2026 Fantasy Football TE Tiers: Rich Hribar’s Draft Guide

Welcome to my 2026 fantasy football tight end tiers, the deepest dive into the TE position you will find this draft season.

If you are unfamiliar with my tiers pieces, then let me lay out some groundwork.

These positional-tier posts are designed to serve as a top-down almanac for you to come back to all summer long.

If long-form content is not your thing, no worries.

I also have abbreviated player blurbs on the rankings page for each position, and we have linear tables for those who are here just for a ranked list of players.

How My Fantasy Football TE Tiers Work

While there is a structure to the order here, these are not rankings.

They are meant to serve as more complete player profiles grouped around player archetypes.

An underappreciated element we still face in the fantasy community, for content providers and consumers alike, is that rankings, projections, tiers, and average draft position are fundamentally different.

They all serve different purposes and are not interchangeable, even though they may share overlap.

Projections give us a median range of season-long production and have implications for listing players in a linear format (rankings).

Even when those full-season numbers are accurate, they fail to capture the overall weekly impact and the pockets of production relevant to our weekly fantasy football game.

There is a finite number of players at each position who smash weekly throughout the fantasy season at the highest level.

If you do not land one of those weekly juggernauts, you are hoping to counter them with players when they are at their hottest.

Many player tiers are simply rankings divided into sections.

While the rankings are more focused on a probable tally of season-long output for a week-to-week game, I prefer to structure my tiers based on how similarly players accrue fantasy points and on the archetypes they represent.

By doing this, we can identify actionable gaps in player pricing per tier, which in turn allows for arbitrage in fantasy drafts.

This approach also highlights some longer-odds players who have more potential than initially perceived.

Arbitrage in fantasy football is strongly driven by how production is accrued, and the order of players (rankings) reflects the opportunities (at the player and team levels) each player receives.

Our projections are often wrong about those projected opportunities.

A multitude of factors influence team situations: game script, injuries to a player or his teammates, ineffective play, player breakouts, and so on.

Understanding how a player is used enables us to buy into the variance in his performance across opportunities.

If we are wrong about the opportunity projection, a lower-tier player could present an arbitrage opportunity.

While there is no direct overlap with the individual player rankings, the order of these tiers reflects how I prioritize drafting positions from an archetypal stance.

While that may be confusing for a player ranked highly on a linear list versus the specific tier he is in, I will do my best to incorporate detailed thoughts regarding draft capital in those events throughout the player breakdowns.

One final note: I will be updating and adding analysis to these tiers throughout the summer.

With that introduction to the methodology used, let's proceed to the actual player analysis.

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Tier 1 Fantasy Football TEs:

• Brock Bowers
• Trey McBride
• Colston Loveland

The tight end position is top-heavy again this season, with three tight ends holding down the top tier and a significant gap over the field in current ADP.

Brock Bowers

Bye: Week 13

Bowers caught 64 passes for 680 yards and 7 touchdowns in his second season.

Opening the season with 5 receptions for 103 yards in Week 1, Bowers suffered a PCL injury.

He attempted to play through the injury.

Over the next three games, Bowers was the TE14 (5-38-0), TE13 (4-38-0), and TE20 (5-46-0).

He then missed the next three games.

Playing from Week 9 to Week 16 (he was shut down for the final two games), Bowers was the TE2 in scoring behind McBride.

Over that span, Bowers accounted for 24.5% of the team’s targets (TE4), 27.4% of the air yards (TE2), and was on the field for a league-high 93.1% of the dropbacks.

Bowers led all tight ends with 41.9% of the team’s targets that went into the end zone.

There was a dip in efficiency from his rookie season to last year, as he played with an injury and struggled with offensive attachment, but Bowers is an elite young talent (the most decorated college tight end) and a foundational piece in the passing game.

Even with last year's injury, Bowers has averaged 64.6 receiving yards per game to open his career.

That is fourth all-time at the position through two seasons and the most since Kellen Winslow Sr. in 1979 and 1980.

This is a player you are comfortable betting on from a talent perspective.

The Raiders may not make a jump to the front of the league in offensive production, but this offense is in a much stronger position than it was a year ago.

Klint Kubiak was brought in as head coach.

Kubiak had a significant efficiency spike with the New Orleans offense in 2024 before it was decimated by injuries and then revamped the Seattle offense last year.

Neither of those offenses was littered with immense individual talent, especially at quarterback.

Kubiak’s calling card is creating explosives in the passing game.

The Seahawks were fifth in the NFL in pass success rate (48%) and second in the rate of pass plays that gained 10 or more yards (32.5%) last year.

When Derek Carr played in 2024, the Saints ranked 18th in pass success rate (42.8%) and 12th in the rate of pass plays that gained 10 or more yards (27.2%).

Last season, the Raiders ranked 28th in pass success rate (39%) and 29th in the rate of pass plays that gained 10 or more yards (22.1%).

While Bowers is an elite talent in an upgraded offense, the prospect of playing with a rookie quarterback does put the brakes on him just a touch.

Still, we are talking about perhaps not going wild in 2026 to the point where the field cannot compete with him, and you had to have him at his current cost to win everything.

You can make the argument that Fernando Mendoza is an upgrade on the quarterback play Bowers has had thus far (and I would not push back given that bar), but it is just another layer of variance here to factor in, leaving the door open for him to end up priced near his ceiling for the second straight season.

Since 2000, only three tight ends have finished as the TE3 or higher attached to a rookie quarterback making eight or more starts.

No tight end attached to a rookie quarterback over that span has led the position in scoring, with Delanie Walker (TE3) in 2015 and Zach Ertz (TE3) in 2016 as the highest-scoring players from that group in fantasy points per game.

When Bowers led the position in scoring in 2025, he led the position in routes run.

The Raiders are expected to play a slower pace and run at a higher rate under Kubiak, and they have the potential to be more competitive than that season, which means not as many jailbreak scripts.

Trey McBride

Bye: Week 14

McBride was one of the bright spots for Arizona in a lost year.

He collected 126 receptions (2nd in the league) for 1,239 yards (6th), and 11 touchdowns (tied for 2nd).

He led all tight ends with 27.4% of his team’s targets and 25.3% of the air yards.

With back-to-back seasons of over 1,000 yards, McBride has established himself as one of the top tight ends in the NFL, if not the best right now.

As a full-time player these past three seasons, McBride has finished as the TE7, TE2, and TE1 in overall scoring.

After failing to catch more than 3 touchdown passes in any of his first three seasons, McBride caught 11 last season.

After catching 3 of 15 career end-zone targets over three seasons, he collected 7 of 18 in 2025 (38.9%).

Funny enough, that conversion rate was still below the base rate for tight ends last year, which was 49%. He just outpaced his career end-zone target rate.

Only Davante Adams had more targets in the end zone last season than McBride.

It is easy to say that McBride’s fantasy takeoff was due to Jacoby Brissett‘s insertion into the lineup.

Over five weeks with Kyler Murray, McBride had 29 receptions for 275 yards and 1 touchdown, ranking TE4 in overall scoring.

He then was the TE1 overall in scoring for the rest of the season, catching 29 more passes than the next-closest tight end, logging 241 more yards than the next-closest, and grabbing 6 more touchdowns.

