Chig Okonkwo Fantasy Stats

Washington Commanders tight end Chig Okonkwo is not suiting up for Friday's preseason opener against the Miami Dolphins, according to The Athletic's Ben Standig. Okonkwo will have to wait at least another week before potentially making his debut with the Commanders after they signed him to a three-year, $27 million deal in free agency earlier this year. In his four seasons in Tennessee with the Titans, the 26-year-old had a total of 194 receptions for 2,017 yards and eight touchdowns on 272 targets across 68 games played. He had a career-high 560 receiving yards and a career-high 56 catches a year ago, despite sharing valuable playing time with rookie Gunnar Helm. The former fourth-rounder from the University of Maryland will have a much higher ceiling in Washington as long as QB Jayden Daniels can stay healthy, and he could be the team's No. 3 target behind receivers Terry McLaurin and Stefon Diggs. If you decide to wait on the TE position in fantasy drafts, Okonkwo is a nice sleeper to target later on.

The Washington Commanders signed tight end Chig Okonkwo to a three-year, $27 million deal this offseason, and up until the signing of receiver Stefon Diggs on Aug. 7, Okonkwo was gaining some serious steam on draft boards as he was geared up to be the Commanders' No. 2 pass-catching option. With Diggs now in the picture, Okonkwo's value takes a hit; however, he does still present some late-round fantasy appeal at the tight end position, as quarterback Jayden Daniels enters the 2026 season fully healthy and has supported other pass-catching tight ends like Zach Ertz in the past. In 2024, Ertz was the TE8 on the season with 91 targets, 654 yards, and seven touchdowns. While Okonkwo's production wasn't elite with the Titans, he played in all 17 games in his first four seasons with them and saw 70-plus targets in his final three years with them. RotoBaller ranks Okonkwo as the TE18, and he has some fantasy appeal if you miss out on some of the top-tier guys like Brock Bowers or Trey McBride.

The Washington Commanders signed Chig Okonkwo to a three-year, $27 million deal this offseason, and while his roster position is still listed as tight end, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler is ready to classify him as the team's de facto No. 2 receiver. Fowler recently spent a day at Commanders training camp, where veteran receiver Terry McLaurin told him, "He's a tight end who really runs routes like a receiver." With the team lacking significant star power behind McLaurin, Okonkwo has established a quick chemistry with quarterback Jayden Daniels, who has regularly looked for his newest weapon in the red zone. Okonkwo also has the versatility to move across the formation, and of his fit in first-year coordinator David Blough's offense, Okonkwo said, "Having an expanded playbook, it's allowing me to use my speed down the field a lot more." The fourth-year tight end has caught at least 50 passes in each of the past three seasons, and with a potential career-high target share coming his way, he could prove to be one of the best values at the position at RotoBaller's TE19.

Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn and general manager Adam Peters spoke to reporters on Tuesday to kick off training camp, and one of the takeaways was the praise lavished on new tight end Chig Okonkwo, who signed a three-year, $27 million deal after four seasons with the Titans. "He's an outstanding receiver," Peters told the gathered media. "He's outstanding in the pass game. He's great after the catch, and he's also a really good blocker." Outside of veteran wide receiver Terry McLaurin, the Commanders lack proven pass-catchers, allowing Okonkwo to step into an important role and earn early targets, with Peters emphasizing some of the unique abilities he brings to the offense. "He provides a lot of versatility in where he can line up and what he can do for us and when he gets the ball in his hands. And then he's pretty magical." Okonkwo has caught at least 50 passes in each of the past three seasons, and with a chance to see the highest target total of his young career, he could prove to be one of the best values at the position as RotoBaller's TE19.

After spending the first four years of his career with the Tennessee Titans, tight end Chig Okonkwo is entering his first season with the Washington Commanders in 2026. Okonkwo has established himself as a durable and reliable contributor, recording three consecutive seasons with at least 17 games played, 70 targets, 50 catches, and 500 receiving yards. However, he's scored just eight touchdowns across 68 career NFL games while playing in Tennessee. In Washington, Okonkwo will now have a chance to play with quarterback Jayden Daniels, who has thrown nine touchdown passes to tight ends across 24 career NFL games. The Commanders are also desperately searching for pass-catching talent to emerge behind star wide receiver Terry McLaurin, which could leave Okonkwo as the team's number two option in the passing game. Okonkwo has significant breakout upside entering 2026 and profiles as an excellent value selection at his current redraft ADP of TE20.

