WR · ARI · GWTTKB

Michael Wilson — fantasy football 2026

Every game, every stat category, and what the board says. 12.98 points per game in 2025, usage worth 12.7.

26 years old · 3 seasons of experience · 2023 draft class

Updated 2026-08-16 · free, no account, no paywall
Every figure below comes from our database. Where a stat is not held, the row is absent rather than zero.

What we project for 2026

Our board has him at 159.8 points, 9.7 per game — 59.7 catches, 755 yards, 4.1 TDs. That is WR5, 107 overall.

The range runs from a floor of 7.6 points per game to a ceiling of 13.5, with the median at 9.7. Boom rate 39%, bust rate 22%. The spread is the actual bet, not the middle number.

The offense he plays in, 2026

Arizona Cardinals returns 2 of 6 continuity slots, replacing qb1, rb1, hc, oc. Jacoby Brissett at quarterback, Mike LaFleur as head coach, Nathaniel Hackett calling it. The offense projects to 31.9 pass attempts a game at low confidence and 24.8 rushes.

In: Carson Beck (qb), Carson Beck (qb2), Gardner Minshew II (qb2), Kendrick Bourne (wr3), Devin Duvernay (wr5), Reggie Virgil (wr6), Jeremiyah Love (rb1), Tyler Allgeier (rb2). Out: Kyler Murray (qb), Greg Dortch (wr3), Zay Jones (wr4), Jalen Brooks (wr6), Emari Demercado (rb2), Michael Carter (rb3).

His own projected target share for 2026 is 13.9%, with a bear case of 12.5% and a bull case of 14.9% and a full range of 11% to 16.4%. That comes from 29 historical comparables, not from a depth chart.

The projected target split across the offense:

Trey McBride21.8%
Marvin Harrison Jr14.4%
Michael Wilson 13.9%
Jeremiyah Love10%
Elijah Higgins6.2%
James Conner6.1%

Our written view on this offense in 2026

What the offense looks like: The Cardinals have interesting pieces on their offense but the offensive line and lack of a franchise QB is holding them back. IF Arizona can figure out the QB position, player value across the board SHOULD explode (Mcbride already ballin). Jeremiyah Love COULD have a slower start in 2026 but is a candidate to have a top 10 PPR fantasy season 100%.

Key additions: Jeremiyah Love (Notre Dame) RB drafted 1st round 3rd overall. drafted guard Chase Bisontis 2nd round (Texas A&M). Drafed Carson Beck QB Miami 3rd round. Drafted WR Reggie Virgil (Texas Tech) 5th round. Signed G Issac Seumalo to 3/$31M (starting O line). Signed Tyler Allgeier ATL RB to 2 year $12.25M deal. Signed Kendrick Bourne 2/$10M deal. Signed QB Gardner Minshew II 1/$8M. Signed Devin Duvernay WR on 1 year (kick returner most likely).

Key departures: Kyler Murray was cut & signed with Minnesota. WR3 Greg Dortch left to Detroit. RB4 Emari Demercado left in free agency.

Notes: Love arrives as 1.03 pick — immediate RB1 candidate. Mike LaFleur hired as new HC (Shanahan & McVay tree). OC is Nathaniel Hackett. Arizona signed Tyler Allgeier from Atlanta, will compete with James Conner for Backup. Expect Trey Benson COULD be traded or compete for backup. Cardinals drafted Carson Beck Round 3 of 2026 draft & MAY compete with Brissett who is looking for a new contract. Brissett likely week 1 starter. Michael Wilson MAY establish himself as a TRUE WR2 in 2026 (Trending in right direction). MHJ WR1 breakout candidate, but has yet to demonstrate consistency. If the O line does not improve, Jeremiyah Love will have a difficult rookie season similar to Ashton Jeanty in Las Vegas. Arizona will need better QB play for any players to have consistent weekly fantasy upside in 2026. It is possible Brissett can continue to support volume for McBride, but one of Michael Wilson or MHJ will have to benefit. Both cannot have high finishes most likely.

How the volume number was reached: New QB Jacoby Brissett, avg 28.8 att/g over 2025,2024; Regressed 65% toward league mean 33.5, floored at 30 → 31.9 att/g; New OC Nathaniel Hackett — pass rate and tempo may shift; New HC Mike LaFleur.

