Fantasy Football 2026: Must-draft tight ends for home leagues 

Colston Loveland, ChicagoBears: Loveland is the position’s most affordable top-three contender for the overall TE1 finish.

• TE Dalton Kincaid, BuffaloBills: Kincaid could benefit from better health, leveraging his great receiving ability.

• TE Terrance Ferguson, Los Angeles Rams: Ferguson could operate as a No. 3 wide receiver and benefit from post-catch effectiveness.

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As detailed in “Examining the framework of the 2024 TE1s,” “PFF receiving grade, per-route yardage efficiency, play-action passing game usage, run-blocking usage, scoring-position usage and to a lesser extent, offensive environment, all factor heavily into the PPR TE1 results.” The article below breaks down three must-draft TE1 candidates, available via early, middle and late rounds in both half-point-per-reception (half-PPR) and PPR scoring formats.

TE Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears

Chicago Bears second-year tight end Colston Loveland’s exceptionally soft schedule, elite profile and offensive environment are explored extensively in “3 contenders for the overall TE1 finish.” His 85.3 PFF offense grade ranked third among 66 tight ends with at least 365 offensive snaps in 2025.

Loveland will contend for the overall TE1 finish and should be treated as the clear-cut No. 2 contender, yet he is available as the overall TE3 on both Yahoo! (half-PPR) and ESPN. 

Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers and Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride are the remaining top-three contenders. Exploiting Bowers’ overall TE2 stats on ESPN is also a sharp move. 

Bowers', McBride's and Loveland's ADP data

Metric Brock Bowers Trey McBride Colston Loveland PFF Receiving Grade 82.2 84.8 86.2 Half-PPR Yahoo! ADP 2.09, TE1 3.01, TE2 4.02, TE3 PPR ESPN ADP 2.11, TE2 2.05, TE1 4.05, TE3

Draft Loveland aggressively as the most affordable top-three contender.

TE Dalton Kincaid, Buffalo Bills

Buffalo Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid’s healthy spring and summer practice performance has him primed to produce career-best numbers. He compiled a career-best 86.8 PFF offense grade last season, placing second among 66 tight ends with at least 365 offensive snaps in 2025. 

A 2024 left PCL sprain hampered Kincaid’s productivity and availability in consecutive seasons. He also experienced swelling in his right knee during the 2025 offseason due to a Morel-Lavallee lesion. The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia believes Kincaid is set to take on “an enhanced role” in 2026 after witnessing Kincaid remain healthy and heavily involved at practice, while “playing with more physicality in the blocking game.”

Kincaid’s 70.2 PFF run-blocking grade slotted 11th among 66 tight ends with at least 365 offensive snaps in 2025, boding positively for his increased involvement this season. Buffalo promoted former offensive coordinator Joe Brady to head coach this offseason. Brady’s 2025 offense ranked in the top four among offenses last year in 22 personnel rate (12.7%), play-action pass play rate (31.6%), shifts and motion rate (79.9%) and yards per quick first-read pass play (8.14). 

Kincaid is an elite receiving weapon. His raw totals should catch up to his efficiency outputs, good health pending, this season.

Kincaid’s receiving data among 32 NFL tight ends with at least 50 targets in 2025

Metric Data PFF Receiving Grade 86.1 (No. 3) Targets 60 (No. 26) Target Rate 23.7% (No. 1) Deep-Target Rate 10.0% (No. 6) Slot-Target Rate 12.3% (No. 3) Yards Per Route Run 2.70 (No. 1) Catch Rate 80.0% (No. 6) Average Depth of Target 9.4 (No. 2) Yards Per Reception 14.2 (No. 1) Missed Tackles Forced 1 (T-No. 31) Yards After Catch Per Reception 6.1 (No. 5) Explosive Plays 23 (T-No. 2)

His 8.12, TE11 Yahoo! ADP should be treated as a buy-low opportunity. His 11.02, TE15 ESPN ADP must be exploited aggressively. Kincaid can finish as a high-end TE1 this season.

TE Terrance Ferguson, Los Angeles Rams

Los Angeles Rams second-year tight end Terrance Ferguson is set for a breakout season, operating as the Rams’ de facto No. 3 wide receiver in a substantially improved role this season. His 66.3 PFF offense grade ranked 29th among 64 tight ends with at least 375 offensive snaps in 2025. He is currently being drafted via a 13.11, TE21 Yahoo! ADP and a 15.04, TE20 ESPN ADP.

Ferguson benefits from playing in head coach Sean McVay’s top-three fantasy-friendly offensive scheme. 

The talented tight end was used as the Rams’ primary field-stretcher as a 2025 rookie. McVay is upgrading his role for 2026, lining him up at F, Z, Y and X. He intends to feature Ferguson’s elite post-catch skill set while treating him as the effective No. 3 wide receiver.

Among 206 skill-position players with at least 30 targets in 2025, Ferguson’s 17.9-yard average depth of target (aDot) ranked fifth. He was the only tight end to rank inside the top 55. Despite the abnormal usage, Ferguson was one of seven 2025 rookie tight ends to garner at least 30 targets, and his 61.2 PFF receiving grade was sixth.

Among 45 FBS tight ends with at least 45 targets in 2024, Ferguson’s 9.0 yards after the catch per reception ranked first.

Ferguson’s 73.1 PFF run-blocking grade tied for fifth out of 64 tight ends with at least 375 offensive snaps in 2025, indicating he will have full access to play-action pass plays. His PFF receiving grade jumps to a 72.1 PFF receiving grade on play-action pass plays and, as explained in “Best environments for 2026 fantasy football purposes, Part 1,” McVay’s 2025 Rams led all offenses last year in play-action rate. 

Ferguson is a high-end TE2 with weekly TE1 potential.