Gunnar Helm Fantasy 2026
Tennessee Titans second-year tight end Gunnar Helm has drawn breakout hype for much of the offseason, and the weight of reporting out of training camp backs that up rather than undercuts it. While free agent addition Daniel Bellinger brings a name that could create confusion about the pecking order, multiple outlets have been consistent: Helm, not Bellinger, is positioned as the Titans’ primary pass-catching tight end in 2026.
Helm quietly put together a productive rookie season a year ago, catching 44 passes for 357 yards and two touchdowns across 16 games, a total that set a franchise record for receptions by a rookie tight end, even while working as the clear No. 2 option behind Chig Okonkwo. With Okonkwo now in Washington after signing with the Commanders in free agency, Helm has been described by multiple outlets as having already been promoted to the top tight end job heading into camp.
Bellinger’s role looks different. The former Giants tight end is regarded as more of an in-line blocker, having never topped 300 receiving yards in a single NFL season. He arrives in Tennessee largely because of his familiarity with new offensive coordinator Brian Daboll’s system from their years together in New York, and his most likely path to snaps is as a complementary blocker in heavier personnel packages, not as a receiving threat competing directly with Helm.
That distinction matters. Rather than a zero-sum battle for targets, the more likely outcome is a two-tight-end look where Helm and Bellinger are frequently on the field together, with Daboll leaning into heavier personnel groupings the way his 2025 Giants offense did at nearly double the rate Tennessee ran a year ago. That approach, increasingly common across the league, would let Tennessee disguise run and pass looks while keeping its best receiving tight end on the field.
Helm himself has stayed grounded despite the external hype, saying he knows “there’s somebody always coming for your spot” and pointing to specific areas, particularly his blocking technique, he wants to sharpen entering year two. That kind of continued development could make him even harder to keep off the field, not easier.
For fantasy purposes, the addition of Bellinger looks more like it adds stability and scheme flexibility to Tennessee’s tight end room than it threatens Helm’s receiving role. Given his rookie-year role behind a more established option and his new standing as the presumptive TE1 in an offense that plans to feature the position, Helm remains one of the more interesting second-year breakout candidates at the position for 2026.
