Tight ends are taking on bigger and bigger roles in the modern NFL.
No longer are tight ends just the forgotten sixth man at the end of the offensive line. Nowadays, some of the league's best offenses are built around a powerful tight end, one that can block but also split out wide and attack defenses down the field as a pass catcher.
Brock Bowers might be the best young tight end in the league, though sophomore Colston Loveland is fast on his heels and Sam LaPorta is a fine young TE himself.
I'm betting on all three guys to have big seasons ahead with a handful of season-long props.
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NFL Tight End Futures Bets, Predictions
Brock Bowers TEs Rec Yards Leader (+350)
Brock Bowers Over 82.5 Receptions (-115)
Brock Bowers NFL Receptions Leader (+2500)
Bowers has played only two NFL seasons but is already an absolute star.
He struggled through injuries last season, finishing with just 64 catches for 680 yards and seven scores, but his rookie season told a different story. In his NFL debut, Bowers racked up 112 catches for 1,194 yards on 153 targets, earning a First Team All-Pro berth with his dominance.
Even last year with disappointing numbers, Bowers had one game with 12 receptions for 127 yards and three scores, and his 17-game pace after returning from early injury was 96 catches and 967 yards on 125 targets, not far off his rookie pace even as he struggled through injury.
Now that Bowers is healthy again, there's a lot of reason to believe he should be in for a huge season.
For all the fantasy football questions about whether Tre Tucker, Jalen Nailor, or Jack Bech is the Raiders' WR1, isn't the answer pretty obvious?
It's Brock Bowers.
He's by far the most talented option, and Kirk Cousins has made a career of throwing to his TE security blanket. Many rookie QBs love an easy security blanket target too, so Bowers should thrive under Fernando Mendoza eventually.
And then you remember new Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak and how he's opened up offenses in Seattle and New Orleans the last two seasons. Kubiak is a wizard in the run game and does a great job elevating offensive lines, and that should help Bowers get back to what he does best — leaving the line to do the dirty work and racking up catches and yardage downfield instead.
Lest you forget, Kubiak coached the reigning Offensive Player of the Year last season in Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and he fed him early and often. JSN had 8+ targets in 13-of-17 games (76%), and he had double-digit targets in over half of them. He had 8+ receptions in 10 games (59%).
That's actually not all that far from the numbers Bowers put up as a rookie for the Raiders. He had 8+ targets in 11-of-17 games (65%), and he too had double-digit targets in over half of his final 13 games that year once he settled in.
If Bowers stays healthy, that should set him up for at least 150 targets, as he had as a rookie and like JSN had last year (163, actually). That's huge volume for a tight end and sets up some monster numbers.
Bowers has caught 74% of his passes in his career, even with poor QB play, and JSN was at 73% last season under Kubiak. The math on 150+ targets means over 110 receptions if that plays out, and even at Bowers' career 10.6 yards per catch, that would mean almost 1,200 yards. And as talented as Bowers is, there could be potential for more.
I'm ready to invest.
If you play fantasy football, I'm paying just about any price I have to for Bowers in an auction league, especially if it's PPR.
In the world of betting, I'm building a full Bowers escalator.
I love Bowers to go over 82.5 receptions (-115, DraftKings). Even last year, playing through injuries for most of the season, Bowers was at a 91-catch pace for the season. If he can stay on the field, this one should be a cinch.
I'm also playing Bowers at +350 to lead all tight ends in receiving yards.
Trey McBride is the top contender there, but I see McBride stepping back this season after a fluke outlier role while Arizona tanked and passed at outrageous rates down the stretch.
With Marvin Harrison Jr. healthy and Jeremiyah Love in tow, the Cardinals have plenty of other options and McBride should drop back to the pack a bit. He's no match for Bowers, by talent or situation.
But Bowers has so much potential that he could compete with wide receivers, too. I think he has a real chance to lead the entire league in receptions, so I'll play that too at +2500 (bet365).
Over the last four seasons, we've seen six seasons of 120+ receptions. That's at least one each season, but only one of those hit 130.
A tight end ranked top-four in receptions in all four of those years, always at 110 or better.
If Bowers is the top tight end, he should be in range. He'll likely need to get into the 120s to cash this, and health is always a bigger risk for tight ends, but if we get 17 full games, there's every reason to believe Bowers could contend for the receptions crown.
Sam LaPorta TEs TDs Leader (+2000)
Bowers hasn't been a huge touchdown guy, with only 12 in two seasons — obviously in part because the Raiders aren't exactly setting him up for a ton of scoring opportunities. As much as I love Bowers, I'm looking elsewhere for tight end touchdowns.
Over the last four seasons, we've had five TE seasons with double-digit touchdowns. That's at least one per season but a max of 12 TDs, and even that was just once. That means we're looking for a tight end that can get to 10 TDs to have a shot at this.
Can LaPorta score 10 TDs? That answer is definitively yes — because LaPorta did it already!
He led all tight ends with 10 TDs as a rookie in 2023, so he's one of those five names we just mentioned. He had seven as a sophomore — still a nice number — before dropping to three in an injury-plagued, nine-game campaign last season.
But this year, LaPorta has a secret weapon.
Remember that huge season Trey McBride had last year? He racked up 11 TDs out of the blue after scoring only six in his previous three NFL seasons, despite catching 221 balls during that stretch. He did it with former tight ends coach Drew Petzing calling the plays for Arizona — Petzing is now the Lions' offensive coordinator.
Because tight ends are so versatile, we're starting to see TE coaches blossom into versatile playcallers, and you don't have to tell Detroit that — that's what Ben Johnson was before breaking out in his playcalling role.
LaPorta has already shown he can push double-digit touchdowns, and Detroit has a few more TDs to go around this season with the departure of short-yardage specialist David Montgomery.
If Petzing pushes LaPorta to another level, he could lead the league.
Colston Loveland TEs TDs Leader (+1100)
Colston Loveland Over 69.5 Receptions (-115)
Oh hey, speaking of Ben Johnson, what about his new tight end?
Johnson was in Detroit for those two standout LaPorta seasons, and now he's got an even better talent on his hands in Colston Loveland.
Loveland was the first draft pick of the Ben Johnson era in Chicago, and we're already starting to see why. Loveland looks like a future All-Pro — outstanding both as a blocker and a pass catcher — a guy that can do everything in any role.
Loveland finished with 58 catches for 713 yards and six scores as a rookie, but it took him a while to get going.
From Week 9 forward, once Loveland caught his stride, his 17-game pace was far more impressive at 80 catches for 1,015 yards and 10 TDs, and his production in the playoffs was even better. Including the postseason, Loveland ended the year with four straight games with double-digit targets.
D.J. Moore is gone now, and while everyone in fantasy argues over whether they prefer Rome Odunze or Luther Burden III, the right answer might just be Loveland.
Loveland's season-long receptions prop at 69.5 catches is far too low, just 12 higher than last season when he missed a game and didn't really break out until the second half of the season.
He should also be a consistent touchdown threat in this offense, and Johnson has already shown he loves to get the ball to his TEs in the red zone. Remember, Loveland was on pace for double-digit scores in the second half of last season.
If I can't get Bowers somehow in fantasy football this season, Loveland is the next TE on my list.
