Colston Loveland Fantasy Outlook 2026: The Late-Season Split Is The Entire Case

The rookie baseline, in two distinct halves

Colston Loveland finished his first season as the twelfth tight end in fantasy with 165.1 PPR points across 16 games, averaging 10.3 per week. He caught 58 passes on 713 yards and six touchdowns, clearing his posted line of 45 receptions and 550.5 yards by a comfortable margin.

What makes the finish misleading is how unevenly it arrived. Through Week 14 he averaged 4.1 targets per game and posted exactly one game over 15 fantasy points. Over the final four weeks he averaged 12.0 targets per game, cleared 10 targets in each game, and posted three of his four best weeks of the season.

He ranked eighth among tight ends in yards per reception and yards per route run for the full year, which means the efficiency was already in place. The only thing that changed in December was Chicago deciding to use him like a primary pass-catcher instead of a blocking tight end who occasionally runs routes.

He averaged 4.1 targets per game through Week 14, then 12.0 per game over the final four weeks. The projection assumes the late-season usage becomes the year-round norm.

What the market is paying for in year two

Our board ranks him 51 overall with 188.0 implied PPR points. ESPN has him 42 and drafters take him at 42.0, which puts him as a fourth-round pick and the fourth tight end off the board. The projection is 69.5 receptions, 829 yards, and 5.5 touchdowns.

That yardage projection is 278 yards higher than what the market posted before his rookie season, and it assumes the late-season target volume becomes the full-season norm. If you pro-rate his final four weeks across 17 games, you get 102 receptions and 935 yards. The posted projection is lower than that, which means the market is discounting the late surge rather than assuming it repeats exactly.