Eli Raridon

The 10.7 points he put up in his latest game of 2026 are the only thing on his page that says anything, and one game does not clear the road ahead of him. Hunter Henry is listed first among NE tight ends, Raridon second, and the target picture behind that depth chart is grim: Diggs and Henry together took 39% of NE's targets in 2025. A third-round rookie getting 9 targets through 4 games fits that exactly.

Before the season we gave him 52 points across 12 games, which works out to 4.3 a game, and he is at 6.0 through the five weeks played. So he is running slightly ahead of what we expected, but the middle of our range, 35 to 69 points, is not a range that wins you a league. He missed week 3 of 2026 and has played every week since with no injury designation, which is the availability news we like to see from a 22-year-old in his first season.

The real downside is not health, it is opportunity. A rookie behind a veteran tight end in an offense where the coordinator, Josh McDaniels, is continuing from last season, usually needs an injury or a scheme shift to matter. That profile costs rookies in his spot playing time they never get back in year one.

So here is the call: in deeper leagues, hold him on your bench, because the target count from that best game of 2026 suggests McDaniels is at least curious. In shallower formats, he is droppable. What would change our mind is a second straight game near that 10.7 mark.