Fantasy football Week 8 TE preview: Colston Loveland, Kyle Pitts rise as bye weeks shake up rankings

George Kittle and Isaiah Likely are on bye, but Colston Loveland and Kyle Pitts are back inside the circle of trust

Oct 28, 2026 at 10:06 am ET • 2 min read

I'm not going to say it is a bad week at tight end but it is certainly a different week at tight end. Part of that is because George Kittle, Isaiah Likely, Juwan Johnson, and Dalton Schultz are on bye. Kittle and Likely have been two of the best at the position, while Schultz and Johnson are intermittent streamers at the very least. Another reason it looks so different from the last few weeks is that we are finally starting to trust Colston Loveland and Kyle Pitts again, while Pat Freiermuth and Tyler Higbee have fallen outside the circle of trust.

One thing that remains constant is that it is hard to have any idea what to do with Harold Fannin. Fannin has two games this season with 15 or more Fantasy points and three games with fewer than five. There is not much rhyme or reason to it. He has scored double-digit Fantasy points in all but one of their wins, which may be something, but the target share has been nearly as unpredictable as the Fantasy production. This week, he faces the Steelers for the second time this season, and even that game is an enigma. He only caught three of five targets for 27 yards, but he scored a touchdown, so it was a fine day in Fantasy. That's kind of what we expect this week. Fannin is not a top-12 guy, and he is not someone you need to run away from. He's someone that you start if you don't want to use another roster spot on a tight end, or don't already have someone better.

QB | RB | WR | TE

Here's everything else you need to know about tight end in Week 8:

Week 8 TE Preview

• 19 -- Colston Loveland has seen 19 targets in his last two games. This is what we were hoping for to start the year. Even in a bad matchup, you can start him.
• 4 -- Kyle Pitts has scored four touchdowns in seven games. Last year, he set his career high in touchdowns with five.
• 2.37 -- Dalton Kincaid's 2.37 yards per route run ranks second to George Kittle. Kincaid is a borderline TE1 coming off his bye.
• 8 -- Sam LaPorta's eight targets inside the 10-yard line rank second behind Trey McBride. Don't be discouraged by Week 7.
• 22.5% -- Brenton Strange has a 22.5% target share since Week 4. That's tied with Parker Washington for the best mark on the Jaguars.
• 88.9% -- Chigoziem Okonkwo had an 88.9% route share in Week 6, which was a season high. He could be a good streamer with Terry McLaurin out.

My full set of Week 8 Fantasy football projections for every position is now available here. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don't live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 8. Projected stats for all starting tight ends are updated throughout the week, so check back before you set your lineup for the latest information.