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.

Kyle Pitts — market ADP ~#111 overall, our board #34 (+77 picks of value)
Dallas Goedert — market ADP ~#121 overall, our board #50 (+71 picks of value)
Mark Andrews — market ADP ~#115 overall, our board #61 (+54 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	151	56	36%	49.0	TE1
2	Kyle Pitts	ATL	136	41	29%	114.6	TE3
3	Colston Loveland	CHI	130	35	29%	59.7	TE10
4	Travis Kelce	KC	127	33	30%	—	TE6
5	T2Harold Fannin Jr.	CLE	125	30	33%	—	TE5
6	Dallas Goedert	PHI	124	29	31%	133.9	TE2
7	Mark Andrews	BAL	113	18	26%	123.2	TE19
8	Tyler Warren	IND	110	16	25%	72.5	TE7
9	T3George Kittle	SF	105	10	31%	103.2	TE12
10	Brock Bowers	LV	100	5	31%	49.2	TE8
11	Juwan Johnson	NO	98	3	22%	—	TE11
12	Zach Ertz	WAS	97	3	29%	—	TE21
13	T4Dalton Schultz	HOU	95	0	21%	—	TE13
14	Hunter Henry	NE	95	0	23%	146.9	TE4
15	Chig Okonkwo	TEN	90	-5	21%	—	TE24
16	T.J. Hockenson	MIN	89	-6	23%	—	TE29
17	T5Theo Johnson	NYG	89	-6	23%	—	TE20
18	Oronde Gadsden II	LAC	83	-12	21%	—	TE18
19	Jake Ferguson	DAL	82	-13	21%	—	TE9
20	Pat Freiermuth	PIT	81	-14	22%	—	TE22
21	T6Evan Engram	DEN	70	-25	17%	—	TE32
22	Dalton Kincaid	BUF	70	-25	21%	144.8	TE16
23	Gunnar Helm	TEN	70	-25	19%	—	TE33
24	Colby Parkinson	LA	70	-25	19%	—	TE15
25	T7Dawson Knox	BUF	69	-26	20%	—	TE26
26	AJ Barner	SEA	69	-26	21%	—	TE14
27	Brenton Strange	JAX	67	-28	22%	—	TE23
28	Cade Otton	TB	63	-32	18%	—	TE28
29	T8Sam LaPorta	DET	63	-32	31%	85.2	TE25
30	Jonnu Smith	PIT	60	-35	15%	—	TE34
31	Mason Taylor	NYJ	59	-36	20%	—	TE38
32	Isaiah Likely	BAL	58	-37	23%	148.4	TE49
33	T9Cole Kmet	CHI	55	-39	15%	—	TE36
34	Tucker Kraft	GB	55	-40	31%	77.6	TE17
35	Taysom Hill	NO	53	-42	18%	—	TE51
36	Tyler Higbee	LA	52	-43	15%	—	TE37
37	T10Michael Mayer	LV	52	-43	18%	—	TE44
38	Darren Waller	MIA	51	-44	24%	—	TE27
39	Luke Musgrave	GB	51	-44	12%	—	TE57
40	Mike Gesicki	CIN	50	-45	19%	—	TE39
41	T11Davis Allen	LA	48	-47	15%	—	TE46
42	Tommy Tremble	CAR	47	-48	17%	—	TE48
43	Elijah Higgins	ARI	47	-48	11%	—	TE52
44	Greg Dulcich	MIA	44	-51	19%	—	TE45
45	T12David Njoku	CLE	42	-53	23%	—	TE31
46	Austin Hooper	NE	42	-53	14%	—	TE47
47	Darnell Washington	PIT	41	-54	12%	—	TE40
48	Jeremy Ruckert	NYJ	41	-54	12%	—	TE61
49	T13Jake Tonges	SF	40	-55	30%	—	TE30
50	Noah Fant	CIN	38	-57	12%	—	TE35
51	Terrance Ferguson	LA	37	-58	17%	—	TE41
52	Mitchell Evans	CAR	37	-58	13%	—	TE53
53	T14Noah Gray	KC	34	-61	11%	—	TE65
54	Daniel Bellinger	NYG	33	-62	14%	—	TE42
55	Josh Oliver	MIN	33	-62	16%	—	TE43
56	Adam Trautman	DEN	32	-63	11%	—	TE56
57	T15Ja'Tavion Sanders	CAR	32	-63	12%	—	TE58
58	Connor Heyward	PIT	30	-65	12%	—	TE59
59	Jackson Hawes	BUF	30	-65	15%	—	TE50
