Dalton Schultz Fantasy Value Overlooked
Houston Texans tight end Dalton Schultz has a clearer path to useful volume after injuries reshaped the team’s receiving corps late in camp. Schultz already handled a major role last season, setting career highs with 82 catches on 106 targets for 777 yards and three touchdowns across 17 games, production that helped him land a one-year, $12.6 million contract extension in March, making him one of the highest-paid tight ends in the league on an annual basis.
The picture around him has changed considerably since then. Jayden Higgins is now out for the season with a torn ACL, while Tank Dell’s return from a serious knee injury remains genuinely uncertain heading into Week 1. That’s created real opportunity in Houston’s passing game, but it hasn’t funneled cleanly to Schultz. The Texans have been aggressive about restocking the receiver room, adding Kayshon Boutte via trade and signing veterans Sterling Shepard and Zay Jones in free agency, moves that ensure those vacated targets get spread around rather than landing in one player’s lap.
The tight end room has gotten more competitive too. Houston signed veteran Foster Moreau in free agency and used a second-round pick, 59th overall, on Michigan product Marlin Klein, who profiles as a long-term developmental piece behind Schultz. Neither is expected to meaningfully cut into Schultz’s role in 2026, but the added depth does reflect an organization that wants more than one proven option at the position, even with Schultz signed through 2027.
None of that changes Schultz’s standing as Houston’s established starter and one of quarterback C.J. Stroud’s most trusted targets. What it does mean is that replicating last year’s career-high 106 targets is far from guaranteed, since Boutte, Shepard, and Jones will all be competing for a share of the volume that opened up with Higgins out and Dell’s status uncertain.
Even so, the net effect of Houston’s late-summer moves still favors Schultz more than it hurts him. A thinner group of proven pass-catchers around him, even after the additions, means he remains one of the safer bets in the passing game to see consistent, high-percentage targets over the middle of the field.
