Fantasy Football Tight Ends: Stats, Sleepers, and Surprises You Need to Know (Week 8)

October 29, 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 8.

This year, we have four elite tight ends, two really good ones, and then there's a sizable group in the middle. Brock Bowers, Trey McBride, Isaiah Likely, and George Kittle are in a tier of their own up at the top. Tyler Warren and Sam LaPorta comprise the second tier, completing our six set-it-and-forget-it tight ends this year.

We'll focus on those in the third and fourth tiers. We'll be breaking down the good, the bad, the ugly, and the upside case. These tiers are where most fantasy football managers struggle: who to start, who to hold, and who to drop.

This week's edition will read like a report on this tier of tight ends. We'll also identify a few tight ends with the potential to move up into the third and fourth tiers, which include our top-15 tight ends.

Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs

Kelce is currently TE9 with a 9.72 half-PPR PPG, but his profile has some red flags. That becomes clear when you look at his expected half-PPR PPG of 7.65, which ranks 13th. His 2.07 PPG difference between his real and expected half-PPR PPG is the second-highest.

That's because, even though he ranks ninth in route share, he's just 16th in routes per game, with the Chiefs running their offense through Kenneth Walker. He's been very efficient with his routes, though.

He is fifth in yards per route run, first in yards after the catch per reception, and fifth in first downs per route run.

Despite fewer routes per game, Kelce still averages 6.1 targets per game, the ninth-highest among 60 tight ends with 50 or more routes. He's also ninth in target share at 17.8%.

The bigger concern for Kelce's fantasy value has been touchdowns. He's averaging just 0.33 touchdowns per game, and his expected touchdowns per game is actually worse: 0.19, 31st among tight ends.

That's because he's just 29th in red zone targets per game at 0.50 and just 22nd in end zone targets per game at 0.33. When the Chiefs get close to the end zone, they're using Kenneth Walker.

The Chiefs also seem set to add another pass-catcher, which could shrink Kelce's slice of the pie. While he's a mid-TE1 right now, Kelce's ceiling could dip slightly depending on who the Chiefs add. For the rest of the season, he looks like TE8-12.

Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles

He's currently TE8 with a 9.2 half-PPR PPG, but like Kelce, his expected half-PPR PPG is solidly lower: 7.1. Some of that is being impacted by a Week 2 game where he left early due to injury. Without that game, his expected half-PPR PPG jumps to 8.6.

He's caught 0.40 touchdowns per game, but both of his end-zone trips came in Week 1. Since returning from an injury in Week 5, he's scored 6.8, 9.1, and 7.3 half-PPR points in three straight games.

Not awful performances, but the Philadelphia offense will keep limiting his production. If there's a positive to Tanner McKee's experience so far, it's been volume. He's attempted 80 passes over the last two weeks, which has led to Goedert finishing with 15 targets. Since he returned in Week 5, Goedert has had at least seven targets in all three games and is averaging eight targets per game.

18 pass catchers saw a 10-point increase in their first-read target share in Weeks 5-7, compared to Weeks 1-4, per @FantasyPtsData.

Bolded and listed the most notable ones below:
-Chig Okonkwo
-Colston Loveland
-Dallas Goedert
-Dalton Kincaid
-Eli Raridon
-Emeka Egbuka
-Germie Bernard
-Greg Dulcich
-Ja'Kobi Lane
-Mason Taylor
-Xavier Worthy

— Corbin (@corbin_young21) October 28, 2026

Over the last three weeks, he's 10th in routes per game and 12th in route share at 67.2%. More importantly, he's fifth in targets per game, sixth in target share, and third in target rate. These are strong indicators for future value. However, touchdowns, or rather, the lack of them, will be an issue.

McKee has thrown just two touchdowns despite attempting 80 passes over the past two weeks. Goedert will continue to provide fantasy managers with solid floor performances, like the ones he's given the last three weeks, but his ceiling is likely limited, with few trips to the end zone ahead.

