Drafting a tight end used to be simple. You either reached for Travis Kelce in the first round or you waited until the double-digit rounds to pray for a random touchdown from a guy you barely knew. That world is gone. Honestly, it’s buried.
The 2025 season was a complete bloodbath for the "reliable" veterans. Sam LaPorta and T.J. Hockenson? They spent more time on the trainer’s table than in the end zone. Travis Kelce? He’s still good, sure, but he finished as the TE5 last year with only 117 fantasy points in standard formats. That’s a far cry from the days when he was lapping the field by 100 points. If you're still using 2022 logic for your tight end rankings fantasy football prep, you're basically donating your league entry fee to your friends.
The new reality is dominated by a 23-year-old in Arizona and a bunch of rookies who don't play like rookies.
The new big three: McBride, Pitts, and the rookie surge
Trey McBride didn't just lead the position last year; he broke it. He finished with 302.4 PPR points. To put that in perspective, he outscored the TE2, Kyle Pitts Sr., by over 100 points. That is an absurd gap. McBride hauled in 126 catches for 1,239 yards. He’s the undisputed 1.01 at the position for 2026.
But behind him, the landscape is shifting. Kyle Pitts finally—finally—delivered on the hype, finishing as the overall TE2. It only took four years and most of us losing our minds, but he’s here. Then you have the 2025 rookie class. Guys like Harold Fannin Jr. in Cleveland and Tyler Warren in Indy didn't just "show flashes." They became the primary targets for their teams.
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Fannin Jr. is a particularly wild story. He was a sleeper pick who ended up leading the Browns in targets (107), catches (72), and yards (731). Even when David Njoku was healthy, Fannin was still a top-10 option. He’s 22 years old. If you aren't ranking him in your top five for 2026, you're ignoring the data.
2026 Elite Tier
- Trey McBride (ARI): The king. He owns a 27.5% target share. That's wide receiver territory.
- Brock Bowers (LV): 2025 was rough because of a knee injury and a terrible Raiders offense, but the talent is still top-tier. He’s the only one with the ceiling to actually challenge McBride.
- Kyle Pitts Sr. (ATL): The "breakout" happened late in 2025. He led the Falcons in targets with 118. He's entering free agency, so his landing spot is the biggest wildcard of the offseason.
Why Sam LaPorta and Travis Kelce are falling
It feels weird to say, but Sam LaPorta is kind of a risky bet now. He was the TE1 in 2023, but last year was a mess. A back injury ruined his season and the emergence of Jameson Williams in Detroit took a massive bite out of his target floor. He finished with fewer than 500 yards in 2025. You'll still see him high in some tight end rankings fantasy football lists because of the name value, but draft him with caution.
And then there's Kelce. Look, he's 36. He’s still Patrick Mahomes' favorite target in high-leverage moments, but for fantasy? He's becoming a "floor" play rather than a "ceiling" play. He averaged 6.9 points per game last year. That’s fine, but it’s not winning you a championship. If you're picking him over younger, more explosive options like Colston Loveland or Tyler Warren, you're drafting based on nostalgia.
Loveland is someone to watch closely. He was a late-season monster for Chicago once Rome Odunze went down. He’s essentially a giant wide receiver. He only had one drop the entire 2025 season. That kind of reliability for a young quarterback like Caleb Williams is fantasy gold.
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Strategy: Wait or Weight?
The "Wait on TE" strategy is actually viable again, but not for the reason you think. It's not because the position is bad; it's because the middle class is suddenly huge.
In 2026, you can realistically find a top-8 producer in round 9. Guys like Hunter Henry and Juwan Johnson were massive surprises last year, finishing as TE4 and TE12 respectively. Johnson specifically benefited from a Saints offense that lacked a true WR2. He had nine games where he finished as a top-12 weekly TE.
If you miss out on McBride or Bowers, don't panic. Don't reach for a declining veteran. Look for the "Target Commanders"—the tight ends who are actually the first or second option in their passing attack.
The "Target Commander" Sleepers
- Harold Fannin Jr. (CLE): Already mentioned, but seriously, don't let him slip. He's the Browns' No. 1 option.
- Tyler Warren (IND): He was the TE2 overall through the first 10 weeks of 2025. Once Daniel Jones went down, his production dipped, but with a healthy QB situation in 2026, he’s a massive bounce-back candidate.
- Tucker Kraft (GB): He was on pace for an elite season (14.7 PPG) before tearing his ACL in November. If his recovery stays on track, he’s a top-5 talent being drafted like a top-15 player.
Real talk on the "Draft Busts"
We have to talk about T.J. Hockenson. 2025 was a disaster. He set career lows in yards per route run (1.05) and looked slow coming off that previous ACL injury. The Vikings' offense as a whole struggled, and Hockenson bore the brunt of it. Some experts are ranking him as a top-10 bounce-back, but the metrics say he's losing his burst.
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Evan Engram is another one. He’s a "volume king" who doesn't score touchdowns. He missed half of last year and, even when healthy, Sean Payton's offense in Denver used him more as a decoy in the red zone. If you're in a standard non-PPR league, Engram is almost unstartable. In PPR, he's a safe but boring TE10.
Actionable Next Steps for Your Draft
First, stop looking at total points from three years ago. The TE position has never evolved faster than it is right now. If you want to win, you need to target the youth movement.
- Prioritize Trey McBride if you have a late first or early second-round turn. The positional advantage he gives you is equivalent to having an extra RB1 in your flex.
- Target Colston Loveland and Tyler Warren in the middle rounds. Their target shares are safer than the older veterans.
- Avoid overpaying for Sam LaPorta. The name value is currently higher than the projected output.
- Keep an eye on the waiver wire for Oronde Gadsden II. He's moving to the Chargers under a new scheme and could easily become the next breakout star in a Justin Herbert-led offense.
The bottom line is that the gap between the "elite" and the "rest" is widening again, but the faces in that elite group have changed. Draft for the 2026 reality, not the 2022 highlight reel.