While Brissett certainly helped the cause, McBride ran into a perfect storm, creating a top-down opportunity that no one in the league challenged at his position.

Arizona completely fell apart over the course of the season.

Not only was Murray injured, but the backfield was a complete mash unit in 2025.

No Arizona running back carried the ball 100 times during the season.

The offensive line was ravaged.

Arizona’s most frequently used offensive line combination was on the field for 23.7% of their snaps, 26th in the league.

The defense was obliterated at every level with injuries.

Over the final nine games of the 2025 season, the Cardinals led for just 47 offensive snaps, ahead of only the Raiders (36) and Jets (30).

This intersection of events propelled McBride into a usage tier that was unrivaled at the position.

By the end of the year, McBride had run 694 routes.

That is the most for a tight end since that data has been tracked.

The next closest season we have is 623 routes run by Mark Andrews in 2021.

McBride ran 121 more pass routes than the next-closest tight end.

To add some context, a high-usage tight end runs 30-35 routes per game.

So, McBride accrued nearly four extra games' worth of routes compared with the next-closest player at his position last year.

When you are running a record number of routes while leading your position in share of team targets, it creates a player who is light-years ahead of the field.

Arizona is not favored in any game this season.

They will still be expected to face a wealth of negative game scripts, but their passing volume is going to come down.

Every move Arizona has made this offseason has signaled that they will be slower and run the football more, even though they are expected to have a poor win-loss record.

They hired Mike LaFleur as head coach and Nathaniel Hackett as offensive coordinator.

When free agency opened, they signed four offensive linemen: Isaac Seumalo, Elijah Wilkinson, Matt Pryor, and Oli Udoh.

They also signed Tyler Allgeier.

They then used their first two picks in the NFL Draft on Jeremiyah Love and guard Chase Bisontis.

On top of that, the tight end position was weak last year.

The TE2 overall (Kyle Pitts) produced only 66.7% of McBride’s total scoring output.

That is the largest disparity of TE2 scoring compared to the TE1 in any season ever.

It was only the third time since 1990 that the TE2 failed to produce 75% of the TE1 output, and just the 10th time over those 35 seasons that the TE2 was below 80%.

Needless to say, we can bet that the field of the position will be tighter this season, regardless of who finishes as the top scorer in 2026.

Gamers are certainly prepared for regression here.

Arizona is still expected to trail often this season, but the offensive line and backfield are greatly improved from where we left off in 2025.

Brissett remains the starter as an added positive, but how much runway will he get if Arizona is losing games to the degree expected?

I am entering the season expecting to see Carson Beck start games in 2026, and we could even see Gardner Minshew for a spell as a bridge to Beck.

Arizona got hammered by scheduling this season.

They open the season against the Chargers, Seahawks, 49ers, Giants, Lions, Rams, Broncos, Cowboys, Seahawks, Rams, Chiefs, Commanders, and Eagles before their Week 14 bye.

To compound matters, the Cardinals play only four home games through the opening 11 weeks, and they are against the Seahawks, Lions, Broncos, and Rams.

Those are all factors that could prevent McBride from repeating as the TE1, and they are why I would suggest he is not someone I would pull the trigger on in the second round of non-TE Premium drafts.

That said, he still absolutely belongs in the conversation to compete for the TE1 overall title.

His talent and role are still at the front end.

This is more about how last year was a perfect runout in terms of overall opportunities versus the field at the position.

Even anticipating the gap in routes over the field to come down, I would still lean toward McBride leading this tier in route opportunities.

That is relevant because fantasy points at tight end are more strongly correlated with routes run than at wide receiver.

The past five TE1 overall scorers have also led the position in routes.

Even with McBride having the best odds to run the most routes again, I am not drafting him at his current cost, and I am also below ADP on taking the TE1 regardless of who you have in that spot.

Colston Loveland

Bye: Week 10

It took a bit for Loveland to get going as a rookie as he worked his way into the lineup and recovered from an offseason shoulder injury, but the wait was worth it.

Through Week 7, Loveland ran only 79 pass routes, securing 8 of 13 targets for 78 yards and no touchdowns.

He then got going and started to draw regular playing time, even playing with Cole Kmet.

Loveland ended the season with at least 15% of the team’s targets in each of the final nine games, drawing a target on 24.7% of his routes for 1.97 yards per route run over that span.

Over the final five games of the season, Loveland was on the field for 80.9% of the team's dropbacks, receiving a target on 30.5% of his routes with 2.34 yards per route run.

He caught 31 passes for 408 yards and 2 touchdowns over that span.

Even in a split season of work as a rookie, Loveland showcased his weekly upside.

He logged four weeks as a top-three scorer at the position.

The only player to match that was Trey McBride, who led the position with eight of those weeks.

As Loveland came on to close the season, the Bears and Ben Johnson took a page from Sean McVay’s 2025 game plan.

From Week 10 onward, the Bears played 12 personnel on 35.4% of their snaps (6th) and 13 personnel on 13.4% of their snaps (2nd).

They averaged 5.8 yards per play on offense with two or more tight ends on the field over that stretch, compared to 5.1 yards per play with one or fewer.

Chicago is elevating Luther Burden after trading D.J. Moore, but they did not make a significant addition at wide receiver, suggesting that the way they closed last year in terms of personnel deployment will be a starting block in 2026.

That allows Loveland to remain a featured target in this offense, and Kmet’s presence lets Loveland move around the formation and arguably be the de facto slot receiver while Burden and Rome Odunze work the perimeter.

As a rookie, Loveland played 57.2% of his snaps in-line, 21.7% from the slot, and 17.2% out wide.

He was far more effective in that slot role.

From the slot, Loveland was targeted on 25.3% of his routes with 2.32 yards per route run.

Out wide, he was targeted on 24.6% of his routes with 1.82 yards per route run.

In line, he was targeted on 21.6% of his routes with 1.84 yards per route run.

Tier 2 Fantasy Football TEs:

• George Kittle

I am putting Kittle in a short tier of his own because of his age and injury.

George Kittle

Bye: Week 8

The top tier is filled with tight ends all in the apex of the age curve, so even if Kittle were fully healthy, they would be priority targets over him before factoring in cost.

But when Kittle plays, he is in an elite class of efficiency, something that held a year ago.

Kittle was productive again last year when he was available, averaging 5.2 receptions for 57.1 yards per game with 7 touchdowns.

He posted 2.18 yards per route run, which ranked third among tight ends with 200-plus routes last year.

He was third in fantasy points per route (0.56).

Kittle was targeted on 24% of his routes, which ranked fourth among his position.

Now, the tough part.

Kittle played in only 11 games, missing time due to a hamstring injury.

Kittle has only been on the field for 68.1% and 46.2% of the dropbacks the past two seasons.

He was still efficient last year, but the injuries may be catching up.

Kittle averaged a career-low 11.0 yards per catch and a career-low 4.4 yards after the catch per reception.

That was nearly two full yards lower than his previous low mark after the catch, which was 6.2 YAC per reception in 2020.

He will turn 33 this October and has missed time in every season since 2018.

That is already something in question to open this season.

