Film Room Zeroes For 2026 & Luther Burden Injury

# Film Room Zeros For 2026 & Luther Burden Injury — Harris Football Podcast Brief

Chris Harris opens with roster news (Malik Nabors trending toward a healthy Week 1 return, Luther Burden's fresh groin injury) before bringing on Jimmy McCormick for their annual "Film Room Zeros" segment — a tape-based countdown of players the hosts believe are overrated relative to name value or draft slot. The through-line: name recognition, draft pedigree, and box-score touchdown totals are misleading indicators, and actual film reveals declining speed, lack of separation, or unsustainable roles for nearly every player discussed.

The arguments

Malik Nabors' ACL recovery is trending well enough to buy at a discount. Harris notes every Giants camp observer is saying Nabors looks good despite no 7-on-7 or 11-on-11 work yet, prompting him to move Nabors inside his top 20 receivers (16 standard, 17 PPR) and top 40 overall. He frames a third-round price as a fair bet — getting a round-one talent in round three — but says he's willing to pass if the market pushes Nabors more aggressive than that, since surviving the full season matters as much as Week 1 availability.

Luther Burden's groin injury should meaningfully lower his range of outcomes. Harris moved Burden down four or five spots among receivers (to WR29 standard/WR27 PPR, roughly a round in combined ranks) after news the injury will cost him the rest of camp. He argues anyone insisting Burden is fine for Week 1 is engaging in wishcasting, and that the same analysts would drop a less-hyped player (he names DJ Moore, Courtland Sutton as hypothetical comps) without hesitation.

T.J. Hosykinson and Dallas Goedert both show a genuine physical decline on tape, not just bad context. McCormick says Hosykinson looks "plodding" and earning targets requires skills that appear to be eroding; Harris backs this with a speed grade downgrade to a C and Hosykinson's TE27 per-game finish. On Goedert, both agree the touchdown-driven TE2 finish masked a total loss of separation — he's reduced to scripted button-hooks with no big-play ability, and both see Eli Stowers as a threat to his role long-term.

Deebo Samuel and Bucky Irving no longer show the traits that made them fantasy weapons. Harris has Deebo outside his top 50, arguing his one big fantasy year (the COVID season) is the outlier against years of otherwise modest production, and his cheap, largely unguaranteed 49ers contract signals the market agrees. McCormick puts Irving at #2 on his list, saying the contact balance and lateral burst that made him look like a "bowling ball" as a rookie disappeared last year — though both hosts flag Tampa's line issues as a mitigating factor, and Harris pushes back a bit, noting he still likes Irving's quickness enough to roster him again.

Marvin Harrison Jr. and Jackson Dart are getting pedigree-driven benefit of the doubt they haven't earned on tape. Harris says Harrison doesn't separate on deep routes and has shown nothing distinct from Quentin Johnston's tape (last year's zero), ranking Michael Wilson two spots above him. On Dart, both hosts agree roughly 40% of his fantasy points came purely from scrambling, and McCormick likens him to "early spaz Josh Allen without the good parts" — Harris adds that Dart's throwing mechanics and decision-making were genuinely bad on tape, not just a product of a reckless playing style, and compares his risk profile to Anthony Richardson's.

DeAndre Swift and Kyle Pitts are repeat offenders whose per-week ceiling talk outpaces their actual usage. McCormick's #1 zero, Swift, is criticized for bouncing everything outside instead of taking what's blocked, with Kyle Monangai outproducing him as fantasy's RB19 to Swift's RB13 from Week 7 forward despite a seventh-round rookie draft slot. Harris's #1 zero, Pitts, is dismantled statistically — TE22 through Week 12, zero plays with 20+ air yards after catch, and a TE3 finish that Harris says was almost entirely inflated by one three-touchdown game; take that game away and Pitts finishes around TE15.

What it means for your roster

• Nabors: Worth a third-round pick given his healthy camp reports and Harris's top-20 receiver ranking, but don't chase him significantly past that range.
• Burden: Drop him roughly a round in your rankings; treat "he'll be ready Week 1" takes with skepticism since the injury is fresh and could recur.
• Hosykinson/Goedert: Avoid banking on name value at tight end — both are candidates to be outproduced by lesser-known teammates (Jawan Jennings-type role for Hosykinson's target share; Eli Stowers could cut into Goedert's snaps).
• Deebo Samuel: Fade outside the top 50 receivers; his 49ers deal terms suggest even his own team doesn't view him as a lock for volume.
• Irving: Approachable value if you believe in a full recovery and improved Bucs blocking, but treat him as touchdown-dependent in a crowded backfield with Gainwell and Tucker.
• Harrison/Dart: Don't pay a premium for draft pedigree — Harrison ranks below Michael Wilson in Harris's book, and Dart's rushing floor doesn't offset legitimately poor accuracy and decision-making on tape.
• Swift/Pitts: Treat both as low-priority fantasy assets; Swift is losing valuable touches to Monangai in Chicago, and Pitts' TE3 finish was almost entirely a mirage built on one game.