NFL Fantasy 2026

TE Fantasy Rankings 2026 — Draft Tiers, Projections & ADP

Tight end is the most top-heavy position in fantasy: a handful of every-week difference-makers, then a wasteland of touchdown-dependent dart throws. That shape makes value over replacement (VOR) spike for the elite tier — a top TE beats the streaming pool by more than most 'higher-scoring' players at other positions beat theirs — and collapse fast right after it. The classic draft decision follows directly from the table below: pay up for one of the few elites while their tier lasts, or punt the position entirely and stream matchups off the wire.

Scoring:PPR Half-PPR Standard

Biggest ADP values at TE

Players our board ranks meaningfully higher than the market drafts them — the gap between VOR-based rank and public ADP is where draft value lives.

Pat Freiermuth — market ADP ~#213 overall, our board #104 (+109 picks of value)
T.J. Hockenson — market ADP ~#190 overall, our board #94 (+96 picks of value)
Chig Okonkwo — market ADP ~#188 overall, our board #105 (+83 picks of value)

Tier breaks (T2, T3, …) mark real drop-offs in projected value — players inside a tier are close; between tiers the gap is big enough to change your pick.

#	Player	Team	Proj pts	VOR	TD%	ADP	’25 finish
1	T1Trey McBride	ARI	264	116	36%	29.1	TE1
2	Brock Bowers	LV	211	63	31%	35.2	TE11
3	Travis Kelce	KC	209	61	28%	103.3	TE3
4	Colston Loveland	CHI	207	59	29%	56.5	TE12
5	T2Harold Fannin Jr.	CLE	204	56	33%	77.7	TE6
6	George Kittle	SF	197	49	31%	105.4	TE13
7	Kyle Pitts	ATL	192	44	29%	76.0	TE2
8	Dallas Goedert	PHI	186	38	31%	102.0	TE7
9	T3Tyler Warren	IND	177	29	25%	65.4	TE5
10	Mark Andrews	BAL	176	28	26%	128.3	TE17
11	Zach Ertz	WAS	173	25	29%	—	TE20
12	Juwan Johnson	NO	156	8	22%	149.5	TE8
13	T4Hunter Henry	NE	149	1	23%	156.5	TE9
14	T.J. Hockenson	MIN	148	0	23%	163.7	TE26
15	Dalton Schultz	HOU	147	-1	21%	161.0	TE10
16	Sam LaPorta	DET	146	-2	31%	117.9	TE27
17	T5Pat Freiermuth	PIT	144	-4	22%	177.3	TE25
18	Chig Okonkwo	WAS	140	-8	21%	163.1	TE21
19	Jake Ferguson	DAL	135	-13	21%	132.8	TE4
20	Jonnu Smith	PIT	133	-15	15%	—	TE35
21	T6Theo Johnson	NYG	132	-16	23%	—	TE18
22	Oronde Gadsden II	LAC	130	-18	21%	—	TE15
23	Tucker Kraft	GB	126	-22	31%	100.4	TE24
24	Evan Engram	DEN	125	-23	17%	—	TE28
25	T7Cade Otton	TB	123	-26	18%	—	TE22
26	Gunnar Helm	TEN	121	-27	19%	—	TE31
27	Isaiah Likely	NYG	118	-30	23%	136.4	TE44
28	Dalton Kincaid	BUF	116	-32	21%	148.3	TE19
29	T8Mike Gesicki	CIN	108	-40	19%	—	TE41
30	Brenton Strange	JAX	105	-43	22%	165.0	TE23
31	Colby Parkinson	LA	103	-45	19%	—	TE16
32	Cole Kmet	CHI	103	-45	15%	—	TE37
33	T9Mason Taylor	NYJ	103	-45	20%	—	TE33
34	AJ Barner	SEA	103	-45	21%	158.9	TE14
35	Dawson Knox	BUF	98	-51	20%	—	TE29
36	David Njoku	LAC	96	-53	23%	153.0	TE34
37	T10Taysom Hill	NO	94	-54	18%	—	TE58
38	Tyler Higbee	LA	93	-55	15%	—	TE40
39	Austin Hooper	ATL	84	-65	14%	—	TE48
40	Darren Waller	MIA	81	-67	24%	—	TE32
41	T11Tommy Tremble	CAR	80	-68	17%	—	TE43
42	Noah Gray	KC	78	-70	11%	—	TE60
43	Noah Fant	NO	77	-71	12%	—	TE36
44	Elijah Higgins	ARI	75	-73	11%	—	TE46
45	T12Michael Mayer	LV	72	-76	18%	—	TE38
46	Luke Musgrave	GB	72	-77	12%	—	TE53
47	Davis Allen	LA	71	-77	15%	—	TE45
