Sophomore Sniff Test: How to Value Colston Loveland, Harold Fannin Jr., and Oronde Gadsden II

By Quan

Welcome to late May 2026, the glorious dead zone of the NFL calendar where OTAs are in full swing and beat writers are trying to convince us that a fifth-string slot receiver is in the "best shape of his life." But while the casuals are getting hyped over shorts-and-t-shirts practice footage, sharp fantasy football managers are tracking the actual tectonic shifts that happened in January and March.

The 2025 rookie tight end class already gave fantasy football managers the production spike. The 2026 offseason gave them the plot twist. We were gifted three immediate contributors in Harold Fannin Jr., Colston Loveland, and Oronde Gadsden II. It was a beautiful, profitable ecosystem. But the NFL is a ruthless business run by billionaires who do not care about your dynasty roster, and the offseason coaching carousel just took a flamethrower to the sophomore ceilings of this trio.

Head coaches got fired. Coordinators got swapped. Free agency scrambled the depth charts. Now, as we stare down the barrel of 2026 redraft season and active dynasty trade windows, the trajectories for Fannin, Loveland, and Gadsden have violently diverged. One has a runway so clear it looks like an airport tarmac, one is dealing with an $8 million roadblock, and one is just sitting on his throne laughing at the chaos.

Let’s follow the data, cut through the OTA noise, and figure out exactly how to value these second-year tight ends.

The Untouchable Alpha: Colston Loveland

Before we dive into the chaos, we have to establish the baseline. Colston Loveland isn't just a sophomore tight end; he is the gold standard of the 2025 class.

When the Chicago Bears spent the 10th overall pick on Loveland in the 2025 NFL Draft the expectations were sky-high. He finished the year with 58 receptions, 713 receiving yards, and six touchdowns, averaging a highly efficient 12.29 yards per reception. He cemented himself in Chicago lore with a 58-yard game-winning touchdown catch from Caleb Williams with 17 seconds left to rip the hearts out of the Bengals.

But if you’re just looking at his end-of-year stat line, you are missing the actual story.

The full-season line undersells how different Loveland looked once Chicago started treating him like a featured piece instead of a rookie accessory. Over his final 10 regular-season games, Loveland posted 47 receptions, 597 yards, and six touchdowns. Stretch that across 17 games, and you get an 80-catch, 1,015-yard, 10-touchdown pace.

Those aren't just good tight end numbers; those are league-winning, flex-him-with-confidence numbers. You don't just stumble into a pace like that as a rookie tight end unless you are a fundamental mismatch.

This is why Loveland is now being treated like a premium dynasty tight end, not a speculative breakout. On RotoGPT’s current dynasty rankings, he sits at TE5, while Draft Sharks lists his dynasty startup ADP at 2.12. There is no buy-low window here. There is no discount.

If you have him, you hold him with a death grip. He is the premium asset of this class, completely insulated from the coaching drama infecting the rest of the league.

The Rocket Ship: Harold Fannin Jr.

If Loveland is the established alpha, Harold Fannin Jr. is the screaming, neon-flashing breakout of the 2026 season.

Drafted in the third round at 67th overall by the Cleveland Browns, Fannin put together a wildly impressive rookie campaign: 72 receptions on 107 targets for 731 receiving yards, six receiving touchdowns, and a rushing touchdown just for fun. He did this while sharing a locker room with established veteran David Njoku.

Then, the Browns front office did us a massive favor. They hired Todd Monken as head coach in January and let Njoku walk in free agency.

They didn't draft a day-two replacement. They didn't sign a high-priced veteran. They looked at Fannin's 107 rookie targets and decided to hand him the keys to the entire tight end room. The runway isn't just clear; it has been completely sanitized.

Does Todd Monken’s offense actually support elite fantasy tight end production, or is the offseason hype just coach-speak?

The hype is entirely justified by Monken's historical play-calling data. During his 2021 stint as the offensive coordinator at Georgia, Monken used 12 personnel on 38.4% of offensive snaps. Georgia also had at least one tight end on the field for 90.3% of its offensive snaps, so this wasn’t some cosmetic formation wrinkle. Monken's offense was built to create mismatches with tight ends.

