4 Must-Have Late-Round Tight Ends (2026 Fantasy Football)

When preparing for your fantasy football drafts, knowing which players to target and which to avoid is important. The amount of information available can be overwhelming, so a great way to condense the data and determine players to draft and others to leave for your leaguemates is to use our expert consensus fantasy football rankings compared to fantasy football average draft position (ADP). In this way, you can identify players the experts are willing to reach for at ADP and others they are not drafting until much later than average. Let’s dive into a few late-round tight ends our experts target in fantasy football drafts.

2026 Fantasy Football Draft Advice: Must-Have Late-Round Tight Ends

Pat Fitzmaurice shares some of his favorite late-round tight ends to target in 2026 fantasy football drafts.

Dallas Goedert (PHI)

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.

Dalton Schultz (HOU)

Dalton Schultz had 82 catches for 777 yards and three touchdowns in 2025 to finish TE11 in half-point PPR fantasy scoring. The modest TD total limited his fantasy impact, but Schultz finished tied with Jake Ferguson for third among tight ends in receptions behind only Trey McBride and Kyle Pitts. Schultz finished sixth among TEs in receiving yards. The Texans have an established star at wide receiver with Nico Collins, and Jayden Higgins, Jaylin Noel and (if healthy) Tank Dell round out a pretty good WR corps. With robust target competition, Schultz might be hard-pressed to match the career-high 106 targets he saw last season. And since Houston has one of the best defenses in the league, the Texans aren’t likely to be a pass-heavy team in 2026. It’s best to consider Schultz a midrange TE2 for fantasy, even though he was more than that last season.

Greg Dulcich (MIA)

Injuries and inconsistent usage have thus far kept four-year veteran Greg Dulcich from establishing a firm foothold in the NFL, but in 2026 he’ll have a chance to be a prominent contributor to a Dolphins offense that lacks proven pass-catching talent. Hamstring injuries limited Dulcich to 10 games as a rookie with the Broncos in 2022 and two games in his second season. Dulcich played four games for Denver in 2024, was released in November, then played five late-season games for the Giants. Dulcich signed with Miami midway through the 2025 season and had 26 catches for 335 yards and a touchdown in 10 games. The Dolphins re-signed Dulcich to another one-year deal in the offseason, and he now sits atop their depth chart at tight end. Miami selected three wise receivers in this year’s draft, and none of the veteran receivers on the roster have ever had more than 610 receiving yards in a season. Although Miami isn’t expected to have a high-powered passing attack with the inexperienced Malik Willis taking over as the starting quarterback, Dulcich could be a sneaky-good fantasy option this year.

AJ Barner (SEA)

A.J. Barner got significantly more involved in the Seattle offense in his second NFL season after a quiet rookie year. Barner’s snap share increased from 45% in 2024 to 72% in 2025. He had 52 catches for 519 yards and six touchdowns last season after putting up 30-245-4 as a rookie. Barner also had 10 rushing attempts for 14 yards and a touchdown last year, and he had four catches for 54 yards and a touchdown in the Super Bowl. Barner had a 14.9% target share last season for a Seattle offense that had the fourth-fewest pass attempts in the league. The Seahawks didn’t add any pass catchers of note in the offseason, so if they either throw more frequently in 2026 or Barner carves out a bigger target share, Barner could take another step forward. Jaxon Smith-Njigba had an absurd 35.8% target share for the Seahawks last year, so it’s entirely possible that Barner’s target share could rise while JSN’s comes down. Consider Barner a midrange to low-end TE2 for 2026 fantasy drafts.

View the Best Fantasy Football Team Names