However, very few tight ends average eight targets per game, and with DeVonta Smith dealing with a hamstring injury, Goedert's weekly volume isn't going anywhere. He should remain one of the most heavily targeted tight ends. This keeps him in the mid-TE1 range, but despite his elite value, he's unlikely to reach that status.

Mike Gesicki, Cincinnati Bengals

Gesicki is TE9 with an 8.8 half-PPR PPG average. We'll keep this short and sweet: we're not buying it! He's where he is solely because of touchdowns; he's averaging 0.83 per game. George Kittle and Isaiah Likely are the only two above 0.60, and they're "only" at 0.71.  However, his touchdowns aren't a major fluke.

He's 13th in red-zone targets per game and fifth in end-zone targets per game, so we'd expect a healthy number of touchdowns, just not as many as we've seen so far. His expected touchdown-per-game average is 0.69. Very good, just not the elite-elite number he's actually posting.

There's little reason to think this will continue based on his current playing time. He's just 26th in routes per game, 32nd in route share, 34th in targets per game, 36th in target share, and 41st in target rate out of 60 tight ends with at least 50 routes run.

He's currently scoring on 38% of his receptions and 28% of his targets. These numbers simply won't hold. The worst, even with the insane number of touchdowns, he's not posting many elite weeks. He's scored 16.3, 0.00, 11.2, 11.5, 6.9, and 7.1 half-PPR points this season. The last four performances were all with touchdowns. It's hard to score 6.9 and 7.1 points when you found the end zone.

Gesicki's floor is 0.0, and his ceiling sits around 12-15; he's as touchdown-dependent as you can get. While he's currently TE9, fantasy managers should value him as a touchdown-dependent TE2 with backend upside. If he weren't tied to Joe Burrow, he'd be ranked even lower for the rest of the season.

Dalton Kincaid, Buffalo Bills

Kincaid is the TE10 at just 8.2 half-PPR PPG. However, his season hasn't been smooth. He has three double-digit performances and three games with fewer than 4.0 half-PPR points. This all comes back to unpredictable volume.

In his three "good" games, he had six, eight, and eight targets. In his other three bust-worthy games, he had just three, two, and two targets. This final volume could have been predicted by his underlying utilization in those games. In the three weeks he scored well, he averaged 23 routes and 7.3 targets per game. He also posted a 23.7% target share with a 32% target rate.

In the other three weeks, he averaged just 18 routes and 2.3 targets per game. His target share was just 9%, and his target rate was 13%. These two different three-week samples show massive differences between how the target used him and how Josh Allen targeted him. So, what do fantasy managers make of this?

Not surprisingly, Kincaid's efficiency differed wildly between the two samples. His yards-per-route run drops from 3.87 to 0.95. Of course, that's not surprising when you're not getting targeted on your routes. Kincaid's season has been an enigma. He's given us Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the most significant ways.

With Kincaid, fantasy managers have two choices. They can either trade him for someone more consistent or start someone like Chig Okonkwo instead. The other option is to ride the wave, all the ups and downs. Given what we've seen over the first six games of the season, fantasy managers shouldn't be expecting him to be a consistent producer.

This season, Kincaid ranks 25th in routes per game and 22nd in route share. That is why he'll keep having bust performances. He's simply not on the field enough. His target rate is 24%, ranking eighth, and his yards-per-route run average is 2.56, first. This is why he'll keep having boom performances.

With any other player, we might predict that, given how efficient he's been, his involvement and route share will increase, but that's been the story of Kincaid's career. It seems a little "wish-casting to expect something to change now. Given his ups and downs, fantasy managers should rank him as a boom-or-bust mid-to-backend TE1.

T.J. Hockenson, Minnesota Vikings

Hockenson is the TE11 at 8.2 half-PPR PPG. However, if we remove his Week 4 performance, when he caught 13 passes for 119 yards and scored 24.9 half-PPR points. One problem: Justin Jefferson didn't play. In his other games, his half-PPR PPG average drops to 6.2, which would be TE24 on the season.

