Fantasy Football's Top Rookie Tight Ends: Kenyon Sadiq Features a Short List
We enter training camp with a lack of rookie tight ends to watch. In 2025, the names were seemingly endless for the incoming class. Tyler Warren, Colston Loveland, Harold Fannin Jr., Mason Taylor... the list went on. In 2026, the story is much different.
Only two tight ends are viable in fantasy football. Especially in re-draft formats, you will not find Max Klare, Nate Boerkircher, or Eli Raridon useful. They must fight for their time on the football field. As for Kenyon Sadiq and Eli Stowers, they may actually be worth a selection in fantasy football. Let's dive in to see just how good they can be.
Kenyon Sadiq
Fantasy Football Projection: TE33
The New York Jets have a crowded depth chart behind Garrett Wilson. The fight for WR2 is fierce between Omar Cooper Jr. and Adonai Mitchell. At tight end, Sadiq has to battle second-year tight end Mason Taylor. To make matters worse for Sadiq, he is reportedly dealing with a hernia, which he had surgery on this offseason. To offset that bad news, the good news is that Sadiq is expected to be a full go for Week 1.
In our projections, Sadiq falls down the board. He is our TE33 in PPR formats, in combination due to his competition with Taylo, and a poor Jets offense. The Jets have a minus-3.5 offensive power rating, among the worst in the NFL.
Now, why might Sadiq be a viable draft pick? This all sounds like he should be undrafted....
Upside is the answer. Which tight ends can we draft beyond the top 20 that might have top-15 ability? Sadiq is that answer.
The Jets are confident that Sadiq will be very involved in their offense. Per Oregon co-OC/TE Coach Drew Mehringer, "Dude (Sadiq) doesn't smoke or party. He doesn't care about being popular..... all he cares about is being really good at football." The Jets drafted the man at 16th overall for a reason. That reason is to use his elite athleticism.
Through a life lived in nature, Kenyon Sadiq learned how to turn down the volume in his brain.
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) August 3, 2026
When he plays football, it goes quiet.
“What Kenyon would explain to me is the game slows down in his head. So he could feel himself in the air and then catch the ball.”
On the… pic.twitter.com/UWhUZzUOLa
Sadiq is a different player than Taylor. He is an athletic threat, while Taylor will win with his raw physicality. The duo can play on the field at the same time, and that is what Reich's offense will do.
In numeric form, we find Sadiq neck-and-neck with Taylor in target share, which features roughly 10-12% of the team's pass-catching yards each. If Geno Smith has to let someone high-point the football in the end zone, Sadiq is the man for that job. He is the best red zone receiver that the team has. With that noted, Sadiq's 2-3 projected touchdowns could easily become 5-8 in a Dallas Goedert-esque red-zone role of dominance.
Eli Stowers
Fantasy Football Projection: TE42
We have seen what Goedert has become on this Eagles offense. The TE1 tied Trey McBride for the most touchdowns among tight ends in 2025 (11). It makes us wonder what the ceiling may be for the Eagles' rookie, who is their TE3 right now, behind Johnny Mundt.
Reports suggest that Stowers is struggling so far early in training camp. That should make anyone wary of drafting the rookie.
The case for Stowers is ultimately a weak one. That rookie is not very viable in any fantasy football draft, but he could be viable on the waiver wire.
Across Goedert's 7-year NFL career, he has suffered a whopping 10 separate injuries. Is he injury-prone? I don't know. What does that even mean nowadays? What is a fact is that Goedert is averaging 1.4 injuries per year and just about a lock to miss at least one game in 2026. We do not want it, but that is a fact based on historical data.
Should Stowers fall into a starting role, his upside could be huge. The Eagles use the tight end very clearly. He will be a waiver-wire priority in that world, so we'll keep our ears open.
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Thomas Carelli is a sportswriter based on Northern New Jersey. He is a massive New York Jets and Mets fan, but that is not where is sports fandom stops. He loves to watch and play golf, all things football, baseball, and much more. If he can watch it, he will. Thomas graduated from William Paterson University in 2018 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sport Management. He spent 4 years working at a local golf course, volunteered past PGA events, and spent some part-time experience with the New York Jets events team. His passions for sport runs deep and his articles show for it.