48	Will Dissly	LAC	68	-80	12%	—	TE76
49	T13Tyler Conklin	DET	68	-80	11%	—	TE81
50	Jake Tonges	SF	65	-83	30%	—	TE30
51	Ja'Tavion Sanders	CAR	65	-83	12%	—	TE50
52	Greg Dulcich	MIA	64	-84	19%	176.9	TE42
53	T14Darnell Washington	PIT	62	-86	12%	—	TE39
54	Foster Moreau	HOU	60	-88	14%	—	TE87
55	Mitchell Evans	CAR	59	-89	13%	—	TE54
56	Jeremy Ruckert	NYJ	58	-91	12%	—	TE56
57	T15Terrance Ferguson	LA	57	-91	17%	164.7	TE52
58	Josh Oliver	MIN	56	-92	16%	—	TE49
59	Daniel Bellinger	TEN	55	-93	14%	—	TE47
60	Luke Schoonmaker	DAL	54	-94	9%	—	TE71
61	T16Adam Trautman	DEN	51	-97	11%	—	TE57
62	Jackson Hawes	BUF	47	-101	15%	—	TE51
63	Johnny Mundt	PHI	45	-103	9%	—	TE77
64	Elijah Arroyo	SEA	44	-104	11%	—	TE59
65	T17Grant Calcaterra	PHI	42	-106	8%	—	TE75
66	Drew Sample	CIN	41	-107	8%	—	TE64
67	Tanner Hudson	CIN	41	-107	11%	—	TE55
68	Mo Alie-Cox	IND	39	-109	12%	—	TE66
69	T18Cade Stover	HOU	38	-110	9%	—	TE78
70	Brock Wright	DET	38	-110	18%	—	TE61
71	Connor Heyward	LV	38	-110	12%	—	TE69
72	Brevyn Spann-Ford	DAL	38	-110	7%	—	TE74
73	T19Josh Whyle	GB	37	-111	12%	—	TE84
74	John FitzPatrick	GB	37	-111	10%	—	TE72
75	Ben Sinnott	WAS	36	-112	16%	—	TE68
76	Charlie Kolar	LAC	32	-116	9%	—	TE62
77	T20Julian Hill	NE	32	-116	9%	—	TE67
78	Quintin Morris	JAX	32	-117	11%	—	TE80
79	Nate Adkins	DEN	31	-117	12%	—	TE82
80	Ian Thomas	LV	29	-119	9%	—	TE73
81	T21John Bates	WAS	29	-119	8%	—	TE70
82	Eric Saubert	SEA	26	-122	8%	—	TE97
83	Tanner Conner	NYG	26	-122	10%	—	TE79
84	Hunter Long	JAX	26	-122	13%	—	TE63
85	T22Kylen Granson	TEN	25	-123	6%	—	TE92
86	Stone Smartt	PHI	25	-123	8%	—	TE90
87	Payne Durham	TB	24	-124	9%	—	TE115
88	Jack Stoll	CLE	23	-126	8%	—	TE83
89	T23Andrew Ogletree	IND	22	-126	10%	—	TE89
90	Lucas Krull	DEN	22	-127	10%	—	TE106
91	Charlie Woerner	ATL	20	-128	10%	—	TE88
92	Luke Farrell	SF	20	-128	6%	—	TE65
93	T24Anthony Firkser	WAS	19	-129	11%	—	TE85
94	Harrison Bryant	SEA	18	-131	10%	—	TE111
95	Blake Whiteheart	CLE	18	-131	7%	—	TE114
96	David Martin-Robinson	TEN	17	-131	7%	—	TE86
97	T25Durham Smythe	BAL	16	-132	6%	—	TE98
98	Devin Culp	TB	16	-133	9%	—	TE95
99	Colson Yankoff	WAS	15	-133	7%	—	TE104
100	Cameron Latu	PHI	14	-134	8%	—	TE127
101	T26Tucker Fisk	LAC	14	-134	7%	—	TE103
102	Feleipe Franks	CAR	14	-134	8%	—	TE124
103	Brenden Bates	CLE	12	-136	8%	—	TE93
104	Josiah Deguara	ARI	12	-136	7%	—	TE91
105	T27Ross Dwelley	DET	12	-136	11%	—	TE112
106	Pharaoh Brown	ARI	12	-136	7%	—	TE116
107	Jelani Woods	NYJ	11	-137	16%	—	TE118
108	Tip Reiman	ARI	11	-137	10%	—	TE102
109	T28Ben Yurosek	MIN	10	-138	6%	—	TE107
110	James Mitchell	CAR	9	-139	8%	—	TE100
111	Chris Manhertz	NYG	9	-139	7%	—	TE117
112	Ben Sims	MIA	9	-139	9%	—	TE99
113	T29Jack Westover	NE	8	-140	7%	—	TE123
114	Brayden Willis	SF	8	-140	9%	—	TE131
115	Robert Tonyan	PIT	8	-141	14%	—	TE122
116	Cam Grandy	CIN	7	-141	7%	—	TE110
117	T30Teagan Quitoriano	ARI	7	-141	12%	—	TE128
118	Ko Kieft	TB	6	-142	12%	—	TE129
119	Nick Kallerup	SEA	6	-142	7%	—	TE136
120	Will Mallory	IND	6	-142	9%	—	TE113
121	T31Giovanni Ricci	DET	5	-143	8%	—	TE126
122	Albert Okwuegbunam	LV	4	-144	14%	—	TE94
123	Shane Zylstra	BUF	4	-144	14%	—	TE101
124	Marcedes Lewis	DEN	3	-145	12%	—	TE125
	TKenyon Sadiq	NYJ	—	—	—	157.9	—

