The numbers in the tables below, show that only 28% of the top-five tight ends over the past decade have been produced on a team with a top-10 wide receiver. The numbers are even worse if you take out the extraordinary Travis Kelce-Tyreek Hill combination which five times had Kelce in the top five and Tyreek in the top-10. That means just 20% of the remaining 45 top-five tight ends were produced on a team with a top-10 receiver.

On the other hand, it's a little bit easier to have a top-10 tight end and a top-10 receiver. Thirty-four of the 100 top 10-tight ends over the past decade were on a team with a top-10 wide receiver. So, 66% of top-10 tight ends were on a team with mediocre receivers.

So what does that mean for the fantasy owner in 2026?

It means that only one-in-five elite tight ends (a.k.a. top five) will be on a team with an elite receiver. And close to seven-in-ten top 10 tight ends also come from a team without an elite top receiver.

Therefore, the object of your search is to find a great tight end on a team without much competition from the wideout room.

If the above definition doesn't say Brock Bowers, I don't know ball. Of the eight wideouts currently on the Raiders rosters, not a single one will see the top-10, or for that matter the top-20. Tre Tucker led the 2025 Raiders receiver room with 92 targets in 17 games or 5.4 targets-per-game. For his career, Bowers averages 8.2 targets-per-game and he averages a solid 1.83 fantasy points-per-target.

To a lesser extent, it also describes Trey McBride. The Cardinals' tight end was a target hog in 2025 collecting a position-high 169 targets, 51 more than the runner-up Kyle Pitts, and led the position producing 18.6 FPts/G. I said to a lesser extent, because Marvin Harrison Jr. was supposed to be on the fast track to the Hall of Fame out of Ohio State. That hasn't happened, but the talent remains. Meanwhile, Michael Wilson adequately filled the void with a 1,006 yard, seven touchdown season. Wilson might have hit his ceiling here and while MHJ could improve, I don't see McBride losing more than 15% off his totals which still would have won the position.

The remainder of the top-five may be harder to decipher.

In 2025, the other three were: George Kittle, Tucker Kraft and Kyle Pitts. Kittle is proving to be injury prone suffering a hamstring, ankle and most troubling an Achilles injury in the 49ers' wildcard game. He's also 32-years-old. That's young for a quarterback, but not for a tight end as physical as Kittle. Kraft suffered a torn ACL in Week 9 and probably won't be ready for a full workload to start the season. Then there is Kyle Pitts. He finally blossomed after three bad seasons, but can he continue? Part of the reason he exploded was star wideout Drake London missed five games due to injury. Meanwhile, we have no idea what kind of quarterback play the Falcons will get from Tua Tagovailoa or Michael Penix Jr.

So let's keep looking.

Tyler Warren, Indianapolis

Warren was productive considering he was on a team with Michael Pittman Jr. and the league's leading “yards-per-catch” guy (Alec Pierce). Warren saw 112 targets and caught 76 for 817 and four scores. That was good enough for No.11 at the position, but the future should be even brighter. Pittman and his 111 targets were shipped off to Pittsburgh and his presumed replacement, Pierce, has never been a volume guy. Pierce has never seen more than 84 targets or caught more than 47 balls. Opposite Pierce is Josh Downs who has never had more than 72 catchers or 803 receiving yards. So the former high school quarterback and all-around athlete could be in for a significant volume increase. Warren is certainly going to be a top-10 tight end and has a decent shot at the top-five.

Harold Fannin Jr., Cleveland

Fannin Jr. exploded onto the scene in 2025 and his 11.8 FPts/G was good enough for eighth-best (72-731-6). But there are a lot of question marks for 2026 which could derail his shot at a top-five spot. Who will be the starting quarterback? Deshaun Watson who hasn't played since 2024, or Shedeur Sanders? There are also multiple questions in the wide receiver room. The only decent holdover from 2025 is Jerry Jeudy (50-602-2). But the team recognized their weakness on the outside and used both a first-round and second-round pick on the position. KC Concepcion from Texas A&M and Denzel Boston from Washington were both talented college receivers. They produced 919 yards and nine touchdowns and 881 yards and 11 touchdowns, respectively. Whether that translates to the pro game right away is the question. If they are slow to produce, and the QB situation gets straightened out, Fannin could have a monster season. However, there are too many questions, as yet unanswered, to predict his production in July.

Colston Loveland, Chicago

If ever there was a player set up for success, Loveland is that guy. His second half of the season showed his abilities are unlimited. From Week 14 through the end of the season he averaged 15.1 FPts/G. Then in the Wildcard game added another 21.7 fantasy points. He's got a quarterback on the rise and a play-calling head coach who has already proven to be tight end friendly. The team does have a couple of pretty talented wideouts in Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III, but neither cracked the top-25 last season. There are also 85 targets up for grabs after D.J. Moore shuffled off to Buffalo. I expect Loveland to easily crack the top-10 and has an outside shot at a top-five.

Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia

Goedert finished 2025 as the No.6 tight end producing 12.3 FPts/G on the strength of a position-high 11 touchdowns catches. While that number is likely to shrink a bit, Goedert could be a volume target guy if the changes in the Eagles wide receiver room don't pan out. New No.1 receiver DeVonta Smith has never been the main guy in Philly always playing second fiddle to A.J. Brown. Management then brought in Dontayvion Wicks from Green Bay (30-332-2) and spent a No.1 draft choice on Makai Lemon from USC. If those guys don't pan out, Goedert could end up being a huge volume producer.