2026 Fantasy Football Rankings: TEs 1-10
1) Trey McBride
Playstyle: Hybrid
Team role(s): Go-to guy, Target hog, Red zone weapon, YAC maven
Offensive coordinator: Nathaniel Hackett (new, Jets OC in 2023 – 2024)
Trey McBride and Brock Bowers are the only true target hogs at the position, and the certainty of McBride’s situation in comparison to Bowers is really what gets him to the top of this year’s list.
We’ve already seen Jacoby Brissett and Trey McBride have success and we know Arizona’s offensive line was not the worst in the NFL last season meaning Brissett should at least have enough time to target McBride again in 2026.
On the other hand, the Raiders truly maybe had the worst offensive line I’ve ever seen just a season ago, and we have obviously have yet to see Cousins or Mendoza actually have a full successful season throwing to Bowers.
McBride is a do-it-all tight end and has a size/speed combination that makes him a mismatch against virtually every defender.
He functions as Arizona’s WR1 which is a rare target share to come by for TEs, and last season that target share resulted in these rankings among 2025 tight ends:
- 1st in fantasy PPG (18.7 – no other TE broke 14.7) & PRK
- 1st in targets (169 – no other TE broke 120)
- 1st in receptions (126 – no other TE broke 90)
- 1st in yards (1,239 – no other TE broke 940)
- Tied for 1st in receiving TDs
- 1st in YAC (593 – no other TE broke 474)
While beloved over the middle by Arizona QBs past and present, McBride isn’t just a short-area target and also ranked tied for 2nd in catches for 20+ yards among TEs with 12, just one shy of Dalton Kincaid’s league-leading 13.
When McBride’s talents are combined with his volume, he has to be considered the top TE going into the 2026 fantasy season. In fact, McBride led all TEs in air yards share with 25% of all of the Cardinals’ 2025 air yards (per Pro Football Reference) and was the only TE with a share of 21% or more.
2) Brock Bowers
Playstyle: Hybrid
Team role(s): Go-to guy, Target hog, Red zone weapon
Offensive coordinator: Andrew Janocko (new, Seahawks QB coach in 2025)
While there’s a significant drop off after McBride (about 40 targets and 300 yards), the drop off after Bowers is even steeper so managers looking to spend high on a TE will Isiah Likely want to grab one of these two, otherwise you can get phenomenal value from other positions while you wait and grab someone like Kelce, Kittle, or Likely later in your draft.
While top-heavy, this year’s TE class is relatively deep in terms of fantasy potential.
All that being said, Brock Bowers is possibly the best overall tight end the NFL has today.
His skillset is legitimately comparable to some of the best tight ends of all time as he makes absurd catches look easy, stays on the field due to being a true blocker, terrifies defenders with the ball in his hands, and functions as his team’s #1 WR and top red-zone weapon.
Despite messing five games, terms of 2025 TEs, Bowers ranked:
- 2nd in fantasy PPG & 11th in PRK
- Tied for 6th in receiving TDs
- 9th in receptions
- 10th in targets
- 10th in receiving yards
Because Bowers missed so much time last season, his per-game averages are where it really starts to get juicy: Among 2025 TEs, Bowers ranked second to just McBride in receptions per game with an average of 5.2 and ranked third in YPG to just McBride and Kittle.
Although the Raiders were absolutely terrible in 2025 and it remains unlikely that they significantly turn around their entire roster and scheme in just one season, that offensive ineptness should only benefit Las Vegas’ top pass catcher as the team should be in perennial throwing mode.
Unless the Colts target Warren like he’s their #1 WR with Pittman gone, Bowers and McBride will finish as the top two TEs of 2026 barring injury.
3) Tyler Warren
Playstyle: Hybrid
Team role(s): Go-to guy, YAC maven
Offensive coordinator: Jim Bob Cooter (same, Colts OC since 2023)
With Michael Pittmen now catching passes from an ayahuasca enthusiast and Daniel Jones reportedly healthy, this will likely be Tyler Warren’s breakout year, and he could even end up functioning as the Colts’ top pass-catcher which would eliminated the aforementioned drop-off after McBride and Bowers.
