Trey

McBride

With the single-season receptions record for a tight end already claimed in Week 17, McBride got to put a bow on an already historic season in Week 18. While it wasn’t an elite showing from him to close the year, another seven grabs will make his record even more unattainable for the next tight end to challenge his throne. McBride’s season took off when Kyler Murray went down. Jacoby Brissett took over and cooked the books with absurd passing volume, funneling looks to McBride and Michael Wilson every week. McBride ended the year with a 126/1,239/11 receiving line. He totaled 97 catches, 964 yards, and 10 scores in a dozen Brissett starts. The Brissett takeover allowed him to run away with the TE1 overall crown. His 2025 season goes down as the second-best PPR campaign for a tight end in league history. Brissett is under contract for one more year, meaning he should be back in 2026. Fantasy managers would love to see another 17 games of the Brissett fantasy bonanza, but he will likely return as a bridge to a younger option. Even with some uncertainty around who will be throwing him passes next year, McBride is the uncontested TE1 heading into 2026.

McBride entered the proceedings three catches away from a career new high at 112. He exited with 119 grabs on the year, setting a new single-season record for a tight end with a game to spare. Today was his fourth 10-catch effort of the season, while he’s caught fewer than five balls only once. That was last week with Marvin Harrison Jr. back in the lineup. Today, MHJ aggravated his heel injury and failed to catch a pass. That means McBride could paint one more statistical masterpiece against the Rams in Week 18.

McBride’s day should have been a lot bigger. He had two missed connections with QB Jacoby Brissett that should have resulted in touchdowns. The first was on Brissett, who threw the ball into the turf, just outside of McBride’s reach near the goal line. The second was a 16-yard pass that hit McBride in the chest, which Brissett threaded through double coverage into the end zone. Brissett locked onto the safe, underneath option by linking up with No. 2 TE Elijah Higgins instead of looking downfield, where McBride was running freely down the seam. McBride remains an elite TE1 next week against the Bengals, who field the NFL’s worst tight end-coverage unit.

He was unstoppable from the jump, taking underneath screens and running over Texans defenders as the Cardinals kept things conservative against Houston’s defensive line. He’s only the second receiver to score more than 20 PPR fantasy points against the Texans all season, after Jaxon Smith-Njigba did it in Week 7. McBride and Jacoby Brissett may not be winning (m)any games, but they are a fantasy bonfire that can’t be contained. McBride will be an easy TE1 overall against the Falcons in Week 16.

McBride trailed Michael Wilson in targets (16) and faced plenty of double teams against a Rams secondary that has been stingy against opposing slot pass catchers in 2025. McBride was open for a fourth quarter garbage time touchdown, but Jacoby Brissett missed him with an overthrow. McBride will continue operating as an elite wide receiver who can be used as a tight end in fantasy lineups next week against the Texans. McBride has 48 receptions over his past five games thanks to Brissett’s ability to see over the Arizona offensive line and his willingness to throw the ball more than five yards downfield.

On one of the most sizzling heaters you will ever see at the tight end position, McBride is up to seven touchdowns over his past seven games, and has caught at least eight balls each of the past four weeks. His touchdown in Tampa was a 15-yarder where he was bafflingly granted a (near) free release. McBride has always ripped holes in the middle of the defense. The difference this season has been Jacoby Brissett is finding him on an even more consistent basis than Kyler Murray, and unlike Murray, Brissett can actually find him in the red zone. Fantasy’s No. 1 overall tight end does have a rough Week 14 matchup in the Rams.

The Jaguars held McBride out of the end zone in this one, but the dynamic tight end still returns a usable stat line. The Cardinals got McBride going right away, sending him the ball on two of the first five plays. He played a critical role in his team’s two-minute drill drive before halftime, catching 3-of-3 targets for 27 yards while consistently sneaking out of bounds to stop the clock. McBride is a no-brainer TE1 against the Buccaneers.

McBride showed perhaps the most fight of any Cardinals player in a blowout loss to the 49ers. The 25-year-old drew an unnecessary roughness penalty in the first half, following it up with a taunting penalty on the next play and playing aggressively throughout the game. He scored a garbage time touchdown in the second half and was Jacoby Brissett’s main target. However, with a negative game script and passes needing to go downfield more frequently, Michael Wilson out-targeted McBride on the day. Still, McBride is seeing elite volume with Brissett at quarterback and will be a fantasy TE1 for Week 12 against the Jaguars.

The Cardinals offense was pressed into a pass-heavy script a few minutes into the first quarter as the Seahawks took a multi-score lead thanks to defensive touchdowns. Arizona’s target distribution remained as concentrated as ever: Twenty-five of Jacoby Brissett’s 44 passes went to McBride or Marvin Harrison, Jr., who also managed a touchdown in the blowout script. McBride almost came up with a second score and a downfield reception that went off his fingertips. He now has five touchdowns over his past four outings. Fantasy’s top tight end will get the Niners in Week 11.

Gannon committed to Murray after Monday night’s upset win over the Cowboys and Arizona’s best three-game offensive stretch in memory. Jacoby Brissett has averaged 88 more passing yards per game than Murray this season, turning Marvin Harrison Jr. into a weekly top-12 fantasy play and Trey McBride into an elite, touchdown-scoring weapon. The Cardinals, for better or worse, are committed to Murray based on salary alone, even if the team’s offense is markedly worse with Murray, among the NFL’s worst passers. Murray, purportedly dealing with a serious foot injury, practiced throughout last week but did not get the start against Dallas. Arizona plays the Seahawks in Week 10.