The 2026 tight end class did not get the memo that this year’s NFL Draft class is supposed to be a down year.

Tight ends are plentiful in this year’s class, with this week in Mobile, AL serving as a showcase opportunity for the masses. The annual Panini Senior Bowl kicks off practices on Tuesday, with the A to Z Sports crew rolling in en masse to ensure you have all the insights you need to stay up to date with the risers in this year’s class. The tight end group? It’s gonna be fun. Here are some of the names to watch for as potential standouts this week in Mobile.

Tight ends to watch at the 2026 Senior Bowl

North Carolina State TE Justin Joly

Joly is one of the best pass-catching tight ends in the 2026 NFL Draft class. He’s a big, long flex receiver who has a career drop-rate under 6 percent on 223 targets. Joly started his career at Connecticut and has prospered the last two years at NC State. He also has nearly a 70 percent conversion rate on 50 career targets in contested situations. Joly should do quite well in the one-on-ones and the seven-on-seven settings that he’ll get at the Senior Bowl.

Stanford TE Sam Roush

Roush was a productive player in 2025, setting a career high in targets (80), receptions (49), and yards (545). He’s primarily an in-line player but he does have the ability to create some yards with the ball in his hands, too. Roush feels like the kind of player who could be a better pro than college player due to the limitations of his college offense — that journey starts with a good week in Mobile.

Ohio State TE Will Kacmarek

Once upon a time, Kacmarek was a productive receiving tight end at the University of Ohio. Not in 2025. In 2025, Kacmarek became a destroyer as a blocker — and at a listed 6’6 and 258 pounds, he has the ability to be a plug-in player serving as an in-line tight end. League-wide trends are coveting multiple tight ends on the field at once and someone with the physicality of a Kacmarek certainly helps the multiplicity of the offense. As a pass protector, he’s credited with just two pressures on nearly 100 pressure reps in his two seasons at Ohio State. He’s not a splash player in the passing game but expect his physicality and size to pop.

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