RELATED: See 3 ADP Traps at TE
In fantasy football, tight ends can be extremely volatile week to week. Very few tight ends have a high weekly floor and ceiling in fantasy, as they require high target volume as a top target for their respective teams. Beyond that, tight ends are extremely reliant upon touchdown production. With that in mind, who are some best ball steals to target at the tight end position who might meet those criteria in 2026?
Oronde Gadsden (Underdog ADP: TE9, 115.9 overall)
I'd be remiss if I didn't show some Chargers love at the tight end position, as I've done with my quarterback and wide receiver best-ball articles. With Mike McDaniel as the new offensive coordinator, Los Angeles is ready for an offensive explosion.
Under McDaniel and with a healthy Tua Tagovailoa, Miami's offense ranked top-10 in offensive success rate in both the 2022 and 2023 seasons, and that was with a struggling offensive line. With both Pro Bowl tackles Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt expected back healthy in 2026, the Chargers' offense could be similarly special.
But, does Oronde Gadsden truly have an elite fantasy ceiling? After all, I'm high on Ladd McConkey, so will there be enough target volume or touchdowns for Gadsden to shine? Let's put it this way: in 2025, a 32-year-old Darren Waller coming out of retirement scored 6 touchdowns in 9 games, reaching 15-plus fantasy points in 3 of those weeks.
But Tyreek Hill was injured for most of those games. Fair enough, then how about this? In 2024, the Dolphins ranked seventh in tight end target share, even with Hill and Jaylen Waddle both healthy. That season, Jonnu Smith logged 111 targets, second behind only Hill (123). He also led the team with 8 touchdowns that year, resulting in a TE6 fantasy finish in 0.5 PPR PPG.
As a rookie, Gadsden was incredibly efficient as a receiver. He ranked 10th among tight ends in yards per route run (YPRR) and 4th in yards per target. But, many fantasy football managers have forgotten that Gadsden was the TE9 in 0.5 PPR PPG from Weeks 1 to 9 while averaging 5.4 targets per game over that span. That's because following Alt's season-ending high ankle sprain in Week 9, the Chargers utilized Gadsden far more as an in-line blocker to bolster Herbert's pass protection, and he dropped to just 4.1 targets per game from Weeks 10 to 17. Accordingly, his fantasy production cratered to being the TE30 in 0.5 PPR PPG over that span.
Gadsden is currently being drafted at his floor at his TE9 ADP. He was averaging that fantasy production in the first half of his rookie season last year with no Slater and in a struggling offense that ranked just 25th in expected points added (EPA) per play. Slater and Alt back healthy should free up Gadsden to release and run more routes in Year 2. The Chargers could add some wide receiver help via the upcoming NFL Draft, but there's a pretty fair chance Gadsden could see 100-plus targets in 2026 behind only McConkey. If that were to come to pass, he could see elite production and be a fantasy league-winner.