60	Luke Schoonmaker	DAL	27	-68	9%	—	TE74
61	T16Elijah Arroyo	SEA	27	-68	11%	—	TE60
62	Mo Alie-Cox	IND	26	-69	12%	—	TE66
63	Johnny Mundt	JAX	25	-70	9%	—	TE77
64	Drew Sample	CIN	25	-70	8%	—	TE68
65	T17Ben Sinnott	WAS	24	-71	16%	—	TE67
66	Brock Wright	DET	24	-71	18%	—	TE62
67	Tanner Hudson	CIN	23	-72	11%	—	TE54
68	John FitzPatrick	GB	23	-72	10%	—	TE73
69	T18Brevyn Spann-Ford	DAL	23	-72	7%	—	TE70
70	Julian Hill	MIA	23	-72	9%	—	TE71
71	Will Dissly	LAC	21	-74	12%	—	TE81
72	Quintin Morris	JAX	19	-76	11%	—	TE75
73	T19Ian Thomas	LV	19	-76	9%	—	TE76
74	Charlie Kolar	BAL	19	-76	9%	—	TE55
75	Cade Stover	HOU	18	-77	9%	—	TE87
76	Hunter Long	JAX	18	-77	13%	—	TE63
77	T20John Bates	WAS	18	-77	8%	—	TE69
78	Foster Moreau	NO	18	-77	14%	—	TE89
79	Tyler Conklin	LAC	16	-78	11%	—	TE80
80	Grant Calcaterra	PHI	16	-79	8%	—	TE72
81	T21Tanner Conner	MIA	16	-79	10%	—	TE83
82	Charlie Woerner	ATL	14	-81	10%	—	TE92
83	Jack Stoll	NO	14	-81	8%	—	TE79
84	Andrew Ogletree	IND	13	-81	10%	—	TE85
85	T22Eric Saubert	SEA	13	-82	8%	—	TE97
86	Nate Adkins	DEN	13	-82	12%	—	TE78
87	Kylen Granson	PHI	13	-82	6%	—	TE94
88	Josh Whyle	GB	13	-82	12%	—	TE82
89	T23David Martin-Robinson	TEN	11	-83	7%	—	TE84
90	Anthony Firkser	DET	11	-84	11%	—	TE90
91	Luke Farrell	SF	11	-84	6%	—	TE64
92	Stone Smartt	NYJ	11	-84	8%	—	TE91
93	T24Blake Whiteheart	CLE	10	-85	7%	—	TE119
94	Feleipe Franks	ATL	10	-85	8%	—	TE117
95	Harrison Bryant	HOU	10	-85	10%	—	TE113
96	Colson Yankoff	WAS	10	-85	7%	—	TE103
97	T25Durham Smythe	CHI	10	-85	6%	—	TE100
98	Cameron Latu	PHI	9	-86	8%	—	TE127
99	Payne Durham	TB	9	-86	9%	—	TE109
100	Brenden Bates	CLE	8	-87	8%	—	TE93
101	T26Ross Dwelley	DET	8	-87	11%	—	TE114
102	Devin Culp	TB	8	-87	9%	—	TE88
103	Josiah Deguara	ARI	8	-87	7%	—	TE86
104	Tucker Fisk	LAC	8	-87	7%	—	TE102
105	T27Jelani Woods	NYJ	7	-88	16%	—	TE116
106	Tip Reiman	ARI	6	-89	10%	—	TE104
107	Ben Yurosek	MIN	6	-89	6%	—	TE108
108	Pharaoh Brown	ARI	6	-89	7%	—	TE123
109	T28Brayden Willis	SF	6	-89	9%	—	TE131
110	James Mitchell	CAR	6	-89	8%	—	TE99
111	Jack Westover	NE	5	-90	7%	—	TE125
112	Ben Sims	MIN	5	-90	9%	—	TE98
113	T29Robert Tonyan	KC	5	-90	14%	—	TE122
114	Teagan Quitoriano	ATL	5	-90	12%	—	TE128
115	Chris Manhertz	NYG	5	-90	7%	—	TE115
116	Lucas Krull	DEN	4	-91	10%	—	TE107
117	T30Ko Kieft	TB	4	-91	12%	—	TE129
118	Nick Kallerup	SEA	4	-91	7%	—	TE136
119	Cam Grandy	CIN	3	-92	7%	—	TE112
120	Giovanni Ricci	DET	3	-92	8%	—	TE126
121	T31Albert Okwuegbunam	LV	3	-92	14%	—	TE95
122	Shane Zylstra	DET	3	-92	14%	—	TE101
123	Marcedes Lewis	DEN	2	-93	12%	—	TE124
124	Will Mallory	IND	2	-93	9%	—	TE106

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.