Because the Vikings are extremely run-heavy and don't want Kyler Murray having to do too much, Hockenson is just 29th in routes per game, at 18.5. It's not just Minnesota's low passing volume either. Hockenson's route share is a measly 55.8%, which ranks 28th.

Hockenson has 62.7 half-PPR points on the season, but 40% of those points were scored in Week 4. In his other five contests, Hockenson scored over 6.0 half-PPR points just twice. In both games, he scored 13.5 half-PPR points and found the end zone.

Hockenson is nothing but a low-end TE2 who is touchdown-dependent. His routes per game and route share give him a very low ceiling and floor. Outside of Week 4, Hockenson averages just 3.6 targets per game with a 14.2% target share. He's not worth rostering. His current half-PPR PPG average and TE ranking is a mirage.

Tucker Kraft, Green Bay Packers

Kraft is our TE12 with an 8.1 half-PPR PPG average, and fantasy managers should be trying to buy him. His expected half-PPR PPG is 9.6. All of his peripherals show a mid-TE1, not the backend TE1 he is right now.

He's 10th in routes per game and 13th in route share. However, his snap share was 66% in Week 1, and it's since risen to 84%. Kraft is working his way back from a torn ACL, so it's not uncommon for him on start with a limited snap count.

Packers OC Adam Stenavich on Tucker Kraft:

"Any time we can get Tuck the ball is great for our offense. Obviously, he's one of our top playmakers. That's always a thing we talk about after games. Is did this guy get enough targets? Did he get enough touches? ... He is looking better every week, and yes, we want to get him the ball more."

— Jason B. Hirschhorn (@by_JBH) October 28, 2026

Kraft is eighth in targets per game (6.1). Based on his routes and targets per game, he has more upside than he's shown so far. The Packers run one of the NFL's most pass-heavy offenses and, based on their run-game efficiency, will remain so. Kraft is a major buy-low. I expect Kraft to finish closer to TE5 than TE12.

Chig Okonkwo, Washington Commanders

If you're looking for a tight end who can push for a TE1 finish, it's Okonkwo and Strange. Brian Thomas Jr. might be on the verge of getting traded, which could open up even more opportunities for Strange. Terry McLaurin is also out for the year, which will open up more targets for Okonkwo.

Over the last two weeks, Okonkwo is third in routes per game and fourth in route share. He's also seventh in targets per game at 7.0. Okonkwo looks like Juwan Johnson from last season, when he finished inside the top-12 because the team had few options in the passing game. That's similar to the Commanders right now, as their primary options are Okonkwo and Stefon Diggs.

Chig Okonkwo a Breakout Candidate to Target on the Waiver Wire https://t.co/9WRmkdq0nI

— RotoBaller (@RotoBaller) October 27, 2026

Since McLaurin exited with his injury, Okonkwo has led the team in routes and targets. He could be a league-winner down the stretch as long as Jayden Daniels stays healthy. The Commanders can't run the football, meaning the pressure will be on the passing game to do the work. Okonkwo has a top-five role in terms of routes and targets. His team will also likely finish in the top-10 in pass attempts for the rest of the season. You combine those two factors, and he could push for a top-ten finish.

Week 8 Rankings

1. Brock Bowers
2. Trey McBride
3. Tucker Kraft
4. Dalton Kincaid
5. Colston Loveland
6. Sam LaPorta
7. Travis Kelce
8. Brenton Strange
9. Chig Okonkwo
10. Dallas Goedert
11. Hunter Henry
12. Kyle Pitts Sr.
13. Pat Freiermuth
14. Harold Fannin Jr.
15. T.J. Hockenson
16. Mark Andrews
17. Mason Taylor
18. Michael Mayer
19. Greg Dulcich
20. Mike Gesicki
21. A.J. Barner
22. Cade Otton
23. Tyler Higbee
24. Colby Parkinson
25. Darren Waller

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