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.

Travis Kelce — market ADP ~#112 overall, our board #37 (+75 picks of value)
Dallas Goedert — market ADP ~#125 overall, our board #50 (+75 picks of value)
Kyle Pitts — market ADP ~#96 overall, our board #28 (+68 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	208	88	36%	38.2	TE1
2	Kyle Pitts	ATL	179	59	29%	95.6	TE2
3	Travis Kelce	KC	169	48	30%	112.5	TE4
4	Colston Loveland	CHI	168	48	29%	54.8	TE12
5	T2Harold Fannin Jr.	CLE	164	44	33%	81.1	TE5
6	Dallas Goedert	PHI	158	37	31%	131.1	TE3
7	Tyler Warren	IND	144	23	25%	61.9	TE6
8	Mark Andrews	BAL	142	21	26%	124.1	TE17
9	T3George Kittle	SF	136	15	31%	104.9	TE13
10	Brock Bowers	LV	133	12	31%	40.8	TE10
11	Juwan Johnson	NO	130	10	22%	—	TE9
12	Zach Ertz	WAS	128	8	29%	—	TE21
13	T4Dalton Schultz	HOU	128	8	21%	—	TE11
14	Hunter Henry	NE	121	0	23%	—	TE8
15	T.J. Hockenson	MIN	120	-1	23%	—	TE26
16	Chig Okonkwo	TEN	120	-1	21%	—	TE22
17	T5Theo Johnson	NYG	116	-5	23%	—	TE19
18	Jake Ferguson	DAL	109	-12	21%	132.2	TE7
19	Oronde Gadsden II	LAC	106	-15	21%	—	TE16
20	Pat Freiermuth	PIT	105	-15	22%	—	TE24
21	T6Gunnar Helm	TEN	96	-25	19%	—	TE33
22	Colby Parkinson	LA	93	-28	19%	—	TE15
23	Evan Engram	DEN	92	-28	17%	—	TE29
24	Dalton Kincaid	BUF	92	-29	21%	139.1	TE18
25	T7Dawson Knox	BUF	90	-30	20%	—	TE28
26	Brenton Strange	JAX	88	-33	22%	151.8	TE23
27	AJ Barner	SEA	87	-34	21%	—	TE14
28	Cade Otton	TB	86	-34	18%	—	TE25
29	T8Sam LaPorta	DET	82	-39	31%	78.7	TE27
30	Mason Taylor	NYJ	81	-40	20%	—	TE35
31	Isaiah Likely	BAL	75	-46	23%	147.7	TE45
32	Jonnu Smith	PIT	75	-46	15%	—	TE34
33	T9Cole Kmet	CHI	71	-49	15%	—	TE37
34	Tucker Kraft	GB	70	-51	31%	76.3	TE20
35	Michael Mayer	LV	68	-53	18%	—	TE41
36	Tyler Higbee	LA	68	-53	15%	—	TE38
37	T10Luke Musgrave	GB	67	-53	12%	—	TE56
38	Mike Gesicki	CIN	66	-54	19%	—	TE40
39	Darren Waller	MIA	66	-55	24%	—	TE30
40	Elijah Higgins	ARI	64	-57	11%	—	TE50
41	T11Davis Allen	LA	63	-58	15%	—	TE43
42	Taysom Hill	NO	62	-59	18%	—	TE55
43	Tommy Tremble	CAR	62	-59	17%	—	TE44
44	Greg Dulcich	MIA	57	-63	19%	—	TE42
45	T12David Njoku	CLE	57	-64	23%	—	TE32
46	Jeremy Ruckert	NYJ	56	-65	12%	—	TE58
47	Austin Hooper	NE	55	-66	14%	—	TE47
48	Darnell Washington	PIT	55	-66	12%	—	TE39
49	T13Jake Tonges	SF	53	-68	30%	—	TE31
50	Noah Fant	CIN	50	-71	12%	—	TE36
51	Mitchell Evans	CAR	48	-73	13%	—	TE53
52	Terrance Ferguson	LA	47	-74	17%	—	TE49
53	T14Noah Gray	KC	46	-75	11%	—	TE62
54	Daniel Bellinger	NYG	45	-76	14%	—	TE46
55	Ja'Tavion Sanders	CAR	45	-76	12%	—	TE52
56	Adam Trautman	DEN	43	-78	11%	—	TE57
57	T15Josh Oliver	MIN	42	-79	16%	—	TE48
58	Jackson Hawes	BUF	38	-82	15%	—	TE51
59	Luke Schoonmaker	DAL	36	-85	9%	—	TE71
60	Elijah Arroyo	SEA	35	-86	11%	—	TE59