How that share projection was built

29 historical comps for WRs age ~24, prior share 16.8%, same team, OC change, QB change. Distribution: median 17.4%, p25-p75 [13.1%, 20.1%], tails [8.9%, 24.4%]. Closest comps: George Pickens 2022→2023 (PIT: 16.0%→24.2%); Michael Gallup 2020→2021 (DAL: 19.4%→16.7%); Brandin Cooks 2023→2024 (DAL: 18.5%→16.6%). Adjustment: flat from opportunity_breakout (volume must hold)

self-anchored 58% to own 16.8% role (3yr), 42% to comp median 17.4%

The named comps are the closest historical matches and the arrow is what their share actually did the following season. That is the working, not a summary of it — if you disagree with the projection, this is the part to argue with.

Offensive environment: ARI rates 19.1 against a league average of 23, 3.8 below it on opponent-adjusted least squares (multi-capture merge).

2026 schedule

Opponent-adjusted pass defense faced, against 2025 ratings. Positive is an easier slate.

Full season-0.8 · neutral
Weeks 1–6-0.5 · neutral
Weeks 12–17-0.8 · neutral
Fantasy playoffs (15–17)-1 · neutral

Read this narrowly. Our own testing found that season-long strength of schedule does not survive as a draft input — defensive quality is among the least stable team properties year to year, and a preseason slate is built on last year's identities. The playoff-weeks column is the only one we would let break a tie, and even then it is a tiebreaker rather than a reason. The finding.

What happened when he missed time

From the absence record rather than a depth chart — who actually gained when he was out.

SeasonGames missedMain beneficiaryTheir PPR gain
20232Greg Dortch+4.4
Read the full Michael Wilson study →

Dynasty context not redraft

Everything in this section is about his dynasty trade value — what he is worth as a long-term asset in the trade market. It is not a forecast of his 2026 fantasy scoring. A player can be a fine redraft pick while his dynasty value falls, and the reverse. The redraft read is above; this is a different question with a different answer.

Where he sits in the dynasty value cycle

His dynasty value has moved +88.6% over the last twelve months. The market cycle classifies him as post-spike. The base rate that applies: after a +30% spike, WRs crash the following year 40% of the time (hold 60%). That puts the measured risk of his dynasty value falling sharply over the next year at 40% — a probability drawn from comparable historical seasons, not a prediction, and not a statement about his 2026 scoring.

For context on how long this lasts at the position: the average career at his position produces 2.1 elite seasons and 2.6 startable seasons.

The five most similar seasons, and what their dynasty value did next

Matched on production profile — production-driven (pedigree ignored). The last column is how that player’s dynasty value moved the following year — a market outcome, not a scoring one.

PlayerSeasonTheir PPGSimilarityNext year
Gabe Davis202211.479%+8.1%
Romeo Doubs202410.278%+17.3%
Jakobi Meyers20221374%+25%
Kendrick Bourne202312.572%+6.2%
Brandin Cooks202211.272%+2.9%

Of the 5 with a following season on record, 5 gained value, 0 lost it and 0 held roughly flat.

Four years of dynasty value

02,0004,000202420252026
Monthly superflex value, 2023-03 to 2026-07. Up 63100% across the series, peaking at 4,421.

The player

Draft capital and athletic profile

Drafted2023, round 3, pick 94 by ARI
CollegeStanford
Age at draft23
Height6′2″
Weight213 lb
40-yard dash4.58s
Vertical37.5″
Broad jump125″
Shuttle4.27s

Availability and volatility

Career PPR per game10.8
Week-to-week variation0.8
Boom rate27%
Bust rate21.6%
Games missed per season0.7
Injury historyShoulder
Correlation between his posted line and his actual score-0.17

That correlation is how closely the books’ posted line tracked what he actually scored, week to week. A higher number means the market has him figured out and there is less to exploit; a lower one means his weeks are harder to price.

Injury type matters more than games missed. Measured across our injury database, knee and foot returns stay below a player’s pre-injury baseline for all three of the first games back, while hamstring returns over-recover by the third.

