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 (ranks 1–2)

2 players · ranks 1–2 · Draft Value +28.9 to +21.9

Trey McBride (+28.9) and Brock Bowers (+21.9) sit in a tier of their own, and the 9.5-point gap below them is the largest cliff on this page — leaving this tier empty costs more than any other decision you'll make at the position. The internal spread of 7.0 points means these two are not interchangeable; TE1 carries a meaningful edge over TE2. Plan your draft around securing one of them, because the drop to Tier 2 is steep and immediate.

#	Player	Overall	Team	Proj	Draft Value
1	Trey McBride	#36	ARI	119.6	+28.9
2	Brock Bowers	#42	LV	112.5	+21.9

↓ 9.5 Draft Value points to Tier 2

Tier 2 (ranks 3–4)

2 players · ranks 3–4 · Draft Value +12.4 to +6.0

Colston Loveland (TE3, +12.4) and Harold Fannin (TE4, +6.0) are both above replacement level, making this the last tier where every member projects to add positive surplus value. The gap below Tier 2 is only 1.0 point, so the cost of sliding into Tier 3 is modest — if you miss here, you haven't fallen off a cliff. Still, locking up one of these two keeps you comfortably above the replacement line without the urgency that Tier 1 demands.

#	Player	Overall	Team	Proj	Draft Value
3	Colston Loveland	#53	CHI	103.0	+12.4
4	Harold Fannin	#61	CLE	96.6	+6.0

↓ 1.0 Draft Value points to Tier 3

Tier 3 (rank 5)

1 player · ranks 5–5 · Draft Value +5.0 to +5.0

Tyler Warren stands alone at TE5 with a +5.0 draft value and a projected 95.6 points — still above replacement, but just barely. This tier has the tightest spread on this page (0.0, by definition of a single member), and the 5.0-point gap below him means the next group opens right at the replacement threshold. If Tiers 1 and 2 are gone, Warren is the last option that projects any surplus at all.

#	Player	Overall	Team	Proj	Draft Value
5	Tyler Warren	#63	IND	95.6	+5.0

↓ 5.0 Draft Value points to Tier 4

Tier 4 (ranks 6–36)

31 players · ranks 6–36 · Draft Value +0.0 to -54.7

All 31 players here project at or below replacement level, with draft values ranging from +0.0 (Kyle Pitts, TE6) down to -54.7 (Eli Stowers, TE36) — a 54.7-point internal spread that reflects enormous variance in expected outcomes across this group. The top of the tier, from Kyle Pitts through Tucker Kraft, clusters within a few points of replacement and represents the least-costly fallback if the top three tiers are exhausted. Beyond that cluster, the value losses compound quickly, and the position becomes a drain on your roster rather than a neutral one.

#	Player	Overall	Team	Proj	Draft Value
6	Kyle Pitts	#76	ATL	90.6	+0.0
7	Oronde Gadsden	#77	LAC	89.0	-1.6
8	Sam LaPorta	#79	DET	88.6	-2.1
9	Tucker Kraft	#83	GB	87.6	-3.0
10	George Kittle	#88	SF	86.1	-4.6
11	Travis Kelce	#90	KC	83.9	-6.8
12	Dallas Goedert	#95	PHI	81.4	-9.2
13	Kenyon Sadiq	#103	NYJ	77.6	-13.0
14	Mark Andrews	#108	BAL	76.1	-14.5
15	Hunter Henry	#128	NE	70.2	-20.4
16	Isaiah Likely	#136	NYG	67.9	-22.7
17	Dalton Kincaid	#138	BUF	67.8	-22.9
18	Jake Ferguson	#137	DAL	67.8	-22.9
19	Juwan Johnson	#142	NO	65.5	-25.1
20	Dalton Schultz	#150	HOU	62.9	-27.7
21	T.J. Hockenson	#155	MIN	62.1	-28.5
22	Brenton Strange	#161	JAX	60.9	-29.7
23	David Njoku	#170	LAC	57.5	-33.1
24	Cade Otton	#174	TB	56.0	-34.7
25	Pat Freiermuth	#187	PIT	52.3	-38.4
26	Evan Engram	#198	DEN	48.6	-42.1
27	Mike Gesicki	#204	CIN	47.0	-43.7
28	AJ Barner	#206	SEA	45.7	-44.9
29	Mason Taylor	#207	NYJ	45.7	-45.0
30	Darren Waller	#213	CAR	44.0	-46.6
31	Cole Kmet	#216	CHI	43.2	-47.5
32	Chig Okonkwo	#218	WAS	42.3	-48.4
33	Theo Johnson	#231	NYG	40.1	-50.5
34	Colby Parkinson	#237	LAR	37.6	-53.1
35	Nate Boerkircher	#239	JAX	36.4	-54.2
36	Eli Stowers	#242	PHI	36.0	-54.7

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Beyond the numbers

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Ranked by Draft Value — the points a player is worth above the replacement-level starter at his position in a 12-team Standard league · Projections are RotoAlpha's own model, recalculated daily through draft season · All player outlooks · How our projections are built · Pricing