After just six games, Isaiah Likely is already close to shattering his previous career-best numbers in the box score. The tight end made the bold decision to leave Baltimore for New York this past offseason, following his former coach to the Big Apple. It’s a choice that has paid dividends thus far, and in fantasy football, he’s emerged as a real standout at his position. After another big game in Week 6, is Likely a must-start fantasy tight end?
Isaiah Likely fantasy outlook
The first four years of Likely’s career were largely unassuming as he notched no more than 42 catches, 477 receiving yards or six touchdowns in a single campaign. Of course, he was playing behind one of the NFL’s best tight ends in his prime – Mark Andrews – for most of those four seasons, but there was always some untapped upside in Likely’s profile. Such upside largely came out as just brief glimpses, like a toe-tap touchdown here, or a better game in Andrews’ absence there. However, the decision to leave the Ravens this offseason now looks like a masterclass for the 26-year-old and the franchise that brought him in alike.
Likely reunited with former head coach John Harbaugh as both joined the Giants. In Week 1, the tight end immediately popped off in his debut with eight catches for 78 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday Night Football, announcing his arrival in front of a national audience. The following two games were quieter for Likely, but could be excused to an extent by the aftermath of a season-ending injury for quarterback Jaxson Dart. By Week 4, though, Likely got back on track. Over the last three games, he’s recorded lines of 7-66-0, 11-94-2 and 6-99-1, seeing double-digit targets in all of those appearances.
In previous campaigns, Likely topped out with an average of just 7.80 FPPG. Six weeks into the 2026 season, he’s averaging a cool 18.20 FPPG in PPR formats and is firmly entrenched as a top-five tight end. He trails only Brock Bowers (20.80 FPPG) and notably sits ahead of names like Trey McBride (17.18), Sam LaPorta (15.32) and George Kittle (14.36).
What a start to the season it’s been for Likely, who is proving the talent was within him all along. Is this production that he can sustain moving forward? Perhaps not quite to this extent, but he does belong in weekly fantasy lineups as a must-start tight end. Here’s why.
Likely is hardly a tight end at this point beyond his positional designation. He’s running just 3.6% of his routes from an inline alignment, instead taking 79.6% from the slot and 16.8% from out wide. This power-slot role has allowed him to take on plenty of target volume that other tight ends may not get, amassing a 26.8% target share that leads the entire position. He averages 9.5 targets per game and has made the most of them, posting 1.95 YPRR and 63.8 YPG, good for ninth and second at the position.
The quarterback situation with one of Jameis Winston or J.J. McCarthy under center moving forward does raise some eyebrows, but the fact of the matter is that Likely has been producing with the former and still posted some nice numbers with the latter in the second half of Week 6. This passing attack is so concentrated around he and Malik Nabers that both are must-start assets even despite the quarterback play – given the nature of the tight end position, Likely is absolutely a must-start tight end every week.
