12-team Standard · 36 players · 4 tiers
Fantasy Football Tight End Rankings 2026 — Standard
These are RotoAlpha's 12-team Standard tight end rankings, where tiers group players with similar Draft Value surplus above replacement level at the position.
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Tier 1 (rank 1)
Brock Bowers stands alone at TE1 with a +21.0 draft value and a projection of 115.1 points — Tier 1 has the tightest spread on this page, which is simply a function of it holding one player. The 3.0-point gap separating him from Tier 2 is real but not catastrophic; missing him does not leave you stranded, it just costs you the ceiling.
| # | Player | Overall | Team | Proj | Draft Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brock Bowers | #39 | LV | 115.1 | +21.0 |
Tier 2 (ranks 2–3)
Harold Fannin (TE2, 112.2 pts, +18.0) and Trey McBride (TE3, 110.6 pts, +16.4) are separated by only 1.6 draft-value points internally — effectively interchangeable in terms of projected worth. The cliff below this tier is the biggest on this page at 8.5 points, meaning leaving both of these players behind is the single most expensive positional decision you can make at tight end.
| # | Player | Overall | Team | Proj | Draft Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Harold Fannin | #46 | CLE | 112.2 | +18.0 |
| 3 | Trey McBride | #50 | ARI | 110.6 | +16.4 |
Tier 3 (ranks 4–5)
Colston Loveland (TE4, +7.9) and George Kittle (TE5, +1.6) span 6.3 draft-value points internally — a meaningful gap between the two names within the tier, so sequencing matters if you're targeting one specifically. The drop into Tier 4 is only 1.6 points, which means passing on this tier entirely carries far less cost than skipping Tier 2.
| # | Player | Overall | Team | Proj | Draft Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Colston Loveland | #61 | CHI | 102.1 | +7.9 |
| 5 | George Kittle | #67 | SF | 95.8 | +1.6 |
Tier 4 (ranks 6–36)
Thirty-one tight ends occupy this tier, ranging from Tyler Warren at TE6 (+0.0, right at replacement level) down to Colby Parkinson at TE36 (-57.8), an internal spread of 57.8 points that makes this tier a spectrum, not a group of equals. The top of this tier — Warren, Sam LaPorta, Kyle Pitts, Tucker Kraft — still projects above 88 points, while the back half falls well below replacement. If the top five tight ends are gone, prioritize the front of this tier; the back of it is streaming territory.
| # | Player | Overall | Team | Proj | Draft Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Tyler Warren | #76 | IND | 94.2 | +0.0 |
| 7 | Sam LaPorta | #80 | DET | 91.7 | -2.5 |
| 8 | Kyle Pitts | #87 | ATL | 89.0 | -5.2 |
| 9 | Tucker Kraft | #88 | GB | 88.3 | -5.9 |
| 10 | Travis Kelce | #105 | KC | 82.8 | -11.3 |
| 11 | Kenyon Sadiq | #115 | NYJ | 78.9 | -15.3 |
| 12 | Oronde Gadsden | #117 | LAC | 78.1 | -16.1 |
| 13 | Dallas Goedert | #122 | PHI | 75.9 | -18.3 |
| 14 | Hunter Henry | #133 | NE | 70.6 | -23.5 |
| 15 | Dalton Kincaid | #141 | BUF | 68.7 | -25.5 |
| 16 | Jake Ferguson | #142 | DAL | 68.7 | -25.5 |
| 17 | Isaiah Likely | #152 | NYG | 65.4 | -28.8 |
| 18 | T.J. Hockenson | #153 | MIN | 65.3 | -28.9 |
| 19 | Mark Andrews | #159 | BAL | 63.8 | -30.4 |
| 20 | Dalton Schultz | #173 | HOU | 61.3 | -32.9 |
| 21 | Cade Otton | #180 | TB | 56.9 | -37.3 |
| 22 | David Njoku | #183 | LAC | 56.6 | -37.6 |
| 23 | Juwan Johnson | #184 | NO | 55.6 | -38.6 |
| 24 | Mason Taylor | #190 | NYJ | 53.0 | -41.1 |
| 25 | Pat Freiermuth | #194 | PIT | 52.0 | -42.2 |
| 26 | Evan Engram | #197 | DEN | 51.0 | -43.1 |
| 27 | Mike Gesicki | #202 | CIN | 49.0 | -45.2 |
| 28 | AJ Barner | #204 | SEA | 47.4 | -46.8 |
| 29 | Brenton Strange | #206 | JAX | 47.1 | -47.1 |
| 30 | Darren Waller | #215 | CAR | 44.5 | -49.7 |
| 31 | Jonnu Smith | #216 | GB | 43.7 | -50.5 |
| 32 | Chig Okonkwo | #217 | WAS | 43.4 | -50.8 |
| 33 | Cole Kmet | #219 | CHI | 42.6 | -51.5 |
| 34 | Theo Johnson | #221 | NYG | 42.5 | -51.7 |
| 35 | Nate Boerkircher | #238 | JAX | 36.8 | -57.4 |
| 36 | Colby Parkinson | #241 | LAR | 36.4 | -57.8 |
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Beyond the rankings
This page ranks the players. Nobody has ranked the people in your league.
Half your room drafts off a sheet like this one. The managers who cash every year aren't holding a better sheet; they have tendencies, and after enough seasons the tendencies are a book. Your league's own draft history is where it's written.
RotoAlpha reads it. Paste your past drafts, from any platform, and every manager in your league gets a profile: who reaches, who chases runs, who pays up for their own team. Then it sits with you on draft night with a plan that adapts pick by pick, knowing who is likely to reach next.
Names invented. Most long-running leagues have a table like this.