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2026 Fantasy Outlook

Brenton Strange

TE · Jaguars

Jaguars

Extended TE1

TE19

ADP (134 ovr)

124.8

Proj Half-PPR

60

Proj Rec

648

Proj Rec Yds

Strange took over the Jacksonville tight end job in 2025 and made it a career year, catching 46 passes for 540 yards while holding an 80% snap share as the every-down option. A quad injury cost him five games on injured reserve, most of the gap between that 12-game line and a full season.

The setup for 2026 hardened this offseason. Jacksonville signed him to a three-year, $48 million extension in June, which ends any question about whether the job is his. Liam Coen enters his second year as play-caller and has said he wants to lean on heavier tight end sets, which would turn more of Strange's snaps into two-tight-end looks. The ceiling on all of it is target share: he has held around 11% even as a full-time starter, because Brian Thomas Jr., Travis Hunter, and Parker Washington take most of the downfield volume.

QB Quality

Trevor Lawrence is a middling starter by the per-attempt numbers, but he closed 2025 on the best stretch of his career, and his strengths line up with how Strange is used. Lawrence is steady on short throws and grades near the top of the league against single-high and man coverage, the same looks where Strange does his best work. Where it doesn't help Strange is downfield: Lawrence's deeper throws go to Brian Thomas Jr., not the tight end averaging 6.6 air yards a target.

Playcall

Coen runs a McVay-tree offense built on under-center zone runs, jet motion, and play-action, and Strange's blocking is what makes the play-action work. His 2026 comes down to personnel rate. Jacksonville lived in 11 personnel last year, and Coen has said he wants the heavier 12- and 13-personnel packages he ran with the Rams. If that shift is real, the snaps Strange already plays become more two-tight-end target chances; if it stays talk, his role looks like last year's.

Competition

Quintin Morris

Blocking-first veteran, the number two tight end.

TE2
Morris fills the second tight end spot in two-TE sets and on running downs. He is not a receiving threat and does not push Strange for targets.

Nate Boerkircher

Rookie tight end, depth behind Strange.

ROOKIE
A rookie added for depth. Any 2026 snaps come on special teams or in blowouts.

Tanner Koziol

Undrafted rookie fighting for a roster spot.

UDFA
Signed as an undrafted free agent, Koziol is competing at the back of the room and profiles as a practice-squad candidate more than a snap-count factor.

Scheme Fit

Best run-blocking TE in football keeps him on the field85.1 zone run-block grade, 2nd among NFL tight ends in 2025 (85.6 on an earlier PFF cut).
Separates like a slot despite the in-line role3.91 yards of average separation, above the ~3.0 TE baseline and up from 3.04 in 2024.
Chain-mover on third down and short+0.613 EPA on third-down targets; +0.416 EPA on 50 short targets.
Receiving efficiency led the position+31.4 receiving EPA in 2025, 1st among tight ends and 12th among all receivers.
Target share stuck behind a loaded receiver room11.0% target share and 8.5% air-yards share, flat from 2024 despite the every-down role.
Little juice in the red zone or on contested balls11 red-zone targets for -0.005 EPA; 2 of 7 contested catches (29% vs ~45% league average); -0.23 YAC over expected.

Key Variables

  • Does Coen's heavier-personnel plan actually convert Strange's 80% snap share into more targets, or does the 11% share hold?
  • Can he keep his target share with Brian Thomas Jr., Travis Hunter, and Parker Washington ahead of him for air yards?
  • Does he play a full 17 games after the 2025 quad cost him five?
  • Is Lawrence's late-2025 form real, and does the added efficiency reach the tight end or stay with the deep receivers?

Fantasy Range

Bull

TE5

A real heavy-TE shift plus a full season pushes him to a 70-catch, 800-yard chain-mover.

Base

TE12

Around 60 catches and 650 yards, held down by target share while the every-down snaps stay locked in.

Bear

TE18

The receiver room eats the target growth, or another injury hits, and he lands as a low-end streamer.

Health

Strange stayed healthy through his first two seasons before a 2025 quad injury, first called a hip, sent him to injured reserve after Week 5. He missed five games and returned in Week 12 without surgery. Nothing about it carries into 2026, and the missed time accounts for most of the gap between his 12-game production and a healthy line.

Take the discount at TE19 if training-camp reports confirm Jacksonville is actually running two-tight-end sets; if the personnel talk stays talk, let him slide to the streamer pile.

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