Trey McBride is coming off a season in which he finished as the highest-scoring fantasy TE, but new HC Mike LaFleur thinks he can do more, per Cardinals beat reporter Theo Mackie. “I think he can have maybe a deeper intermediate route tree.” LaFleur said of McBride.
2026 Fantasy Football Impact: TE1 Still Has More
Not only did McBride finish as the highest fantasy scoring tight end with 22.3 points per game (PPG), but it was by a considerable margin. The next-highest-scoring TE averaged 5.0 fewer PPG, which was the same gap between the TE2 and TE14.
McBride commanded a 26.0% target rate last season, which also led the position. With Jacoby Brissett returning as the Cardinals' starting QB, there’s not much reason to believe McBride won’t command a similar number of targets in this offense.
After all the deserved praise following his breakout campaign, it might be hard to believe there’s still room to improve. But LaFleur’s comment about a deeper intermediate route tree actually aligns with McBride’s development.
Since entering the NFL in 2022, his average depth of target has increased each year. If McBride commands a similar target load at a deeper average depth of target, his fantasy ceiling could climb even higher.
