Trey McBride was one of the best values in fantasy football last season. Arizona has since changed coaching staffs and invested heavily in its backfield. His draft cost now sits at the 2/3 turn. Should fantasy managers pay that price for McBride in 2026?
Should You Draft Trey McBride in Fantasy Football?
This is a dual-edged sword, and it’s a tough question because McBride is a great player. I don’t think there’s any concern about that. He has 237 catches over the past two seasons. That’s a count that not many tight ends have in targets, let alone catches.
We saw Jacoby Brissett unlock him for 11 touchdowns a season ago, when we thought scoring was a problem. Turns out that’s a Kyler Murray problem. He can’t see over the linemen. Yes, there’s some risk here that Brissett gets benched coming down the stretch if Arizona is 3-10, is fighting for nothing, and wants to see what Carson Beck has. But you know what Carson Beck is? He’s 6’4″. That’s half a foot taller than Kyler Murray, and I think that’s all it takes to get McBride the ball. When a dude like this is open across the middle of the field, you get him the ball if you can see him. To me, it’s not a major concern. I prefer Brissett in there, of course, but I think the risk of Carson Beck is a little bit overblown here.
The concern here is the price tag. He’s going in the late 2nd round, and that’s a crazy premium to pay for a onesie position. I would prefer him to Josh Allen, I guess, if we were comparing onesie positions, and I do have him ranked over Brock Bowers by the thinnest of margins. But to be honest with you, I haven’t landed on him once this offseason. If he falls, he falls. We can have that discussion in the middle of round 3, but at the end of round 2, I don’t think there’s enough separation from him in tier 2 at the tight end position. You’ve got guys like Tyler Warren and Colston Loveland who could be primed to enter this tier and completely wipe out the pick differential there.
While I think he’s going to be great, I don’t think McBride scores 11 times again. If that dips to 7, is he giving you this kind of production over replacement? I don’t think he is. I’m getting guys like Isaiah Likely a ton late in drafts, not because I think he’s a superior player, but because the dollars make sense when it comes to a guy like that.
McBride is a great player with a great season coming, and the same goes for Brock Bowers. Am I drafting either where their price tags dictate? No.
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Trey McBride’s Week 1 Fantasy Outlook
The Chargers may have owned the 4th-best red-zone defense in 2025, and the sheer volume of passes thrown by the Cardinals this year is close to a lock to regress in a massive way, but none of that should make you the least bit worried about big #85.
McBride has 2 fewer catches than Brock Bowers has targets since the start of 2024, establishing him as the premium floor play at the very least.
It goes without saying that there is tremendous upside in terms of both per target and per game, regardless of the matchup. Some metrics look tough for the Bolts, but they were worse than league average in YPA allowed on balls thrown under 10 yards, and they had the 10th-worst TD% allowed to tight ends in 2025.
No defense is perfect, and no defense has presented a real blueprint for stopping McBride. That, naturally, doesn’t mean the Cards are going to score in bunches, but a “let him get his and just make sure to contain the rest” scheme is very much in play this week (and, for that matter, every week against Arizona), something that should allow McBride to give you the positional edge you drafted him for.
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Where McBride Ranks Among 2026 Tight Ends
- Brock Bowers | LV
- Trey McBride | ARI
- Colston Loveland | CHI
- Tucker Kraft | GB
- Tyler Warren | IND
- Sam LaPorta | DET
- George Kittle | SF
- Harold Fannin Jr. | CLE
- Kyle Pitts Sr. | ATL
- Dalton Kincaid | BUF
- Isaiah Likely | NYG
Analysts Jason Katz and Kyle Soppe rank every tight end on PFN's 2026 PPR Consensus Board.
