Daniel Bellinger DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

Tennessee Titans tight end Daniel Bellinger made a limited impact in his team's Week 1 loss to the New York Jets, recording one catch for seven yards on one target. After spending the first four years of his NFL career with the New York Giants, Bellinger followed former Giants head coach and current Titans play-caller to Tennessee this offseason. There was some thought over the summer that Bellinger would carve out a meaningful role in the Titans' passing game, but it was incumbent Titans tight end Gunnar Helm who recorded four catches for 28 yards on five targets in Week 1. Bellinger also played just 14 snaps, compared to 38 for Helm. Given that the questionable Tennessee passing game may have trouble supporting high-end fantasy production even for its highly featured pieces, Bellinger appears unlikely to play a fantasy-relevant role in 2026.

Tennessee Titans second-year tight end Gunnar Helm has been receiving breakout hype for most of the offseason, but one writer doesn't believe the hype is as real as advertised. Buck Reising believes that former New York Giants tight end Daniel Bellinger will get the bulk of the snaps as a more well-rounded veteran. His experience in offensive coordinator Brian Daboll's system will make him a factor in this offense. Helm had 357 receiving yards and two touchdowns on 44 receptions last season, while working behind now-Commanders tight end Chig Okonkwo. Helm is ranked as the TE27 in RotoBaller's positional rankings. While there's upside, the second-year tight end appears to be heading toward a timeshare in Tennessee.

The Tennessee Titans targeted tight end Daniel Bellinger in free agency back in March, and he could have a meaningful role in offensive coordinator Brian Daboll's scheme in 2026 in his first year in Nashville, according to Jim Wyatt of the team's official website. "I can't answer exactly what Dabes has planned," said Bellinger, who played under Daboll in New York. "But I know he's going to try and stretch the ball everywhere. He's going to try to be a dynamic play-caller like he's been, and I think we have a lot of talent and a lot of guys." The 6-foot-6, 255-pounder was a fourth-rounder by the Giants in 2022 out of San Diego State. Bellinger had 88 catches for 934 yards and four touchdowns in his first four seasons with New York while playing in 62 games (42 starts). He had just 19 receptions for 286 yards and two TDs last year in the Big Apple, but he's hoping to take his game to another level in 2026 in his first year with the Titans, specifically after the catch. Chig Okonkwo is now gone, but Gunnar Helm is expected to handle most of the receiving work at TE in his second year in the NFL. Bellinger could earn consistent snaps alongside Helm, but he will most likely be a blocking-first TE, making him avoidable in most fantasy leagues.