Playing with torn ligaments in his foot in the playoffs last season, Kittle suffered an Achilles injury in the playoff win against the Eagles.

He had surgery in January, placing the start of his season in jeopardy.

The 49ers did not aggressively add a tight end this offseason, and Kittle appears to be ahead of schedule.

If he is on track to open the year in Week 1, then his current cost is something risk-averse gamers can take advantage of.

But even if Kittle plays in Week 1, we have to factor in his age and the possibility that he could still miss time for something else, considering his history.

He will also have to contend with the addition of Mike Evans.

Kittle has excelled in recent seasons due to increased end-zone usage.

When Kittle and Brock Purdy have played together, Kittle has received a team-high 32.8% of the team’s end-zone targets.

The next closest 49er on those snaps is at 19.4%.

There have been 17 seasons of 20 or more end-zone targets over the past decade.

Evans has the most (3) and a league-high 41.8% end-zone target share when available.

When Evans was on the field last season, he commanded 58.3% of the Tampa Bay end-zone targets.

In 2024, Evans was second in the league in end-zone targets (18).

Tier 3 Fantasy Football TEs:

• Tyler Warren
• Tucker Kraft
• Sam LaPorta

This next pocket of tight ends is made up of the younger, high-upside players still ascending at the position.

All of these tight ends have an edge over the next tier because they play in both the passing and run games, which insulates their route participation.

We do not get points for run blocking, but removing that tight end from the field in base personnel sets does dent the top-down route participation since no team is 100% run from those sets.

In fact, under-center, play-action passing targets are the most valuable you can have.

Tyler Warren

Bye: Week 13

Warren had a strong rookie season, catching 76 of 112 targets for 817 yards and 4 touchdowns.

He also added a rushing touchdown.

Warren played 84% of the snaps as a rookie, running a route on 83.6% of the team's dropbacks.

Only Trey McBride (93.2%) and Kyle Pitts (92.5%) had higher rates in 2025.

Warren’s rookie-season efficiency was tied to the RPO and play-action elements of the Indianapolis pass attack.

Warren was targeted on 33.3% of his routes with 3.30 yards per route on play-action passes as a rookie.

On non-play-action passes, he dropped to an 18.8% target rate per route with 1.09 yards per route.

Once Daniel Jones was injured and that element was removed from the offense, Warren slowed down, catching 26 passes for 200 yards and 1 touchdown over the final seven games.

There is concern that Jones will not replicate his early-season success from last year, and the Colts face a much tougher schedule of opposing defenses.

The pro side is that we should have continued growth and more on Warren’s plate in Year 2 with Michael Pittman gone.

He ran only 48 routes last year without Pittman on the field, but was targeted on 25% of those routes, averaging 2.40 yards per route run.

Tucker Kraft

Bye: Week 11

Kraft was on his way to a massive breakout season last year before an ACL injury cut his season short in Week 9.

Kraft will be right around 10 months in his recovery at the start of the season, putting him in a spot to be ready to play early on, even if there is a ramp-up period.

Before his injury, Kraft ranked third among tight ends in receiving yards (489) and second in touchdowns (6).

He was second among tight ends in fantasy points scored per route (0.57).

He was averaging a league-high 15.6 yards per catch among tight ends with the most yards after the catch (336).

Since entering the league, Kraft has averaged a position-high 9.1 yards after the catch per reception.

With Kraft on the field last year, the Packers averaged 6.0 yards per play with a 47.2% success rate.

With him off the field, they averaged 5.3 yards per play with a 42.3% success rate.

That was the difference between being third in the NFL in yards per play and second in success rate and ranking in the middle of the league in both departments without him on the field (league average last year was 5.3 yards per play and a 41.8% success rate).

With all the moving parts at wide receiver for the Packers this offseason, Kraft can still stand out as the top target.

Christian Watson has yet to play a full season in the NFL.

Matthew Golden is still unproven.

Jayden Reed has yet to play full-time in the base offense.

There are avenues for the Packers to throw more this season, too.

The defense looks worse on paper, and Micah Parsons is expected to be eased back in after an ACL injury.

We also have an unresolved matter surrounding Josh Jacobs, and the Packers have little to no depth to rely on after him.

Even if Jacobs is not suspended, if he misses any time, this team should be pushed to lean more on Love because of that lack of depth at running back.

Green Bay has shootout potential in fantasy playoffs against the Bills and Bears, with a potential cupcake in the middle of that at home against Miami.

Sam LaPorta

Bye: Week 6

LaPorta only appeared in nine games last season due to a herniated disc.

Detroit initially hoped that LaPorta would miss only two to three weeks, but he was forced to undergo surgery and miss the remainder of the season.

LaPorta is expected to be available for training camp as a full go.

We will keep tabs on his status throughout the summer, but to kick things off, we will approach it as if he will not be restricted at the start of the season.

LaPorta had a solid year when available.

Before his injury, LaPorta had received 18.6% of Detroit's targets (TE9) and averaged 2.0 yards per route run (TE6).

He had 40 receptions (TE9) for 489 yards (TE5) with 3 touchdowns.

When LaPorta has been on the field over his rookie contract, he has been second on the Lions in targets behind Amon-Ra St. Brown and leads the team with 18 targets in the end zone.

LaPorta already has a TE1 overall season on his resume, and this is still an offense we are building around.

LaPorta is affordable, and Detroit has a strong opening layout that makes him a prime target at cost to open the year if you are waiting at the position.

The Lions open the season with games against the Saints, Bills, Jets, Panthers, and Cardinals.

They play only four outdoor games during the fantasy season, with one of those coming in Week 17 against the Bears.

Their outdoor games before that are in Buffalo (Week 2, so little temperature concerns), the Panthers in Week 4 (ditto), and Miami in Week 9.

New offensive coordinator Drew Petzing is coming over after utilizing Zach Ertz and Trey McBride heavily in the passing game in Arizona.

Tight ends in Petzing’s offenses were targeted at a robust 34.2% rate during his time with the Cardinals.

Tier 4 Fantasy Football TEs:

• Harold Fannin
• Kyle Pitts
• Dalton Kincaid
• Isaiah Likely

This tier of guys is not far from the previous tier.

Each of these players has underlying efficiency and upside, but the separation from the previous tier is that they have been weaker assets in the run game, which has made it harder to get them on the field to the same degree as the previous group.

Harold Fannin

Bye: Week 11

Fannin was one of the few bright spots for the Browns in 2025.

He led the team in targets (107), receptions (72), receiving yards (731), and touchdowns (6) as a rookie.

He led all tight ends that ran at least 100 pass routes last season in target rate per route (24.7%) while posting 1.68 yards per route run (13th) in an anemic offense.

Fannin became a full-time player as David Njoku’s injuries mounted.

From Week 7 on, Fannin was targeted on 26.4% of his routes with 1.83 yards per route run.

He was the TE6 in points per game over that period, slightly outproducing TE8 usage in expected points scored.

His rookie-year performance in the Cleveland offense, following a hyper-productive college career, reinforced that Fannin is indeed a quality player.

There are a few threads to potentially pull on here when it comes to fully chasing his end-of-year output in 2025, however.

Over that production span, Cleveland had little in the way of target competition.

