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Craig's tight end (TE) fantasy football waiver wire pickups for Week 5 of 2026. His top TE fantasy football pickups, free agents to add, tight end streamers.
The bye weeks are here, and fantasy footballers are not going to cheer.
Fantasy managers with Chiefs and Panthers on their rosters will especially be unhappy this week, as Kansas City and Carolina are the only two teams off this week as the NFL rolls out the byes slowly. That means no Travis Kelce or Darren Waller at the tight end position, so there will definitely be some fantasy teams in need of tight end help this week.
Here are the top waiver wire picks and streamers at the tight end position for Week 5, starting with a man on a mission in Minnesota.
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Top Fantasy Football Tight Ends - Week 5 Waiver Wire
T.J. Hockenson, Minnesota Vikings
Say what you want about quarterback Kyler Murray. I agree that he has never made his wide receivers more valuable fantasy-wise because of his scattershot accuracy and poor decision-making. But he is normally able to get his tight ends the ball, and he did that with T.J. Hockenson on Sunday.
Hockenson had a spring in his step and a stickiness in his hands we have not seen since his glory days in Detroit. He hauled in 13 Murray passes for 119 yards as he plowed through the Miami defense. Hockenson was not always wide open, but he used every part of his body to catch every Murray pass aimed at him. Plus, he could have scored a TD on this play:
Savvy play by TJ Hockenson to stop short of the end zone
MIAvsMIN on FOX/FOX One
Stream on @NFLPlus https://t.co/z81tAE4wNy— NFL (@NFL) October 4, 2026
Hockenson’s next three games are against New Orleans, Indianapolis, and Detroit, so the catches should keep coming. Justin Jefferson’s ankle injury might not keep him out much longer, though, so his return will certainly impact Hockenson’s fantasy value; keep that in mind.
Mike Gesicki, Cincinnati Bengals
The pattern has finally been broken! It looked like Mike Gesicki was going to bounce between good weeks and bad weeks throughout the season, but he now has two good weeks in a row and three touchdowns in his opening four games. The Penn State product will probably be a larger focus of Cincinnati’s passing attack this upcoming weekend.
If the terrific twosome of Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins miss the Week 5 game against the winless Miami Dolphins, Gesicki will emerge as Joe Burrow’s top target. Do not forget that Miami just allowed the aforementioned Hockenson 13 catches this past Sunday afternoon.
Gesicki is a distant third or fourth option when Chase and Higgins are on the field, and Burrow is back to pass. Gesicki's fantasy value skyrockets if one of them is not around, so by all means scoop him up like a fumble if both star wideouts miss next week's game.
Other Fantasy Football Tight Ends to Consider Adding
Brenton Strange, Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville’s top tight end caught a season-high seven passes for a career-high 95 yards versus Cincinnati on Sunday. He has become one of Trevor Lawrence’s favorite pass-catchers between the 20-yard line thanks to his expert route running and his Charmin-soft hands.
The strange thing about Strange is the lack of touchdowns he scores, considering he is such an integral part of the passing attack. Seven touchdowns in 47 career contests? I watched on Sunday as Lawrence looked at every other pass-catcher on his roster inside the red zone except Strange.
Brian Thomas Jr. (remember him?) caught a TD. Josh Cameron (who?) almost scored. Strange was isolated one-on-one down by the goal line once, but Lawrence only glanced at him for a millisecond before throwing in another direction. Strange is good in PPR leagues due to his catches, but just know he is no help in the touchdown department.
Kenyon Sadiq, New York Jets
Rookies are inconsistent. Geno Smith is inconsistent. So it is no surprise that Sadiq went from a 7-105-1 line in Week 3 to a 0-0-0 line in Week 4. The kid was a little banged up coming in, yet he still was targeted four times, just no connections. This is why Sadiq is more valuable in dynasty leagues than standard leagues in my mind.
A home game this Sunday against a Cleveland defense that is below-average against the pass and almost allowed 300 passing yards to ancient Aaron Rodgers sounds like the perfect way for Sadiq to have a bounce-back game and bounce back into the hearts of fantasy managers.
Michael Mayer, Las Vegas Raiders
I guess the Raiders can make it work with both Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer at tight end. Heck, third-string tight end Ian Thomas even caught a touchdown pass on Sunday! Mayer caught eight out of the 10 Kirk Cousins passes thrown to him for 82 yards.
Mayer appears like he will be a more constant cog in the passing attack from here on out. I do not like his matchup at New England this weekend, though, as the Patriots just held Buffalo’s Dalton Kincaid to one catch this past week.
Do Not Forget About These Tight Ends
Hunter Henry, New England Patriots
Hunter Henry got off to a sluggish start, just like the rest of the Patriots offense. His five catches for 62 yards against Buffalo in Week 4 are probably a sign of things to come, especially before top target A.J. Brown returns from his ankle injury.
Henry has a favorable schedule in his headlights. He has back-to-back home games against Las Vegas and the New York Jets the next two weeks, so I would expect more 60-yard games and fewer 20-yard games in his near future.
Tyler Higbee, Los Angeles Rams
The Rams might have 100 tight ends on their roster, and young phenom Terrance Ferguson might be the best of the brawny bunch, but Tyler Higbee is presently the most valuable tight end on the roster since Ferguson is on injured reserve.
Higbee has posted back-to-back 60-yard games and has racked up 13 receptions and 17 targets over the past two weeks. He has had a couple of outstanding catches in these games and has definitely proved to head honcho Sean McVay that he should not put on the scrap pile just yet.
Tyler Higbee passed Tom Fears (400) for seventh on the franchise's all-time receptions list.
Higbee also passed Marshall Faulk (4,071) for the 13th-most receiving yards in franchise history.
#Rams | #RamsHouse https://t.co/9ZEIDYapto
— Los Angeles Rams PR (@TheLARamsPR) October 4, 2026
Darren Waller, Carolina Panthers
The longtime veteran would be ranked much higher in the column if his Carolina Panthers were not on bye this weekend. Waller has 13 receptions for 148 yards and two scores over his first four contests. The good news is he gets a week to rest up and be charged up for a road game against Philadelphia in Week 6.
Darnell Washington, Pittsburgh Steelers
Darnell Washington is no longer just a big, burly blocker anymore. He has now caught a half-dozen passes for 94 yards and a pair of touchdowns over the past two weeks. He is someone to keep an eye on because of his increased role in Pittsburgh’s inconsistent offense, but his main drawback is this tight end teammate of his (next name in column), who will take targets and touchdowns from him.
Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh’s best pass-catching tight end continues to get his name in the box scores. Rodgers cannot throw the ball very far anymore, but he can get it 10 yards downfield to Pat Freiermuth.
Freiermuth has two touchdowns in four games and has a home game coming up next against Indianapolis’ 30th-ranked pass defense -- a ranking which should be lower if the Colts did not get to face a third-string Washington quarterback this past Sunday morning.
Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
While starting signal-caller Baker Mayfield is on the sideline soaking his injured thumb in ice for the next couple of weeks, Cade Otton will have young understudy Jalon (don’t call me Jayden) Daniels as his primary passer.
That worked out ok in Week 4 as Otton caught four passes for 37 yards from the inexperienced youngster. Daniels is still worse for Otton’s value than better for it, though, so I would hold off on picking him up on waivers until Mayfield returns.
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Popular Player Comparison Searches - Who To Pick Up
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Pick Up tool for 2026 for T.J. Hockenson, Mike Gesicki, Brenton Strange, Kenyon Sadiq, Michael Mayer, and Hunter Henry:
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