61	T16Mo Alie-Cox	IND	33	-87	12%	—	TE67
62	Connor Heyward	PIT	33	-88	12%	—	TE65
63	Drew Sample	CIN	33	-88	8%	—	TE66
64	Johnny Mundt	JAX	33	-88	9%	—	TE76
65	T17Ben Sinnott	WAS	31	-90	16%	—	TE68
66	Tanner Hudson	CIN	31	-90	11%	—	TE54
67	Brock Wright	DET	31	-90	18%	—	TE61
68	John FitzPatrick	GB	31	-90	10%	—	TE73
69	T18Julian Hill	MIA	30	-91	9%	—	TE70
70	Brevyn Spann-Ford	DAL	30	-91	7%	—	TE72
71	Will Dissly	LAC	27	-93	12%	—	TE77
72	Quintin Morris	JAX	25	-95	11%	—	TE78
73	T19Ian Thomas	LV	25	-95	9%	—	TE75
74	Cade Stover	HOU	25	-96	9%	—	TE79
75	John Bates	WAS	24	-97	8%	—	TE69
76	Hunter Long	JAX	24	-97	13%	—	TE63
77	T20Charlie Kolar	BAL	23	-98	9%	—	TE60
78	Foster Moreau	NO	23	-98	14%	—	TE88
79	Grant Calcaterra	PHI	22	-99	8%	—	TE74
80	Tyler Conklin	LAC	21	-99	11%	—	TE81
81	T21Tanner Conner	MIA	21	-99	10%	—	TE82
82	Charlie Woerner	ATL	19	-102	10%	—	TE90
83	Jack Stoll	NO	19	-102	8%	—	TE83
84	Eric Saubert	SEA	18	-103	8%	—	TE97
85	T22Nate Adkins	DEN	17	-104	12%	—	TE80
86	Andrew Ogletree	IND	17	-104	10%	—	TE86
87	Kylen Granson	PHI	17	-104	6%	—	TE92
88	Josh Whyle	GB	17	-104	12%	—	TE84
89	T23Anthony Firkser	DET	15	-106	11%	—	TE89
90	David Martin-Robinson	TEN	15	-106	7%	—	TE85
91	Stone Smartt	NYJ	15	-106	8%	—	TE91
92	Luke Farrell	SF	14	-106	6%	—	TE64
93	T24Harrison Bryant	HOU	13	-108	10%	—	TE112
94	Durham Smythe	CHI	13	-108	6%	—	TE98
95	Blake Whiteheart	CLE	13	-108	7%	—	TE115
96	Colson Yankoff	WAS	13	-108	7%	—	TE104
97	T25Feleipe Franks	ATL	12	-108	8%	—	TE124
98	Cameron Latu	PHI	12	-109	8%	—	TE127
99	Payne Durham	TB	12	-109	9%	—	TE114
100	Brenden Bates	CLE	11	-110	8%	—	TE94
101	T26Devin Culp	TB	10	-110	9%	—	TE93
102	Ross Dwelley	DET	10	-111	11%	—	TE113
103	Tucker Fisk	LAC	10	-111	7%	—	TE103
104	Josiah Deguara	ARI	10	-111	7%	—	TE87
105	T27Jelani Woods	NYJ	9	-112	16%	—	TE118
106	Tip Reiman	ARI	8	-112	10%	—	TE102
107	Ben Yurosek	MIN	8	-113	6%	—	TE107
108	James Mitchell	CAR	7	-113	8%	—	TE100
109	T28Pharaoh Brown	ARI	7	-114	7%	—	TE117
110	Brayden Willis	SF	7	-114	9%	—	TE131
111	Jack Westover	NE	7	-114	7%	—	TE123
112	Ben Sims	MIN	7	-114	9%	—	TE99
113	T29Robert Tonyan	KC	6	-115	14%	—	TE122
114	Teagan Quitoriano	ATL	6	-115	12%	—	TE128
115	Chris Manhertz	NYG	6	-115	7%	—	TE116
116	Lucas Krull	DEN	6	-115	10%	—	TE106
117	T30Ko Kieft	TB	5	-116	12%	—	TE129
118	Nick Kallerup	SEA	5	-116	7%	—	TE136
119	Cam Grandy	CIN	5	-116	7%	—	TE111
120	Giovanni Ricci	DET	4	-117	8%	—	TE126
121	T31Albert Okwuegbunam	LV	4	-117	14%	—	TE95
122	Shane Zylstra	DET	3	-117	14%	—	TE101
123	Marcedes Lewis	DEN	2	-118	12%	—	TE125
124	Will Mallory	IND	2	-118	9%	—	TE109

Data baseline from the projection models · refreshed 16 Jul 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.