Fantasy Football Fades: 3 big-name tight ends our analysts are avoiding at ADP in 2026 drafts

The last position on our roundtable fades series for the week is tight end. Yahoo is also offering a new TE Premium format this season you can check out more details on here. The TE position can fall off fast if you’re not too careful in your draft, though there are also plenty of opportunities to find gems in the later rounds. Today, analyst Scott Pianowski, Ray Garvin and Hayden Winks share the one tight end they’re fading going into 2026 fantasy football drafts.

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Trey McBride, Cardinals

McBride will surely have a decent season, but my McBride fade is about the opportunity cost of selecting him. Most of my builds are going to be RB/WR focused in the early rounds, and I don’t like falling one round behind in that RB/WR construction if I dip into the onesie markets too early. We also have to ask ourselves, what positions offer the most affordable options later in a draft? I feel good about the overall depth of the 2026 tight end board, which means I’m comfortable keeping those slots open (hopefully Juwan Johnson will be waiting for me). 

Some regression is also likely for McBride this year. The Cardinals were absurdly pass-heavy after Jacoby Brissett took over last season, throwing at a pace of 685 pass attempts over a full schedule. That total would be the sixth-most all-time. Even if Arizona is a bad team again and playing catch-up most of the year, we have to realistically roll the attempts back. There’s also some look-out-below potential with the Arizona offense later in the year, if third-round rookie QB Carson Beck is asked to start. 

Perhaps the scariest part of McBride’s profile is the new OC calling the plays – Nathaniel Hackett. The last three offenses run by Hackett have been horror shows, ranking 24th, 31st and 21st in yards and 24th, 29th and 32nd in points. Hackett had previous success tied to all-time great Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay, but it’s been a mess ever since. It could be a long year in Arizona. — Scott Pianowski

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George Kittle, 49ers

Kittle is a soon-to-be 33-year-old who had Achilles surgery…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy/article/fantasy-football-fades-3-big-name-tight-ends-our-analysts-are-avoiding-in-2026-drafts-153015164.html

Author : Yahoo Sports Fantasy Staff

Publish date : 2026-08-28 15:30:00

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