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2026 NFL Draft Preview: Is Kenyon Sadiq as Good as It Gets at Tight End?

Photo of Scott Kacsmar Scott Kacsmar31/03/2026 - 10:21 am
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - FEBRUARY 24: Kenyon Sadiq #TE23 of Oregon participates in the 40-yard dash during the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium on February 27, 2026 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
(Photo by Lauren Leigh Bacho/Getty Images)

The trend we’ve noticed in our 2026 NFL Draft previews so far is that there’s one dominant prospect that laps the field for the quarterbacks (Fernando Mendoza) and running backs (Jeremiyah Love). Can the same be true for tight ends with Oregon’s Kenyon Sadiq?

Most draft classes are fortunate to have that one quality tight end, a position that can be a huge difference maker if you find the right one as the last two dynasties featured dominant tight ends (Rob Gronkowski and Travis Kelce) as the quarterback’s favorite target.

The other unique thing about tight ends, historically, is that most of the best ones weren’t high draft picks. Gronkowski was a second-round pick and Kelce was a fifth-round pick. George Kittle went in the fifth round, Antonio Gates went undrafted, and Shannon Sharpe was a seventh-round pick despite sharing some of the genes of his brother Sterling.

The 2025 draft was unique in that it had two tight ends go in the top 14 picks, and it wasn’t the order most expected. Colston Loveland went No. 10 to the Bears while Tyler Warren, the projected No. 1 tight end in the class, went No. 14 to the Colts. Warren had a great start when his quarterback (Daniel Jones) was healthy, then Loveland caught fire late in the season to help the Bears make the playoffs. Let that debate rage on for years.

The class was also deep with Harold Fannin Jr. showing his Bowling Green production wasn’t a fluke as he had 72 catches for the Browns despite going in the third round. We also saw a fifth-round rookie tight end with good genes step up in Oronde Gadsden II, who had 664 yards for the Chargers.

How rare is four rookie tight ends with over 650 yards? There were only 11 other such seasons in NFL history before 2025, starting with Mike Ditka in 1961. But we’ve seen it seven times since 2023 when you add in Sam LaPorta, Dalton Kincaid, and Brock Bowers (2024’s standout prospect).

Finding a quality tight end is very important, so we’ll hopefully see some teams find some gold, high pick or not, in this 2026 class that hasn’t been overly praised for the tight end group. But if NFL front offices can routinely get this position wrong and see Hall of Famers slip to the later rounds, who really knows for sure what it takes to be a great tight end?

Using the prospect rankings from NFL Mock Draft Database, we are going to look at the top four tight ends this year projected for the top 100 picks, how their skills might translate to the NFL, and which team would be the best landing spot for them.

2026 NFL Draft - Tight End (Kenyon Sadiq, Oregon)

1. Kenyon Sadiq (Oregon) – No. 17 Overall Prospect

If you’re not that familiar with Kenyon Sadiq as you may have been with Brock Bowers or Tyler Warren in the last two drafts, it’s because he was not nearly that prolific in college. In three years at Oregon, Sadiq played in 42 games and had 80 catches for 892 yards and 11 touchdowns. His best season was 2025 when he had 51 catches for 560 yards and 8 touchdowns.

Oregon does like a strong running game, but the passing offense also threw the ball a decent amount with a quarterback likely to be a high pick in 2027 in Dante Moore. Sadiq also played behind Terrance Ferguson in 2023-24, who was a second-round pick by the Rams in 2025.

Sadiq’s claim to fame is going to be his athleticism. He’s basically a big wide receiver (6’3”), with the hurdling mindset of a running back, who can run a full route tree and attack defenses from a variety of angles, including after the ball is in his hands. He also ran a 4.39 40-yard dash (best ever by a tight end) and basically had the best scouting combine ever for an athletic tight end:

Sadiq’s athletic profile and the shortage of great tight ends in the NFL is likely going to vault his draft stock into the first round. But the concerns are his lack of production in three seasons in a great college offense, the overall lack of routes he ran being viewed as a negative for his ability to turn into a team’s primary target or a high-quality No. 2 target in a volume passing offense.

