Tight end isn't the fantasy football desert it once was. You no longer have to reach for a top three talent or risk a black hole in the middle of your roster each Sunday.
The position is loaded with dynamic young players who have snapped the once-rigid learning curve that accompanies a spot where you have to be gifted both as a blocker and receiver. 2025 dropped an influx of young, league-winning stars including Tyler Warren, Colston Loveland and Harold Fannin Jr. onto rosters. 2026's rookie class isn't nearly as robust, but you can make the case for about 20 different tight ends to earn a starting nod in your typical 12-team league.
Who should be the first guy off the board? We've narrowed it down to a top-two... and the Arizona Cardinals' quarterback
uncertainty means Trey McBride isn't one of them.
Let's look at the two young studs who should be able to add an extra gear to their fantasy output in 2026.
Christian: Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders
Phew, there are lots of good young tight ends out here. The depth at the position means you no longer need to lock in a Travis Kelce type early or risk playing waiver wire roulette with a bunch of six-point nothings all season. Trey McBride and Tucker Kraft both immediately came to mind for the top spot – but Bowers is my pick.
Why? Well, the fact his biggest competition for targets could be either Tre Tucker, Jalen Nailor or Michael Mayer certainly helps. But his quarterbacks play a role as well.
Kirk Cousins helped push Kyle Pitts to a career high 88 receptions last season; a year in which he had his highestyards per route run (YPRR) and target share since his tantalizing rookie campaign. Fernando Mendoza is a rookie who’ll eventually take the reins (though head coach Klint Kubiak is being pretty coy about when that will be). When he gets in trouble, he’ll be smart enough to default to his best target.
Bowers is coming off an injury-marred year in which he still put up a 90-catch, 960-yard, 11-touchdown pace. He did this despite Geno Smith taking a weedwhacker to his personal late-career revival; the veteran was, among 30 quarterbacks to play at least 320 snaps last season, the 29th-best when it came to expected points added (EPA) per dropback.
The steadiness of McBride is tempting. The Green Bay Packers’ revamped receiving corps suggests Kraft could wind up leading the team in targets. But Bowers has a combination of a strong floor, incredible ceiling and massive opportunity given the depth chart around him. That’s my TE1.
Yaj: Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears
In order to avoid doubling up on this exercise with Christian again, I’ll stay away from my 1A (Bowers) and instead lean into my support to my other favorite tight end going into this season. Like Bowers, Loveland should be a centerpiece in his team’s offense and certainly looks like the apple of the coaching staff’s collective eye. All signs point to a true break out this year, creating space to ascend to the overall TE1 position.
After a slow start to his 2025 season, Loveland exploded in the second half. From Week 9 onward, he was fantasy's TE2 behind only Trey McBride. If anything, that was just a jumping off point for the young phenom.
He’s locked into at least a 25 percent target share (he averaged 25-plus percent last season) for a full 17 games, which should help him easily eclipse his 58 receptions as a rookie. Besides Rome Odunze and Luther Burden, there really isn’t much in terms of elite competition for targets. In addition, he’s most likely going to be the prime red zone target. If he was TE2 last year and seemingly trending up, its natural to assume that overall TE1 is attainable for 2026.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Who is the top fantasy football tight end for 2026?
