Fantasy football Week 5 TE preview: Trey McBride leads volatile position with seven must-start options

Heath Cummings identifies seven must-start tight ends, with T.J. Hockenson and Mike Gesicki among the top Week 5 streamers Oct 6, 2026 at 6:03 pm ET • 2 min read Last week, I talked about how awesome the tight end position has been. The position truly does look as deep as ever and we have gotten some brilliant performances. But also, it has been a little crazy. While we still have 10 tight ends averaging more than 12 Fantasy points per game and 17 averaging double digits, several of them have done that on the basis of one spike week. In Week 1, it was Isaiah Likely scoring 27.8 PPR Fantasy points. In Week 2, Dalton Schultz scored 26, and both Dalton Kincaid and Jake Ferguson topped 20. In Week 3, Harold Fannin, Kenyon Sadiq, and Tyler Higbee all exceeded the 20-point mark. Last week, T.J. Hockenson led all tight ends with 24.9 PPR Fantasy points. We're still early enough in the season that one game like that can make you look much more reliable than you are when it comes to points per game.With that much variance and such a small sample size, I thought it might be worth it to list the tight ends I view as must-start through four weeks. They are Brock Bowers, Trey McBride, Tyler Warren, Isaiah Likely, Sam LaPorta, Juwan Johnson, and George Kittle. Johnson might be the surprise in that group, but he has scored double-digit PPR Fantasy points in all four games this season. Trey McBride is the only other tight end who can make that claim.I think you could also make the argument for Tucker Kraft, and I might if he gives us good results in Week 5. Harold Fannin and Dalton Kincaid are right on the precipice as well, but I would like to see a little more stability from them. Honestly, if you have one of these 10 tight ends, you're probably not thinking about streaming. If you have two of them, I would be looking to make a trade.Here's everything else you need to know about tight end in Week 5: Week 5 TE Preview TE Preview Numbers to Know 59.3% -- Dalton Kincaid's snap share slipped to 59.3% in Week 4. We like it a lot more when he's closer to 70%.59.5% -- Kyle Pitts has a 59.5% route share, which ranks 25th at tight end. He is unplayable but I am not quite ready to drop him yet.2.84 -- George Kittle's 2.84 yards per route run ranks second amongst starting tight ends. His recovery has been amazing.31.5% -- Isaiah Likely leads all tight ends with a 31.5% target share this season.5 -- Sam LaPorta leads all tight ends with five end zone targets. But Brock Bowers already has four in two games.144 -- Juwan Johnson has run 144 routes this season, which is tied with Trey McBride for second behind Sam LaPorta.30.4% -- T.J. Hockenson has a 30.4% target per route run rate with Justin Jefferson off the field. That falls to 20.9% with Jefferson on the field. 2.19 -- Tyler Warren is averaging 2.19 air yards per target. That's ok in full PPR leagues but limits his upside unless the YAC improves. TE Preview Waiver Wire Targets Week 5 Streamers (TE Preview) Projections powered by Sportsline Projections powered by Sportsline TE Preview Heath's Projections My full set of Week 5 Fantasy football projections for every position is now available here. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don't live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 5. Projected stats for all starting tight ends are updated throughout the week, so check back before you set your lineup for the latest information.