Jackson Hawes

One target in five games. Not one catch, not one carry, not one point through weeks 1 to 5 of 2026, and he has played every week, so there is no injury to blame. Whatever we hoped for out of the 58-point preseason projection, the first month of 2026 has answered it.

The path to usage was never really open. Buffalo lists him third at tight end behind Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox, and in 2025 he ran routes on 43% of the snaps while pulling a 4% target share, with Khalil Shakir and Keon Coleman soaking up 37% of the targets between them. That translated to 4.0 points a game over 13 weeks, TE51 among 137 qualifying tight ends, and his best week was 9.6. He never cleared 15 points once.

The one thing his profile leaned on was end-zone touches, and the history there runs the wrong way: players in his spot with a touchdown share like his 1.1x fell 0.7 points a game the next season on average. A new head coach in Joe Brady and a new play caller in Pete Carmichael Jr. were the argument for a fresh look, but five weeks in, the depth chart has not moved.

His bye in week 7 of 2026 is next after this week. Cut him for anyone streaming the position. If Kincaid or Knox goes down, check back, because that is the only route to relevance we can see.