2026
2026 season · compare · tight ends
Compare players
Two or three players of the same position, side by side: where each one grades against the league, where the ball finds each of them, and how their weeks line up.
The address bar is the share link. Copy it, text it, post it: whoever opens it sees the same players. The Compare button on player pages builds on this set until you start over or switch positions.
Each bar is the league pool; the markers are the players. Right is better, the dashed line is the median. The best value in each row is marked green.
Every trait is a share of his own targets, so volume does not move it. Each bar is the league's qualifying tight ends; the markers are the players and the thin line is the median. Styles are not grades: a high or low share describes the role, not how well he plays it. The tags are each player's traits furthest from the middle.
Darren Waller
Michael Mayer
Green cells turn targets into points, red cells lose them. Cells with one target are left grey.
Darren Waller gets the most from the ball in the air (+10.1 EPA), Michael Mayer gets the most after the catch (+19.5 EPA), and Darren also gives the most back on targets he does not catch (−7.8).
| Part | Darren | Michael |
|---|---|---|
| Air yardson catches | +10.1+0.40 a target · 88th | +0.0+0.00 a target · 37th |
| After the catch | +6.6+0.26 a target · 14th | +19.5+0.45 a target · 59th |
| Incompletionstargets not caught | −7.8−0.31 a target · 10th | −2.7−0.06 a target · 97th |
| Interceptionswhen targeted | −0.3−0.01 a target · 50th | −5.7−0.13 a target · 37th |
| Total | +8.625 targets | +11.143 targets |
Every play is split by what happened: completions at the catch into air yards and yards after the catch (nflverse's air EPA), the cost of the ones that fell incomplete or were picked. Bars share one scale, gains right of the line and losses left. The rate is per target, with its percentile among the league's qualifying tight ends; the best rate in each row is green.
Darren Waller
Michael Mayer
Targets placed by air yards and side of the field, from each team's play file.
Back to back by depth band. The widest band is where the offense goes to him; the gap between solid and faded is where it misses.
Targetslast 3 games
Rec yardslast 3 games
EPA / targetlast 3 games
aDOTlast 3 games
Each line is a player's trailing 3 games (rates are pooled over the games, not averaged); the faint dots are single games. The shaded band is the league's middle half of single games at the position, the dashed line its median. A line that climbs out of the band is a role getting bigger.
Thresholds are the quartiles of every game week by qualified tight ends this season (326 player weeks). The right column is the average week and its swing.
| Standard | D.Waller | M.Mayer |
|---|---|---|
| Points a game | 5.6TE18 | 5.1TE21 |
| Season | 38.9TE21 | 41.1TE18 |
| Most weeks | 1.4–9.8 | 2.7–8.8 |
| Booms · busts | 2 · 39+ · under 3 | 2 · 29+ · under 3 |
| Half PPR | D.Waller | M.Mayer |
|---|---|---|
| Points a game | 6.6TE22 | 7.4TE17 |
| Season | 46.4TE23 | 59.1TE13 |
| Most weeks | 2.0–10.7 | 4.2–11.6 |
| Booms · busts | 1 · 312+ · under 4 | 2 · 212+ · under 4 |
| PPR | D.Waller | M.Mayer |
|---|---|---|
| Points a game | 7.7TE23 | 9.6TE15 |
| Season | 53.9TE25 | 77.1TE12 |
| Most weeks | 2.6–11.6 | 5.7–14.6 |
| Booms · busts | 1 · 315+ · under 5 | 2 · 115+ · under 5 |
Ranks are among players at each one's own position. A missing bar is a week he did not score: a bye or a missed game. The format you pick is remembered on this device.
| Week | D.Waller | M.Mayer |
|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | 28 | 32 |
| Wk 2 | 33 | 23 |
| Wk 3 | 51 | 32 |
| Wk 4 | 36 | 82 |
| Wk 5 | · | 2 |
| Wk 6 | 0 | 95 |
| Wk 7 | 50 | 32 |
| Wk 8 | 11 | 53 |
| Season | 209 | 351 |
| Week | D.Waller | M.Mayer |
|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | 2 | 7 |
| Wk 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Wk 3 | 8 | 3 |
| Wk 4 | 6 | 10 |
| Wk 5 | · | 1 |
| Wk 6 | 2 | 9 |
| Wk 7 | 2 | 3 |
| Wk 8 | 2 | 6 |
| Season | 25 | 43 |
| Week | D.Waller | M.Mayer |
|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Wk 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Wk 3 | 5 | 3 |
| Wk 4 | 3 | 8 |
| Wk 5 | · | 1 |
| Wk 6 | 0 | 7 |
| Wk 7 | 1 | 3 |
| Wk 8 | 1 | 5 |
| Season | 15 | 36 |
| Week | D.Waller | M.Mayer |
|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | +1.2 | +0.1 |
| Wk 2 | +5.6 | +1.3 |
| Wk 3 | -2.0 | +3.3 |
| Wk 4 | +3.6 | +1.7 |
| Wk 5 | · | -0.3 |
| Wk 6 | -2.8 | +2.5 |
| Wk 7 | +3.9 | +1.1 |
| Wk 8 | -0.9 | +1.4 |
| Season | +8.6 | +11.1 |
| Week | D.Waller | M.Mayer |
|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | 35% | 81% |
| Wk 2 | 44% | 84% |
| Wk 3 | 51% | 87% |
| Wk 4 | 53% | 88% |
| Wk 5 | · | 65% |
| Wk 6 | 46% | 79% |
| Wk 7 | 45% | 82% |
| Wk 8 | 62% | 79% |
| Average | 48% | 81% |
Rows are league weeks, so byes and missed games show as gaps. The best value each week is marked green.
| Season | D.Waller | M.Mayer |
|---|---|---|
| Targets | 25 | 43 |
| Receptions | 15 | 36 |
| Yards | 209 | 351 |
| Touchdowns | 3 | 1 |
| Target share | 10%37th | 16%20th |
| Depth of target | 9.44th | 5.134th |
| After the catch | 5.219th | 5.220th |
| Catch rate | 60%42nd | 84%5th |
| EPA per target | +0.3414th | +0.2619th |
| First downs | 48%7th | 51%3rd |
| Drop rate | 0%1st | 2%22nd |
| Yards per game | 29.924th | 43.911th |
| Player | G | Rec | Yds | TD | Yds/g | Best season | This season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darren Waller2015 to 2026 · 10 seasons | 97 | 389 | 4,616 | 29 | 47.6 | 2020: 1,19674.8 a game | 29.9below his career rate |
| Michael Mayer2023 to 2026 · 4 seasons | 45 | 119 | 1,139 | 4 | 25.3 | 2025: 32825.2 a game | 43.9above his career rate |
Regular season only, from each player's career file. * 2026 is through Week 8; its dot is hollow because the season is not over. "This season" compares this year's rate with his earlier seasons. Hover a dot for the season's line.