Juwan Johnson offers little excitement on a per-play basis, but the production profile speaks for itself, and this is an offense I’m interested in investing in. Tyler Shough certainly feels like a QB that fantasy football managers can count on, and with limited pass-catcher depth, the veteran TE profiles as a nice pick at his current ADP.
Should You Draft Juwan Johnson in Fantasy Football?
For a lot of these series, I think they’re interesting questions. I don’t think this one is. The market is underestimating what Johnson could do.
I understand that he turns 30 in September. I’m not too worried about it. The age curve is all over the place in the NFL these days. He wasn’t heavily used early in his career, so he might be 30 in people years, but he might be younger in NFL years.
He’s my TE11. The industry doesn’t have him as a top-15 guy. I think you can plug and play this guy from the start of the season and realistically be fine. He had a career-high 77 catches a season ago. That’s a big number for any tight end, let alone one that didn’t have 70 targets in a season prior. I think it’s all legit.
We’re talking a lot of underneath stuff, I get it. But this Kellen Moore offense is going to run uptempo. It was number one in the league in pace last season, and I don’t see that changing with Tyler Shough entering Year 2. Chris Olave is an alpha receiver that’s going to attract a lot of defensive attention. He’s going to lead this team in targets. That’s just a fact. But there’s still plenty of meat left on this bone, with Jordyn Tyson out through at least September and potentially longer with this lingering injury.
I think Johnson’s the next target. The running game’s going to generate some targets here, and I’m not buying Alvin Kamara as a threat in 2026 at all. So you’re getting Johnson at a very reasonable price here. Realistically, in most drafts, you don’t have to draft him until the very end. He’s going outside the top 150 as of early September. In most leagues where you’re not drafting two tight ends, that means you can get him when kickers and defenses are coming off the board and slot in your starting tight end from the jump.
I’ve got him at TE11. I think he’s going to score around 5 touchdowns. I don’t think he’s going to score a ton. But if he can go over that number and haul in somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 to 85 passes in this offense that I expect to be better than last year, sign me up.
This guy’s a PPR machine. He’s going to offer a ton of top-15 weeks. I don’t think you get many top-5 weeks out of him, but at this draft cost, you’re not asking for that. If he can hit your lineup on a consistent basis, he’s going to return positively on your investment, and I think he does. Give me plenty of Johnson in 2026.
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Juwan Johnson’s Week 1 Fantasy Outlook
The Jordyn Tyson hamstring injury doesn’t hurt the value of Olave, obviously, but the increased defensive attention does complicate that ranking a bit. I don’t think that’s the case for Johnson, the player who moved the most positionally for me as a result of the news in August.
Among QBs who started last year and will again this year, Shough ranked second in red-zone completion percentage (70.6%, behind only Jalen Hurts), and that precision, along with the lack of target competition in the short term, gives Johnson a real chance to set a career high in touchdowns.
He hauled in 77 passes a year ago, not bad for a TE who had never earned that many targets in a season prior. He’s averaged 11+ yards per catch in three of his four seasons since assuming a regular role for the Saints, and the combination of play-making with touchdown-scoring is more than enough to justify sliding him into the back end of the TE1 rankings this week, even against a defense that allowed the fourth-lowest completion percentage on balls thrown to the position (67.2%).
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Where Johnson Ranks Among 2026 Tight Ends
- George Kittle | SF
- Harold Fannin Jr. | CLE
- Kyle Pitts Sr. | ATL
- Dalton Kincaid | BUF
- Isaiah Likely | NYG
- Juwan Johnson | NO
- Jake Ferguson | DAL
- Dallas Goedert | PHI
- Travis Kelce | KC
- Mark Andrews | BAL
- Chig Okonkwo | WAS
Want to dive in more? PFN's Complete PPR Tight End Rankings are updated weekly.
