As previously spotlighted with running backs, tight end is a prime position at which to find mid-round and even late-round value in the NFL draft.
That’s mostly because teams rarely invest early draft capital in the position. In the last 20 NFL drafts, only 19 tight ends have been selected in the first round. In only four of those drafts were multiple tight ends taken on Day 1, and in six of those drafts that number was 0.
And often the tight end talent mined from the middle to later rounds is every bit as impactful.
To illustrate that point, we don’t even have to look any further back than just a year ago.
It was the first time since 2019 that two tight ends went in the first round with the Chicago Bears taking Michigan’s Colston Loveland at No. 10 and the Indianapolis Colts drafting Penn State’s Tyler Warren at No. 14.
Both picks paid immediate dividends.
Loveland caught 58 passes for 713 yards and 6 touchdowns as a rookie with most of that coming from November onward as he emerged as one of Caleb Williams’ most trusted targets on the Bears’ run to the playoffs.
Warren was even more productive with 76 catches for 817 yards and 4 TDs.
But to our overall point, those two were far from the only rookie tight ends to leave their mark in 2025. These Day 2/3 picks from the last draft class all emerged as impact players in their first season:
New York Jets TE Mason Taylor (2nd round, No. 40 overall): 44 catches for 369 yards and 1 TD
Cleveland Browns TE Harold Fannin (3rd round, No. 67 overall): 72-731-6
Tennessee Titans TE Gunnar Helm (4th round, No. 120 overall): 44-357-2*
Los Angeles Chargers TE Oronde Gadsden (5th round, No. 165 overall): 49-664-3
*The Titans let veteran TE Chig Okonkwo leave as a free agent, freeing up an even bigger role for Helm in 2026.
So who are the tight end bargains to be had in this upcoming 2026 NFL Draft?
Here are a few we’re especially high on relative to their general draft projection.
5 Day 2/3 Tight End Values In 2026 NFL Draft
Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq is going to be drafted in the first round, and Vanderbilt tight end Eli Stowers will likely go somewhere in the second round. So they don’t qualify for our purposes here.
Also, this isn’t a straight ranking of the next five best tight ends in this draft class — it’s a combination of talent/potential but also draft value. For instance, Ohio State’s Max Klare ranks highly for a lot of draft analysts. We’re not saying they’re wrong — but if he’s coming off the board early on Day 2, there’s some other tight ends we think are a bigger value.
So here goes …
1. NC State’s Justin Joly
Joly had 92 catches for 1,150 yards and 11 TDs over the last two seasons for NC State after transferring in from Connecticut.
Joly opted out of testing at the NFL Scouting Combine, saving it for NC State’s Pro Day, but a tweaked hamstring kept him from running the 40-yard dash for scouts. His tape speaks for itself, though.
The 6-foot-3, 241-pound tight end packs a lot of power into his frame, which makes him a real factor as a blocker, but he also moves well for his size as well and made his share of plays downfield for the Wolfpack.
Not that this is necessarily an accurate projection, but few prominent draft analysts put out full seven-round mock drafts, so we’ll at least reference the one done by ESPN’s Matt Miller. He has Joly coming off the board in the middle of the fourth round, and NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein concurs. If that holds, it’s a nice value indeed.
2. Georgia’s Oscar Delp
Delp’s stats don’t jump off the page — he never had more than 24 catches or 284 yards in a season in his four years at Georgia. That stands out considering his predecessor with the Bulldogs, Brock Bowers, put up such monstrous numbers in that offense.
But watch Delp’s tape and it’s hard to ignore the untapped potential for a 6-foot-5, 245-pound tight end who runs as well as he does. He didn’t run the 40-yard dash at the combine but clocked a 4.48 at Georgia’s Pro Day.
Delp needs to add more strength to his frame, but he was a capable blocker for the Bulldogs as well.
Whichever team drafts him is doing it for his upside as a playmaker in the passing game, though.
Miller’s mock draft has Delp also going in the middle of the fourth round, while Zierlein has a looser projection of Rounds 3-4.
3. Stanford’s Sam Roush
Roush looks the part of a true prototypical NFL tight end at 6-foot-6, 267 pounds, and he played like one for Stanford.
Roush had 49 catches for 545 yards and 2 TDs in a limited Cardinal offense last season while drawing rave reviews as a blocker.
It’s hard to see this guy not being a factor in the NFL over a long career. Miller has Roush projected to go late in the third round with Zierlein also giving him a third-round projection, which is fine value for his upside.
4. Baylor’s Michael Trigg
Trigg’s college career didn’t go as many expected due to injuries and other factors.
A highly touted recruit, he bounced from USC to Ole Miss (with an unceremonious exit from the program early in the 2023 season) to Baylor before finally putting it all together as a fifth-year senior in 2025, catching 50 passes for 694 yards and 6 TDs.
At 6-foot-4, 240-pounds, he’s not the biggest tight end, but he’s an exceptionally athletic and gifted receiver.
Miller projects Trigg going in the fifth round while Zierlein projects him in the sixth or seventh rounds.
Trigg isn’t as safe a pick as Roush and has some bust potential, but the talent is tantalizing.
5. Houston’s Tanner Koziol
What’s not to like?
Koziol is 6-foot-6 and 247 pounds, ran a respectable 4.7 40-yard dash at the combine and had the fifth-best vertical jump (36.5 inches) and sixth-best broad jump (10 feet, 2 inches) among tight ends there.
And he was one of the most productive tight ends in college football.
Koziol had 94 catches for 839 yards and 8 TDs as a junior in 2024 and 74-727-6 in 2025.
And yet, Zierlein projects Koziol as a sixth-round pick while Miller has him going in the seventh round.
Now, that’s value!
Honorable Mention: Ohio State’s Will Kacmarek
We wanted to throw in more of a blocking tight end as well, and that’s what Kacmarek is.
He only had 15 catches for 168 yards and 2 TDs last season for the Buckeyes (and never had more than 22 catches or 264 yards in a season), but 6-foot-5 and 261 pounds, he is a physical force in the run game.
Zierlein projects him as a fourth-rounder while Miller has him in the sixth round — we like the latter a lot better for value, but it wouldn’t be a surprise for NFL teams to covet Kacmarek’s blocking higher in the draft.
