2026 NFL Draft Rookie Profile: TE Max Klare (Fantasy Football)
In the last three seasons, we have seen five rookie TEs crack the top 12. In 2025, we had three TEs emerge: Tyler Warren, Harold Fannin Jr., and Colston Loveland, with his late-season surge. 2025 was an amazing season for rookie TEs, but the previous two seasons only provided two (Brock Bowers and Dalton Kincaid), and Kincaid somewhat faded into obscurity in a Bills offense with unpredictable TE use.
TE is such a position in fantasy football where every TE beyond the top five options seems replaceable. Positions that function this way are quickly deprioritized once the top options are gone. Going into 2026, McBride, Bowers, Loveland, Fannin Jr., and Warren are probably our top five options. Most others lack the same ceiling, or they simply lack stability in usage, opportunity, or production in their respective offenses. Even still, for Dynasty managers, we continue the search for the next “golden goose” that could give us massive leverage on the field.
Kenyon Sadiq and his ridiculous top-end athletic profile lead the discussion for TEs as we approach the 2026 draft. However, TEs in this draft, like Max Klare, must be part of your plans. Klare’s suppressed usage at Ohio State may impact his dynasty draft capital, but his tape indicates he could be a better fit for fantasy than reality.
College Production Profile
| Season | Class | Team | G | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Y/R | TD | Y/G |
| 2022* | FR | Purdue | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | FR | Purdue | 5 | 25 | 22 | 196 | 8.9 | 0 | 39.2 |
| 2024 | SO | Purdue | 12 | 74 | 51 | 685 | 13.4 | 4 | 57.1 |
| 2025 | JR | Ohio State | 14 | 55 | 43 | 448 | 10.4 | 2 | 32 |
| Career | 33 | 154 | 116 | 1329 | 11.5 | 6 | 40.3 |
Max Klare’s career production would normally raise questions when considering the suppressed production between 2024 and 2025. However, consider this: his decision to transfer from Purdue to Ohio State in December 2024 was a calculated move to gain exposure to elite-level competition and a pro-style offensive hierarchy. Klare entered the transfer portal in 2024 as a 4-star prospect after being voted third-team All-Big Ten.
Before executing this strategic move to improve exposure and competition, Klare produced a Sophomore campaign in which he ranked eighth in PFF receiving grade, eighth in yards, 10th in targets and receptions, and 11th in YPRR among TEs. This is impressive considering names like Harold Fannin Jr., Tyler Warren, and Oronde Gadsden II ahead of him. Klare statistically outperformed Colston Loveland in yards, catch rate, and yards per catch during that season.
Max Klare 7 REC, 105 YDS, 1 TD vs Rutgers Today.pic.twitter.com/bEoA7ux7Ja https://t.co/Vo9yZUObZn
— Football Performances (@NFLPerformances) November 22, 2025
In 2025, there aren’t many “eye-popping” stats for Max Klare, but this is likely due to some of the transition adjustments. Additionally, there were other demands for earlier reads for Carnell Tate (probably the top WR in the 2026 draft class) and Jeremiah Smith (fourth per PFF in WR rec yds, seventh in recs). Despite going from first to third in the target pecking order, Max Klare still managed to be an effective receiving TE as seen in his game against Rutgers above. This is born out in his third-down and red zone success as seen below:
- Third Down Efficiency: eight recs, 64 yards, and two TDs
- Red Zone Impact: five recs for 48 yards and two TDs
Measurables
| Height | Weight | Arm Length | Hand Size | Wingspan |
| 6′ 4 3/8″ | 246 lbs | 32 1/8″ | 9 1/8″ | 77 7/8″ |
Klare’s physical profile and play style remind me of Zach Ertz. At just a ½” less height, but a full inch more in arm length, Ertz becomes the easy comparison, especially since blocking was an obvious weakness in Ertz’s game as well. Klare’s build is a concern for some pundits with regard to his frame density. This could initially limit him to a “Move” TE at the NFL level, but he was growing from “unusable” to “functional” at Ohio State under the tutelage of TE Coach Keenan Bailey and OL Coach Austin Siereveld.
Unfortunately, Max Klare did not compete in drills at the NFL Combine or the Ohio State Pro Day, so we will have to lean on the tape for a “guesstimate” of his athleticism.
What’s On Tape
Games Viewed: Illinois (2025), Minnesota (2025), Rutgers (2025), Purdue (2025)
1. Elite Route Stem & Deception
Klare’s most consistent trait is his sophisticated route planning. I am in love with how well Klare stems his routes against mismatched LBs. The tape shows Klare is adept at the “salesmanship” that forces defenders into missteps, which ultimately result in separation and 2.65 YPRR. At the NFL level, defenses will be forced into a conundrum: put a safety in to match his quickness or take a chance on matching up an LB that won’t be able to match his feet. Even if they opt for safety, the discipline Klare carries in his body language, footwork, and route-running will create opportunities for targets.
