5 Tight Ends Going Too Late In 2026 Fantasy Football Drafts
Fantasy

5 Tight Ends Going Too Late In 2026 Fantasy Football Drafts

In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by UNest.

Published

I guess we can call these “keep it simple” Saturdays.

Last week, we had our mind blown by a crazy stat Dwain McFarland uncovered and it reminded us that we don’t always have to overthink fantasy football.

And then yesterday, Dwain continued his awesome “What Matters Most For Fantasy” with the tight end position.

For the first time in the series, previous-season fantasy points per-game isn’t the strongest correlation to next-season fantasy points.

When it comes to tight ends, receiving yards per game from the previous season is the most important for predicting future success:

This makes a lot of sense when you consider TDs are the biggest driver for TE scoring, but they are also a highly volatile stat that isn’t sticky from year-to-year (.33 correlation).

When we look at last year’s receiving yards leaders there are some obvious guys at the top—Trey McBride (1st with 1,239 yards) and Colston Loveland (3rd with 906 yards)—but then we find some interesting names who are all going after pick 100 in drafts.

Consider this a simple, but strong, sleeper list for 2026 TEs:

  • No. 2 Kyle Pitts (928 yards; ADP: TE8)
  • No. 4 Juwan Johnson (889 yards; ADP: TE20)
  • No. 5 Hunter Henry (880 yards; ADP: TE19)
  • No. 6 Travis Kelce (851 yards; ADP: TE10)
  • No. 7 Dalton Schultz (836 yards; ADP: TE23)

None of those names are “sexy” by any means (although Taylor might beg to differ), but there are some massive values here—specifically Johnson, Henry and Schultz (good law firm name, tbh).

All of these guys represent strong selections in best ball drafts, but I also think they could be strong TE2 targets in redraft.

My ideal redraft strategy would be to take George Kittle and then pair him with one of those cheap guys above who can cover for him at the beginning of the season.

DWAIN’S EPIC WHAT MATTERS TO TIGHT ENDS

Time to Buy Jeremiyah Love Making The NFL Leap

Few things are as breathtaking and fun to watch as Jeremiyah Love hurdling over defenders during his Notre Dame days. Many of those jumps set him loose on long runs on the way to amassing 3,016 scrimmage yards and 40 TDs for this multi-talented weapon who is taking his talents to Arizona. He’s not yet 21, and appears to have as bright an NFL future as any of the players just drafted. Now it’s time for forward-thinking fantasy managers to act when Love’s available in fantasy drafts in the months ahead.

UNest works the same way. You don't wait until your kid is 16 to start building their financial future. You start now, when time is your single greatest advantage. A tax-advantaged investment account that grows with your child, set up in under 10 minutes. The long game is always the smartest play, on the field and off it.

LEARN MORE

Published