Fannin led the Browns with 69 targets.

Jerry Jeudy was next on the team with 58.

The next-closest player had only 24.

There is more target competition on the roster entering the summer than there was when things left off.

The Browns used two top-40 picks this spring on KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston, while Jeudy remains on the roster.

Those are two rookie receivers, so it is still in play that Fannin is the lead target overall, but the added depth at wide receiver can impact Fannin if Cleveland is playing in tighter game scripts and can run the football.

If there is something to note on the negative end with Fannin as a player, he was still extremely limited in the run game, which was a concern for him at his size coming into the league.

Fannin ranked 76th in run-blocking grade among tight ends out of 87 qualifiers.

The Browns ran the ball 38.4% of the time with Fannin on the field, but 50% of the time with Blake Whiteheart.

The way to overcome being a limited blocker (not by talent, but team assessment) is to be a legitimate passing-game asset in an offense that is forced to pass.

If you are on a lousy team, you will likely be running a lot of routes since the run game will be limited by game conditions.

That is still more than in play for this Cleveland team in 2026.

The addition of Todd Monken is also a positive.

Monken is plenty familiar with good tight ends and getting them involved in the passing game.

Across play-calling stops in Baltimore, Tampa Bay, and Cleveland, Monken’s offenses have targeted tight ends at a 21.4% rate, just above the league average.

Kyle Pitts

Bye: Week 11

Pitts is coming off his best season since his rookie year, catching 88 of 118 targets for 928 yards and 5 touchdowns.

He was the TE2 in PPR scoring at the position behind Trey McBride, but he was also the lowest-scoring TE2 since 2016.

His end-of-year production with Drake London (and Michael Penix) injured carried him to a strong finish.

Over the final seven games of the year, Pitts was second to only McBride in receptions (41) and yards (494). He was also second in touchdowns (4).

Over the opening 10 games, Pitts averaged 4.7 catches for 43.4 yards with 1 touchdown.

On 357 routes with London on the field, Pitts was targeted on 18.5% of his routes with 1.29 yards per route.

On 182 routes with London off the field, Pitts was targeted on 28.6% of his routes with 2.56 yards per route run.

His standout performance came in Week 15, catching 11 passes for 166 yards and 3 touchdowns against the Bucs.

That end-of-the-year run pushed Atlanta to use the franchise tag on Pitts and landed him a three-year extension.

Pitts wins in a similar area of the field as London, so there is some uneasiness in buying his late-season run rolling over.

That said, he is a strong bet to be second or third on the team in target opportunities at worst, given the current layout for the pass catchers.

London and Bijan Robinson are his primary competition, with Jahan Dotson and Zachariah Branch as ancillary options.

I have reservations that Branch plays in heavy sets at all as a rookie, but when he does get on the field, Branch is another player who will be targeted near the line of scrimmage, which can tug at Pitts’ top-down target opportunities.

Pitts ran a route on a career-high 92.5% of the Atlanta dropbacks, which was second in the league behind McBride.

The previous high for Pitts was 80.8%.

Pitts still had his issues as a run blocker.

He ranked 85th in run-blocking grade per Pro Football Focus out of 87 qualifying tight ends.

But the Falcons did run the ball on 39.3% of his snaps, which was the second-highest rate of his career.

That was middle of the pack at the position and comparable to players such as Colston Loveland (39.6%) and Mark Andrews (39.6%).

It was just above Harold Fannin (38.4%), who played under Kevin Stefanski last season in a role that Pitts can emulate.

Stefanski has used his tight ends in the passing game as an added path to production.

Over his time as a play caller at Minnesota and Cleveland, Stefanski’s offenses targeted tight ends 27.8% of the time.

His teams had at least a 25% target rate in seven of those eight seasons, with a low of 23.8%.

The only hangup for Pitts as a one-for-one for Fannin last year is that he comes with limited after-the-catch creation.

Dalton Kincaid

Bye: Week 7

Kincaid caught 39 of 49 targets for 571 yards and 5 touchdowns last season.

He was the most efficient he has been in the NFL.

Kincaid led all tight ends in yards per route run (2.83) and fantasy points per route (0.62).

He was targeted on 24.3% of his routes, which trailed only Harold Fannin and Trey McBride.

Kincaid also posted a career-high 6.6 yards after the catch per reception.

With that type of efficiency, Kincaid should have crushed for fantasy purposes, but he was once again capped due to injuries, a lack of usage as an in-line player, and his role in the run game on a run-heavy team.

He dealt with hamstring and PCL injuries, limiting him to 12 games.

He also had three games with snap rates of 26.5%, 22.2%, and 13.3% due to those injuries.

He did not have surgery this offseason and worked with Derek Samuel.

Samuel has helped players such as Keenan Allen and Zach Ertz rehab and bounce back from knee issues.

There have been reports that Kincaid has emphasized gaining weight and getting stronger.

I am typically not one to go wild with offseason reports of players gaining weight, but there is some importance here for Kincaid, not only because of his injuries but also because his use has been limited.

Kincaid only played 33.4% of his snaps in-line last season.

The Bills ran the ball only 28.5% of the time when he was on the field, compared to 57.1% when he was off the field.

That ranked 68th at the position.

That has made Kincaid more of a brand-name version of Mike Gesicki in terms of his offensive role.

Over his three seasons in the league, Kincaid has been on the field for 64.1% of the team's dropbacks.

If Kincaid can stay healthy and increase his viability to stay on the field in heavier sets, that would be a huge boost to a player who has already shown he can be an efficient pass catcher with attachment to Josh Allen.

I believe there is an opportunity to buy in low on the Bills, who have multiple paths to throwing more in 2026.

Isaiah Likely

Bye: Week 8

The Giants and John Harbaugh were aggressive in free agency, locking up Likely to a three-year contract worth up to $40 million.

Likely will be 26 this season after catching 135 passes for 1,568 yards and 15 touchdowns over his rookie contract with the Ravens.

The contract gives Likely the runway to finally get out of the shadow of Mark Andrews and log full-time snaps.

Over his rookie deal, Likely never played more than 60% of the offensive snaps in a season, running a pass route on only 49.5% of the team’s dropbacks.

With Andrews off the field over his rookie deal, Likely was targeted on 18.7% of his routes for 1.70 yards per route run.

That target rate leaves some room for improvement (it would have ranked 26th among tight ends over the past four years), but those yards per route run would have ranked eighth at the position had that sample held playing without Andrews.

While that takes a step of faith in remaining in place in a larger role, Likely checks off a few more boxes if value-hunting at tight end.

Looking for breakouts and value picks at the position, you want to target a player who is the first or second option in his passing game.

Since 2010, 63.8% of all TE1 scorers have been either the first or second pass catcher from their team.

Only 19.1% of all tight ends selected after their team’s WR2 have finished the season as a TE1 scorer.

Of all tight ends to beat their ADP and finish as a top-12 scorer in the same season, 63.8% were selected ahead of their team’s WR2.

Likely checks both of those boxes, and we do not know exactly when, or if, Malik Nabers will look like himself coming back from an ACL injury.

Matt Nagy comes from a high utilization of 2TE sets at Kansas City.

