During the NFL season, there are special moments that deserve an extra highlight. The 2026 season will be filled with historic moments as players look to set career marks and reach new milestones.
Let’s take a look at some records and highlights to keep an eye on as the season progresses.
Records that can be broken
• Career leader in postseason receiving yards: Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice holds the career postseason receiving yards record with 2,245 yards. Kansas City Chiefs running back Travis Kelce needs 168 yards to pass. Before the Chiefs missed the playoffs last season, Kelce had six straight seasons with at least 175 receiving yards.
• Postseason career leader: Rice holds the record for most postseason receiving touchdowns with 22 touchdowns. The last time the Celtics had a touchdown in three games was in 2024, when they were in the playoffs. He had at least three touchdowns in each of his five postseason seasons.
• Cincinnati Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase could become the first player in NFL history with at least 125 receptions in three straight seasons and three career seasons.
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Leaderboard clock of important events
Career Passage Yards (Regular Season)
• Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford enters the 2026 season No. 6 in career passing yards with 64,516. Aaron Rodgers of the Pittsburgh Steelers He said this season will be his lastahead of Stafford on the career leaderboard with 66,274 yards. Stafford would need to throw for 1,759 more yards than Rodgers this season to pass him. Otherwise, Stafford is set to pass on Rodgers in 2027, should the Rams quarterback elect to return for another season.
• Rogers is likely to move up the leaderboard. He needs a record-breaking 5,564 yards to pass Brett Favre for No. 4 on the career passing yards list.
Career Passing Touchdowns (Regular Season)
• Rodgers enters the 2026 season with 527 passing touchdowns, fourth most in NFL history. He needs 13 touchdown passes to eclipse Peyton Manning for No. 3 on the list. If Rodgers has a breakout season and throws for at least 45 touchdowns, he will surpass Drew Brees for No. 2 on the career list.
• Meanwhile, Stafford is No. 7 in passing yards with 423. He needs three balls to overtake Philip Rivers for No. 6.
• Kinsmen of Kirk, named after him. Las Vegas Raiders starterHe is three touchdowns short of surpassing John Elway for No. 14 on the career list.
• Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is set to move up to 20. He’s 22nd with 267 touchdowns, but could pass Joe Flacco (272), Joe Montana (273), Vinny Testaverde (275), Johnny Unitas (290), Warren Moon (291), Carson Palmer (290) (2940). Passing for at least 34 touchdowns would put Mahomes in the top 15.
Career Passing Grade (Regular Season)
• San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy enters the season with a career passer rating of 104.0. With 1,353 career pass attempts, he’s 147 shy of the 1,500 needed to qualify for the NFL’s career leaderboard. Rodgers and the Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson are tied for the career lead at 102.2, so Purdy could jump to the top spot if he maintains that advantage.
Travis Kelce
• Most consecutive seasons with at least 75 receptions: Kelce’s 76 receptions last season tied him with Raiders great Tim Brown for first in 10 consecutive seasons with at least 75 receptions. If Kelce catches 75 passes this season, he will become the first player in 11 straight seasons to catch at least 75 catches.
• Most consecutive seasons with at least 800 receiving yards: Kelce’s 851 receiving yards last season tied Rice for 12 consecutive seasons with at least 800 receiving yards. If Kelce has at least 800 yards this season, he will become the first player in 13 consecutive seasons to reach that milestone.
• Second-most career receiving yards by a tight end: Kelce passed for Jason Witt with 45 yards this season. Tony Gonzalez is atop the leaderboard and 2,126 yards ahead of Kelce.
• Top-five career receptions: Kelsey is No. 8 on the career receiving board with 1,080. He is 15 shots away from passing Tim Brown, 22 shots away from Chris Carter and 23 shots away from passing Marvin Harrison. Passing Harrison would put Kelce at No. 5 on the roster.
Accepting the workload
• Rams wide receiver Davante Adams could enter the top-five for career touchdowns. He’s No. 7 with 117 touchdown receptions, but could pass Larry Fitzgerald (121) and Harrison (128) with 12 touchdown passes. Fourteen touchdown receptions puts Adams ahead of Carter’s 4. Adams had 14 touchdown receptions last season.
• 49ers receiver Mike Evans is No. 10 with 108 career touchdown receptions. He’s four to pass Gonzalez and nine to pass Antonio Gates at No. 8.
urgent professions
• Ravens running back Derrick Henry finished in the top 10 on the career rushing list last season. Henry looks to pass Eric Dickerson, Jerome Bettis, LaDainian Tomlinson and Curtis Martin for 1,084 yards to move into No. 6. If Henry rushes for at least 1,901 yards — he’s hit that mark twice in his career, most recently in 2024 — he’ll pass Adrian Peterson for No. 5 on the career list.
• Henry, with 122 career rushing yards, is also two away from passing Marcus Allen for No. 3 on the career list. Emmitt Smith (164) and Tomlinson (145) will be out of Henry’s range this season.
• Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton ranks 13th with 184 career wins as a coach, but could finish the season in the top-10. He is three wins away from passing Chuck Knox (186), seven wins away from passing Dan Reeves (190) and 10 wins away from passing both Mike Tomlin and Chuck Noll (193). With the Broncos having a miraculous 17-0 season, Peyton passed Marty Schottenheimer (200).
• New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh is on the same path as Payton, entering the season behind the Broncos head coach with 180 career wins.
Known franchise records
• Dak Prescott is six away from passing Tony Romone for the Dallas Cowboys career touchdown catch. Prescott passed Troy Aikman and Romo for the franchise’s career rushing yards leader last season.
• With 18 touchdown passes, Josh Allen passes Jim Kelly for the Buffalo Bills career passing touchdowns leader.
• With 26 touchdown passes, Lamar Jackson passes Joe Flacon for the Ravens career passing touchdowns leader.
• In Week 4, Kyle Shanahan passed Bill Walsh for most games coached in 49ers history. Shanahan needs 11 wins to pass Walsh on the franchise wins list as a head coach. Shanahan is 17 away from tying George Seifert’s franchise record.
• In fact, Odell Beckham Jr. could reach No. 2 on the greatest career touchdown list. His 44 touchdowns in a Giants uniform are fourth. It takes four touches to take the No. 3 spot and five touches to take the No. 2 spot. Amani Toomer has the franchise record with 54 touchdown receptions. Beckham needs 11 touchdown receptions to displace Toomer, something Beckham hasn’t done since his second season in the NFL in 2015.
