2026 Fantasy Football Tight End Tiers: Brock Bowers and Trey McBride fighting for TE1 spot
Rotoworld’s Top 200 Rankings—an average of ranks from Denny Carter, Patrick Daugherty, and myself—are live. They’re updated with every news item and training camp update we get. Using them as a baseline, I’ve created tiers for every position. We view players within a tier roughly equally. Knowing when to strike at a position is just as important as knowing who to draft. These tiers should help you structure your draft in a way that maximizes value.
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▶ Tier 1
Brock Bowers, Trey McBride
No surprises here as the TE1 overall in 2025 and 2024 appear in the first tier. The ceiling with these two players is limitless in a way other tight ends can only dream of. McBride posted the third-most points for a tight end in NFL history last year, largely by setting the receptions record at 126. That goes down as 10 more than any other tight end in league history. Bowers holds the record for fantasy points by a rookie tight end. Even in a down 2025 season, his 43.3 PPR points in Week 9—on the back of a 12-127-3 receiving line—are the fourth-most for a tight end since the turn of the century. In both season-long and single-week measures, these two tight ends stand above the rest.
▶ Tier 2
Colston Loveland, Tyler Warren
I strongly considered moving Loveland into Tier 1 and Warren into Tier 3. Loveland’s final four games (including the postseason) were off the charts. He was targeted 48 times in total and topped 90 yards in three contests. Ben Johnson funneled him a 31 percent target share and a 35 percent air yards share. The Bears asked Loveland to be the centerpiece of their passing attack late in his rookie season and he only got better with more on his plate.
Warren, on the other hand, fizzled out down the stretch, finishing as a weekly TE1 for the final time in Week 12. With Daniel Jones under center, Warren was on pace for a monstrous season. Warren averaged 12.9 PPR points per game in 12 contests with Jones healthy. He was posting 1.9 yards per route run and .21 targets per route. Loveland finished the year at 1.9 and .23. We’re likely looking at two very similar seasons if Jones stays healthy. Maybe he doesn’t in 2026, but that’s not a good reason for Warren to go two rounds after Loveland in fantasy drafts.
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▶ Tier 3
Harold Fannin, Tucker Kraft, Sam LaPorta, Kyle Pitts
A TE1 overall finish might be out of reach for this group of players, but the ceiling sits just below that incredibly high bar. No one is older than 25 and they have all had their moments. Fannin was the most productive tight end in college football history and immediately made an impact as a rookie. Kraft’s 10.6 YAC per catch is the most for a tight end (min. 50 targets) in at least the past 20 years. Pitts erupted in the second half of the 2025 season and LaPorta quietly posted career-highs in yards per game (54.3) and yards per target (10.0), but a back injury ended his season prematurely. When a truly elite ceiling is off the table, price becomes the determining factor at tight end. It should not come as a surprise that Pat, Denny, and I are out on every player in this tier, except Harold Fannin, who is by far the cheapest of the bunch.
▶ Tier 4
Jake Ferguson, Dalton Kincaid, Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews
Kincaid sticks out like a sore thumb in this tier. Andrews, Kelce, and Ferguson are all coming off back-to-back seasons with career-low marks in yards per route run. Kincaid just posted a career and NFL-high mark of 2.5. Andrews ran 69 percent of the Ravens’ routes last year, the lowest rate among the veteran options. Kelce was the highest at 83 percent. If you scroll down that list for a while, you will eventually stumble into Kincaid, who ran 51 percent of his team’s routes. He was the most efficient of the group in part because the Bills only put him on the field in advantageous situations. If you want to swing for the fences, Kincaid is the pick in Tier 4. If you want safety, Kelce and his routes floor are the way to go. If anything, Kincaid actually pairs quite well with a second tight end from his own tier, creating a strong floor/ceiling combo between the two.
Denny Carter▶ Tier 5
George Kittle, Dallas Goedert, Oronde Gadsden II, Juwan Johnson
Kittle would be at least one—likely two—tiers higher if he hadn’t suffered a torn Achilles at the end of the 2025 season. He appears to be on track to play in Week 1, but Achilles issues haven’t been kind to older players in recent seasons. Kittle, who will turn 33 during the season, may have lost more than just a step because of the injury. Fantasy managers truly cannot know until they see him play again. Goedert, Gadsden, and Johnson were surprising hits at the position last year. All three of them face stiffer competition for targets and routes in 2025. Goedert and Johnson both have a first-round rookie receiver to fight for targets with, plus a Day Two rookie tight end in the mix. The Chargers signed two tight ends in free agency, both of whom profile as traditional inline options, potentially leaving Gadsden in a part-time role.
The Tier 5 TEs should be used in tandem with another player, likely a Tier 4 player. Kittle and Gadsden in particular are extremely risky starts early in the season until we find out how the former looks and what the latter’s role even is. Kelce opens the season with a tough bout versus Denver before facing the Dolphins and Colts, both of whom were a top-10 matchup for opposing tight ends.
