It’s good to know which tight ends can actually command targets when they get the chance to run pass routes and be part of their respective passing offenses.
Finding tight ends with high rates of targets per route doesn’t mean we’ve found a locked-in starting fantasy tight end in hiding. It does mean — it can mean — we’ve spotted a tight end who could be an elite option if he ever gets a full complement of routes. Some pass catchers have a knack for getting open and proving irresistible for their quarterback, especially if that quarterback has a thing for checking down again and again.
Below is a look at tight ends who in 2025 posted the highest rate of targets per route, along with their rate of first read targets, total pass routes, and total targets. I’ve also looked powerfully into these tight ends’ ESPN open score, which measures a pass catcher’s ability to get separation from defenders. A tight end had to see at least 25 targets in 2025 to make this list.
**Dalton Kincaid (BUF)**
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Time, as that TV show said, is a flat circle. Kincaid was the [cover guy for last year’s analysis](https://www.nbcsports.com/fantasy/football/news/dalton-kincaid-jonnu-smith-among-tight-ends-with-intriguing-target-commanding-profiles) of target-commanding tight ends. In 2024 Kincaid drew a target from Josh Allen on 28 percent of his routes (31 percent against zone coverage, a ludicrous mark). That rate fell off a little bit in 2025, but not meaningfully so. The always-injured Kincaid remained a target magnet in 12 games.
In a Buffalo offense without any real wide receiver, I would like to see Kincaid’s first-read target rate be a little higher. Nevertheless, he was a consistently open target for Allen in 2025, ranking third among all tight ends in ESPN’s open score. Since the start of the 2024 season, Kincaid ranks fifth among tight ends in open score.
Kincaid, as always, was a part-time player in 2025. His 46 percent route rate on the season hardly ever changed. That, in part, explains his league-leading 3.2 yards per route run among tight ends. That hyper-efficiency would surely drop off if Kincaid ever gets to run 70 or 80 percent of the Bills’ routes.
This is where I tell you the Buffalo front office is making noise about Dawson Knox’s “tough” salary cap number for 2026. The Bills could save nearly $10 million against the cap if they release Knox in the coming weeks. That move could (maybe) clear the way for more snaps and routes for TPRR King Kincaid. It’s something to monitor.
**Colston Loveland (CHI)**
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Loveland wasn’t exactly an open score all-star in 2025. He ranked 16th among tight ends in ESPN’s open score, behind the likes of Greg Dulcich, Travis Kelce, and Cade Otton.
Loveland’s somewhat pedestrian TPRR is a bit deceiving, however. His late-season explosion — which began in Week 17 and stretched through the Bears’ Divisional Round loss — included a ridiculous 32 percent targets per route run, the sort of thing you see from a high-end wide receiver. Loveland logged a yards per route of nearly 3 over that fantastic late-season run.
Best of all: Loveland ran a route on 81 percent of the Bears’ dropbacks over the team’s final four games, a big leap from his 59 percent regular season rate. If Loveland maintains that route running involvement there’s no reason he can’t lead all tight ends in fantasy scoring in 2026.
**Brock Bowers (LV)**
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Bowers’ 2025 campaign was torpedoed by an early-season leg injury that never really got better, unspeakably terrible quarterback play from Geno Smith, and an offensive line that often tanked the Vegas passing offense before it could get started.
That’s why I’m willing to write off Bowers’ drop in targets per route from 2024 to 2025. Bowers as a rookie saw a target on 26 percent of his routes, a top-five tight end rate. In 2025 he was behind guys like Darren Waller and Colby Parkinson. Perhaps Bowers’ heady 2025 first-read target rate — the second highest among tight ends — is what matters most here. Like Trey McBride, Bowers is one of the rare tight ends who operates as his team’s WR1.
**Harold Fannin (CLE)**
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Fannin being elite certainly ranks among the spreadsheet warriors’ greatest victories. Only the analytics geeks were talking up Fannin headed into the 2025 NFL Draft because he was coming off the greatest tight end season in the history of college football. We like that sort of thing.
That the Browns stole Fannin in the third round means someone in the Cleveland front office has access to a spreadsheet. That’s good to know. Despite fighting with David Njoku for snaps and routes over the first half of the 2025 season, Fannin had a higher TPRR than all tight ends not named Dalton Kincaid. He finished eighth in both tight end catches and receiving yards. Somehow he ranked 43rd out of 50 qualifying tight ends in open score.
A look at Fannin’s late-season usage shows what he might do in 2026 and beyond, with Njoku playing elsewhere. From Week 13 to 18, McBride was the only tight end with a higher first read target rate than Fannin (29 percent). If new head coach Todd Monken sees fit to keep Fannin rolling in 2026 — and there’s little reason to believe he won’t — Fannin could be a top-three fantasy tight end without a spike in touchdown production.
**Greg Dulcich (MIA)**
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Dulcich, another spreadsheet hero, is probably good. His 2.7 yards per route run (in limited action) last season was among the highest in the NFL.
And in the Dolphins’ final three regular season games, Dulcich saw a target on 27 percent of his pass routes while teammate Darren Waller was targeted on 25 percent of his routes. Dulcich has missed out on plenty of playing time over his four NFL seasons due to injuries and a total refusal to throw a single block. Coaches don’t like that.
His target-getting skills make Dulcich someone to monitor in free agency this spring and summer.
**Gunnar Helm (TEN)**
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Helm was a sick tight end fascination of mine on the Rotoworld Football Show in 2025. More than once my co-hosts threatened to call the authorities if I wasted any more time talking about the Titans’ No. 2 tight end. I was, as usual, treated very unfairly.
It was Helm’s target commanding that kept me interested in the rookie. In Week 12 and 13, for instance, Helm saw a target on nearly 32 percent of his pass routes (the mainstream press was silent on this). That led to 12 grabs for 74 scoreless yards. So it goes.
Helm showed throughout the second half of his rookie campaign that he can get open and draw looks from Cam Ward. I’m going to ignore (for now) that his open score ranked 34th out of 50 qualifying tight ends. With Chig Okonkwo an unrestricted free agent this offseason, Helm — a fourth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft — could go from a guy running 40 percent of the team’s routes to something closer to 60 or 70 percent. That would probably make him fantasy viable.
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