Ja'Tavion Sanders

He has not played a snap in 2026, and that is where every conversation about him starts. Weeks 1 through 4 of 2026 went by without him, week 5 was Carolina's bye, and he still carries an O designation heading into week 6 of 2026. You cannot use a tight end who is not on the field. Our preseason number for him was 60 points, built on a 4.3 points-a-game pace across the 14 games we expected, and even that modest figure now needs the missed weeks back just to stay in reach.

The depth chart tells the rest of the story. He is listed fourth among Carolina tight ends, behind Tommy Tremble, Mitchell Evans and Darren Waller. In 2025 he played just under half the snaps, took 9.2% of the targets, and finished above the position's weekly median in only 6 of 12 games. His yards per target fell from 8 in 2024 to 5.6 in 2025, and he never cleared 15 points in any week of that season. Tetairoa McMillan and Xavier Legette combined for 41% of Carolina's targets, so the passing game has somewhere better to go.

There is a faint developmental thread worth knowing: he was TE35 among 111 qualifying tight ends in 2024 with 73.2 points over 15 games, and at 23.5 he is entering year three. But a fourth tight end on the depth chart with zero games played so far is not worth a live roster spot in most leagues. If your bench has room, you can hold him and see whether he gets on the field by week 8 of 2026. If it does not, cut him loose and check back when he is active.