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Gunnar Helm sits atop the depth chart at tight end in Tennessee, and the two games this season confirm the club intends to use him that way. His snap share has jumped to 81.6% of the offense's plays, up from 53.2% across all of 2025, which signals a coaching staff choosing to lean on him as a fixture in the passing game rather than a rotational piece. Through two games he has seven targets, six receptions, and a catch rate of 85.7%, numbers that describe a player who is efficient with the chances he gets even if the volume has not yet ballooned. Two of those seven targets have come in the red zone, matching the kind of scoring-area involvement that, over a full season, can turn modest yardage into a meaningful touchdown total. Cam Ward, the first-year starting quarterback, is the one distributing those targets, and his rapport with Helm will shape how much of the passing offense continues to funnel through the tight end spot. Ward's inexperience cuts both ways here: young quarterbacks often lean on a reliable underneath option they trust, which has boosted many rookie-quarterback tight ends before, but it can also mean spreading the ball around erratically as he learns the league. Tony Pollard's presence as the running back means some of the short-yardage and red-zone work will be contested on the ground rather than through the air, while Carnell Tate, the rookie wide receiver atop that depth chart, will compete for early-down targets as he develops chemistry with Ward. For now, Helm's snap count is the headline: it is the strongest evidence that Tennessee views him as a core piece of what it wants to do offensively.
The case for Gunnar Helm starts with usage. A tight end playing 81.6% of the snaps is not being schemed around or used situationally, he is a base piece of the offense, and that kind of rate tends to produce recurring opportunity even in weeks where the box score is thin. His catch rate of 85.7% this season, following an 80% mark in 2025, shows a player who does not waste the chances that come his way. Seven targets with two in the red zone through two games suggest Cam Ward already looks his way when the field shortens, and if that pattern holds over a full season, the touchdown total could climb well past the two he managed in 2025. A full season ago he still finished 31st among all tight ends in PPR scoring despite splitting time on the field, which tells you the receptions were quietly compiling even in a lesser role. Give him this much larger snap share for a full slate of games and the counting stats have real room to grow. The case against him is built on yardage efficiency and finish. His yards per reception sits at 8.1 for last season and 6.8 so far this year, both modest figures that point to a possession-style role rather than one built on explosive plays down the field. His fantasy output has not moved much despite the added snaps: 5.7 points per game a season ago and 5.1 points per game so far this year are close to identical, and his position finish has actually slipped slightly, from 31st to 35th. That is the honest tension here. Playing time is up sharply, but scoring has not followed, which means either touchdowns and bigger plays are due to arrive as the sample grows, or this is simply his ceiling as a possession chain-mover in an offense still finding its footing under a rookie quarterback. Carnell Tate's development at wide receiver could also start to pull targets away from the tight end position as Ward gets more comfortable spreading the ball outside the numbers, and Tony Pollard's role in the backfield caps some of the scoring chances near the goal line. Until the per-game production catches up to the snap count, it is fair to treat Helm as a player whose role has changed faster than his results have. The path to a much bigger season is visible and specific: more red-zone looks converting to touchdowns, and the short completions stretching into longer gains as Ward's timing with him sharpens. Whether that path plays out or whether this settles into a steady but low-ceiling role is the real question a manager needs to answer before investing much more.
Treat Gunnar Helm as a streaming option rather than a locked-in starter right now. The snap share is real and worth monitoring closely, since a tight end playing over four-fifths of the offense's snaps is rarely irrelevant for long, but the per-game scoring has not yet validated a full-time roster spot in most formats. In deeper leagues or those that start two tight ends, he is a reasonable stash given the role he already holds. In shallower leagues, he is more appropriately left on the wire or picked up opportunistically ahead of a matchup where red-zone chances look plentiful. What would change the calculus is a stretch of games where the red-zone targets convert into touchdowns, or where his catches start producing more than the 8.1 and 6.8 yards per reception he has shown so far. If Cam Ward's chemistry with him deepens as the rookie quarterback season progresses, the volume could translate into weekly flex value rather than just usage worth watching. Until that shows up in the box score, keep expectations modest: he is a name to monitor on a bye week, a bench stash in deeper leagues, and not yet a player to build a lineup around.”}}
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