Football
Sep 9, 2026
2026 NFL Card Tier List: The Most Popular Football Cards to Collect on Courtyard
With the 2026 NFL season rounding into midseason form, seemingly everyone under the Sun is revisiting summer lists and rethinking their fantasy draft choices. (We’re looking at you, A.J. Brown…)
That’s why we figured we’d get in on the fun—with a twist: The most popular football cards to collect, according to you, the collectors on Courtyard.
It’s time to play keep, flip, or ship.
On Courtyard, every collector that purchases a pack of graded and authenticated digital football cards has a decision to make: Do they accept the instant buyback offer for the card they’ve just pulled, keep it in their Courtyard collection, either selling it on the Courtyard Marketplace (which has zero seller fees) at a later date, or have it redeemed and shipped to them so they can proudly display it IRL?
Decisions, decisions…which got us thinking: Which players do football card collectors choose to keep the most? And does anyone actually want to hold onto cards of defensive lineman?
From superstars like Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, and Lamar Jackson, to rising stars like Drake Maye and Caleb Williams, our list isn’t a skills-based ranking judged by on-field performance; Lamar’s ability to make a defense look silly in the open field, or Josh Allen’s willingness to run through a linebacker has no impact on these rankings. Instead, it’s about how you, the collectors on Courtyard, react to the players you pull.
The list below covers nearly 50 of the league’s top-100 players, with data based on pack pulls from July 25, 2026 - October 23, 2026. The big takeaway? Collectors hold onto established offensive stars, while defenders and early hype get flipped.
Without further ado, here are your rankings. Hut, hut, Hutchinson!
S-Tier: Josh Allen, Travis Kelce & Amon-Ra St. Brown (The Untouchables)
The S-Tier is exclusive; it’s got just three players, and they’re all NFL royalty: Josh Allen, Travis Kelce, and Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Allen and Kelce are two of the most-kept and most-shipped-home players on the entire platform, which tells you plenty about what collectors want to hold: established stars with a proven resume. Allen is a former MVP who’s been the face of the Buffalo Bills—and arguably the league—for years; Kelce is a three-time Super Bowl champion who’s arguably more famous off the field as he is on it, which is saying something for the future Hall of Famer. (Yes, the Taylor Swift effect is real.)
It’s St. Brown that’s the outlier here. The Detroit Lions wideout’s cards are being kept at a higher rate than fellow superstars Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson, both of whom land a tier below. Maybe it’s his consistency. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s the Sun God. Either way, collectors are clearly not sleeping on Amon-Ra.
Chasing S-Tier greatness? We’ve got grails from all three players in our Football Packs, including a 2018 Panini Prizm Stained Glass #SG-8 Josh Allen - Gold Mojo (PSA 10 GEM Mint) with a fair market value of more than $42,000.
A-Tier: Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow Just Missed the Top Spot
Here’s a stat that might surprise you: Mahomes and Burrow are pulled a lot, but both land in the A-Tier, not the mountaintop—which means more of their cards are getting sold back.
That’s not a knock on either quarterback. Mahomes has three Super Bowl rings, and Burrow is one of the most gifted passers in the league. Maybe it’s a case of fatigue, or not being a fan of the Chiefs dynasty.
Either way, the rest of the A-Tier is a who’s who of NFL veterans that collectors refuse to part with. CeeDee Lamb, Derrick Henry, Christian McCaffrey, and Lamar Jackson are among the most-kept and most-shipped-home players on Courtyard. That’s a two-time MVP, a former 2,000-yard rusher, and the 2023 Offensive Player of the Year, plus one of the best receivers in football. Throw in Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott, who leads “America’s Team”, and Davante Adams, and it’s clear what this tier is about: If you’ve been leading the league for years, collectors want a piece of it.
B-Tier Caleb Williams Gets the Benefit of the Doubt
The B-Tier is where things start to get interesting.
Let’s start with the good news for the city of Chicago: Caleb Williams is more popular than his fellow young quarterbacks. While Maye and Nix are heavily flipped, Williams lands a full tier higher. Something, something, Maye rode an easy schedule to the Super Bowl. We get it. Iceman hasn’t been to the Big Game, but according to football card collectors on Courtyard, he’s the best QB from the 2024 draft class.
But enough about the offense. This is when defense finally gets its props.
