Top Fantasy TE Waiver-Wire, Trade Targets After Tucker Kraft's Season-Ending Injury

The Green Bay Packers and fantasy football enthusiasts received terrible news on Monday, as star tight end Tucker Kraft reportedly suffered a season-ending ACL tear.

Kraft was the breakout star at tight end in fantasy football this year, leaving players to scramble for a backup option amid the waiver wire this week. Luckily, there are some very viable options.

Here, we'll make the argument for adding players like Juwan Johnson, Dalton Schultz, Harold Fannin Jr., Theo Johnson or Colston Loveland.

Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints

Johnson is only rostered in 25.2 percent of ESPN and Yahoo fantasy leagues, per FantasyPros, though he really shouldn't be. In PPR formats he's notched double-digit points in six of his nine games, and he's done so without being heavily reliant on touchdowns (just two this season).

He's not a sexy option and the Saints aren't good, which is probably why he's available in so many leagues. But he continues to offer just enough production to be a fringe TE1 option, making him a solid target on waivers this week.

Dalton Schultz, Houston Texans

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Schultz has started to come on, with 11 or more fantasy points in three of his last four games. There is context to consider here, of course—Houston has been beat up at the receiver position, leading to more targets for Schultz. And C.J. Stroud's concussion this past week is worth monitoring—Davis Mills at quarterback wouldn't be good for anybody on Houston's offense.

He's only rostered in 25.5 percent of leagues, so you can probably nab him. Just keep an eye on Houston's injury report before going this route.

Harold Fannin Jr., Cleveland Browns

Despite the presence of David Njoku, Fannin is averaging 10.7 fantasy points per game this season and has scored at least 11 fantasy points in three of his past four games (and has scored seven or more points in six of his eight contests).

Fantasy players are more privy to Fannin's production—he's rostered in 51.6 percent of leagues. If Njoku ends up getting traded before Tuesday's deadline, you can expect that number to go way up.

His production might go up just as much in the process. If he's available in your league, he's one of your top options.

Theo Johnson, New York Giants

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Somebody needs to make plays for Jaxson Dart, right?

With Malik Nabers and Cam Skattebo done for the year, Johnson is one of the team's best playmakers left standing. He's posted double-digit fantasy points in four of the past six weeks and is available in 29.3 percent of leagues.

One concern with Johnson is that he's only hit the double-digit threshold in weeks he scores touchdowns and hasn't exceeded seven targets in any games this season. That makes him a bit more boom-or-bust than the previous players mentioned, though the hope will be that he continues to build a rapport with Dart.

The other concern is his issue with drops in 2025:

He's more of a backup plan if you can't nab one of the first three players listed, though he has an interesting ceiling given the team's injury issues and Dart's positive impact on the offense.

Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears

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It's easy to be a prisoner of the moment after Loveland's huge performance on Sunday (six catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns, 29.8 fantasy points). After all, he had more fantasy points on Sunday that he'd posted the rest of the season prior (22.6 points).

It helped that Cincinnati's defense has been brutal in general, and particularly friendly to opposing tight ends:

But Loveland isn't some fifth-year veteran who had a random good game—he was a first-round pick in April's draft on a team installing a new offense under first-year head coach Ben Johnson, with a quarterback in his second year (Caleb Williams) running that unit. Chicago's offense is still a work in progress, in other words.

Loveland also had surgery in the offseason to repair an AC joint injury in his shoulder, limiting his preparation time over the summer. So it's possible he's just starting to hit his stride.

There is reason to believe that Loveland could be in line for a big second half of the season, or at the very least will be a bigger part of the offense going forward. That makes him the biggest risk on this list, but he also might have the biggest upside. If you have another reliable option at tight end after losing Kraft, he's worth the gamble, and he's available in 24.3 percent of leagues.

If you need an immediate and reliable starter, however, he's undoubtedly a risk.