When it comes to fantasy tight ends, we’re always searching for the next league winner. For years, every talented rookie carried the same expectation: “Could he be the next Travis Kelce?” More often than not, the answer was no. Rookie tight ends simply didn’t produce the way fantasy managers hoped.
Then Sam LaPorta happened. A year later, Brock Bowers happened. Suddenly, we weren’t telling people to avoid rookie tight ends. We were drafting them as legitimate TE1 options.
Last year’s rookie class kept the momentum rolling. Harold Fannin Jr., Tyler Warren, Oronde Gadsden II, and, of course, Colston Loveland all finished inside the Top 15 at the position. The question now is which one is ready to make the leap from solid starter to fantasy difference-maker.
That’s where Loveland becomes very intriguing. He quietly finished as the TE12 despite playing in an inconsistent Bears offense. With another year in Ben Johnson’s system, Caleb Williams entering his third season, and plenty of targets available in the passing game, the pieces are in place for a breakout campaign. Now he just has to capitalize on the opportunity.
Colston Loveland Is Poised for a Fantasy Football Breakout
The Rookie Season
A top-12 finish in your rookie season is an accomplishment for any TE. Without the historic rookie seasons from LaPorta and Bowers, plus strong performances from fellow rookies Harold Fannin Jr. and Tyler Warren, this would have been viewed as a fantastic rookie season. Loveland also saw significantly fewer targets than any of those players, but that can be painted as good or bad. In fact, his 82 targets were tied with Dallas Goedert for the fewest by a top-12 TE last year. All in all, 58 catches for 713 yards and 6 TDs is a good season, not great. Though his 12.3 yards per catch is great for a TE, and something he can certainly build off of.
The Mini-Breakout
While the overall season might have been ho-hum, things get much more interesting if you look at the splits. We always used to say “TEs take time”, but we were talking about years. Maybe Loveland only needed weeks. Through eight weeks last year, Loveland only played six games, saw 18 targets, and was the TE50 in fantasy. Over the next 10 games, he saw 64 targets and was the second-highest scoring TE in fantasy during that span.
He went from three targets per game to over six. He scored all six of his TDs in those last 10 games. His fantasy production skyrocketed. We’re talking about a 2026 breakout, but it may have already happened. If Loveland can carry that late-season production into 2026, his current TE3 ADP starts to make a lot more sense. The real question becomes, how high can he fly?
Be sure to check our fantasy football preview of Coltson Loveland and the 2026 Chicago Bears!
The Vacated Targets
One notable thing about Loveland’s late-season target increase: Rome Odunze missed five of those games, and Luther Burden missed one. While both of them return in 2026, DJ Moore does not. That is 85 vacated targets, and, more importantly, much less talented competition for Loveland.
He is not going to absorb all 85 targets or anything close to it. But that 6.4 target per game pace he finished on becomes much more sustainable. The circumstances that created that pace, Chicago having only two established receiving threats instead of three, are now the new norm. That would be 108 targets over a 17-game season. For a tight end with his athletic profile and touchdown upside, that type of volume puts him right in the mix with the best players at the position
Colston Loveland 2026 Fantasy Outlook
Full Disclosure: When I started this article, Loveland was my TE7. I wasn’t fully sure how I felt about him, and I was looking forward to digging in. He is now my TE3. There was no reason to project him below 100 targets when all signs point to him beating that number. I now have him at 105. That puts him at 71 catches and 850 yards in my model, and I could be low on yards. I also gave him eight touchdowns. He scored six in ten games, so giving him two more doesn’t feel like a reach.
I’d still put Loveland a tier below Bowers and Trey McBride, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if he beat either or both of them at the end of the season. The talent is there. The opportunity is there. Colston Loveland is poised for a true breakout season.
Looking for your favorite team? This link will take you to the rest of our 2026 Look Inside team previews.
A Look Inside the Baltimore Ravens
Editor’s Note: While this article focused on Colston Loveland in fantasy football, we don’t want to leave you hanging on the rest of the team. Here is a quick look at the other fantasy-relevant Bears from Joshua Hudson.
Williams is a popular breakout candidate after finishing as the QB5 last season. Another year in Ben Johnson’s offense should help him become the first Bears QB in their storied history to throw for over 4,000 yards. His weapons are all on the younger side, and the Bears now face a 1st place schedule. The path will certainly have its bumps in the road.
Swift is the “steady Eddie” of running backs. He’s proven he can handle heavy workloads over the last few years, but he’s certainly not being drafted like a workhorse RB. He’s a poor man’s Kyren Williams, just without the same TD upside.
Monangai had a solid rookie season handling the David Montgomery role in Ben Johnson’s offense. But with limited receiving work, he’s little more than RB depth and a bye week FLEX.
Who is the WR1 on the Bears? Some might say Luther Burden, others might say Rome Odunze. While I have their targets pretty evenly split, Odunze’s greatest flaw is that his QB throws a terrible deep ball. And those happen to be the kind of routes Odunze is asked to run more than any other Bear. If Ben Johnson lets him run a more diverse route tree, we might be looking at the best value in fantasy football drafts this summer. Until then, he’s still an upside WR2 you’re getting for WR3 prices.
The fantasy community seems to think Luther Burden is the next Amon-Ra St. Brown. Based on my projections, I don’t disagree. His current ADP is reflective of the upside but also the risk. The kind of routes and skill to generate YAC should push Burden towards a top 15 finish in 2026. That’s the kind of value I want on draft day.
Cole Kmet
As my good friend Ryan points out: “He sucks again.” With little depth at WR, Kmet will still see some work. It just won’t be enough for any real fantasy relevancy.
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Before you go, check out where Colston Loveland and the rest of the Bears fall in our 2026 Fantasy Rankings!