Fantasy Football Player Outlooks for The 2026-26 Season

McBride was the clear fantasy TE1 in 2025, outscoring second-place Kyle Pitts by 105.1 points in PPR formats. RB Christian McCaffrey’s 45.8-point edge over Bijan Robinson was the only other gap of 20-plus fantasy points between the top two fantasy scorers at a position. Arizona’s star tight end led his position across the board with 126 catches for 1,239 yards and 11 touchdowns on 169 targets. While most of those numbers represented modest improvements on his 2024 stats, McBride surged from three TDs up to 11, netting him an extra 48 fantasy points (2.8 per game) while easily leading TEs in red-zone targets (33). Ten of his 11 touchdowns came after Jacoby Brissett took over as Arizona’s starting QB in Week 6, so McBride’s lack of TDs before then -- eight through his first 54 NFL games -- may be a problem that's solved by Kyler Murray's departure. Brissett is expected to start out of the gate in 2026, and while the Cardinals should face plenty of deficits again, it'd be difficult to match last year's passing volume even if they hadn't drafted RB Jeremiyah Love. The good news for McBride's fantasy value is that he can afford to lose some of last year's volume and still be an elite TE1 for fantasy.

A knee injury sustained in Week 1 bothered Bowers throughout the 2025 season, preventing him from building on his historic 2024 rookie campaign. He suited up for 12 games and mustered a respectable 64-680-7 line on 86 targets, but Bowers’ averages dipped by 1.3 catches and 13.5 receiving yards per game compared to 2024, when he had the most receiving yards (1,194) by a rookie TE and the most receptions (112) by an NFL rookie at any position. The 2024 first-round pick’s impressive start has come despite subpar QB play, and the Raiders’ ceiling under center is now substantially higher with the additions of 2026 first overall pick Fernando Mendoza and veteran Kirk Cousins. By TE standards, Bowers has already demonstrated an elite floor when healthy, able to put up solid numbers while catching passes from the likes of Gardner Minshew, Aidan O’Connell, Desmond Ridder and Geno Smith. Trey McBride will be the first tight end off the board in the majority of fantasy drafts, but Bowers hasn’t been too far behind in per-game fantasy production since entering the league. The Raiders' offseason improvements to their QB room and offensive line could be the spark that allows Bowers to overtake McBride for the overall TE1 distinction.

Loveland erupted over the final four games of his rookie season, including playoffs, with 48 targets from QB Caleb Williams resulting in 28 catches for 378 yards and two touchdowns. If Loveland were to sustain similar production for a full season, he'd almost certainly be the overall TE1, ahead of even Trey McBride and Brock Bowers. On the other hand, the 2025 first-round pick had 42 catches for 528 yards and four touchdowns on just 59 targets across his first 14 NFL games, posting strong numbers by rookie standards without helping fantasy managers much. After both Loveland and WR Luther Burden finished the season strong, Chicago traded away WR D.J. Moore this offseason and let WR Olamide Zaccheaus leave in free agency. Burden and WR Rome Odunze are now Loveland's main competition for targets, with veteran TE Cole Kmet (48 targets in 2025) and rookie TE Sam Roush (third round) potentially chipping away at Loveland's snap counts or stealing the occasional red-zone target. It’s fair to be wary of Loveland's top-50 ADP after only one month of standout production, but he's a true blue-chip prospect who can already claim one of the most productive age-21 seasons by an NFL tight end.

Warren was one of three rookie TEs who ranked in the top 10 at the position in receiving yards last season, along with Harold Fannin and Colston Loveland. Selected by the Colts at No. 14 overall, Warren paced the productive rookie trio with 76 catches and 817 receiving yards, while his 112 targets were the third-most among all NFL tight ends. He caught only four touchdown passes but added a rushing score on one of his six carries, showing some of the versatility that earned him Heisman hype at Penn State. Warren’s production sank down the stretch last year, along with the rest of the Colts offense, as he had only 26 catches for 200 yards during the season-ending seven-game losing streak. After averaging 61.7 receiving yards in his first 10 NFL games, Warren averaged a mere 28.6 yards over his last seven appearances. He should nonetheless continue to see plenty of targets, especially with WR Michael Pittman (111 targets in 2025) now in Pittsburgh, but Warren may have to rely on quantity to mask a lack of quality with QB Daniel Jones coming back from a late-season Achilles tear.

LaPorta has seen his totals in catches, yards, TDs and targets dip in each of his three NFL seasons, but there are some silver linings to take from his 2025 campaign, in which he was limited to nine games by a herniated disc in his back. He set new career highs with 54.3 receiving yards per game and 12.2 yards per catch, and his catch rate jumped up nearly 10 points to 81.6 percent. In other words, LaPorta fared just fine prior to his back injury, seemingly not too bothered by the departure of former offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. LaPorta probably won’t rank among the TE target leaders as Option C/D in Detroit’s high-powered offense, behind Jahmyr Gibbs, Amon-Ra St. Brown and (arguably) Jameson Williams. An offense with all that talent will tend to create scoring opportunities, and LaPorta has cashed in 20 TDs through 42 regular-season games. With the hype created by LaPorta’s 10-TD rookie campaign in 2023 having died down, and a strong 2025 TE draft class adding depth at the position, the cost to add Detroit’s standout TE in fantasy drafts has come down considerably even though his situation hasn’t changed much. The Lions expect LaPorta to be healthy for training camp and are said to be discussing an extension as the 2023 second-round pick enters the final year of his rookie contract.