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Isaiah Likely holds the tight end job for the New York Giants, with Theo Johnson working as the backup behind him. Through the first two games of 2026 Likely has played 58.3% of the offensive snaps, a workload that lines up with the 57.8% share he carried across all of 2025. That consistency matters more than it sounds like it should: it tells you the Giants are not rotating bodies at the position based on matchup or game script, they are simply running their offense through him whenever the tight end is on the field. He has already logged eighteen targets in two games this year, well on pace to blow past the thirty-six he saw across all of 2025, and he has turned those looks into thirteen receptions for a 72.2% catch rate. The red zone usage stands out too — three targets inside the twenty already, half of his total from all of last season in a fraction of the games. Quarterback Jameis Winston is throwing him the ball in scoring position early and often, and Likely has cashed those chances in for two touchdowns already, matching last year's total in two games instead of fourteen. The volume is real, not a product of garbage time or a one-week outlier — it has shown up in back-to-back weeks to open the season.
The case for Isaiah Likely starts with target competition, or the lack of it. Malik Nabers is the clear focal point of the passing game as the outside receiver, and running back Cam Skattebo absorbs a meaningful chunk of the passing-down work, but neither of those roles overlaps with what Likely does over the middle and in the red zone. With Theo Johnson operating purely as a backup, there is no second tight end siphoning snaps or targets, which is why Likely's snap share has stayed nearly identical from 57.8% in 2025 to 58.3% now. Jameis Winston, running the Giants offense at quarterback, has shown a willingness to look for Likely near the goal line, and the two touchdowns in two games are the clearest evidence of that trust. If that red-zone role holds, Likely's touchdown output alone could carry weeks where the raw yardage falls short. The counter-argument is not hard to build. Likely's 2025 season produced a mere 4.4 PPR points per game and a finish of forty-five among tight ends — production that belongs firmly outside any fantasy-relevant range. Even accounting for the hot start, his yards per reception sits at 8.5 so far in 2026, down from an already modest 11.4 last year, which suggests he is winning with volume and short completions rather than explosive plays. A catch rate in the low-to-mid seventies paired with short average depth of target is efficient, but it is not a profile built to sustain twenty-plus point weeks once touchdowns regress. Two games is a small sample, and touchdown rates for tight ends are notoriously unstable — a player can score on three of six red zone looks one stretch and go a month without another one. The honest read is that both stories are true at once. The role has genuinely expanded: more targets, more red-zone involvement, and a starting job with no real internal competition. But the per-target value once you strip out touchdowns has not changed much from a season that produced barely replacement-level output. Betting on Likely long-term means betting that Jameis Winston keeps funneling him red-zone work at a rate that outpaces what any tight end sustains over a full season, in an offense that could just as easily start scoring more through Malik Nabers or Cam Skattebo as the year wears on. If the red-zone role narrows even slightly, Likely's per-week yardage numbers alone would not have kept him relevant last season, and there is not yet enough evidence that the underlying efficiency has actually improved.
Treat Isaiah Likely as a streaming option rather than a settled starter. The early role expansion and the two touchdowns are real signals worth respecting, and in shallower formats or at tight end-needy rosters, he is worth a start while the red-zone usage continues. But given that his 2025 season produced only 4.4 PPR points per game and a finish of forty-five at the position, this is not a player to treat as a locked weekly plug-in off two games of data. Watch the red zone target count closely — three looks inside the twenty in two games is the entire engine behind his current value, and if that dries up, the underlying profile of a 8.5 yards-per-reception, short-target possession tight end will not support fantasy relevance on its own. If you already roster him, hold and start him in the immediate term. If he is available on your wire, add him now before the touchdown streak draws attention, since Theo Johnson is not a competing factor for snaps or targets. But keep expectations tied to the red-zone role specifically rather than the overall counting stats, and be ready to bench him the moment the score volume disappears for a couple of weeks in a row.
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