Because it's never too early to talk about next season, I asked our staff to predict each team's leading target earner for the 2026 season.
On the surface, that's a simple ask.
Of course, we haven't closed out the Super Bowl, observed any free agency, or taken in the NFL Draft.
Those are important events that go a long way to determining how things will play out in 2026.
So maybe it's not so simple. But why wait for the spring when we can make loosely held predictions in the dead of winter?
Those predictions have given us some interesting data. Let's look at the tight ends who were named.
Tight End Vote-Getters
What do Dallas Goedert, T.J. Hockenson, Oronde Gadsden, Travis Kelce, Jake Ferguson, Dalton Kincaid, Mark Andrews, and Kyle Pitts Sr. have in common? None of them got a single vote for their team's top target earner in 2026.
Only these seven tight ends were mentioned by our 20 staffers, and none were unanimous. An asterisk indicates that the tight end led their team in voting.
- *Brock Bowers, LV - 19 votes
- *Trey McBride, Ari - 19 votes
- *Harold Fannin Jr., Cle - 18 votes
- *Tyler Warren, Ind - 14 votes
- Tucker Kraft, GB - 6 votes
- Colston Loveland, Chi - 6 votes
- Hunter Henry, NE - 1 votes
The top of the list was no shock. Bowers and McBride are likely to be dominant tight ends in 2026. They are easy picks.
However, seeing Fannin that high was a bit of a surprise. If the Cleveland offense can find any consistency under new head coach Todd Monken, the second-year tight end could be an elite fantasy option. He could also have a high-priced ADP.
Warren, Kraft, and Loveland are pretty hot names and had periods in 2025 where they were every-week fantasy contributors. Warren led his team in targets, and Kraft likely would have if not injured. Loveland finished third on the season but averaged 12 targets per game over his last four regular-season outings. All could easily lead their teams in 2026.
Henry seems like the outlier here, but he shouldn't be. He was second in targets last season and had seven games with six or more passes thrown his way.