Position Battles That Matter for Fantasy in Training Camp: WR/TE

After discussing quarterback and running back training camp battles earlier in the week, it’s time to dive into training camp battles for wide receivers and tight ends. Unlike the prior positions, most true training camp battles among pass catchers are for the last few roster spots on specific teams. For the purpose of this piece, we’ll look at wide receivers and tight ends who are more than likely to make their respective rosters, but identifying, through a fantasy football lens, who is more valuable than others.

2026 Training Camp Battles: Wide Receiver and Tight End

Jacksonville Jaguars

Candidates: Brian Thomas Jr., Parker Washington, Jakobi Meyers The Jaguars’ passing game presents a “champagne problem” for fantasy football managers. Brian Thomas Jr., Jakobi Meyers and Parker Washington are all available at somewhat similar average draft positions. So, who’s the best value? The good news for all three is that both quarterback Trevor Lawrence and head coach and playcaller Liam Coen are returning this season. Jacksonville averaged the 12^th-most passing yards per game (222.3) last season, including 256.3 passing yards per game over the final three weeks of the season. It wasn’t until early November that the Jaguars acquired Meyers via trade from the Raiders. Washington began to break out at about the same time, while Thomas battled through injuries. Over the final 10 games of the season, including playoffs, Meyers averaged 6.5 targets per game with 7.2 per game for Washington. Though the volume was the same, Meyers averaged just 49.5 yards per game while Washington averaged 74.7, including 113.5 per game over the final four games. It’s probably best to invest in Washington with expectations of carrying momentum from the end of last season into this one; consider, too, that he’s entering the final year of his rookie contract. Thomas still has big play upside and, assuming last year’s struggles were injury-related, could come at a major discount. This training camp battle is more about seeing how the Jaguars plan to deploy these two and Meyers ahead of a full season together.

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Miami Dolphins

Candidates: Caleb Douglas, Chris Bell, Jalen Tolbert, Tutu Atwell, Malik Washington, Greg Dulcich

We’ll stick around in Florida for this next training camp battle that also has a handful of pass-catching options but a lot more question marks on an offense that’s expected to be far worse than the aforementioned Jaguars. Miami selected Caleb Douglas and Chris Bell in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft. They also signed Jalen Tolbert and Tutu Atwell in free agency a month prior. All of the above are more likely to be available on fantasy football waiver wires, if there’s even interest, than to be selected in fantasy drafts. The focus on training camp, at least to start, should be on wide receiver Malik Washington and tight end Greg Dulcich. Despite an overall of the front office and coaching staff, these two players remain from last season, as well as offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik. The Dolphins are moving forward with quarterback Malik Willis, as well, who signed a three-year, $67.5 million contract despite just six career starts for two teams in four seasons. It may just be best to fade this entire offense. However, if there’s an established top target that emerges during training camp, they could be an asset in fantasy football especially with the assumption that the Dolphins are a high-volume passing offense playing from behind often.

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Las Vegas Raiders

Candidates: Tre Tucker, Jack Bech, Jalen Nailor After selecting rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the first overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Raiders failed to add a rookie receiver with any of their other picks. In fact, signing Jalen Nailor to a surprising three-year, $35.03 million deal is the only notable addition to the passing game now led by head coach, and former Seahawks offensive coordinator, Klint Kubiak. Kubiak has already referred to tight end Brock Bowers as a “football robot from heaven.” He’s expected to lead the Raiders in targets and overall pass-catching production this season. Hopefully fantasy managers can look forward to Ashton Jeanty remaining involved in the passing game again in 2026 after drawing 73 targets as a rookie last season. The training camp battle worth monitoring is who, if any, of wide receivers Nailor, Tre Tucker and Jack Bech are worth having on fantasy football rosters. Albeit a new offense and playcaller this season, Tucker has seen an increase in targets from 34 to 81 to 92 over the last three seasons despite the Raiders having seven different starting quarterbacks since the 2023 season. He’s exceeded 50 receiving yards just 11 times in 50 career games.

Washington Commanders

Candidates: Antonio Williams, Chig Okonkwo

Washington entered the 2026 NFL Draft with six picks, though a large gap between their first two picks, seventh overall and 71^st overall. After landing top linebacker Sonny Styles with their first pick, they selected wide receiver Antonio Williams with their next pick. The Commanders did not add another pass catcher with any of their remaining four picks. They didn’t add any wide receivers in free agency, either, after letting Deebo Samuel hit the open market. The Commanders did sign tight end Chig Okonkwo to a three-year, $27 million deal, though. This is significant as, not only is there an open competition for targets behind Terry McLaurin, but specifically in the slot. In 2024, in a fully healthy season from quarterback Jayden Daniels, he targeted tight end Zach Ertz 91 times. Ertz ran 56.0% of his routes from the slot that season. In just 13 games last season, Ertz ran 194 slot routes while Deebo Samuel led the team with 225 routes from the slot. Both are now gone and no other Washington player ran more the 64 routes from the slot. Sure, it’s a pretty specific emphasis on alignment, but rookie Williams and tight end Okonkwo could be in a training camp battle for this crucial role in the 2026 offense. Beyond these two and McLaurin, there’s not too much else to get excited about for fantasy football purposes on a week-to-week basis in the Washington passing game.

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Other Training Camp Battles Worth Mentioning

The San Francisco 49ers need to stay healthy! Christian McCaffrey led the team with 129 targets last season, the 10^th-most targets league-wide. They added Mike Evans and Christian Kirk in free agency, and both have concerning injury histories. George Kittle is also turning 33 and returning from a season-ending Achilles injury. Perhaps Ricky Pearsall will finally break out. He logged 85 or more yards in four games last season, though he played in just nine total. The Philadelphia Eagles traded A.J. Brown to the New England Patriots in June. To no surprise, Brown and DeVonta Smith have been the top two targets among Eagles wide receivers over the last three seasons. No other wide receiver in Philly has drawn more than 19 targets in any of those seasons! Smith now assumes the alpha role in an offense run by first-time playcaller Sean Mannion, while Dontayvion Wicks, Hollywood Brown and rookie Makai Lemon compete for targets alongside of him. It’s worth the reminder that the Eagles traded up three spots in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft to select Lemon.

The New York Jets selected rookie tight end Kenyon Sadiq with the 16^th pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. That’s after selecting tight end Mason Taylor near the top of the second round of last year’s draft. The Jets selected wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. with the 30^th overall pick back in April, as well. Garrett Wilson will command the majority of targets from veteran Geno Smith. Monitoring the rest of the pass catchers in training camp could be worthwhile, however. Tight ends have historically had success in offensive coordinator Frank Reich’s offense, notably back-to-back seasons of at least 74 receptions and 816 yards from Zach Ertz. The Cleveland Browns also selected two pass catchers in the top 40 of the 2026 NFL Draft: wide receivers KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston. Both will spend training camp trying to stand out to earn targets among players such as Harold Fannin Jr. (107) and Jerry Jeudy (106) who both earned over 100 targets last season. However, the Browns do have a new head coach, Todd Monken, and offensive coordinator, Travis Switzer, both formerly of the run-heavy Ravens. Cleveland has a bit of a quarterback competition between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders. Taking everything into consideration, a training camp battle between wide receivers and tight ends not named Jeudy or Fannin may not matter much for the 2026 fantasy football season.