Isaiah Likely to the Giants: Fantasy Football Fallout

One three-year, $40m contract later, Isaiah Likely is out of the shadow of Mark Andrews. While he didn’t find a landing spot with the New York Giants that has a completely clear tight end depth chart, he did get quickly reunited with former Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, which gives us an indication that the 19th-year head coach has a plan on the table for the pass-catcher. Former Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy has a storied history with tight end production, but that’s also tied to the best player at his position over the last decade of the NFL, so how will these familiarities to both Likely and a great TE tie into the new Giants’ fantasy football outlook?

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Isaiah Likely’s Tight End Profile

There’s no denying that when Isaiah Likely has been given an opportunity, he’s delivered. The challenge has been volume; Likely never exceeded roughly a 50% snap share during his time in Baltimore. As anyone who’s had to stream the position over the last few years knows, if Mark Andrews is off the field, his teammate is very much in play for fantasy lineups. We’ve had various bouts of extremely worthwhile outputs, most notably his Week 1, 2024 explosion of 9-111-1 and a season-ending six-week stretch in 2023 in which he averaged 3.5 receptions for 53.7 yards and 0.8 touchdowns for 12.1 half-PPR points per game.

Per our Market Share Splits App, Likely has been a very clear TE1 during games in which Andrews played ten snaps or less from 2023-2025, essentially operating as an easy click at 9.2 half-PPR PPG. The only issue is, he’s been a touchdown-or-bust option throughout almost the rest of his tenure with Baltimore.

Tight ends aren’t known for massive yards per route run, but Likely has been well below-average through most of his career when we add back in the games he has shared with a running mate. Even with these moments as a featured player with the Ravens, he sat at a 1.40 YPRR mark in 2025 (36th/69 qualifiers), while his targets per route run finished below 45th for the second time in two years (0.16/0.15). We’d have to wonder if that would have been three years in a row without that aforementioned 111-yard game to kick off the 2024 season (he ranked 50th from Weeks 2-18), but in a TE landscape where we’re scraping for big performances, that feels a little rude.

Likely is a potential underneath/YAC tight end who was never able to make quite enough noise to unseat Lamar Jackson’s favorite target. A new start means a new quarterback who can open up opportunities, but he’s still going to have to unseat a large-body receiver who is on the other end of the age spectrum from Andrews.

How Isaiah Likely Fits in New York

With incumbent Theo Johnson entering his third season with the Giants, there is a bit more of a blocker to easy production than potential drafters (and Dynasty managers) would have liked. Though with how many teams in the NFL are leaning into heavier, multi-TE personnel, it was always a distinct possibility that Likely was going to have a running mate. That’s the bad news. The good news: the Giants have a pretty wide-open target competition behind Malik Nabers (when healthy), and periodic two-TE sets don’t necessarily mean that Likely is going to be an in-line blocker all too often.

Coming out of college, Johnson was looked at as a bit of a project after failing to hit 1,000 career receiving yards through four years at Penn State, lining up in-line on roughly 48% of his snaps. Through two professional campaigns, he has already become more of a pass-catching weapon (including a 45-528-5 ‘25 season), though he was still in-line on 42.7% of his snaps in 2024 before necessity forced the Giants’ hands in featuring someone out of the slot after Malik Nabers went down with his torn ACL. Likely, however, is coming off a season (with John Harbaugh/Todd Monken) in which he lined up out wide (11.2%) nearly as much as he did in-line (14.5%).

If either of those two is going to operate as a “big slot” when the team spreads out the offense for Jaxson Dart, the former Raven is the one we should assume gets the nod more often than not. And with shifty, mostly slot-only player Wan’Dale Robinson (Titans) leaving town, it would make sense for the team to look toward another option to soak up those quick catch-and-run scenarios. Of course, the 6’4”, 240-pound addition probably isn’t going to be the screen merchant that the 5’8”, 185-pound Robinson was, but that doesn’t rule out the possibility that they try to mismatch Likely up the seam or on quick hitches in coverage gaps.

Dart’s ability to extend plays outside the pocket could also benefit Likely, whose best moments in Baltimore often came when plays broke down, and he was able to uncover downfield.

Depending on how you’re looking at his contract layout, Likely is either a top-7 or top-3 paid tight end in the league after his signing, so even just looking at that number gives you an idea that the Giants plan to make them an important piece of their offense. But even if we could rule out the idea that he’s simply a rotational piece, how high is his ceiling in 2026?

Fantasy Outlook for the Giants’ Pass-Catchers

Regardless of scheme or coaching changes, there’s no doubt that the passing offense is going to run through Malik Nabers when he returns to the field. Everyone else will be playing second-fiddle, including a potential rookie wide receiver, who New York has been tied to as high as their first-round, No. 5 overall pick. No matter how highly we may or may not think of Isaiah Likely, this signing doesn’t come close to precluding the team from adding more pass catchers.

The big question for Likely, Johnson, Darius Slayton, and any other ancillary pieces in this offense is whether or not they grab some veteran wide receiver help through the rest of free agency, spend massive draft capital at the position, or add more developmental pieces on Day 2/3. All signs point toward a first-round talent, but if they decide to address the offensive line, things open up a bit behind Nabers.

As it stands, there are a lot of “ifs” impeding the path for Likely to come out and be a consistent fantasy contributor. Even if he clearly overtakes Johnson as the team’s TE1 between-the-20s, the 6’6”, 265-pound counterpart proved his effectiveness in the red zone as a sophomore (four touchdowns on eleven targets) and was seemingly on an upward fantasy trajectory prior to this signing. Not to mention they’ll both have their hands full fighting off Nabers and what will presumably be a rookie WR2.

Likely presumably has the higher ceiling of the two, but unless we’re expecting a true offensive explosion this season, both he and Johnson should be considered respective mid and low-end TE2s, while neither player figures to make a dent in Nabers' outlook as a bona fide WR1.

Bottom Line

• Isaiah Likely finally gets the opportunity to operate outside the shadow of Mark Andrews, but his path to consistent fantasy relevance in New York is far from clear. While the Giants’ target tree behind Malik Nabers remains relatively open, the presence of Theo Johnson and the possibility of another pass-catcher arriving through the draft could make this a frustrating weekly situation for fantasy managers.
• Likely’s versatility as a move tight end and his ability to uncover when plays break down could make him a valuable piece for Jaxson Dart, but the Giants’ offense doesn’t currently project as one that will support multiple high-end fantasy pass catchers. Even if Likely establishes himself as the primary receiving tight end, Johnson’s size and red-zone usage could siphon away some of the touchdown upside that would be necessary for a true breakout.
• With Likely and Charlie Kolar both leaving town, Andrews sits alone on the Baltimore Ravens depth chart (for now). Though the team may still try to preserve him as he ages, he profiles as a solid TE2 somewhere between Likely and Johnson.
• According to current Underdog ADP, Likely is coming off boards in the TE20–TE24 range in the 14th round. That would be a fantastic, low-risk price to pay for the upside of a new role and uncertainty surrounding his weekly usage, but we should expect that to climb precipitously over the coming months. He does have spike-week potential, but expecting consistent TE1 production would require a clearer separation from Johnson and a meaningful step forward from the Giants’ passing offense. Think of him more in the TE14-TE16 range.