The 2026 Mid-Round TE Class: Finding Dynasty Gold in Overlooked Landing Spots

By Quan

The easy narrative on the 2026 tight end class is that Kenyon Sadiq is the prize and everyone else is a “wait and see.” Very brave. Very original. Really giving “Netflix reboot nobody asked for.” Yes, Sadiq earned first-round NFL Draft capital from the New York Jets, which makes him the obvious TE1 in rookie drafts. Congratulations to everyone who can identify the giant blinking sign. Pulitzer-level work.

But dynasty leagues are not won by paying full retail for the obvious thing. They are won by finding the second wave before your league realizes there even is a second wave. After Sadiq, this class is loaded with tight ends who landed in places where the Year 1 excitement may be muted, but the Year 2 and Year 3 payoff could get very real. That is where the discount lives. That is where the value hides. That is where your league mates are usually too busy chasing the fourth running back in a committee to notice the door is open.

History teaches us that tight end development is rarely linear. This position does not develop like a Marvel origin story where the powers arrive right on schedule and everyone claps. For every Kyle Pitts, there is a Sam LaPorta, Trey McBride, George Kittle, or Jake Ferguson—players who turned into fantasy assets after the market had already moved on to its next groupthink disaster. The key is identifying the intersection of draft capital, athletic traits, receiving ability, and, most critically, a believable path to future snaps and targets.

This is not about finding a guaranteed Week 1 starter for 2026. That is not how tight end usually works unless the player is special-special, and even then the fantasy gods may still slap your plate out of your hands. This is about using third- and fourth-round rookie picks to buy players who could become top-12 dynasty tight ends by 2027 or 2028. Delayed gratification. I know. Horrifying concept in the TikTok brain economy.

The Mid-Round TE Blueprint

Before diving into specific players, it’s crucial to understand the strategy. We are not looking for finished products. If you want instant gratification, go watch a 12-second cooking video where someone turns cottage cheese into “pizza” and lies to your face. We are hunting for asymmetrical upside.

The profile is simple: target tight ends with meaningful NFL Draft capital, useful receiving traits, enough athleticism to earn routes, and a depth chart that could loosen within the next year or two. That does not mean every pick hits. Tight end is still a position where hope goes to die wearing a mouthguard. But when the cost is a late third or fourth-round rookie pick, you do not need certainty. You need plausible upside that your league is mispricing.

The trap is chasing “my guy” narratives with no real path. Not vibes. Not “he looked smooth in a highlight clip.” Not some Reddit fever dream wearing shoulder pads. We want players who can realistically grow into snaps, routes, and targets before your taxi squad turns into a retirement home.

The High-Floor Pick: Oscar Delp, New Orleans Saints

If you’re looking for one of the safer investments outside the first wave, Oscar Delp belongs on the shortlist. The Saints selected the Georgia product with the 73rd overall pick in the 3rd round, and that matters. Teams do not spend top-75 picks on tight ends for decoration, unless they’re trying to build a roster like it’s a Love Is Blind cast—technically assembled, emotionally unstable, and somehow still missing the obvious fit.

Now, let’s be honest about what Delp is and what he is not. He was not a monster-volume college producer. His final Georgia season was modest from a box-score standpoint, with 20 receptions for 261 yards and a touchdown. So no, this is not a “he dominated college football and now we just wait for fireworks” profile. That would be fantasy fan fiction with shoulder pads.

The argument for Delp is cleaner than that: draft capital, SEC experience, blocking utility, athletic traits, and a team that clearly saw enough to invest. He played in a Georgia offense that has not always turned tight ends into weekly stat-sheet slot machines, but he brings the kind of all-around profile that can keep him on the field. That matters for tight ends. You cannot earn fantasy targets from the sideline, which is apparently a lesson half the dynasty community insists on learning every August like it’s brand new information.

The Saints’ landing spot gives him a reasonable developmental runway. He does not need to become a target hog right away. He needs to earn trust, grow into a larger role, and become a reliable piece in an offense that could use young pass-catching answers. At his rookie draft cost, that is exactly the kind of patient bet worth making.

The League-Winning Value: Justin Joly, Denver Broncos

While Delp is the steadier profile, Justin Joly is the chaos goblin with real payoff potential. The Broncos traded up and selected the NC State tight end in the 5th round at pick 152, which keeps his dynasty price nicely suppressed. Beautiful. Nothing like Day 3 draft capital to scare away managers who claim they want upside but draft like they’re shopping for beige curtains.

Joly is not a traditional in-line tight end. He is more of a move piece: a receiving-first weapon who can be used around the formation, win with route-running, and create matchup problems against linebackers and safeties. Basically, he’s the kind of player defensive coordinators look at and immediately age like Paul Rudd finally lost a bet with time.

