives way to the second, making midseason evaluation a natural checkpoint for assessing performance and setting expectations for the remainder of the year. The repeated focus on both surprises and disappointments shows that the coverage is weighing unexpected rise against teams and players who have fallen short of expectations. The Ravens and Chargers are specifically identified as disappointing, and Sports Illustrated's inclusion of Super Bowl picks connects the midseason assessment to the league's championship race. FantasyLife's awards also reflect how the season is being judged through the results delivered to fantasy football managers.

What to watch next is whether the midseason judgments hold as the second half unfolds. Sports Illustrated points directly to second-half storylines, while the awards categories in Yahoo Sports' feature establish benchmarks for MVP, rookies and coaching performance. The surprise and disappointment lists from SB Nation, Yahoo Sports, FantasyLife and The Arizona Republic identify the specific teams and players whose trajectories are under review, and those names will determine whether the midseason verdicts are revised. Coverage does not yet specify the individual award winners, the full rosters of the surprise or disappointment lists, or the Super Bowl selections, so those details remain the open questions as the season moves past its midpoint.