Year after year, tight end continues to be the toughest position to nail in fantasy football. For several years now, we’ve seen late-round tight ends be hugely influential in best ball contests, helping people win millions of dollars.
Looking for sleepers is never easy, but here are four sleeper tight ends you should roster as often as possible in 2026 fantasy football. All average draft position (ADP) is from Underdog.
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Best Ball Fantasy Football Sleepers: Tight Ends
Isaiah Likely (TE – NYG) | Underdog ADP: 130
If Isaiah Likely hadn’t been coming into 2026 on the back of his worst season in the NFL, the hype would likely be substantially more. He had everything working against him in 2025.
During training camp, as rumors of a Ravens contract extension were rife, he injured his foot and missed most of August before returning. He did not look like himself in Week 1 and missed five games throughout the season.
Likely went on to average only 21.9 yards per game, a far cry from his breakout in 2023 when he averaged 53.7 yards per game with Mark Andrews injured, as well as 1.96 yards per route run and 15.3 yards per reception. We’ve seen that ceiling, and we know Lamar Jackson liked to target Likely when plays broke down, something that Jaxson Dart could make use of.
The Isaiah Likely role is pretty damn interesting.
He’s not just a TE1. He’s basically a 245-pound jumbo slot.
2025:
• 258 slot snaps
• 54.4% slot rate
• 11.4 YPC
• 27 catches / 307 yards on TE2 volumeThat is EXACTLY the kind of middle-field option that Jaxson Dart needs.… pic.twitter.com/9xLttTnm2N
— Alex Wilson (@AlexWilsonESM) June 23, 2026
Likely has 15 touchdowns in his last four years, the same amount as Kyle Pitts has scored with an extra year in the league. Malik Nabers reports continue to be heavily pessimistic, with some beat reporters suggesting he could miss until at least Week 5, and then need time to ramp back up.
If that happens, whom are we trusting? Darnell Mooney? Darius Slayton? Malachi Fields? Likely has a strong resume, is finally free of Mark Andrews and has the potential to lead this team in targets over the opening five or six weeks. That’s an appealing combination.
Chig Okonkwo (TE – WSH) | Underdog ADP: 142
The Chigoziem Okonkwo experience has always been slightly frustrating. We’ve had plenty of glimpses of what he can deliver, dating back to his rookie campaign. From Weeks 12-17, he had an absurd 2.5 yards per route run, turning 21 receptions into 236 yards.
Okonkwo never really built on that, though, putting up respectable reception numbers above 50 in each of the next three seasons and recording more than 475 receiving yards in each. However, he rarely found the end zone, with only five touchdowns combined in three years.
At the tight end position, touchdowns separate the fantasy relevant from the roster cloggers, but there is hope for a change in fortunes. Washington signed Okonkwo to a three-year, $27 million deal with $16.7 million in guarantees. He profiles as the potential second option, with Brandon Aiyuk‘s social media downfall likely putting him out of contention for that role.
Okonkwo isn’t the type of tight end you want to draft in a two tight end build, where you might need a little more floor, but as the second of a three tight end build, he has the potential to give you access to Jayden Daniels bouncing back in an electric way with new offensive coordinator David Blough. There’s plenty to like here.
Pat Freiermuth (TE – PIT) | Underdog ADP: 193
Fantasy football breathes a sigh of relief in 2026, knowing that Arthur Smith can’t hurt us this season. When Smith got to Pittsburgh, he looked at the tight end room of Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington and shook his head. These tight ends can take jet sweeps, he thought to himself. Which of these tight ends is lining up in the backfield?
No, it simply wouldn’t do in the mind of the future billionaire; he needed Jonnu Smith in the mix as well. With Smith in town, this merged into a three-headed monster more intimidating than Cerberus when it came to fantasy football. Freiermuth saw a career-low 51% snap count as a result, over 10% lower than his previous lowest of 62% as a rookie.
If Freiermuth can see his snaps jump to anywhere around 65% or higher without either of the Smiths in town, and the offense is more pass-heavy, he has a chance to be very helpful for Aaron Rodgers in the end zone. Freiermuth has twice scored seven touchdowns in a season. If he does that this season, it’ll be tough for him to finish below TE12.
Greg Dulcich (TE – MIA) | Underdog ADP: 177
It’s not easy to buy into Miami’s passing game under this new coaching staff and Malik Willis. Outside of Greg Dulcich, the other top pass-catchers are Malik Washington and rookies Chris Bell (torn ACL) and Caleb Douglas. Washington has 72 receptions across two seasons, and Dulich has averaged fewer than 17 per year in his four-year career.
I would just like the record to show…
In 9 games with MIA last year – Greg Dulcich out-targeted every WR on the team not named Jaylen Waddle.
That includes Malik Washington (the team’s current WR1).
Dulcich ranked 3rd in YPRR (2.31) last year – behind only Dalton Kincaid &… pic.twitter.com/9ujZuTHDSM
— David J. Gautieri (@GuruFantasyWrld) June 7, 2026
Dulcich ranked 39th among tight ends in routes run over the games he was active last season, but he was efficient when he was on the field, which does give some hope. Dulcich has had rave reviews in organized team activities (OTAs) and minicamp. The competition he’s facing is so minimal that it seems fair to latch onto something.
Going with the ‘someone has to catch the ball’ argument can be very dangerous, but in a straight bet between these pass-catchers, Dulcich is gathering the most praise and has the most NFL experience.
Dulcich will have to overcome a severe lack of scoring touchdowns, with only three in four years, and only one since his rookie season. However, with a TE25 ADP (177 overall), you can make the argument that he could be the Dolphins’ leading pass-catcher, and that does have some value.
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