The natural comp is sitting right there: Monken’s Georgia offense helped turn Brock Bowers into a matchup-destroying cheat code, and Fannin brings the same kind of run-after-catch problem-solving skill set that makes defensive coordinators hate their jobs. When a play-caller who historically spams tight end targets gets a young player with Fannin’s production profile and no established veteran blocking his path, you draft that player.

Fannin’s rookie usage leaned into easy-access targets and run-after-catch chances, making him exactly the kind of PPR-friendly tight end who can pile up cheap volume without needing a deep route tree. With Njoku's vacated targets up for grabs, Fannin’s floor is astronomical.

Currently, Fannin is going in the mid-sixth round of redraft leagues, and Draft Sharks lists his dynasty startup ADP at 4.01. On RotoGPT’s current dynasty rankings, he sits at TE6. That redraft price is a smash. You are getting early-round volume at a middle-round price tag before the mainstream market catches up to what Monken is about to do with this offense.

The Complicated Value: Oronde Gadsden II

Now we arrive at the headache of the group.

Oronde Gadsden II was the ultimate late-round gem in 2025. A fifth-round NFL Draft pick at 165th overall, Gadsden defied his draft capital to post 49 receptions, 664 receiving yards, and three touchdowns across 15 games with seven starts for the Los Angeles Chargers. More importantly, he posted an elite 13.6 yards per reception. He wasn't catching dump-offs; he was stretching the seam and operating as a dynamic playmaker.

Heading into 2026, he looked like a prime breakout candidate. Then the Chargers hired Mike McDaniel as offensive coordinator.

Initially, this seemed fine. But on May 11, the Chargers front office made Gadsden’s projection a lot less clean by signing none other than David Njoku to a one-year deal worth up to $8,000,000. They also brought in Charlie Kolar. Suddenly, the "best-kept secret" in Los Angeles is competing in a "crowded" tight end room.

Fantasy managers are predictably panicking, treating Gadsden like he just got demoted to the practice squad. But before you dump him for pennies on the dollar, let’s look at the actual scheme.

With David Njoku signing a lucrative contract in Los Angeles, is Oronde Gadsden II completely un-rosterable in 2026 redraft leagues?

Absolutely not. While Njoku’s arrival caps Gadsden’s raw volume ceiling, it does not erase the reasons we liked Gadsden in the first place. During his tenure in Miami, McDaniel was not a high-volume 12 personnel play-caller, but his offenses were efficient when he did lean into heavier looks. The Njoku and Kolar additions suggest the Chargers are at least giving him the personnel to expand that part of the menu.

Gadsden’s 13.6 YPR proves he doesn't need 100 targets to be fantasy-relevant. He can remain a seam-stretching and middle-field weapon for Justin Herbert while Njoku handles more of the inline and chain-moving work.

On RotoGPT’s current redraft rankings, Gadsden sits at TE9. That might sound aggressive after the Njoku signing, but the price panic has gone too far. Njoku is on a one-year deal. Gadsden’s talent didn't evaporate because a 29-year-old veteran walked into the building.

In redraft, the market has completely overcorrected. Gadsden’s ADP has plummeted to the 112-139 overall range. At that price, he is the perfect late-round flier for managers who decide to punt the tight end position. You are drafting a highly efficient sophomore attached to Justin Herbert at his absolute floor, with massive contingency upside if Njoku misses any time.

The Final Read

The tight end landscape is notoriously unforgiving. You either have an elite difference-maker, or you are throwing darts at the waiver wire every Thursday morning praying for a touchdown.

The 2025 class gave us three distinct profiles heading into their sophomore seasons. The market has correctly priced Colston Loveland as elite, but it is fundamentally mispricing the other two. Harold Fannin Jr. is stepping into a target vacuum custom-built by a play-caller who treats tight ends like WR1s. Oronde Gadsden II is being treated like a roster casualty despite possessing the exact field-stretching efficiency that wins fantasy matchups.

Don't let the May OTA noise distract you from the January coaching hires. Draft the volume in Cleveland, buy the overreaction in Los Angeles, and let your league-mates figure it out in September.