-2026 NFL Schedule -Strength of Schedule
MOCK DRAFT
Ask the Commish.Com 2026 Draft Kit
It will be hard for Trey McBride to top the year he had in 2025. He finished the season with 126 catches for 1,239 yards and 11 touchdowns on 169 targets. Among all pass catchers, McBride trailed only Puka Nacua in receptions. McBride also ranked third in targets among all pass catchers and tied for second in TD catches. It was an impressive follow-up to a 2024 season in which McBride had 111 catches for 1,146 yards and two touchdowns. There are reasons to think that McBride might have a hard time matching his 2025 numbers this season. The Cardinals threw at the highest rate in the NFL last season. That's not likely to happen again after the team drafted a running back, Jeremiyah Love, No. 3 overall. The Cardinals are also looking to get Marvin Harrison Jr. more involved after two disappointing seasons. McBride is clearly one of the elite tight ends and is worth of a top-25 draft pick. Just don't expect a full repeat of last year.
There are great expectations for Brock Bowers in his third NFL season following an injury-plagued Year 2. Bowers had five catches for 103 yards in the Raiders' 2025 season opener against the Patriots, but he sustained a PCL injury and bone bruise to his left knee in that game, was clearly hampered over his next three games (with under 50 receiving yards in each) and was shut down for three games. Upon his return, Bowers scored seven touchdowns in eight games before the Raiders, looking to protect their star TE and also secure the No. 1 pick in the draft, placed Bowers on injured reserve, keeping him out of their last two contests. Widely considered one of the best TE prospects to ever enter the league, Bowers had 112 catches for 1,194 yards and five touchdowns on 153 targets as a rookie. With better health in 2026, he has a chance to match or exceed his rookie numbers. The Raiders are talent-starved at wide receiver, so Bowers is poised to be their alpha pass catcher. New head coach Klint Kubiak has been entrusted to repair the Las Vegas offense. No. 1 overall draft pick Fernando Mendoza offers hope at the QB position, and the Raiders also have TE-friendly QB Kirk Cousins, who was quarterbacking the Falcons last year in Week 1, when TE Kyle Pitts had 11 catches for 166 yards and three TDs. Bowers is worth a look in the back half of the second round or early in the third round of 2026 fantasy drafts.
The 10th overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft, Colston Loveland put together an impressive rookie season that got better and better as it wore on. Loveland finished TE12 in half-point PPR scoring as a rookie with 58 catches for 713 yards and six touchdowns. From Week 9 on, Loveland was TE2 in fantasy scoring behind only Trey McBride. Over Chicago's last four games - two in the regular season, two in the playoffs - Bears head coach Ben Johnson had fully unleashed Loveland. The rookie tight end had 10 or more targets in each of those games, averaging 12.0 targets, 7.0 catches and 94.5 receiving yards over that stretch, with a pair of TDs. In the Bears' playoff win over the Packers, Loveland was targeted 15 times and had eight catches for 137 yards. The 6-6, 241-pound Loveland is a matchup nightmare with his size and speed. Loveland is the consensus TE3 for 2026 fantasy drafts behind only Brock Bowers and Trey McBride.
Dallas Goedert not only scored a career-high 11 touchdowns in 2025, but he more than doubled his previous single-season high. Goedert had never scored more than five touchdowns in any of his seven previous NFL seasons. Six of Goedert's TDs last year came on variations of shovel passes from the 5-yard line or closer, as the shovel pass to Goedert became a short-range alternative to the Eagles' "tush push" QB sneaks. Goedert also hit a career high with 60 receptions last season, although he averaged a career-low 9.9 yards per catch. The 31-year-old Goedert clearly has gas left in the tank. The question is whether the Eagles' new offensive coordinator, Sean Mannion, will feature Goedert near the goal line as much as departed Eagles OC Kevin Patullo did.