Fantasy Football Tight Ends: Stats, Sleepers & Surprises You Need to Know (Week 3)

September 24, 2026

Rob breaks down the fantasy football tight end landscape in 2026 by looking at snaps played, routes run, and targets earned to provide you with in-depth information about who to trust in Week 3.

For receivers and running backs, identifying breakout or improving players is easy. Just check the box score. It's generally simpler and more straightforward at these positions than at tight end. Sometimes with tight ends, we don't always see the first signs of a breakout until it's smack dab in front of us.

It's what makes this position more challenging than the others. But by looking beyond the box score, we can better gauge when those breakouts start. Sometimes we see a tight end whose route participation rate increases significantly, but unfortunately, the production doesn't always follow.

This article looks past the basic targets, catches, and yards we typically track and dissect route share, snap share, and other advanced metrics to get a more accurate idea of which tight ends we should buy and sell. Let's get started.

Should Fantasy Managers Target Oronde Gadsden II?

Despite 49 catches, 664 yards, and three touchdowns as a rookie, the Chargers focused on revamping their tight end group. They added Charlie Kolar and David Njoku in free agency. These moves had a negative impact on Gadsden in Week 1.

He played just 15.7% of the snaps in Week 1 and ran a route on just 14.3% of Justin Herbert's dropbacks. Given how effective he was at catching the ball as a rookie, it's hard to believe Los Angeles completely phased him out of the offense, especially with its lack of pass-catchers already.

That status quo lasted only one week because this past weekend Njoku was carted off and placed on IR with a knee injury. Kolar's arm was in a sling, and he has been diagnosed with an arm fracture. He's undergoing surgery but isn't being placed on IR right now. He is expected to miss multiple weeks.

With Ladd McConkey seemingly less than 100% and Quentin Johnston struggling early in the season, Gadsden has a clear opportunity to make waves and play his way back onto the field. Gadsden played 43.5% of the snaps in Week 2 and ran a route on 45.2% of the team's dropbacks.

Gadsden did little to instill confidence this past weekend, but he did find the end zone. He finished with just a 7.4% target share and 1.29 yards per route run. He finished with two targets, two catches, 18 yards, and a touchdown.

Last year, however, he looked like the next big thing at tight end. Among 35 tight ends with 45 targets last season, Gadsden ranked 10th in yards per route run. He played 15 games last season and scored double-digit points in half-PPR scoring in six of them, and had a seventh game with 9.6 half-PPR fantasy points.

In two consecutive weeks, Gadsden scored 29.4 and 18.7 half-PPR points. He was one of the more productive collegiate tight ends in recent memory, and he immediately flashed that potential as a rookie. If you're in a pinch at tight end, betting on his kind of talent, especially after flashing it as a rookie, is worth adding him to your roster.

This offense desperately needs a spark, as it hasn't been able to get anything going outside of McConkey. Gadsden will get his shot this weekend, and fantasy managers should stash him to see if he runs with it. If he does, Kolar and Njoku may come back to find their old role gone.

Should We Be Selling High on Juwan Johnson?

Johnson finished as the TE12 last year, averaging 10.6 half-PPR PPG. He was one of the best waiver wire additions. While New Orleans drafted Jordyn Tyson in the first round, they'll also get second-year quarterback Tyler Shough under center for the entire season. When Tyson went on short-term IR, the hype surrounding Johnson really began to build.

That promise was evident in Week 1. He finished with 77.8% route participation, which translated into seven targets, three receptions, 54 yards, and a touchdown. All the reasons fantasy managers were buying into another great season under second-year head coach Kellen Moore were evident.

Juwan making EVERYBODY miss

📺 #NOvsBAL on CBS pic.twitter.com/0GxHbfCNj1

— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) September 20, 2026

He had a high route volume and a high target share. If anything, the performance seemed to illustrate an arrow pointing up. Things took a turn in Week 2, however, and it was bigger than just a disappointing box score.

In Week 1, rookie tight end Oscar Delp was inactive. That wasn't the case in Week 2. The first-year Saints playmaker also had gotten his feet wet in Moore's offense the week before. Maybe these two things play a role in Johnson's decreased role; maybe not, but his role did decrease significantly.

His route share fell from 77.8% in Week 1 to 56.4% in Week 2. In Week 1, they played the Detroit Lions in a shootout. This past weekend, they played a slugfest with the Ravens. While Shough's pass attempts dropped by 22, he still threw 34 in Week 2, a very healthy number.

In 2025, Johnson also had a 16.9% target share and a 20% target rate. Johnson hasn't met either mark yet this season. In Week 1, those numbers were at 12.5% and 14%, respectively. This past weekend, they were 11.8% and 18%. If you can flip Johnson for Isaiah Likely after his Week 2 dud, along with the Jaxson Dart injury, I'd do that.

