3 Tight Ends to Avoid (2026 Fantasy Football)

When preparing for your fantasy football drafts, knowing which players to target and which to avoid is important. The amount of information available can be overwhelming, so a great way to condense the data and determine players to draft and others to leave for your leaguemates is to use our expert consensus fantasy football rankings compared to fantasy football average draft position (ADP). In this way, you can identify players the experts are willing to reach for at ADP and others they are not drafting until much later than average. Let’s dive into a few tight ends experts avoid this fantasy football draft season.

2026 Fantasy Football Draft Advice: Tight Ends Experts Avoid

Here are tight ends the expert consensus avoids compared to current fantasy football ADP.

Oronde Gadsden II (LAC)

I’ll be avoiding Oronde Gadsden in drafts this season. Yes, in Weeks 6-18 last year, he had his moments with five TE1 finishes in weekly scoring, but he was also only the TE17 in fantasy points per game. During that sample of games, among 50 qualifying tight ends, he was 36th in target per route run rate, 15th in yards per route run, 22nd in first-read share, and 29th in first downs per route run (per Fantasy Points Data). After Week 15, he failed to surpass a 70% route share in any game. All of these are concerning red flags before we even get to the Bolts’ additions of Charlie Kolar and David Njoku this offseason. Gadsden looks like he’s locked in a tight end committee for 2026, which is something I don’t have any interest in dealing with for fantasy purposes.
– Pat Fitzmaurice

Dalton Kincaid (BUF)

Dalton Kincaid was wildly efficient in 2025, averaging 14.6 yards per catch, 11.7 yards per target, and 2.70 yards per route run. The problem was that he played only 12 games and 302 snaps. Kincaid had 39 catches for 571 yards and five touchdowns. He was third in TE snaps on his own team last season behind Dawson Knox and rookie Jackson Hawes. The 26-year-old Kincaid lost games to hamstring and abdominal injuries last year. He’s also been dealing with a partially torn PCL in his left knee since late 2024. The injury won’t require surgery, but Bills GM Brandon Beane has said that Kincaid’s 2026 workload might have to be managed. It would be hard for Kincaid to improve upon his efficiency numbers, so he would probably need bigger snap counts to have a more impactful fantasy season in 2026. The outlook for that is murky, and if he plays limited snaps again this season and his efficiency numbers regress to career norms, Kincaid could disappoint. It’s best to regard him as a high-end TE2 for fantasy drafts.
– Pat Fitzmaurice

Jake Ferguson (DAL)

Jake Ferguson is a competent pass catcher in a prolific offense, but the presence of two star receivers in Dallas could limit Ferguson’s fantasy upside. Ferguson had 82 catches for 600 yards and eight touchdowns in 2025. The reception and TD totals were career highs, but Ferguson averaged just 7.3 yards per catch, a career low. He finished TE8 in half point fantasy scoring but was TE13 in fantasy points per game among TEs who played at least five games. The Cowboys have an explosive passing attack, but WRs CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens are QB Dak Prescott‘s principal targets. The Lamb-Pickens duo combined for 250 targets and 168 receptions last season. Ferguson’s 2026 production could be limited as long as Lamb and Pickens are both healthy, so it’s best to consider Ferguson a high-end TE2 in this year’s drafts.
– Pat Fitzmaurice

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