The Chiefs were second in the league in 12-personnel rate over the past three seasons (30.1%) with Nagy there, and fourth in 13-personnel rate (7.9%).

Tier 5 Fantasy Football TEs:

• Mark Andrews
• Travis Kelce
• Dallas Goedert

We are hitting our top veteran tier of tight ends.

There may not be as much upside from these guys as there once was, but all of these tight ends are going to remain core pieces of their offenses.

They also all play in offenses that project to compete with high-end scoring ability.

Mark Andrews

Bye: Week 13

Andrews had the worst season of his career in 2025.

Hitting 30 years old, Andrews caught 48 passes for 422 yards and 5 touchdowns.

His 8.8 yards per catch were by far the fewest of his career.

He posted only 2.1 yards after the catch.

His previous career low was 3.1 yards after the catch per reception.

As a byproduct, his 1.23 yards per route run were also a new career low and ranked 43rd in the league among tight ends with 100 or more routes run.

Andrews has been on the field for fewer than 70% of the dropbacks in each of the past three seasons, but there are reasons to believe that will increase since the Ravens need Andrews to rebound when looking at this offense.

The Ravens lost both Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar this offseason.

The team added veteran Durham Smythe on a one-year contract, selecting Day 3 rookies Matt Hibner (fourth round) and Josh Cuevas (fifth round).

The receiving room remains wide open after Zay Flowers.

That leaves room for Andrews to still compete for being second on the team in targets.

As much as Andrews sagged last season, he can still be a touchdown-or-bust fantasy option.

He was still a focal point near the end zone.

Andrews accounted for 30.3% of Baltimore’s end-zone targets, which was third behind only Brock Bowers (41.9%) and Trey McBride (37.5%).

Travis Kelce

Bye: Week 5

Kelce is returning for at least one more season in 2026.

Turning 37 this October, Kelce is coming off a season in which he caught 76 of 108 targets for 851 yards and 5 touchdowns.

He was a top-five scorer in both full-PPR (TE3) and 0.5 PPR (TE5).

Kelce was still on the field for 83.4% of the dropbacks last season, which was TE4.

He still accounted for 19.7% of the team’s targets (TE5), but there are multiple signals that the sun is setting.

Kelce was targeted on a career-low 18.8% of his routes, his first season below the 20% mark.

He has been below 1.5 yards per route in each of the past two seasons after posting at least 1.8 yards per route every season prior.

He averaged 0.34 fantasy points per route, which ranked 33rd at the position.

His top-down usage and the lack of competition added to this roster keep him in play as a floor-based TE1 in PPR and TE-Premium formats, even if the Chiefs do run the ball more this season.

Then you just hope for better touchdown luck.

He has scored 5 or fewer touchdowns in three consecutive seasons.

Dallas Goedert

Bye: Week 10

Sticking with the theme here, Goedert averaged 4.0 receptions (his fewest since 2021) and 39.4 yards (his fewest since 2019) per game in 2025 with a career-low 9.9 yards per catch.

That was in line with depressed numbers for the Philly pass catchers across the board due to the offense last season, but Goedert did at least have a massive spike in the scoring department, catching a career-high 11 touchdowns.

Goedert only had 15 targets in the red zone, but 10 of them were touchdowns.

The Eagles adopted their own passing version of the “Tush Push” last season, with Goedert scoring on several variations of the shovel pass.

He scored 6 touchdowns within four yards of the end zone.

Goedert had a 27.8% target share for the Eagles in the red zone (TE4) compared to a 15.3% share outside of the red zone (TE9).

35.7% of his fantasy points were via touchdowns.

The only tight ends with a larger dependency on touchdowns were Darren Waller (40.6%) and Colby Parkinson (36.9%).

Touchdown regression is surely in store here.

There were early offseason whispers that Goedert was potentially on his way out with the organization, but the two sides agreed to keep him for at least one more season.

Goedert turned 31 this January, and the Eagles did add Eli Stowers in the second round as a potential option to push Goedert.

I do believe the additions of Stowers and, more so, Makai Lemon will impact Goedert the most of all Eagles pass catchers, given where the target shares are dispersed, but if either rookie is slow to earn playing time and Goedert still has one more ride as a full-time target, he does stand to receive a huge lift following the trade of A.J. Brown.

Since Brown joined the Eagles, Goedert has run 246 routes with him off the field.

Goedert has been targeted on 26.4% of his routes with 2.65 yards per route run on those snaps.

For some context, that target rate per route would have led all tight ends last season, while the yards per route run rate would have been second.

57 of those routes were also with DeVonta Smith off the field.

On those, Goedert ballooned to a 38.6% target rate per route and 4.46 yards per route run.

But even on the 189 routes with Smith on the field, Goedert was targeted on 22.8% of those routes, averaging 2.11 yards per route run.

Tier 6 Fantasy Football TEs:

• Juwan Johnson
• Oronde Gadsden
• Kenyon Sadiq
• Brenton Strange
• Greg Dulcich
• Chig Okonkwo
• Gunnar Helm

This next tier of players consists of those with intriguing upside.

All of these are players we view as potential ascending options.

But they also come with just enough question marks that prevent full confidence as bankable weekly starters or players you are extremely at ease with when having them as your only tight end when you leave drafts.

Juwan Johnson

Bye: Week 8

Signing a three-year extension last offseason, Johnson set career highs in targets (102), receptions (77), and receiving yards (889) in 2025 to go along with 3 touchdowns.

He ended the season finishing as the TE8 in full-PPR/TE-Premium formats and the TE12 in non-PPR leagues.

Despite the counting stats, Johnson was more of a floor player by volume.

He had four top-six scoring weeks and also eight weeks as a TE2 or lower.

Johnson ran the fourth-most routes at the position (525) with an 18.1% target share (TE7), which aided those counting stats.

He was TE32 in fantasy points per route (0.34), which casts a bit of a rain cloud over his overall output since the Saints have more target competition heading into this season.

The Saints added Jordyn Tyson in the first round of the NFL Draft.

Johnson only played 41.5% of his snaps last season in-line at tight end, so the Saints added Noah Fant and drafted Oscar Delp in the third round.

Oronde Gadsden

Bye: Week 7

Gadsden’s rookie season was a success.

As a fifth-round pick, he caught 49 passes for 664 yards and 3 touchdowns.

He averaged 13.6 yards per catch.

No tight end in the league averaged more yards per catch with as many receptions as Gadsden last season.

There was a stretch in the middle of the season when Gadsden looked like a ceiling player, but he lost steam due to injuries that dragged down the offense as a whole, and he had limited ability to contribute as a blocker.

He caught 17 passes for 211 yards and 1 touchdown over the final eight games of the season.

Over that span, his route participation dipped to 65.2% of the dropbacks with a target on 15.9% of his routes.

From Week 6 through Week 9, when he was surging, Gadsden was on the field for 82.1% of the dropbacks with a target on 19% of his routes.

Run blocking remains Gadsden's primary area for improvement to become a full-time player.

He played 50.3% of his snaps in-line, posting the second-lowest run-blocking grade at the position per Pro Football Focus.

The Chargers ran the ball only 30.5% of the time when Gadsden was on the field, compared to 50.3% when he was off the field.