Washington Commanders tight end Chig Okonkwo, who signed a three-year deal with the Commanders in free agency in March, thinks he has found the right landing spot to take his game to the next level, according to Zach Selby of the team's official website. "I feel like this is the place where I can finally just unleash," Okonkwo said. The 26-year-old has already "developed a strong connection" with quarterback Jayden Daniels, and Okonkwo has been impressed with his new QB. "He's a dog," Okonkwo said. "He gets the ball out super accurate." The former fourth-round pick by the Tennessee Titans in 2022 caught at least 50 passes in each of his last three seasons and had five total touchdowns. He should be more comfortable playing in D.C., which is only a few miles away from where he went to college at the University of Maryland. Daniels has connected in the past with TEs involved in the passing game, as he targeted Zach Ertz 91 times back in 2024. Okonkwo is a candidate to see an uptick in production in his first year in Washington for a team that lacks depth at receiver behind Terry McLaurin. He'll be a TE2 sleeper to target in upcoming fantasy football drafts.

Washington Commanders tight end Chig Okonkwo has long displayed the occasional flash of game-breaking athleticism, but since coming into the league as a fourth-round pick out of Maryland, he's rarely been part of an offense equipped to make use of those abilities. That may no longer be the case in 2026. After leading the Titans in receptions and yards in his final season in Tennessee, Okonkwo signed a three-year, $27 million deal with the Commanders, and under first-time offensive coordinator David Blough, he could become a featured piece of a Washington offense looking to put last season's injury-riddled struggles behind them. Blough is expected to adopt elements of the Ben Johnson offense he was part of as backup quarterback in Detroit; the same offense that led to a TE1 finish from rookie Sam LaPorta in 2023 and now has the Bears' Colston Loveland knocking on the door of the position's top tier. With the wide receiver depth chart notably thin behind two-time Pro Bowler Terry McLaurin, Okonkwo could easily step in as the number two option in the passing game, inheriting a role that saw veteran Zach Ertz earn a 19% target share across his 30 games with the team. Currently being drafted as the TE17, Okonkwo is a late-round sleeper with both the ability and opportunity to produce legitimate TE1 upside in 2026.

Washington Commanders new tight end Chig Okonkwo has been impressive so far this offseason after signing a three-year deal in March in free agency, according to The Athletic's Nicki Jhabvala. Okonkwo possesses rare speed and versatility, and he also has a knack for picking up yards after the catch. Zach Ertz is now gone, so the Commanders will move forward with Okonkwo and Ben Sinnott in offensive coordinator David Blough's scheme. Jhabvala writes that Blough's offense will be an "amalgamation of his own football influences," which means that the Commanders could use a "heavy dose of multiple tight end sets" in 2026. The 26-year-old Okonkwo had a career-high 56 receptions for 560 yards on 79 targets in 2025 with the Tennessee Titans, but he had only two touchdowns and averaged 10 yards per catch in 17 games (12 starts). In D.C., he'll have more upside, although fantasy managers can wait and take him late in drafts as a TE2 with upside in his new digs. RotoBaller currently has Okonkwo ranked as the No. 20 fantasy TE for the upcoming season.

Washington Commanders tight end Chig Okonkwo is trending upward after his change of scenery this past offseason. The Commanders signed Okonkwo after he spent four seasons with the Tennessee Titans. With the Titans, he managed to rank as the TE25 or higher every year. That stretch included three consecutive finishes as the overall TE21 from 2023 through 2025. He's always been a decent option for targets, and his ability to stretch the field gives him explosive upside. However, he's been relatively uninvolved near the goal line for a tight end. He caught three touchdowns as a rookie in 2022, and he had just two each of the last two seasons. We like Okonkwo's chances to find the end zone more often in Washington. During his two years as a Commander, Ertz totaled 11 touchdowns, averaging 0.37 touchdowns per game. The Washington offense has some work to do as a whole, but Okonkwo is the clear No. 1 tight end here, and he could ultimately be Jayden Daniels' second-favorite target behind Terry McLaurin. Despite finishing lower than TE20 every year, the Maryland product has jumped to TE17 in RotoBaller's latest dynasty fantasy football rankings.

When Commanders tight end Chig Okonkwo agreed to a three-year deal with Washington in the opening days of free agency, he was viewed as one of the biggest winners of the early offseason. With Washington since spending a third-round pick on prototypical slot receiver Antonio Williams, a small amount of shine has come off the landing spot, but the talented fifth-year tight end still walks into the best situation of his young career. Okonkwo has never been on a team with a quarterback throwing for more than 3,200 yards or 15 touchdowns, numbers easily eclipsed as a rookie by 2024 first-round pick Jayden Daniels before injuries derailed his 2025 sophomore campaign. While a soon-to-be-31-year-old Terry McLaurin arguably represents the fiercest target competition Okonkwo has ever faced, the receiver depth behind him still ranks near the bottom of the league, even with the addition of Williams. With Okonkwo operating as the second or third option in what projects to be a highly competent offense, he could easily top his 56 receptions and 560 receiving yards from 2025, numbers that led a hapless Titans offense. At RotoBaller's dynasty TE17, the 26-year-old could still be undervalued with a ceiling capable of putting him just outside the top tiers of pass-catching tight ends.