3 Fantasy Football Busts to Avoid: Tight Ends (2026)

Tight end always seems to be a confounding position in fantasy football. It’s a onesie position in nearly every league, and they usually don’t score enough points to warrant FLEX consideration. And yet, every year, we always say, “Tight end is deep this year.” Maybe this is finally the year that actually becomes true.

We’ll see.

What I do know is that, typically, outside of the truly elite options — think prime Travis Kelce or Trey McBride recently — production can quickly become lackluster and volatile. Because of that, you want to make sure you hit on your selection, especially if you’re paying up for one of the top options.

Fantasy Football Tight Ends to Avoid

For this article, I highlight three tight ends who I think could disappoint in 2026. They might be productive at times, but at their current average draft position (ADP) cost, I’d rather pivot to other options.

Harold Fannin Jr. (TE – CLE)

Of all the tight ends going inside the top 10 this year, I like Harold Fannin Jr. the least.

Don’t get me wrong: I love him as a talent. In dynasty, he’s a top target and one of my favorites at the position. This year, though, we could see a slight step back after an impressive rookie campaign.

Fresh off a 1,555-yard junior season at Bowling Green, Fannin entered the NFL at just 21 years old and basically put David Njoku on the bench. He went on to earn 107 targets, catching 72 passes for 731 yards and six scores — numbers good enough for 11.7 fantasy points per game and a TE7 finish.

So why stay away from Fannin in Year 2?

Well, for one, he has to catch passes from Deshaun Watson or Shedeur Sanders. Those two are in the middle of what could be the worst quarterback battle of the decade. Whoever wins, fantasy managers lose.

On top of that, Fannin has far more competition for targets than he did in 2025. In April, Cleveland spent not one, but two premium draft picks on wide receivers, grabbing KC Concepcion in round one before double-tapping the position a few picks later with Denzel Boston. Both wideouts figure to have prominent roles on offense and will eat into Fannin’s target share.

Also, Jerry Jeudy still exists, and he’s only one year removed from a 90-catch, 1,229-yard campaign. He may no longer be Cleveland’s No. 1 WR following the addition of the rookies, but Jeudy will still be on the field a ton.

Add it all up, and I’m not ecstatic about taking Fannin at his current TE7 price tag. That feels like his ceiling this season, and a player at their perceived upside usually isn’t a sound process.

I like many of the veterans going directly behind him: Kyle Pitts, George Kittle and Travis Kelce. Give me all of them straight up, as I think they score more fantasy points than Fannin in 2026.

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Mark Andrews (TE – BAL)

Get a load of these numbers: 56.5, 54.4, 39.6 and 24.8.

Those are Mark Andrews’ per-game receiving yard averages for the past four seasons.

The decline following his TE1 overall finish in 2021 is real. And scary.

That season, he averaged 80.1 yards a game. In 2025, he was barely producing one-fourth of that total.

Andrews has been trending in the wrong direction for so long that I was flabbergasted when the Ravens gave him a three-year, $39-million extension in the middle of last season. They were barely using him; he had a 62.9% snap share (TE26) and saw only 70 total targets across all 17 games.

Even when the ball came his way, he wasn’t good. Among all tight ends, Andrews ranked 24th in first downs per route run (0.074), 29th in expected points added (EPa) with a mark of +18 and 31st in yards per route run (1.30). His 7.7 fantasy points per game were his fewest since his 2018 rookie season and ranked just 23rd at the position.

And yet, here we are in August, and Andrews has a Real-Time ADP of TE14. Why? Because Isaiah Likely is no longer there?

Maybe Andrews bounces back and regains some of his lost mojo. He has always been a major touchdown producer, so if he can get his total back to around 8-10, perhaps he can pay off his draft cost.

I’m just not seeing any advantage to clicking on Andrews. I’d rather take someone with more juice, like Oronde Gadsden II or Chig Okonkwo, and chase upside in this range.

Brenton Strange (TE – JAX)

When it comes to Brenton Strange, I’m just not eager to draft him.

I understand the excitement around Jacksonville’s passing attack in 2026. I even share some of it. However, something has to give; all of these players can’t hit.

For one, the Jaguars tied for fourth in rushing touchdowns last year with 22. I understand Travis Etienne Jr. is no longer there, but the team brought in Chris Rodriguez Jr., a thumper who will see plenty of goal-line work. The point is that Jacksonville isn’t losing much if they want to continue being a run-first team near the end zone.

Then you have the pass-catchers themselves. Apparently, Brian Thomas Jr. is going to have a massive bounce-back after his sophomore slump, Parker Washington is going to be a league-winning pick in the middle rounds and Jakobi Meyers will operate as a high-floor PPR option for fantasy managers.

Oh, and don’t forget last year’s No. 2 overall pick, Travis Hunter, will see some time at wide receiver as well.

Where does that leave Strange? There’s only one ball to go around.

Strange recently signed a three-year, $48-million extension this offseason, so we know he’s in Jacksonville’s plans. He’s also an ascending player. From Year 2 to Year 3, he upped his targets, receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns while averaging 9.8 fantasy points per game in 2025, good for TE17.

At TE19, Strange doesn’t cost a ton and can be picked near the end of your draft. Still, even if he does reach another level in his fourth NFL season, there are too many mouths to feed for him to fully flourish in fantasy.