Welcome to a no-longer brand-new series I’ve rolled out this offseason, titled Welcome to Underdog Best Balls. The goal of this series is to dig into the new faces in the P4 that we’ll need to learn about as the best ball season draws nearer. The transfer portal has given us a plethora of options, some good, some bad. Let’s talk about a few top tight ends in 2026…
Patrick Overmyer, Houston, TE
Overmyer transfers to Houston after spending three seasons with UTSA. For tight end standards, he had himself a pretty good career, amassing 58 receptions for over 600 yards and 8 touchdowns the past two seasons. Now, as a member of the Cougars, there are high hopes for his fantasy potential. As a 1B option at tight end, his 2025 season would have finished him as the TE29. The back half of his year was outstanding, as his 10.9 FPPG over his last six games would have placed him as the TE2 on the season.
Everyone knows that Tanner Koziol transferred from Ball State to Houston and absolutely tore it up, finishing as the TE4 on the season in 2025. What’s interesting about his season was that he got there off volume, not touchdowns, scoring just five times on 65 receptions. This is a good sign for those looking at Overmyer in Underdog drafts. Overmyer isn’t as large as Koziol, coming in at 6’4″ and 235 lbs., compared to Koziol’s 6’7″ and 240 lb. frame, but his size does give me confidence that he is the Koziol replacement at the very least in terms of snaps/formation.
Head Coach Willie Fritz has had plenty of good tight end seasons in his coaching career. Looking back at his final three seasons as a tight end at Tulane, he produced what would have been TE17, 19, and 26 last season. These numbers don’t blow you away and make you want to pick Overmyer in a high round, but it is worth noting that only Koziol caught more than 35 passes and broke 430+ receiving yards. Alex Bauman and Tyrick James from the Fritz-Tulane years did their damage in the end zone, scoring a combined 16 times in 33 games.
This Houston offense averaged 29 points per game last season (55th best) and should easily improve this year with the additions of Overmyer, Trent Walker, Makhi Hughes, and the return of Amare Thomas and Conner Weigman. With Fritz coming out and saying that he wants to lighten the load when it comes to Weigman’s rushing volume, you’d have to think there’s potential to improve upon the team’s 29 attempts per game (90th). With so many mouths to feed, this is a good sign for Overmyer. The volume isn’t going to be what we saw from Koziol last year, but it isn’t crazy to think he could score 1-3 more times in a better and more pass-friendly offense. And don’t forget that one touchdown equals 12 receptions or 60 yards; it’s that impactful.
Randy Pittman, SMU, TE
Pittman survived the 2025 FSU season and has moved on to greener pastures. What a win for everyone when this decision was announced. He was the TE14 last season, thanks to his five total touchdowns in nine games. Pittman was a do-it-all type player for the Seminoles, finding the end zone on three of those five total touchdowns. At SMU, he could see his role being similar or just being used more effectively in a better offense with better quarterback play. Kevin Jennings has 961 passing attempts in his career and has 23+ passing touchdowns in back-to-back seasons.
Jennings saw a dip in rushing production last season, going from 3.5 YPC to 0.8, but still managed four touchdowns on the ground. Was this injury related? Was this a shift in mindset for Jennings? If this continues, you’d have to think that Pittman could be used creatively around the goal line, considering his size and success last year. I’m not banking on it, but I certainly won’t ignore it.
If there is no value for Pittman on the ground in 2026, that’s certainly fine too. The Mustangs offense has churned out stars in the past three seasons at the tight end position. We all remember RJ Maryland’s success at SMU, finishing as the TE4 in 2023 and the TE8 in 2024. His 2025 season landed him at TE46 after he came back from a lower-body injury.
Maryland’s counterpart, Matthew Hibner, saw a lot of success as well, finishing as the TE30 in 2025 and the TE8 in 2024 (by FPPG). Hibner was a rarely used Michigan transfer who stepped up big when Maryland went down with an injury in 2024. In those six games where Maryland was out, Hibner’s production would have finished him as the TE2 last season (18/337/4 in 6 games).
Looking at SMU’s returning production, and another reason why I like Pittman’s potential this season, the offense loses four of their top five receiving game production between Jordan Hudson, Romello Brinson, Hibner, and Maryland. They do bring in Yannick Smith and Jalen Hale. And Jalen Cooper was impressive as a freshman early on in 2025, but the loss of those 238 targets to those four players should be considered a strong positive for Maryland.
Conclusion
As I’ve previously discussed on Ballin with My Bestie, Overmyer and Maryland are two guys that I’m very high on. I have both within my top 10 and have full confidence in that stance. In a recent draft of mine, Overmyer was taken as the TE6 while Maryland was the TE13, so there is agreement in their value. Feel free to fire away on these two stud tight end transfers!
