4 Fantasy Football Sneaky TE1 Contenders: Tight End Sleepers to Target (2026)

July 4, 2026

Aidin Ebrahimi's fantasy football TE1 sleepers in 2026. His picks for tight ends who could finish as fantasy football TE1s in 2026. Read the expert draft analysis.

Drafting the right tight end for your fantasy football squad is never easy. Unlike QBs, RBs, and WRs, you don't see many TEs scoring over 20 points in a week. In fact, 2020 Travis Kelce (20.9 PPR points per game) is the only tight end to average over 20.0 PPR points per game over the last 10 seasons.

Also, the gulf between the top-tier tight ends and the mediocre ones is massive, and an underperforming TE can absolutely tank your team. Unlike the other skill positions, drafting "big-name" TEs isn't usually the right choice, as there have always been three or more sleepers who ended up finishing in the top 10 every season. Today, we'll cover four players outside of the top tier of tight ends, such as Trey McBride and Brock Bowers.

Without further ado, let's look at four rookies who could be fantasy TE1s in 2026. For four more TE sleepers, you can check out this article by Andrew Ball.

Brenton Strange, Jacksonville Jaguars

You thought the 2025 Jaguars were an exciting team? Well, if reports are to be believed, you haven't seen anything yet! HC Liam Coen worked tirelessly with the team during the OTAs period, as he invited a few NFL legends to share their wisdom, and the results have been outstanding, especially in the passing game.

“Now we have an edge.”#Jaguars head coach Liam Coen explains how Nate Boerkircher can change the offense and open up Brenton Strange.#DUUUVAL @SchlickSports pic.twitter.com/vjHHzW5eZZ

— Action Sports Jax (@ActionSportsJax) June 15, 2026

Trevor Lawrence is now fully comfortable in Coen's system, which is great news for players such as Brian Thomas Jr., Parker Washington, Jakobi Meyers, and Brenton Strange.

"[Coen's offense] is just a lot more stressful mentally. I had to get used to that," Lawrence told Jaguars writer John Oehser. "Now, I feel so much more comfortable, and the stress level is so much lower."

Strange, who is now entering his fourth season, had a career year in 2025, averaging 45.0 receiving yards per game. He also racked up 77.6 PPR points in the final eight weeks of the season, finishing as the overall TE8 during that span.

Despite his great season, many fantasy managers are skeptical due to the team's decision to draft Nate Boerkircher in the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft.

However, Boerkircher is seen as a bit of a project, and Coen reiterated that he was drafted to help "take some of that wear and tear" off Strange in the blocking game. Strange has been used in multiple positions by Coen during this offseason.

"It's just a lot of position changes for me," Strange told Garry Smits of The Florida Times-Union. "But I want that. It's a good responsibility to have."

Strange also said Coen's system feels "less chaotic" than it did last season, which is very similar to what Lawrence said. The Jaguars scored the sixth-most points in the league last year, and now that they're "less chaotic" and their players are more comfortable, they can be even more dangerous in 2026. Strange will be a big part of that.

The Jaguars and Strange agreed to a three-year, $48 million contract extension in late June, which goes to show how favorably he's viewed within the organization.

AJ Barner, Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks are flying high right now, fresh off the back of an unexpected but dominant run to the top of the NFL mountain. However, you can't stay stagnant in the NFL, and teams like the Rams have been making huge moves to knock the Seahawks off their perch.

Seattle seems to be content with its squad right now, as evidenced by its relative lack of offseason additions. That might prove costly down the line, but it means more continuity for the current core and more opportunities for the skill-position players now that they've spent a full season with quarterback Sam Darnold.

AJ Barner became one of Darnold's favorite targets in 2025. The Michigan product broke out and put up 519 yards and six touchdowns during the regular season. He also proved that his production wasn't a fluke, as he caught all four of his targets for 54 yards and a touchdown in the Super Bowl.

The most impressive thing about Barner's 2025 season was that he was playing through lingering injuries throughout the campaign. Barner has undergone surgery and claims he is "already feeling a lot better," which could help him produce more on the field in 2026.

Another thing to consider is the hiring of the team's new offensive coordinator, Brian Fleury, who was the former tight ends coach in San Francisco.

"I feel really comfortable with coach Fleury calling [plays]," Barner told NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. "I just want to build off my last year and be one of the best tight ends in the league."

Jake Ferguson, Dallas Cowboys

Many fans were ready to move on from Jake Ferguson following a poor 2024 season, but I vouched for him to bounce back in my 2025 NFC East targets article, which was a sentiment also shared by then-rookie Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer.

Ferg coming through ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/P3yXAbLCzP

— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) June 18, 2026

Ferguson silenced his critics in a big way, scoring eight touchdowns and finishing as 2025's PPR TE5. He was also named to his second career Pro Bowl squad.

Due to the presence of an extremely explosive WR room consisting of CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, Ferguson didn't have to make many explosive plays (7.3 yards per catch).

The bulk of his fantasy production came through the red zone, as six of his eight touchdowns were from inside the 8-yard line. Ferguson is excited for the Cowboys offense (which finished first in yards per drive in 2025) to reach yet another level in 2026.

"Last year, that's the starting point for us. I think we barely scratched the surface of who we could be," Ferguson told The Athletic's Jon Machota.

As long as Dak Prescott is healthy and under center, Ferguson will put up solid fantasy numbers. In his last 34 games with Prescott, Ferguson has averaged a steady 11.1 PPR points per game, which is easily top-10 fantasy TE production.

If he can improve as much as he believes, he has the potential to insert his name among the league's truly elite tight ends.

Ja'Tavion Sanders, Carolina Panthers

The definition of a sleeper, I've been high on Ja'Tavion Sanders since before the 2024 NFL Draft, as his production at Texas was too much for me to ignore.

In two seasons as a regular offensive player on the Longhorns, Sanders caught 99 passes for 1,295 yards and seven touchdowns with an impressive 13.1 yards per attempt. Texas' QBs also had a passer rating of 104.2 (per PFF) when targeting him in the 2023 season.

After a bit of a slow start, Sanders began making strides midway through his rookie campaign. From Week 6 to Week 12, Sanders caught 21 of his 24 targets for 261 yards and a touchdown. However, it all came crashing down against the Chiefs after he landed on his neck during a 10-yard reception late in the first half.

That injury was scary, but thankfully, Sanders recovered and didn't miss any game time. Unfortunately, he wasn't deemed healthy enough to keep his starting job.

He had a similar experience in 2025. He started well enough with 92 yards in his first three games (all starts) but got hurt (this time a high ankle sprain), which caused him to lose his momentum and starting spot once again.

He also broke his fibula in Week 17, which devastated HC Dave Canales, who considers Sanders someone they can "really count on."

Sanders is now entering a make-or-break 2026 season and has progressed well during rehab. Panthers general manager Dan Morgan told Joe Person of The Athletic that Sanders "looks good" and has been running and cutting. Morgan also gave his ultimate endorsement of Sanders by not drafting a TE and not acquiring a big-name free agent.

"We have guys in our tight end room that we feel are good players," Morgan stated during his predraft news conference, per USA Today’s Anthony Rizzuti.

Sanders will compete with Tommy Tremble and Mitchell Evans in 2026, neither of whom has ever had a 300-yard season, which is something that Sanders managed to accomplish as a rookie.

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