2. Zone Intelligence & Spatial Awareness
One thing I like most about Klare is his zone intelligence. As I mentioned in the Omar Cooper Jr. draft profile, NFL teams are running zone defenses at a 70+% clip. The tape showed some “Kelce-like” flashes of adjusting to the defense and finding zone soft spots. His minimal contested rate against zone (5.13%) stamps confirmation on this spatial awareness. Klare did play some QB in high school, so he may benefit from seeing the field like a passer. This will be good for building chemistry with the signal caller at the next level. To build a bit further on this, he shows an awareness of adjacent route interactions, where he can use pacing to create separation through creating traffic.
3. Body Control & Sideline Awareness
Other areas that caught my eye were his body control and sideline awareness. For a player of his size, he shows very good change of direction when transitioning from making a catch on a crossing route to moving upfield for YAC. On many occasions, this full 180-degree transition takes less than three steps to get moving upfield and stay in bounds. Speaking of the boundary, Max Klare has good body control to adjust to the pass, including back-shoulder throws that complement a good catch radius.
What’s Not On Tape
1. Blocking Play Strength
While blocking doesn’t translate into fantasy points, being a liability in pass protection can reduce total snap opportunity. More often than with RBs, TEs will initiate a block, then leak out as an outlet. Even in chip-and-release blocks, they are more impactful if the TE can move edge defenders, which requires play strength amplified by technique. That “frame density” issue mentioned earlier appears to be a deficiency in any possible blocking efficacy for Klare.
This adequate play strength surely shows up in traditional in-line blocks. In these blocks, where blockers need to anchor to impede edge rushers for a beat, a lack of play strength can be buoyed by great anchor technique and hand placement. Unfortunately, I’m not seeing much of this on tape.
While he reportedly elevated from unusable to functional, it seems limited to blocking on the move with split-flow movement or stalk blocking. What we will want to hear once he makes it to mini-camp or training camp is that he is spending time with OL coaches. If he can develop into a little bit more than a speed bump in blocks, he can earn more potential chip-and-release opportunities.
2. Speed Ceiling
We do not expect TEs to blaze down the field, but we still want to know their upside as far as game-breaking play ability. We should ask ourselves two questions: What does the tape suggest his speed ceiling is?” and “How much does it matter to his prospect profile?”
Klare’s tape demonstrated a clear ceiling on his top-end speed. While he is a quick accelerator after the catch, he reaches his top speed pretty early. To sprinkle a little positivity in here, his YAC ability is good, but it is based on open field vision and angle mitigation, not speed. Since he doesn’t have “eyes in the back of his head,” he cannot mitigate the pursuit angles of LBs tracking him down from behind.
How much does it matter? To me, as a fantasy manager, I do not think it matters much. Sure, his upside is capped, but there are very few TEs that we expect to produce via long speed. Max Klare is going to produce value through reception volume, moving the chains on third down, some YAC, and red zone opportunities.
Fantasy Outlook
Landing Spots to Consider
- Kansas City Chiefs – “With the 74th pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, Kansas City selects Max Klare, TE, Ohio State,” would be music to my ears and drive Klare up my dynasty rookie draft board. Klare landing as the “heir apparent” in Kansas City would just make too much sense, given Klare’s movement ability and play style. Look at how Travis Kelce is currently used: he maximizes his spatial awareness to become an available target for Patrick Mahomes. Klare is probably the closest technical match in the TE class to Kelce, especially since Klare said he models his game after him. It would be a glove-like fit if Andy Reid prefers to maintain the schematic flexibility Kelce has afforded his offense. Landing here provides massive fantasy upside.
Max Klare tries to model his game after Travis Kelce, Sam LaPorta, and Trey McBride. #NFLCombine @AtoZSportsNFL pic.twitter.com/TmccGfWzKJ
— Travis May (@FF_TravisM) February 26, 2026
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers – If Kansas City prioritizes elsewhere, perhaps Tampa Bay gives Klare a sniff at 77 overall. Cade Otton looks like he is on the way out somewhat soon, and given the departure of future Hall-of-Famer Mike Evans to another bay area, the Bucs could use an additional pass catcher to threaten the middle of the field. This would be a significant stylistic change from Otton, but a welcome one, as the Bucs would have a better route-runner at the position in Klare. If he gets open as much as I imagine he will, Baker Mayfield should pepper him with targets.
Max Klare projects as a high-floor “F” TE whose dynasty value would skyrocket in high-volume passing environments like Kansas City or Tampa Bay. Drawing frequent comparisons to Zach Ertz for his refined route-running and ability to find soft spots in zone, Klare offers the athletic versatility to operate out of the slot or as a detached “chess piece” in the seam. In Kansas City, he would enter a premier developmental pipeline as a potential heir to the Travis Kelce role, though he would likely face a “redshirt” year competing with Jared Wiley and Noah Gray. Klare would become a ‘patience’ play in this scenario. Conversely, Tampa Bay offers a more immediate path to fantasy relevance; under Zac Robinson’s heavy 12-personnel scheme, Klare could serve as the explosive, vertical complement. While his thinner frame and inconsistent blocking may limit his early-career snap share, his 20% career TPRR and 66.7% contested-catch rate suggest a player who earns volume regardless of his depth chart position.
Recommended Dynasty Draft Recommendation: Late second round (2.09–2.12) in TE-Premium; early third round (3.01–3.03) in SuperFlex.