Championships aren’t won in the early rounds of fantasy football drafts as much as they are towards the end. No matter what position, finding diamonds in the rough is hard but not impossible. Below are some examples of players who could be that diamond based on their current expert consensus ranking (ECR).
Fantasy Football TE2s With Top-5 Potential
Dalton Schultz (TE – HOU) | ECR: TE20
We don’t have to imagine Texans tight end Dalton Schultz as a top-five fantasy tight end because he’s already been one. Granted, it was 2021, and Schultz was a Cowboy, but the fact remains that he’s capable.
Schultz has also been a fantasy TE1 in two of his three seasons as a Texan, including last year when he saw a career-high 106 targets and recorded a career-high 82 receptions for 777 yards and three touchdowns. He was only a handful of touchdowns away from being a top-five tight end again.
Which begs the question: How can Schultz grab a few more touchdowns? For starters, he has little to no competition for targets this season at tight end.
The Texans did draft one — Marlin Klein — with a top-60 pick. He’s extremely raw, having played in Germany until high school and totaling just 351 yards in two seasons at Michigan. Kelin is an intriguing dynasty prospect, but isn’t on the radar for redraft leagues in 2026.
Additionally, the other pass-catchers haven’t changed at all. Nico Collins is still the lead dog in the receiver room and could easily finish with another top-10 fantasy season. Behind him are several mid-tier options, including young receivers like Jayden Higgins and Tank Dell, but none that are a threat to cut into Schultz’s workload.
Even if any of them outproduce their past results, it should still leave enough room for Scultz to be productive. Back when he was on the Cowboys and turned in that top-five season, receivers CeeDee Lamb and Amari Cooper finished in the top 25 in fantasy scoring.
Thus, the key to a top-five season is quarterback C.J. Stroud. His stat line has declined all three years he’s been in the league, and he’s not good enough for the Texans to sign him to an extension. But he’s been the quarterback for two seasons that saw Schultz as a top-12 option.
That includes last season, when Stroud had his worst professional season, yet Schultz recorded the most targets and receptions of his career.
Isaiah Likely (TE – NYG) | ECR: TE13
If fantasy football rankings were based on potential, new Giants tight end Isaiah Likely would be at the top of the list. The fifth-year tight end operated as a backup to veteran Mark Andrews his entire professional career until he signed a contract with the Giants in the offseason to be their new starting tight end.
Yet, Likely was always a valuable fantasy asset thanks to the production he recorded in a limited role. In his first three seasons, he started only 19 games, but scored 14 times. And despite not technically being the starter in Baltimore, he still finished as a top-20 fantasy tight end in the second and third years of his career.
We know Likely can be productive, but can he be elite, at least from a fantasy standpoint? The opportunity he’s walking into says yes. The Giants failed to add any other playmakers on offense this offseason, swapping out Darnell Mooney for Wan’Dale Robinson, but it’s unlikely Mooney soaks up all of Robinson’s 140 targets last season.
There’s also Theo Johnson, a perfectly average tight end who still saw 74 targets but will be relegated to backup duties behind Likely. Let’s not forget that new head coach John Harbaugh hired Matt Nagy as his offensive coordinator, with the latter coaching tight end Travis Kelce to multiple top-five fantasy seasons.
Then there’s the contract. Likely signed with the Giants for three years and $40 million, including $26 million in total guarantees. The average annual value ($13.3 million) ranks fourth among tight ends, behind only George Kittle, Trey McBride and Kyle Pitts. The total guaranteed amount ranks sixth among tight ends, behind only Kittle, McBride, Cole Kmet, Jake Ferguson and Colston Loveland.
A team isn’t handing out that kind of money for an offensive weapon they don’t plan on using. If Likely can continue to produce at the same level as a starter as he did when he was a backup, he’ll have no problem totaling top-five fantasy numbers in a Giants offense desperate to score points.
Oronde Gadsden II (TE – LAC) | ECR: TE14
Chargers tight end Oronde Gadsden II was one of the biggest surprises in both fantasy leagues and real life last season. The 2025 fifth-round pick ended up 11th in receiving yards among tight ends and finished as a top-15 fantasy tight end despite not even playing in the Chargers’ first two games.
Early in the offseason, Gadsden was on his way to being considered a top fantasy tight end, if not elite. He was penciled in as the starter for a potent Chargers offense, led by quarterback Justin Herbert. There were also 122 targets unaccounted for thanks to the departure of Keenan Allen.
Los Angeles hired offensive guru Mike McDaniel as their new offensive coordinator. All McDaniel did as head coach in Miami was turn in two top-five scoring offenses with Tua Tagovailoa at quarterback. Surely, he can do similar magic with Justin Herbert.
Those dreams, for Gadsden anyway, came to a screeching halt once the Chargers signed veteran David Njoku. Suddenly, those 122 targets didn’t look so unaccounted for.
Yet, there’s still the potential to be an elite fantasy option. Gadsden’s 13.6 yards per reception was third among tight ends with at least 30 receptions last season. And Njoku won’t get all 122 receptions himself, or even a fraction of them. So don’t ignore Gadsden in the later rounds of your draft.
Subscribe: YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | iHeart | Castbox | Amazon Music | Podcast Addict | TuneIn