Theo Johnson has a very encouraging sophomore season. He was on the field a lot and flashed the potential to be a fantasy football TE1. Unfortunately, he now has to share a field with free agent signee Isaiah Likely. What can fantasy managers expect from Likely in his first season with the New York Giants and is he worth selecting in fantasy drafts?
After a lackluster rookie season, Johnson took a major step forward in his second year. Operating as the Giants clear TE1, Johnson caught 45 passes for 528 yards and five touchdowns. Those numbers don't look exciting on paper, but that's quite solid for a tight end.
START PREPARING: PFN's Fantasy Mock Draft Simulator
Johnson's 86.2% snap share was seventh in the league. He was on the field a lot and ran a route on 82.8% of pass plays. That's the good. The bad is the efficiency. Johnson only earned a target on 17.7% of his routes run, 32nd in the league. His 1.26 yards per route run and 0.06 first downs per route run both ranked 34th. That's partially a product of the offense, but it's obviously not good, especially considering the lack of target competition following Malik Nabers' season ending ACL tear.
As much Johnson improved last season, he wasn't exactly a fantasy superstar. His 8.5 fantasy points per game meant he was good enough to be a weekly streamer in the right spot. However, he only posted seven games with double digit fantasy points, most of which were barely over 10. Johnson is a good player for the Giants, but far from a fantasy factor.
The 2025 season was pretty much the perfect run out for Johnson. He had the TE1 role to himself and was essentially the No. 2 option in the passing game behind Wan'Dale Robinson. Yet, all he could muster up was production worthy of being a fantasy streamer.
This year, the Giants no longer have Robinson, but Nabers is going to play most of the season, even if it's not Week 1. The Giants also added Darnell Mooney, who will likely command targets at least ahead of Johnson. But the biggest impact will come from the presence of Likely.
The Giants hired John Harbaugh as head coach and one of Harbaugh's first moves was to bring Likely over from Baltimore. This wasn't a depth move. Likely was signed to be the Giants' primary tight end.
MORE: 2026 Controversial Fantasy Football Running Back Depth Charts
Now, that doesn't mean Johnson won't play. He certainly will, and likely more than Likely managers care to admit. But if he couldn't reach weekly fantasy starter status as the clear TE1, he's not getting there as the TE2. Even if the Giants do run more two TE sets, which we should expect given their WR situation, one of them is going to be blocking more and it will probably be Johnson.
Johnson is the TE39 by ADP. He's nowhere close to fantasy relevance. Perhaps he could emerge as a weekly streamer if Likely gets hurt, but he is not someone fantasy managers need to even look at in drafts.
In dynasty leagues, rosters are deeper and even an NFL TE2 like Johnson will be on rosters. Johnson is worth keeping on the back of rosters, but he's not an impact player. He's a guy you throw into a deal for a team who might need a warm body at tight end, nothing more.
TRADE NOW: PFN's Dynasty Trade Calculator
At 25 years old, there's still a chance Johnson could emerge into something more in a couple of years. He's one of the best pure athletes at the position. A late breakout is not impossible. But we have Johnson at TE38 in our consensus dynasty rankings. He's just not a priority for any dynasty managers.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network .