Breakout Performance from Terrance Ferguson

Week 2 brought Ferguson good things and bad things. Many of you might be wondering what bad things could have happened after he scored 14.4 half-PPR points and had a breakout game. The bad thing is simple: Davante Adams still got game. A whole lot of it.

While Ferguson showed the ability to take advantage if Adams or Puka Nacua is out, we still have plenty of questions as to whether or not Ferguson can make a big enough impact if they're both healthy.

In Week 2, Ferguson finished with nine targets, six receptions, 54 yards, and a touchdown. Adams dwarfed that with 10 targets, eight receptions, 195 yards, and two touchdowns. Ferguson showed he can be a capable weapon when called upon, but if Adams and Nacua are both healthy, how often will that be?

Prior to Week 2, fantasy managers may have thought, especially after a rough Week 1, that maybe Adams' age was catching up to him. Safe to say, he put those thoughts to bed, leaving fantasy managers in a difficult spot. Can Ferguson earn enough volume as the Rams' No. 3 target to be fantasy-relevant?

While that's his biggest concern, it isn't his only one. In Week 1, he had a 52.6% snap share and a 41.4% route participation rate. Both numbers increased this past weekend, climbing to 58.3% and 66.7%, respectively. It's a great sign that they increased, but they're still not where we'd like them to be or where we need them to be for him to be a trustworthy fantasy performer.

Another question is whether his snap and route improvement was a game-plan strategy in Nacua's absence or a sign of things to come. There's simply no way to answer that right now, which leaves fantasy managers in a precarious spot.

Do you sell high, expecting Nacua to come back and Ferguson to fall back into a tight end committee role, where he's a boom-or-bust No. 3 option behind two superstar receivers? Or do you hold steady and see if this performance is just the beginning?

Here's what Sean McVay had to say about Puka Nacua and the hip/groin injury he's been dealing with for the past week: pic.twitter.com/fAwz9wE7Y1

— Nate Atkins (@NateAtkins_) September 23, 2026

For what it's worth, Nacua didn't practice on Wednesday, and plenty of questions remain about his return-to-play date. The lack of information around Nacua makes me want to hold Ferguson unless I get a significant offer I can't turn down.

Buy Low on Harold Fannin Jr.?

One of this year's most popular breakout tight ends has had a slow start. Denzel Boston, their second-round rookie receiver, has been the star of the show for the Cleveland offense, and Fannin has been overshadowed. Fantasy managers are wondering whether they were wrong to put stock in Fannin, especially after the team selected KC Concepcion Jr. and Boston early in the 2026 NFL Draft.

While you can certainly argue that Fannin won't return value at his preseason ADP, are we getting close to him being a buy-low target? After I submitted my weekly waiver wire and cut list articles, I got plenty of questions asking whether Fannin is a cut. His value is about as low as it can go right now, but should it be?

Last year, during his incredible rookie campaign, Fannin averaged 25 routes per game. That number is at 24 this season. His route share has actually increased from 66.0% to 73.8%. That's a modest improvement, but an improvement all the same. The bigger concerns come with what he's doing with those routes.

Fannin had a 19.4% target share in 2025, and that number currently sits at 17.4%. While that's obviously lower, it's not drastically lower. The bigger problem is that he's not earning targets on his routes at the same rate. Last year, Fannin earned a target on 26% of his routes. This year, that number sits at just 19%.

His efficiency has also dropped, averaging 1.56 yards per route run this year, down from 1.81 yards per route run last season. The positive is that Deshaun Watson looked like a capable quarterback in Week 2. If he can repeat that performance, it'll do wonders for Fannin's efficiency and fantasy value.

Fannin is an incredibly talented player, and if Watson plays like he did last week, Fannin will certainly have better days ahead.

Week 3 Rankings

1. Trey McBride at San Francisco 49ers
2. Dalton Kincaid vs Los Angeles Chargers
3. Brock Bowers at New Orleans Saints
4. Sam LaPorta vs New York Jets
5. Tucker Kraft vs Atlanta Falcons
6. George Kittle vs Arizona Cardinals
7. Travis Kelce at Miami Dolphins
8. Mark Andrews at Dallas Cowboys
9. Tyler Warren vs Houston Texans
10. Isaiah Likely vs Tennessee Titans
11. Colston Loveland vs Philadelphia Eagles
12. Terrance Ferguson at Denver Broncos
13. Dalton Schultz at Indianapolis Colts
14. Harold Fannin Jr. vs Carolina Panthers
15. Hunter Henry at Jacksonville Jaguars
16. Oronde Gadsden II at Buffalo Bills
17. Kyle Pitts at Green Bay Packers
18. Juwan Johnson vs Las Vegas Raiders
19. Brenton Strange vs New England Patriots
20. Jake Ferguson vs Baltimore Ravens
21. Kenyon Sadiq at Detroit Lions
22. Cade Otton vs Minnesota Vikings
23. Pat Freiermuth vs Cincinnati Bengals
24. T.J. Hockenson at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
25. Darren Waller at Cleveland Browns

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