8. Jake Ferguson, Dallas Cowboys
Although it's been relatively quiet, Jake Ferguson has been a consistent and durable player for the Dallas Cowboys over the past few seasons, getting selected to two Pro Bowls (2023, 2025). But as solid as he was last season in some aspects, he was disappointing in others.
He caught 82 passes, the most in a single season for his career so far, but he finished 161 yards shy of his career-high in receiving yards. Despite catching 11 more passes in 2025 than he did in 2023, he finished with 17 fewer first downs in 2025. He's also had 7 fumbles over the last two seasons.
Ferguson has to find a way to become a bigger threat for the offense as opposed to just a solid outlet, but his ability to take on a high volume of targets and produce in the red zone (8 touchdowns) are extremely valuable traits.
7. Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles
Dallas Goedert had 11 touchdown catches last season, more than double his previous season-high of 5. He was also able to stay on the field for 15 games, only the second time he's played that many games in his career since he got into the league in 2018.
The one part of Goedert's game that was missing this past season was YAC, and that's something that's almost always been a valuable weapon for him. With the absence of AJ Brown, it's possible that we could see the Eagles feature Goedert more than ever before.
For the majority of his NFL career, Goedert has simultaneously been one of the most dangerous weapons on the Eagles but a very secondary threat in their passing attack. He started off his NFL career playing in tandem with Zach Ertz, and the Eagles have had both Devonta Smith and AJ Brown on the roster since 2022.
Only twice in his career has Goedert finished 2nd on the Eagles in targets, but he might be in line for that type of workload -- assuming he stays healthy -- in 2026.
6. Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons
Kyle Pitts earned 2nd-team All-Pro honors last season and has gone from being a major NFL Draft disappointment to a big-money player with the Falcons.
Even if we haven't yet seen the level of dominance at the NFL level that we saw from Pitts at Florida, there might still be levels of his game to be unlocked by the Falcons in the coming years. He caught 88 passes on 118 targets last season, the most of his career in both categories. If the Falcons can get the quarterback position figured out, we might be looking at one of the NFL's best-kept secrets, even at a $54 million price tag.
Pitts is still just 25 years old, and won't turn 26 until October. He's got a lot of really good football ahead of him, and a head coach (Kevin Stefanski) whose tight ends are historically very productive.
5. Sam LaPorta, Detroit Lions
Fantasy football players want to see Sam LaPorta figure out a way to get back to the level of production we saw from him during his rookie season, and they might get it in 2026.
LaPorta is entering a contract year for the Lions in 2026, and after seeing them pay pretty much everybody else on that offense, he is going to be entering this year with a big chip on his shoulder.
LaPorta is equally capable of being that reliable chain mover in the short-intermediate passing game as well as creating explosives with his vision and ability to break tackles in space. He's also a huge weapon in the red zone for the Lions, catching 20 touchdowns in his first 42 NFL games.
Add us as a preferred source on Google