The Denver fit is interesting because Sean Payton has never been allergic to using tight ends creatively. The Broncos also drafted Dallen Bentley, which tells you they were serious about rebuilding that room, not just tossing a late pick into the void and hoping it grew arms. Joly profiles as the more flexible receiving piece, while Bentley looks more like the traditional tight end body type. That gives Joly a real lane if he develops.

His draft capital is the obvious risk. Fifth-round tight ends do not get unlimited chances. The NFL is not a charity gala for your dynasty bench. But that is why he is affordable. We have seen this archetype matter before when talent, patience, and opportunity finally line up. George Kittle was a 5th-rounder. Jake Ferguson was a 4th-rounder. Nobody is saying Joly is automatically either of those players, so please put the pitchfork back in the garage. The point is that this position does occasionally reward managers who are willing to stash athletic, receiving-capable tight ends before the depth chart screams obvious.

Available in the late third or early fourth round of rookie drafts, Joly is exactly the kind of upside stash that can quietly turn into a starting-caliber fantasy piece. That is not a sleeper. That is a flashing neon sign your league mates are somehow walking past while arguing about a backup running back with “juice.”

The Taxi Squad Targets and High-Risk Gambles

Beyond the top value targets, a few other names are worth stashing on your taxi squad, though they come with significantly more risk. This is where the board starts to look less like “smart investing” and more like the bonus room in Squid Game. Fun, but maybe don’t bet the mortgage.

Eli Raridon (New England Patriots): Selected 95th overall in the 3rd round, Raridon has the draft capital and athletic profile to matter. He is not walking into an empty room, though. Hunter Henry is still the trusted veteran option, which means Raridon may need patience before he becomes fantasy relevant. But that is exactly why he fits this strategy. You are not drafting him because he is about to become a weekly starter in September. You are drafting him because the Patriots invested Day 2 capital in a big, athletic tight end with a future path to relevance. Think less “instant breakout” and more “put him in the crockpot and stop opening the lid every twelve minutes.”

Sam Roush (Chicago Bears): Selected 69th overall in the 3rd round, Roush is more traditional than flashy. He posted 49 receptions for 545 yards and 2 touchdowns in his final season at Stanford, but the fantasy ceiling is complicated by Chicago’s tight end room. The Bears already have Cole Kmet and Colston Loveland, so Roush is not strolling into a clean target path. He is more “solid dad sneaker” than red-carpet fit. But sometimes dad sneakers get you through the airport faster. His best-case path may require multiple-tight-end usage, development as a pass catcher, or a future depth-chart shift. Worth a stash in deeper formats, but do not pretend he is sitting on a runway with the engine already on.

Matthew Hibner (Baltimore Ravens): The Ravens traded up in the 4th round to select Hibner at pick 133, which makes him interesting even if the immediate path is blocked. Baltimore has a long history of making tight ends matter, and Hibner brings enough athleticism to justify attention. He ran a 4.57-second 40-yard dash at the Combine and produced 55 receptions for 804 yards and 8 touchdowns over two seasons at SMU after transferring from Michigan. That is the good news. The bad news is that Baltimore already has tight end talent, and rookie tight ends buried on strong depth charts can disappear faster than your confidence after checking your best ball exposure. Hibner is a deeper stash, not a priority target, but the team fit is better than it looks at first glance.

Dallen Bentley (Denver Broncos): If you want the cheaper Denver tight end, Bentley is the name. The Broncos selected him in the 7th round, and that low draft capital makes him a long shot. But he had a productive final season at Utah and brings size-speed appeal as a more traditional tight end. He is not the same kind of receiving bet as Joly, but he is worth monitoring in very deep leagues. Do not spend meaningful rookie draft capital here unless your league has more taxi spots than common sense.

The Correct Way to Play This Class

The 2026 tight end class is not “bad.” It is layered. Kenyon Sadiq is the premium prospect with the first-round stamp. After him, the class becomes a hunting ground for managers who understand that tight end value often arrives late, weird, and covered in dust.

That is the edge.

Let your league mates fight over the third-string running back or the fifth wide receiver on a crowded depth chart. Let them cosplay as draft geniuses over players who need four injuries, a coaching epiphany, and a streaming-service documentary arc to become relevant. You should be looking at the tight ends with actual draft investment, developmental runways, and realistic future paths to routes.

Do not draft Oscar Delp, Justin Joly, Eli Raridon, Sam Roush, or Matthew Hibner expecting them to save your lineup this September. That is how you turn a good process into a bad tantrum. Draft them, stash them, and be patient.

In a year or two, one or two of these guys may become weekly fantasy starters for the price of a late-round lottery ticket. That is how dynasty championships are built. Not with panic. Not with groupthink. And definitely not by letting your league mates set the market while they’re busy chasing the fantasy football equivalent of a Pop Mart mystery box.