Cooper DeJean, who celebrated his 22nd birthday by taking a Mahomes pass to the house in Super Bowl LIX, makes the grade. So does Aidan Hutchinson. Then there’s Myles Garrett, who is the only defender above the C-Tier that gets heavily flipped. The most dominant pass rusher in the league, the all-time single-season sack leader, and collectors are still hitting the buyback button. Sorry, Myles.
The rest of the tier is a nice mix of stars and star-adjacent: Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs, fantasy’s 1a and 1b, lead the backfield, while Brock Bowers, the undisputed fantasy TE1 also slots in before we hit another wall of quarterbacks: Matthew Stafford, Jared Goff, and Brock Purdy—Mr. Irrelevant himself.
Are you riding with Da Bears this season? Courtyard’s Digital Football Packs have a 2024 Panini Prizm Prizmania #1 Caleb Williams Rookie Card (PSA 10 GEM MINT) valued at more than $6,500 waiting to be pulled, along with plenty of gems from defensive and offensive stars alike.
C-Tier: Drake Maye, Bo Nix, and the Young Quarterbacks Getting Flipped
If there’s one thing the data makes clear, it’s that collectors love young quarterbacks…for about as long as it takes to hit the buyback button.
Maye and Nix are both flipped heavily, landing a spot in the C-Tier. It’s the hype cycle in action: Collectors are happy to chase the next big thing out of a pack, but when it comes to holding on to a rookie QB through a few bad games (or seasons)? Not so much. QBs like Baker Mayfield, Jordan Love, and Sam Darnold keep them company, which kind of makes sense given their up-and-down play.
…but what is Saquon Barkley doing here? The man rushed for over 2,000 yards and won a Super Bowl in the same season, and he’s still a tier below Henry and McCaffrey. Collectors, what more do you want from the guy?
The majority of the rest of tier is a deep bench of receivers, typically the flashiest guys on the field: George Pickens, Chris Olave, Drake London, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Zay Flowers.
Do you still remember watching Barkley hurdle a defender backwards? There’s a 2025 Panini Prizm Manga Horizontal #2 Saquon Barkley (PSA 10 GEM MINT) with a fair market value of nearly $5,000 sitting inside of Courtyard’s digital Football Packs ready to find a new home.
D-Tier: A.J. Brown, Puka Nacua, and Justin Herbert Get the Buyback Treatment
The D-Tier is where we start to see some real head-scratchers.
A.J. Brown came into this NFL season with all kinds of hype. (Another) new team, a shot at a Super Bowl, and maybe more books to read on the sideline. Meanwhile, Puka Nacua entered the season shrouded in offseason drama, while Justin Herbert was supposed to take the next step with the help of Mike McDaniel.
While the tough/injury-riddled starts to the season from Brown, Nacua, and Herbert make them easy candidates for the buyback button, what is T.J. Watt doing here? The man is on fire, almost singlehandedly carrying this Steelers defense…and yet here he is, being cast aside by football collectors left and right.
Trevor Lawrence has always been an enigma, but it’s also odd to see Jonathan Taylor in this tier, even if the Colts are in a bad spot.
If you think Puka Nacua and the Los Angeles Rams will turn things around, and that the talented wideout’s impressive catches in double coverage warrant a chase for one of his grail cards, you’re in luck: Courtyard’s got a 2023 Panini Prizm #351 Puka Nacua Rookie Card Autograph (PSA 10 GEM MINT) in our Football Packs.
F-Tier: Jared Verse, Jalen Carter & Will Anderson Jr. (Why Defenders Get Flipped)
The F-Tier is the end of the line, and there’s a common thread: every single player here plays defense.
Do Jared Verse, Jalen Carter, Will Anderson Jr., and Quinyon Mitchell really deserve this? We’re talking about genuinely great defensive players, including two Defensive Rookies of the Year, Super Bowl winners, and the kind of assignments that have offensive linemen missing sleep. Sure, offensive stars make up most of the highlight reels, but this just feels unfair, guys. Football card collectors, we need to show defenders some love, too!
How to Get Graded Football Cards on Courtyard
From Josh Allen on down to Quinyon Mitchell, our NFL tier list is a little different from the usual football rankings that judge players by their QBR or pass-rush win rate. This list is about what you, football card collectors, decide to do when you pull the cardboard of one of these players.
When buying football cards on Courtyard, you have three choices: keep, flip, or ship. Let us know what players on this list will rise (and fall) throughout the rest of the 2026 NFL season—and beyond—by replying to our Instagram post, and make sure to share your best Courtyard pulls so we can celebrate your wins together.
