Welcome to my tight end strategy article for the 2026 fantasy football season. This is a column where you’re going to learn my draft process for handling the scarcest position in the sport.
I’m keeping it simple this year, with just three targets. If I miss out on one of these players, my draft will be a failure. This is obviously different in best ball, where you draft multiple tight ends. The focus here is on redraft leagues.
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Fantasy Football Tight End Strategy
With these three targets, we have one player available in the second round, one in the fourth round and one in the seventh round.
Brock Bowers (TE – LV) | ADP: 21 (TE1)
Brock Bowers is essentially the “skeleton key” in drafts this year. I’m prioritizing him in every single one of my leagues. Bowers goes towards the end of the second round, but I’m willing to take him as high as 13 overall, so it’s been pretty easy for me to lock him in.
There is a combination of reasons why I’m so high on Bowers.
For one, he’s a generational talent at tight end, who caught 112 of his 153 targets for 1,194 yards and five touchdowns as a rookie.
On top of that, he’s getting a huge upgrade in scheme. The Pete Carroll/Chip Kelly era was a disaster. New head coach Klint Kubiak has become one of the top play-callers in football. We saw how he put Jaxon Smith-Njigba in a spot to thrive. Expect the same for Bowers.
The final reason here is the upgrade at quarterback. Geno Smith struggled, partly due to the disastrous offensive scheme, but first overall pick Fernando Mendoza is on the team. Even if the Raiders sit him for the first portion of the season, they still have Kirk Cousins, who is familiar with Kubiak’s scheme.
Don’t worry about Bowers’ suppressed production last season. Not only was that because of poor play-calling, but he also played injured. He’s going to have a massive season and may even set records.
Colston Loveland (TE – CHI) | ADP: 47 (TE3)
In the rare situation where I miss out on Brock Bowers, I’m prioritizing Colston Loveland. Just like Bowers, Loveland is an elite prospect who showed a ton of encouraging signs as a rookie. We saw Loveland record 28 catches for 378 yards in his last four games (including the Bears’ two playoff games).
Loveland is the type of talent who can win downfield, which is exactly what you want from your fantasy tight end. As Caleb Williams heads into Year 2 of the Ben Johnson era, expect more familiarity with the scheme, which can help Loveland eclipse 1,000 yards.
This is a case where we’re paying a premium for a breakout that we expect to happen. Given the situation in a stacked offense, I like Loveland’s chances.
Yes, there’s a lot of target competition with Luther Burden III and Rome Odunze, but Loveland may be the best of the bunch. Additionally, target competition means the offense could be elite, creating more scoring opportunities for Loveland.
Tucker Kraft (TE GB) | ADP: 82 (TE5)
Colston Loveland isn’t always available because there’s a lot of buzz around him. If I miss on him, I need to draft the next player on my list, even if it means reaching earlier than average draft position (ADP). That player is Packers tight end Tucker Kraft.
Kraft was well on his way to a monster year before tearing his ACL, putting up 32 catches for 489 yards and six touchdowns. We saw a huge ceiling from him, as highlighted by two games with 120+ yards.
I’m expecting Kraft to return to full health this year, as he suffered his injury at the halfway point, so I’m not worried about his recovery. With Romeo Doubs gone, bet on a more condensed target share with Christian Watson, Jayden Reed and Matthew Golden. There’s a chance Kraft is the No. 1 pass-catching option in a high-scoring offense.
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