Colston Loveland, Your Next Elite Fantasy Football Tight End

Tight Ends are one of the most divisive prospects in fantasy football. Every year, there are arguments about the viability of players at different price points. Yet, in the end, few tight ends matter in any given season. There are the elites and the late-round values. Players like Travis Kelce in the past or Trey McBride in 2025 perform so much better than everyone else at the position that their expensive cost doesn’t matter. Then there’s Harold Fannin from last year or Jonnu Smith from 2024 who far outplay their cost. In 2026, Colston Loveland is poised to join the former.

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A Top Prospect

Colston Loveland was a highly regarded junior-declare prospect coming to the NFL after a productive career at Michigan. While there, Loveland put up a career 2.2 Yards per Route Run, with a high of 2.7 in his final year. Through his time in college, his production came in different ways as well. As a freshman, his Average Depth of Target was 10.3, and he was used down the field more. As a junior, though, his average depth of target (aDOT) lowered to 7.1, and he showed off his after-the-catch ability.

In addition to his changing average depth of target, Loveland’s alignment changed as well, highlighting his versatility. Over his college career, he played in-line between 31.6% and 57.8% of the time, and played in the slot between 31.2% and 49.1%. No slouch as a blocker, Loveland’s time in college showed why he was a complete prospect coming into the NFL.

Leading up to draft day, Loveland was in a tight battle with Tyler Warren to see who would be the first tight end taken. Loveland won that battle with the Bears selecting him 10th overall, making him tied for the fifth earliest drafted tight end since 2000.

End-of-Season Dominance

Like many rookie tight ends, Loveland’s first season started slowly. Over his first four games, he had a combined four receptions. For the season, Loveland still averaged 8.5 half PPR PPG while earning a 16.4% target share with a 1.96 yards per route run, which was sixth among tight ends. Those are great numbers for a rookie, but he was even better if you isolate the back half of the season into the playoffs.

From Week 9 on, Loveland averaged 13.2 PPR PPG as he became the leading pass game weapon for the Bears. He did so while posting an impressive 2.26 yards per route run, which would have been second among all tight ends for the season, and a 20.2% target share.

Even more impressive, during the Bears' final three games of their season, including the playoffs, all of which were must-win games, Colston Loveland was dominant in yards per route run. In their wildcard win against the Packers, when the Bears had to have a two-point conversion to survive, they drew up a play to isolate Loveland, who, of course, converted.

Most games with 90 yards and a TD by a rookie TE over the last 50 years..

Brock Bowers - 3
Colston Loveland - 3 pic.twitter.com/HrrEfn1kcW

— Underdog (@Underdog) January 9, 2026

A Cluttered Offense

As with all of the main pass-game weapons for the Bears, the biggest concern is if anyone can separate from the others. The cliché “too many mouths to feed” was practically created for Loveland heading into 2026. All of Loveland, Luther Burden, and Rome Odunze have a good argument for warranting a large target share this season.

Rome Odunze’s time so far in the NFL has had its ups and downs, but there’s reason to believe he could still break out fully. His rookie season was uneventful, although he still managed to earn 101 targets on another crowded offense. Then, to start 2025, Odunze was on fire. He averaged 13.3 half PPR PPG through his first seven games before a foot injury hampered the rest of his season. Luther Burden came into the NFL as a prospect with loads of potential and worries about whether it could translate. It took time, and occasionally the red flags showed themselves, but Burden still managed an impressive 2.79 yards per route run as a rookie.

As noted above, Loveland, however, boasted the most impressive run of production among the three during his end-of-season supremacy. Loveland has the biggest claim to targets of the three, as he showed. Additionally, even if the targets are split somewhat evenly between them, as a tight end, Loveland benefits the most. It takes less to be an impact player at his position.

Ben Johnson - key words re: Colston Loveland:

One of the most consistent players he’s been around (he notes that’s saying a lot for a young guy)

Always in early and in his playbook - thrives in pressure

Lot of trust with QBs + Coaches

Taking his route tree to next level https://t.co/bJw1V5yxX6

— Zain Dhanani (@DhananiZain) June 9, 2026

Bottom Line

• Colston Loveland was a fantastic prospect who showed immense upside as a rookie. A second-year leap should be the expectation.
• Acting as the Bear’s lead pass catcher towards the end of the 2025 season through the playoffs and his top production during that time shows he’s on the path to join the elite tier of tight ends.
• While he has plenty of competition for targets, Loveland has shown the ability to rise above the rest and is a nice choice at his ADP of 40 (TE3) according to 4for4's Multi-Site ADP tool.