While his blocking hasn’t been given negative marks, it’s not enough of a strength at his lesser size for a tight end (6’3”, 241 pounds, shorter arms than average). He’s never going to be Gronk, in other words.

Detractors have labeled him “Fast Eric Ebron” or “Deluxe Chig Okonkwo” as they recall other talented prospects who didn’t live up to the hype in the NFL. At least Ebron led his team (2013 Tar Heels) in receiving his final year.

As is often the case, the landing spot will be crucial in determining if Sadiq can live up to the draft hype. But for a team that understands how to use him and not put too much on him right away, he certainly has a chance to be a useful player. Just might be a real luxury pick in the first round as he’s unlikely to be any team’s savior or leading receiver right away.

Best Fit – Carolina Panthers (No. 19 Pick)

We can likely hold off any idea of Sadiq going in the top 10 picks. The Chiefs (No. 9) are bringing back Travis Kelce, and the Bengals (No. 10) would just be embarrassing themselves if they added another pass catcher instead of focusing on the defense or offensive line.

Some have linked Sadiq to the Rams (No. 13), but I think they already have their own Oregon tight end (Ferguson) to continue developing first. Some have also mocked Sadiq to the Steelers (No. 21), which should get GM Omar Khan fired after the resources spent on tight end last year (Jonnu Smith trade) for a passing offense that can’t even get the ball to Pat Freiermuth after paying him. Not necessary at all.

Oddly enough, the Bears at No. 25 with Ben Johnson’s mind would be one of the best fits possible for Sadiq, but that’s unlikely to happen after they used such a high pick on Loveland last year.

Now if teams weren’t buying what Sadiq is selling and he happened to slip to No. 29, then yes, the Chiefs could certainly entertain getting this kind of athlete to pair with Patrick Mahomes for years to come with Kelce on his last legs. But he’s projected to go higher than that.

The Vikings (No. 18) could make some sense with T.J. Hockenson getting closer to 30. Sadiq could be his future replacement, and he’s gotten some comparisons to Trey McBride, and Kyler Murray is expected to be the new quarterback in Minnesota. That one would make some sense.

But the fit I like the most here is Carolina at No. 19. The Panthers haven’t really had a good tight end since Greg Olsen. Last year, no tight end reached 250 yards for the Panthers, and they’ve tried to make things work with the likes of Tommy Tremble, Ja’Tavion Sanders, and Mitchell Evans. None have panned out as hoped.

I think Bryce Young could use another big, athletic target after showing he can have success with a wide receiver like Tetairoa McMillan last year. You give him Sadiq to fix the tight end position and hope he can quickly develop into a second-leading receiver and maybe a red-zone weapon off play-action passes for Dave Canales’ offense.

2. Eli Stowers (Vanderbilt) – No. 56 Overall Prospect

Some analysts like Eli Stowers more than Kenyon Sadiq. Stowers is certainly well traveled with stops in Texas A&M (no catches in two years), New Mexico State (366 yards in 2023), and he caught on with Vanderbilt in the last two seasons with 1,407 yards there and 9 touchdown catches as he played with short quarterback Diego Pavia.

Stowers is 6’4” and runs a 4.51 40-yard dash. He averaged 12.1 yards per catch in college and was named the John Mackey Award winner for best tight end in 2025. Not bad for someone who was a quarterback and converted to tight end three years ago.

Stowers may not be the greatest route runner, but he’s got a huge catch radius (45.5” vertical jump) and he’s dangerous after the catch, two traits a smart OC can certainly utilize for someone who may not need to ever be the focal point of a passing game. With teams moving towards more personnel packages with multiple tight ends, Stowers could be a great second-round pick to help a smart team out.