That, paired with the addition of Mike McDaniel, led the Chargers to sign Charlie Kolar and David Njoku in free agency to complement Gadsden.

I have no doubt that Gadsden will be efficient per target in this offense.

The rub for fantasy gamers will be diagnosing the weeks when he has a large runout in terms of routes run and those when the Chargers are able to remain in run scripts.

Kenyon Sadiq

Bye: Week 13

The former four-star recruit is a versatile player in the route tree, the youngest tight end in this class, and made noise at the NFL Combine with his athletic testing.

With a track background, Sadiq ran a 4.39 40-yard dash at 6-foot-3 and 241 pounds.

That was good for a 99th percentile weight-adjusted measurement at his position.

He also had a 43.5-inch vertical, which was, at the time, a new record for the position (Eli Stowers jumped 45.5 inches shortly after Sadiq set his mark).

While Sadiq’s age-adjusted production is more than solid, he was not as dominant as some of the recent picks that have commanded premier draft capital.

Round 1 Tight Ends Over the Past 10 Years

Comparing Sadiq to Round 1 tight ends over the past decade places him in fragile territory among the group.

Even if you apply any shade towards his receiving grade at Pro Football Focus, Sadiq is one of four tight ends here with a target rate per route below 20%, and he only clears Hayden Hurst in yards per route run.

Typically, we have seen these early-round tight end picks post silly production and control their passing games.

He was targeted on 19.4% of his routes (TE11 in this class) with 1.62 yards per route run (TE10).

He posted 1.15 yards per route run against man coverage (TE13) and 1.71 yards per route against zone coverage (TE13).

He also had a 10.5% drop rate (TE23).

Sadiq dealt with multiple injuries during the season that were never fully disclosed.

That applies some context to Sadiq’s end-of-the-season decline.

However, he still falls short of the Brock Bowers, Tyler Warren, Colston Loveland, and Kyle Pitts level of dominance we saw entering the league, which casts a rain cloud on how bullish gamers may be with front-end fantasy capital.

Sadiq played just 27.7% of his snaps last season in-line (TE24 in this class), compared to 58.5% in the slot (TE4), and 10.7% out wide (TE4). Backfield snaps made up the leftovers.

Playing alongside Mason Taylor (whom the Jets selected in the second round last year), Sadiq can play more of that “move” tight end role, but he may not have a strong runout in route participation unless he is contributing in the run game.

While this is not the most attractive spot in terms of 2026 upside, Sadiq does have a path to run a lot of routes on a potentially bad team and be a top-two target earner on his roster.

That alone gives him upside as a TE2 pick for 2026.

Brenton Strange

Bye: Week 7

Strange had his best season since entering the league, catching 46 passes for 540 yards and 3 touchdowns over 12 games played.

Strange has raised his receptions and yardage every year in the NFL.

He was targeted on 19% of his routes (TE14) with 1.71 yards per route run (TE4).

The Jaguars used draft picks on Nate Boerkircher in the second round and Tanner Koziol in the fifth round as competition for Strange, but he still inked a three-year extension in June.

That gives some added confidence in Strange as the feature tight end.

However, we still have to contend with a loaded pass-catching tree.

Strange’s per-target output was solid, but he was still well behind the wide receivers in Jacksonville.

When all of Parker Washington, Jakobi Meyers, and Brian Thomas Jr. shared the field, Strange was fourth in targets (15.9%).

Washington had the largest impact on Strange last year.

When just Washington was on the field (176 of Strange’s routes), Strange only had a 10.7% target share.

Greg Dulcich

Bye: Week 6

Dulcich was hyper-productive on his small sample with Miami last year.

Dulcich averaged 2.38 yards per route run last year on his 141 routes, which was second among all tight ends with 100 or more pass routes on the year.

He was targeted on 23.4% of his routes, which would have ranked fifth among the same group.

He was only on the field for 26.6% of the dropbacks and had 67 career receptions through four seasons, so we still are going in with more hope than confidence here.

Getting only $3.2 million for one year, Dulcich is still on a “prove-it” deal.

Mike McDaniel is gone, and the Dolphins are expected to be not only one of the lowest-scoring offenses in the league but also to play slowly and run-first under Bobby Slowik with Malik Willis in line to start.

The positive is that Miami has a wide-open target tree, so Dulcich could come out on top in target opportunities when they do throw the football.

His competition at tight end is Ben Sims and rookies Will Kacmarek (third round) and Seydou Traore (fifth round).

The wide receiver room is currently fronted by Jalen Tolbert, Tutu Atwell, Malik Washington, and a host of rookies.

Chig Okonkwo

Bye: Week 7

Washington’s most aggressive signing on offense this offseason was inking Okonkwo to a three-year deal worth up to $27 million.

Okonkwo caught 50 or more passes in each of the past three seasons in Tennessee but never found his footing as a complete player.

His best trait over his rookie contract was creating 1,107 yards after the catch, which ranks 12th among tight ends since he entered the league.

In 2025, Okonkwo was 10th in that department (342 yards after the catch).

We can excuse his lack of downfield production and his dependency on yardage after the catch, given his quarterback play in the NFL to this point.

There is some concern about the potential addition of Brandon Aiyuk, while Antonio Williams can work the middle of the field and cap Okonkwo, but Washington currently has an open target tree after Terry McLaurin.

Still, the biggest roadblock for Okonkwo has been playing time, since he is more of a power-slot receiver than an actual tight end.

Okonkwo never reached a 70% route rate over his rookie contract.

He was on the field for 64.6% of dropbacks in 2025, ranking TE17 on the season.

That is because he ranked last among 87 qualifying tight ends in run-blocking grade in 2025, per Pro Football Focus.

He was last among 83 qualifying tight ends in 2024.

If David Blough is taking more from the Ben Johnson script, the running game is going to be a large part of this offense.

That can be a roadblock for Okonkwo once again, but Washington could also be a team that uses more multiple-TE sets to allow Okonkwo to still deliver route participation good enough to register for gamers.

Jayden Daniels did utilize Zach Ertz, another tight end who was limited through run-game participation.

Daniels has thrown the ball to tight ends at a 22.5% rate, which is 18th in the league over the past two seasons.

Gunnar Helm

Bye: Week 9

Helm is expected to take on a larger role in his second season after a solid performance on his snaps as a rookie.

Helm caught 44 of 55 targets for 357 yards and 2 touchdowns.

He only ran a route on 38% of the dropbacks, but Helm was targeted on 22.4% of his routes, which only trailed Harold Fannin (24.7%) and Tyler Warren (22.4%) among rookie tight ends.

Helm’s 1.45 yards per route ranked fifth among rookie tight ends.

To facilitate Helm’s development while having a comparable to fill Chig Okonkwo’s role as a move tight end, the Titans added Daniel Bellinger, who also spent his rookie contract with Brian Daboll in New York.

Bellinger only caught 88 passes over his four seasons with the Giants.

Tier 7 Fantasy Football TEs:

• Jake Ferguson
• Hunter Henry
• Dalton Schultz
• AJ Barner
• T.J. Hockenson
• Colby Parkinson

Here is our veteran group of tight end streamers and players that can be plugged into a matchup-based platoon at the position.