The record, season by season

2025 · ARI · 17 games

His best game was Week 14 against LA — 37.2 PPR on 16 targets and a 36.4% target share, in a game that finished 17-45. His worst was Week 3 against SF at 1.5, on 2 targets, final score 15-16. Across 17 games he cleared 20 points 4 times and came in under 8 points 7 times. In the 10 games decided by 8 points or fewer he averaged 7.6; in the 7 decided by more, 20.6. He scored more when the game was not close.

Earned against scored

His usage that season was worth 12.7 points per game. He scored 12.98, 2.5% above it. The engine classified the season as neutral. On receiving touchdowns specifically he finished 4 against 2.96 expected, a gap of 1.

WkOppScorePPRRecTgtYdsTDTgt%Snap%
1NO20-131.5145013.8%67%
2CAR27-228.1121118%69%
3SF15-161.512505.9%74%
4SEA20-234.53615015%97%
5TEN21-223.62416013.3%69%
6IND27-318.44544012.8%75%
7GB23-2773440011.8%82%
9DAL27-179.13461013.8%72%
10SEA22-447.44734015.9%92%
11SF22-4133.51518185032.1%82%
12JAX24-2721.81015118032.6%82%
13TB17-206.63736018.9%93%
14LA17-4537.21116142236.4%79%
15HOU20-4016.451154128.9%85%
16ATL19-2613.22352110.3%86%
17CIN14-3719.951089128.6%86%
18LA20-3720.95899128.6%93%

Production

Receptions78
Targets126
Receiving yards1,006
Touchdowns7
Points per game12.98
Yards per target7.98
Catch rate61.9%

Role

Snap share81.35%
Target share19.22%
Air-yards share31.24%
WOPR0.508
RACR0.663

Efficiency

Average depth of target11.9
Yards after catch per reception3.5
Yards before catch per reception9.4
Total YAC273
Broken tackles3
Drop rate0%
Passer rating when targeted88.9
Receiving EPA per game1.52

Scoring position

Red-zone targets16
Red-zone target share15.7%
End-zone target share20.5%
Expected receiving TDs2.96
Actual receiving TDs4
Receiving TD luck1.04

Where that ranked

Against everyone in the 80+ targets pool that season:

Points per game16 of 44
Yards per target23 of 44
Target share33 of 44
Air-yards share27 of 44

Who else ate

The offense threw it 648 times. He took 20.42% of the targets. 1 team-mate cleared the competing-target threshold.

Trey McBride27.39%
Michael Wilson 20.42%
Marvin Harrison11.83%
Michael Carter7.29%
Elijah Higgins6%
Greg Dortch5.35%

By quarterback

He caught passes from 2 quarterbacks that season, and the splits are not close.

QBGamesTargetsPPGY/TTgt%
Jacoby Brissett1210816.788.8322.56%
Kyler Murray5183.842.8911.2%

Blowouts against close games

6 of his 17 games were blowouts, 61.3% of his snaps coming in them. He averaged 22.55 in those and 7.62 in close games — a meaningful share of his scoring came with the game already decided.

2024 · ARI · 16 games

His best game was Week 3 against DET — 14.4 PPR on 9 targets and a 26.5% target share, in a game that finished 13-20. His worst was Week 9 against CHI at 0, on 1 targets, final score 29-9. Across 16 games he cleared 20 points 0 times and came in under 8 points 10 times. In the 8 games decided by 8 points or fewer he averaged 9.4; in the 8 decided by more, 6.2. He scored more when the game was live.

Earned against scored

His usage that season was worth 7.9 points per game. He scored 7.78, 1% below it. The engine classified the season as neutral.

