The tools are there. The highlights show up. Isaiah Likely’s opportunity count, however, has been absent. Fantasy football managers are very much thinking that changes now that he’s taken his talents to New York, joining an offense that is looking to capitlzie on the upside that we saw for moments last season. How optimistic is too optimistic when it comes to the 26-year-old tight end?
Should You Draft Isaiah Likely in Fantasy Football?
This game we love can be complicated, but talent and opportunity are at the core of most success stories. We think we have the former with Likely and we are now hoping to get the latter.
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This is a player who has yet to reach 45 receptions in a season and while I’m not blaming him for being stuck in a run-centric offense that also wanted to feature Mark Andrews, there is natural risk that comes from betting on someone who we’ve yet see sustain a viable role at this level.
That said, 11.6 yards per catch for his career has my interest and with over half of his career receptions moving the sticks, the upside case is pretty easy to make should the opportunity be what we are projecting.
Likely Career Production
- 12.0 PPG when running 20+ routes
No one is suggesting that he’ll be TE6 this season, but the general angle is understood: if some is good, more must be better.
Of course there’s risk. Less so on the role side of things and more so at the quarterback position. As fun as Jason Dart was for fantasy, he carries significant injury risk and there are fair questions to be asked about his ability to get the ball where it needs to be when under pressure (27th of 33 qualifiers in CMP% when pressured in 2025, ranking just behind Kirk Cousins and Micahel Penix).
The hope is that natural development helps correct things in that respect and that spending the 10th overall pick on Francis Mauigoa, the offensive tackle out of Miami, makes pressure harder to create in 2026.
Now is the time to buy. Likely currently fits into that uncomfortable third tier of tight end that is lengthy. Many redraft managers are going to prioritize flex depth when ADP suggests Likely should be coming off the board and that opens the door for you to get upside at a discount.
The hardest part about drafting Likely isn’t pulling the trigger at cost, it’ll be pivoting before it’s too late should Year 1 with the Giants not be geared toward him popping in the box score.
Likely’s Dynasty Fantasy Football Value
I seem to like Likely more in the dynasty streets than the public and I’m perfectly happy to take that position. He’s falling behind the fading veteran tier at the position (Mark Andrews and Dallas Goedert) with TJ Hockenson (three years older, some injury concerns over the past two seasons, and a new QB to work with) being another name that I’d pass on in favor of New York’s newest Giant.
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This is a low-risk, big-reward type of investment given where the market is currently pricing him and if you make enough of those, you’re going to be in good shape. I’m trusting the process and sticking to my guns: if there’s a player outside of the top two tiers who ends the season included in that tier, you’re looking at my pick and, to be honest, that wasn’t a hard call to make
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.