A few of these guys (Ferguson, Henry, and Schultz, in particular) are better bets to outscore a handful of the previous tier, but they are not the types of players who are likely to shadow realm you for passing on them for a higher upside outcome.

There is a good chance that these guys will bounce around on waivers in managed leagues.

In best ball formats, these are solid additions to a tight end room, since you won’t have to chase the production in managed lineups.

Jake Ferguson

Bye: Week 14

Ferguson was a reliable target again in 2025, securing 82 of 102 targets for 600 yards and 8 touchdowns.

He was much better in PPR/TE Premium formats (TE5) than he was in standard leagues (TE10).

You are not getting much flash from Ferguson, but he serves a Zach Ertz-esque role in an offense we know will throw the football.

Ferguson averaged a career-low 7.3 yards per reception.

That is the third time over his four seasons that Ferguson has averaged single-digit yardage per catch.

He posted 3.7 yards after the catch per reception (62nd), paired with 4.7 air yards per target (50th).

Even in the high-scoring Dallas offense, Ferguson was more of a contingency bet for fantasy production.

He also did his best work early in the year with CeeDee Lamb sidelined.

Through seven games, Ferguson caught 51 passes with 6 touchdowns, drawing a target on 27.6% of his routes with 1.59 yards per route run.

Then, over the final 10 games, he had just 31 receptions and 2 touchdowns, drawing a target on 15.4% of his routes and averaging 0.93 yards per route.

He also had a dip in run-game viability that affected him.

Dallas ran the ball on 27.9% of Ferguson’s snaps, which was a career low.

The only tight ends with a lower rate were Mike Gesicki (17.2%) and Evan Engram (15.5%).

That was not only because Dallas was pass-heavy due to game conditions.

Ferguson had 72.8% route participation in his games, which ranked TE12 on the season.

Hunter Henry

Bye: Week 11

Henry had a career-high 768 receiving yards last season, catching 60 passes to go along with 7 touchdowns.

You are getting attachment to Drake Maye with Henry, but even in an MVP-caliber season from Maye, Henry was a volatile fantasy option.

He logged six TE1-scoring weeks, with five of those tied to reaching the end zone.

He had only 87 targets while drawing a target on 18.9% of his routes (TE31).

In his weeks with a touchdown, Henry averaged 17.1 points per game compared to 6.9 points per game without.

Dalton Schultz

Bye: Week 8

Schultz caught a career-high 82 passes last season for 777 yards (his most since 2021) and 3 touchdowns.

He was second on the team with 106 targets.

His 45.7 yards per game ranked TE11 on the season, although his 9.5 yards per catch ranked TE44.

Schultz is more volume-dependent than dynamic, but he is a reliable asset at the position.

Schultz was on the field for 77.5% of the dropbacks (TE7) with 19.2% of the Houston targets (TE6).

The questions come from the lack of ceiling and whether he can hold onto his target rates from last year.

Schultz has 5 touchdowns over the past two seasons.

He has received his largest boost when the Texans have been down receivers.

He led the team in route participation (77.5%) last year.

We are expecting Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel to take steps forward in their second season, and Tank Dell to return in some capacity.

AJ Barner

Bye: Week 11

Barner had a solid second season, grabbing 52 of 68 targets for 519 yards and 6 touchdowns.

He also added a rushing touchdown with 10 attempts in Seattle’s version of the Tush Push.

He ended the year on a high note, catching 4 passes for 54 yards and a touchdown in the Super Bowl victory.

Barner was second on the team in receptions last year, checking out as the TE16 in target share (14.9%).

He was touchdown reliant.

28.5% of his fantasy points were via touchdowns, and five of his TE1 scoring weeks came with a trip to the end zone.

Barner only averaged 4.4 air yards per target (TE57) paired with 5.2 yards after the catch (TE31).

His run-blocking will keep him on the field more than Elijah Arroyo, but Arroyo coming back healthy in a new offense in Year 2 opens the door for some added push and lighter route participation.

In the games in which Arroyo was available, Barner was on the field for 66.9% of the dropbacks, which is mid-TE2 range.

T.J. Hockenson

Bye: Week 6

As with most of the Minnesota passing game from a year ago, Hockenson is coming off a down year.

He caught 51 passes for 438 yards and 3 touchdowns.

He posted career lows in yards per catch (8.6) and receiving yards per game (29.2).

He was also coming off a down year as he closed out 2024 after returning from his ACL injury.

That combination of limited production can be excused in both seasons, but Hockenson has one real season of being a reliable fantasy starter, which coincides with running the second-most routes at the position.

Kyler Murray can keep the lights on for Hockenson, but he still projects to be behind Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison on the target tree, while Minnesota added Jauan Jennings this offseason.

Colby Parkinson

Bye: Week 11

The Rams maxed out the tight end room last season.

Los Angeles tight ends combined for 150 targets (5th), 103 receptions (7th), 1,128 yards (4th), and a league-high 17 touchdowns.

The Rams utilized all of their tight ends by deploying a league-high 30.5% 13-personnel rate.

The next closest team last year was at 13.3%.

Parkinson led the unit in targets (56), receptions (43), yards (408), and touchdowns (8), running a route on 39.2% of the dropbacks.

Parkinson was targeted on 22.9% of his routes with 1.67 yards per route run, both team highs at the position.

He scored a touchdown in seven of the final 12 games last season.

Touchdowns made up his output for fantasy.

Reaching 50 yards twice in the regular season, 36.9% of Parkinson’s fantasy points came via touchdowns, second behind Darren Waller (40.6%).

He can remain a touchdown-or-bust asset, but we have highlighted the expectation that the Rams throw fewer touchdowns in 2026.

Anticipating a spike in overall snaps and targets for Parkinson is a tougher bet to make, given the depth that the Rams have at the position.

Tier 8 Fantasy Football TEs:

• Michael Mayer
• Terrance Ferguson
• Elijah Arroyo
• Eli Stowers

These are our mystery box tight ends.

These are players we believe are talented, have draft investment that warrants potential playing time, and offer upside per target.

They also come with a level of wishcasting relative to projected opportunities on the surface.

Michael Mayer

Bye: Week 13

The Raiders are a team we expect to lean into multiple-TE sets, given the wide receiver room and the hire of Klint Kubiak as head coach.

We got to see more from Mayer in Year 3 with Brock Bowers missing time.

Mayer had early-career highs in targets (50), receptions (35), and receiving yards (328) with a touchdown.

Out of 47 tight ends with 200 or more pass routes last season, Mayer was targeted on 22.7% (TE6) with 1.49 yards per route (TE18).

On 116 routes with Bowers sidelined, Mayer was targeted on 26.7% of his routes with 1.96 yards per route run.

Terrance Ferguson

Bye: Week 11

Ferguson played the least among the Rams tight ends (26.9% of the dropbacks), but his role was the most dynamic and masked some of that 13-personnel in certain looks with him on the field.

Ferguson only played 49% of his snaps in-line, playing 26.3% in the slot and 22.7% out wide.

He averaged a gaudy 18.6 air yards per target with 56% of his targets coming on throws 20 or more yards downfield.