Best Fit – Kansas City Chiefs (No. 40)

In my view, the Chiefs cannot go another year without addressing the future of the tight end position as Travis Kelce (37 in October) can’t play forever, and Noah Gray just looked bad last year. He’s not the future replacement for Kelce, and the Chiefs weren’t able to target anyone like Kyle Pitts (franchise tag) in free agency.

You have to do something at that position as the long-term prospects for Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy don’t look great, and Patrick Mahomes does some of his best work freelancing to a tight end. Get him a good athlete there, and the No. 40 pick on Eli Stowers is a good value for a player they can build up into something great in a couple of years.

Again, huge catch radius and big YAC ability would be a perfect fit for an offense with Mahomes pulling the trigger. The Chiefs have had a few options to add insurance behind Kelce, including Harold Fannin last year, and they haven’t done anything about it. This is the pick to do it.

If not, then the Raven at No. 45 could be an interesting landing spot with Isaiah Likely going to the Giants and Mark Andrews not getting any younger. We know Lamar Jackson an the Ravens appreciate the tight end position.

If he dips past the top 45, then those teams we talked about in the first round for Sadiq could be in the mix for Stowers at No. 49 (Vikings) and No. 51 (Panthers). He shouldn’t go past No. 62 (Broncos) as Denver could use a player like this too for Bo Nix.

3. Max Klare (Ohio State) – No. 71 Overall Prospect

Ohio State has been such a wide receiver factory for the NFL, but what about tight ends? Well, Max Klare is more familiar to Purdue fans since he spent his first three college seasons with the Boilermakers, racking up 685 yards and 4 touchdowns in the 2024 season alone before he transferred to Ohio State for his 2025 season. He had 448 yards as the third-leading receiver on the Buckeyes behind Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate.

Some feel he had better tape in Purdue in 2024 than he did for Ohio State, but everyone praises Klare’s athletic ability despite him not testing at the combine, which could hurt his draft stock. But he’s a good run blocker and could become a complete tight end at the NFL level.

Best Fit – Philadelphia Eagles (No. 68 Pick)

Klare has drawn comparisons to Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert, so why not see the Eagles make him their next tight end project with a high pick in the third round that they acquired from the Jets for Haason Reddick? Makes a lot of sense to me.

4. Oscar Delp (Georgia) – No. 93 Overall Prospect

Oscar Delp spent four years at Georgia (2022-25) where he spent half of that time learning from the great Brock Bowers. Delp is nowhere near that kind of receiving prospect, but he consistently had around 250 yards in each of his last three years and showed some good hands.

But Delp is more of a willing blocker than dynamic receiver, which is why he’ll likely slide to the third or fourth round. However, he can develop into a good in-line tight end to pair with a good move tight end.

Best Fit – New England Patriots (No. 95 Pick)

The Patriots lost Austin Hooper and Hunter Henry isn’t getting any younger. By adding Delp, the Patriots reload with a young prospect who can learn from Henry, replace Hooper’s production, and perhaps develop into a TE1 for Drake Maye in the near future. Seems like the kind of player from a good program that Mike Vrabel and company would love as a mid-round value pick.

But if the Patriots or these other teams don’t opt for one of these four tight ends, there are three other prospects projected to go in the fourth round who are tightly ranked together:

  • No. 110 Sam Roush (Stanford): Four-year Stanford player who peaked in 2025 with 545 yards as the second-leading receiver on a bad offense. But he’s a traditional in-line blocking tight end with great size (6’6”) and decent athleticism who has drawn comparisons to Dawson Knox (Bills).
  • No. 112 Justin Joly (NC State): Productive college player with 1,978 yards and 15 touchdowns in four years. Needs to work on his blocking and consistency with hands, but there are athletic traits to explore here for a move TE.
  • No. 114 Michael Trigg (Baylor): Five-year college player who had his most success at Baylor with 694 yards and 6 touchdowns in 2025. Good size and wingspan with the ability to make highlight-worthy catches as a move TE. Just needs to work on his consistency.

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Photo of Scott Kacsmar Scott Kacsmar31/03/2026 - 10:21 am