Trey McBride vs Tucker Kraft: Who Should You Start?
Trey McBride and Tucker Kraft are both viable fantasy tight ends heading into 2026, but their 2025 production tells two different stories. Trey McBride averaged 14.9 PPG across 17 games with the Arizona Cardinals, while Tucker Kraft posted 12.6 PPG in 8 appearances for the Green Bay Packers.
A 2.3-PPG gap gives Trey McBride the edge on paper, but paper does not account for Thursday night matchups, weather games, or a star defender returning from injury. The real question is not who was better in 2025, but who is the better start this specific week.
Trey McBride is the volume tight end in this matchup with 126 receptions for 1239 yards, while Tucker Kraft profiles as a more touchdown-dependent spike play (6 scores on 32 catches). In weeks where Tucker Kraft finds the end zone he out-scores Trey McBride, but the floor gap is real.
Trey McBride has his bye in Week 8, and Tucker Kraft rests in Week 5. Managers rostering both need waiver wire depth at tight end for those two weeks, and that is exactly the kind of planning DraftCall's matchup engine surfaces automatically so you are not scrambling on a Sunday morning.