Data baseline from the projection models · refreshed 30 Aug 2026.

Per-game projections from prior-season form, usage and opponent strength — a data baseline, not a betting edge. Rookies without NFL production are placed by market ADP, not model-projected. For entertainment / draft research — 18+.

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TE fantasy rankings — FAQ

Should I draft an elite TE or wait?

Both are defensible — what loses is the middle. The elite tier's VOR justifies a genuinely early pick because the weekly edge over a streamed TE is large and repeatable. Once that tier is gone, the projected gap between TE8 and TE18 is often smaller than one bench RB's upside, so spending a mid-round pick there is the worst of both worlds. Our tier breaks show exactly where the cliff is; after it, wait and stream.

Why is TD% so important for tight ends?

Because TE scoring is the most touchdown-dependent of any position. Outside the elite target earners, most TEs project for 3–6 targets a game — the difference between a usable week and a zero is usually one red-zone throw. The TD% column (the model's anytime-TD probability) flags which TEs get real red-zone routes rather than just snaps, which is the stickiest part of their role year over year.

What does 'streaming' a tight end mean?

Playing the position week to week off the waiver wire instead of rostering one starter: each week you pick the available TE with the best matchup — a bad opposing defense against TEs, a projected shootout, or an injury that funnels red-zone targets his way. Because replacement-level TEs are close together, a well-picked stream loses surprisingly little to a mid-tier 'set-and-forget' TE and costs you a roster spot instead of a draft pick.