While the Rams can run everything back here from a year ago, they could extend Ferguson, since their wide receiver depth still lags behind Puka Nacua and Davante Adams.

If you think of Ferguson as the potential WR3 for the Rams, you can sell yourself on the upside angle.

It is not uncommon to see Sean McVay play rookies slowly and then extend them in Year 2.

Elijah Arroyo

Bye: Week 11

Arroyo did not get much run as a rookie, catching 15 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown.

He was on the field for 26.6% of Seattle's dropbacks, limited at the end of the year by a knee injury.

When he did play, he showed some potential as a downfield asset in a similar fashion as Ferguson.

Even if Arroyo plays behind AJ Barner, you can make a strong case that he will run more routes than Ferguson in Year 2.

Ferguson has more to sort through, given the stable of tight ends for the Rams, and they have a better one-two punch at wide receiver than Seattle.

19.2% of Arroyo’s targets were 20 yards or more downfield, but he did play 70% of his snaps in-line.

Eli Stowers

Bye: Week 10

It is hard to see a massive runway for Stowers in Year 1, as he has to grow his complete game.

However, he has a decorated pass-catching resume paired with mismatch athleticism.

There are enough moving parts in Philadelphia to keep the lights on for him cutting his way into the lineup with added contingency should Dallas Goedert miss time (which he has every year since his rookie season).

Stowers is roadblocked by Goedert as a full-time player, but he can take on some of the vacated downfield targets that A.J. Brown leaves behind.

Like Kenyon Sadiq, Stowers has more of the profile of a pass catcher first than an all-around tight end.

He played 24.9% of his snaps in-line (second-lowest rate from this class), playing 66.4% of his snaps from the slot and 8.4% out wide.

He is built nearly identically to Sadiq (6-foot-4 and 239 pounds), while he tested out amazingly at the NFL Combine.

Stowers ran a 4.51 40-yard dash (90th percentile) and posted a 45.5-inch vertical, breaking the position record minutes after Sadiq set it.

Stowers added an 11-foot-3 broad jump, which was also a new record for the position.

While Stowers faces some of the same positional limitations as Sadiq due to his physical profile, he lacks Sadiq's blocking ability at this stage.

Stowers was 19th in run-blocking grade at the position per Pro Football Focus last season, and it shows subjectively in his aggression in the run game.

Stowers has not been playing the position long.

He opened his college career at Texas A&M as a quarterback.

After failing to get on the field for two seasons, he transferred to New Mexico State, eventually losing out in a quarterback competition with Diego Pavia and converting to tight end six weeks into the 2023 season.

He ended up catching 35 passes for 366 yards and 2 touchdowns in his first taste of playing tight end.

Then, he and Pavia transferred together to Vanderbilt, where Stowers posted seasons of 49-638-5 and 62-769-4.

Stowers won the John Mackey Award for the best tight end this past season.

Tier 9 Fantasy Football TEs:

• Pat Freiermuth
• Cade Otton
• Mike Gesicki
• Cole Kmet
• Darnell Washington
• Theo Johnson

We are deep into the streaming stage of the position.

Pat Freiermuth & Darnell Washington

Bye: Week 9

The Steelers went with a tight end committee last season.

Washington played 52.9% of the snaps.

Jonnu Smith played 51.9%.

Freiermuth played 50.6%.

With Smith no longer on the roster, Washington and Freiermuth can operate as a clear-cut tandem.

Freiermuth is coming off career lows with 2.4 receptions for 28.6 yards per game.

He was targeted on a career-low 16.6% of his routes.

Washington caught a career-high 31 passes for 364 yards and 1 touchdown.

Despite the growth as a receiver, Washington was still primarily featured in the run game.

Freiermuth ran a route on 54.9% of the dropbacks while Washington was at 35.6%.

Pittsburgh ran the ball 50% of the time Washington was on the field, compared to 32.9% with Freiermuth.

Cade Otton

Bye: Week 10

Otton returned to the Bucs this offseason on a three-year deal worth up to $30 million.

He caught 59 passes for 572 yards and 1 touchdown last season.

Otton did not stack crazy counting stats over his rookie contract, but he was a reliable player in the offense who produced when the Bucs were missing multiple pass catchers over the past two seasons.

Otton has played over 90% of the offensive snaps in three consecutive seasons.

Mike Gesicki

Bye: Week 6

The Bengals have a defined role for Gesicki as a slot receiver.

Gesicki played 28.9% of the snaps last season, with Cincinnati having a pass rate of 82.8% on those snaps.

That led to only 2.2 receptions for 23.6 yards per game.

Gesicki has scored 2 or fewer touchdowns in four of the past five seasons, including the two with the Bengals.

Cole Kmet

Bye: Week 10

Kmet did not stuff the stat sheet with the arrival of Colston Loveland, but he was a contributor in the base offense when Chicago was at their best, catching 30 passes for 347 yards and 2 touchdowns.

From Week 10 on, the Bears played 12 personnel on 35.4% of their snaps (6th) and 13 personnel on 13.4% (2nd).

Out of the players in this tier, Kmet has the best contingency upside.

Theo Johnson

Bye: Week 8

The addition of Isaiah Likely hinders Johnson from taking a huge step as a pass catcher, but he should still be a part of the offense.

Matt Nagy comes from a high utilization of 2TE sets at Kansas City.

The Chiefs were second in the league in 12-personnel rate over the past three seasons (30.1%) with Nagy there, and fourth in 13-personnel rate (7.9%).

Johnson caught 45 passes for 528 yards and 5 touchdowns in his second season, although he was tied for a league-high 7 drops at the position.

Tier 10 Fantasy Football TEs:

• Jake Tonges
• Charlie Kolar
• Evan Engram
• Erick All
• David Njoku

Rounding things out with our dart throws at the position.

Should George Kittle start the year on PUP, Jake Tonges would have an early-season opportunity.

Tonges was solid when filling in for Kittle last season, catching 34 passes for 293 yards (8.6 yards per catch) and 5 touchdowns.

Not nearly as dynamic in the passing game, however, Tonges was targeted on 19.8% of his routes with 1.28 yards per route run with Kittle sidelined in 2025.

Charlie Kolar is one of the most interesting players down here.

The Chargers' tight end room is likely to be a complete carousel, but Kolar could have a new opportunity as a pass catcher in an offense we are excited for.

Kolar was a decorated receiving prospect coming out of Iowa State, but he did not have many opportunities in the passing game in Baltimore.

Kolar only caught 30 passes over his four seasons with the Ravens but was seventh in yards per route run at the position on his limited opportunities.

Instead, Kolar was a featured part of the run game.

His offenses in Baltimore ran the ball 69.2% of the time with him in the game, the highest rate for any tight end in the league over that span.

Erick All is another name to at least keep in mind when grasping for straws at tight end.

The loss of Noah Fant (34% of the snaps and a 40% run rate) gives room for All to return and contribute.

All showed some life in that role as a rookie with 20 catches over his first nine games, but he then suffered an ACL injury that forced him to miss the entire 2025 season.

Staying on the field has been an issue for All going back to college.

This was his second ACL injury.

Going back to his college career, All has failed to play a full season in each of his past five years.