Standard Fantasy Football Rankings 2026 — Tight End Tiers

Trey McBride and Brock Bowers sit at TE1 and TE2 with projections of 104.9 and 104.6 points respectively, separated by just 0.3 draft-value points — essentially a coin flip at the position's peak. The cliff below them is the largest on this page: a 6.8-point gap to Tier 2. That drop means leaving this tier empty carries a real and measurable cost, so plan your draft around securing one of these two before the window closes.

Colston Loveland (TE3, 97.8 pts) and Tyler Warren (TE4, 93.5 pts) are meaningfully below Tier 1 but still project above replacement level, with draft values of +10.8 and +6.5. The 4.3-point internal spread here is the widest of any two-player tier on this page, so the two names are not interchangeable — Loveland carries a notably higher surplus. A 4.1-point gap separates this tier from Tier 3, making it the second-best safety net if Tier 1 is gone.

Harold Fannin stands alone at TE5 with a 89.4-point projection and a draft value of +2.4 — 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 2.4-point gap below him means the drop to Tier 4 is real but not catastrophic. If both Tier 1 and Tier 2 are gone, Fannin is the last player on this list who projects in the black.

All 31 remaining tight ends live here, ranging from Tucker Kraft at exactly replacement level (+0.0, TE6) down to Noah Gray at -49.9 (TE36) — a 49.9-point internal spread that reflects just how wide the talent gap is once the top five are off the list. Names like Kyle Pitts (TE8), George Kittle (TE9), and Travis Kelce (TE10) project in the low 80s but carry negative draft values, meaning they are projected below replacement for this format. If you miss Tiers 1–3, the strategic move is to wait deep and accept the positional deficit rather than overspending on a player who still projects below the baseline.