WkOppScorePPRRecTgtYdsTDTgt%Snap%
1BUF28-347.512516.5%80%
2LA41-105.1223109.5%68%
3DET13-2014.48964026.5%90%
4WAS14-424.83738031.8%85%
5SF24-2312.85678020%72%
6GB13-3410.12421112.5%95%
7LAC17-152.51315012%77%
8MIA28-2714.15631118.2%70%
9CHI29-9001005.3%71%
10NYJ31-65.43424016.7%66%
12SEA6-167.42454011.8%83%
13MIN22-2310.55755016.3%82%
14SEA18-3013.7235717.9%83%
15NE30-172.922906.5%74%
16CAR30-366.42544017.2%90%
17LA9-136.94622013.3%87%

Production

Receptions47
Targets71
Receiving yards548
Carries1
Rushing yards7
Touchdowns4
Points per game7.78
Yards per target7.72
Catch rate66.2%
Yards per carry7

Role

Snap share79.56%
Target share14.5%
Air-yards share24.07%
WOPR0.385
RACR0.687

Efficiency

Average depth of target11.4
Yards after catch per reception2.8
Yards before catch per reception8.9
Total YAC130
Broken tackles1
Drop rate0%
Passer rating when targeted90.6
Receiving EPA per game0.63
Rushing EPA per game-0.05

Scoring position

Red-zone targets8
Red-zone target share11.9%
End-zone target share17.2%
Expected receiving TDs2.17
Actual receiving TDs3
Receiving TD luck0.83

Who else ate

The offense threw it 543 times. He took 13.58% of the targets. 2 team-mates cleared the competing-target threshold.

Trey McBride28.11%
Marvin Harrison22.18%
Michael Wilson 13.58%
James Conner10.52%
Greg Dortch9.56%
Elijah Higgins4.59%

Blowouts against close games

5 of his 16 games were blowouts, 20.4% of his snaps coming in them. He averaged 5.08 in those and 9.39 in close games — his scoring did not depend on garbage time.

2023 · ARI · 13 games

His best game was Week 4 against SF — 26.6 PPR on 7 targets and a 17.1% target share, in a game that finished 16-35. His worst was Week 16 against CHI at 0, on 4 targets, final score 16-27. Across 13 games he cleared 20 points 1 time and came in under 8 points 6 times. In the 6 games decided by 8 points or fewer he averaged 10; in the 7 decided by more, 7.8. He scored more when the game was live.

Earned against scored

His usage that season was worth 7.7 points per game. He scored 8.81, 14.8% above it. The engine classified the season as lucky. On receiving touchdowns specifically he finished 3 against 1.9 expected, a gap of 1.1.

WkOppScorePPRRecTgtYdsTDTgt%Snap%
1WAS16-203.92419013.3%90%
2NYG28-318.63356010.3%43%
3DAL28-1610.6228609.5%67%
4SF16-3526.67776217.1%70%
5CIN20-342.8121806.7%75%
6LA9-269.23462010.5%88%
7SEA10-205.63526015.2%83%
8BAL24-319.84658016.7%88%
10ATL25-236.43634019.4%89%
15SF29-45003007.9%88%
16CHI16-270040010.8%90%
17PHI35-3115.54635119.4%86%
18SEA20-2115.56695020.7%83%

Production

Receptions38
Targets58
Receiving yards565
Touchdowns3
Points per game8.81
Yards per target9.74
Catch rate65.52%

Role

Snap share80%
Target share13.65%
Air-yards share24.53%
WOPR0.377
RACR0.797

Efficiency

Average depth of target12.3
Yards after catch per reception3.7
Yards before catch per reception11.2
Total YAC139
Broken tackles3
Drop rate0%
Passer rating when targeted100.1
Receiving EPA per game1.47

Scoring position

Red-zone targets7
Red-zone target share11.7%
End-zone target share20.8%
Expected receiving TDs1.9
Actual receiving TDs3
Receiving TD luck1.1

Who else ate

The offense threw it 555 times. He took 10.74% of the targets. 2 team-mates cleared the competing-target threshold.

Trey McBride19.63%
Marquise Brown18.7%
Rondale Moore11.48%
Michael Wilson 10.74%
Zach Ertz7.96%
Greg Dortch7.59%

By quarterback

He caught passes from 2 quarterbacks that season, and the splits are not close.

QBGamesTargetsPPGY/TTgt%
Joshua Dobbs8339.6412.1512.41%
Kyler Murray5257.486.5615.64%

Blowouts against close games

2 of his 13 games were blowouts, 31.3% of his snaps coming in them. He averaged 17.9 in those and 9.95 in close games — a meaningful share of his scoring came with the game already decided.

Ask the Coach about Michael Wilson →
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