That potential combined with the promise he showed in just his first NFL season is what gets him up to the #3 spot on this year’s list, but the big-bodied target absolutely has the potential to finish as TE1.
Warren has remarkable body control for his size, runs routes like a WR, and is one of the best contested catch TEs in the game today.
In terms of last year’s TE crop, here’s how his numbers stacked up:
- 10th in fantasy PPG & 4th in PRK
- 2nd in YAC
- 3rd in targets
- 5th in receiving yards
- 7th in receptions
- 7th in catches for 20+ yards
Tyler Warren’s production in the face of what his targets actually looked like can’t be understated as this mountain of a man can bulldoze defenders of all shapes and sizes with a full head of steam and he gained over half of his 817 receiving yards after the catch (474 YAC yards) in 2025.
He was also fourth in YAC per reception among TEs with an average of 6.7.
While an unreal talent with possibly the highest target share on his team in 2026, Warren’s ADP is a little high for my liking as the Colts spread the ball around a fair amount and are centered around Jonathan Taylor’s legs.
He’s clearly the third-best fantasy TE option in 2026 and you’ll have to sacrifice drafting possibly an 100-catch WR or a high-end RB2 in order to get a TE that didn’t crack 80 catches last season, but he could be worth the risk especially if he successfully holds off Keenan Allen for the Colts’ go-to guy role.
4) Kyle Pitts Sr.
Playstyle: Receiving TE
Team role(s): Target hog, YAC maven
Offensive coordinator: Tommy Rees (new, Browns OC in 2025)
Kyle Pitts barely beats out Travis Kelce for the fourth spot on our 2026 top 10, but they should be considered essentially in the same tier for a few reasons.
They are both still elite TEs and finished within the top three tight ends last season in fantasy points, have question marks surrounding the health of their QB1, and they both frequently line up as a WR which increases their target share and fantasy value.
Kyle Pitts gets this spot over Kelce due to his youth and explosivity advantage in addition to the fact that the Falcons just paid him and will be looking to maximize their investment.
Pitts is the very definition of a receiving TE in terms of his WR-like route running, catching, leaping, and run-after-catch skills.
Last year, Pitts ranked, among TEs:
- 5th in fantasy PPG & 2nd in PRK
- 2nd in receptions
- 2nd in targets
- Tied for 2nd in 20+ catches for 20+ yards
- 2nd in receiving yards
- 4th in YAC
For fantasy TEs, volume is as valuable as oxygen, and Pitts trailed only McBride in targets and receptions while also running the fourth-most routes of any 2025 TE with 507 (21st among all positions).
He also trailed just McBride in another subtlety important stat: air yards share. In 2025, Pitts accounted for just over 20% of all of Atlanta’s intended yards through the air.
5) Travis Kelce
Playstyle: Receiving TE
Team role(s): Go-to guy, Target hog, YAC maven
Offensive coordinator: Eric Bieniemy (new, previous Chiefs OC for five years up until 2023)
Just how much to the Chiefs love last season’s TE3? He’s the closest thing the offense has to a go-to WR, and when they need a catch or a first down its usually Kelce’s number they call, and at least as of last season its still paying dividends.
When Kelce was targeted on third down in 2025, he moved the chains 92.9% of the time.
He has undeniable chemistry with Patrick Mahomes too, arguably the greatest quarterback of this generation.
Since all of the major pieces are still in KC, it feels unrealistic to imagine their offense changing significantly in 2026 from their 2025 scheme, a scheme that resulted in Travis Kelce scoring the third-most fantasy points among tight ends.
Here’s how Kelce’s TE ranks stacked up last season:
- 9th in fantasy PPG & 3rd in PRK
- 3rd in YAC
- 4th in targets
- 4th in receiving yards
- Tied for 6th in receptions
- 9th in catches for 20+ yards
Kelce isn’t showing signs of aging if he is, as the Chiefs are clearly still giving him TE1 volume given him running the fourth-most routes among 2025 TEs (21st among all positions) and he is still evading defenders like Antonio Brown and critical thinking skills as he gained almost half (424) of his 851 receiving yards last season.
Unless Mahomes isn’t recovered enough from his injury to take the field Week 1, Kelce will finish as a TE1 once again this season.
6) Colston Loveland
Playstyle: Receiving TE
Team role(s): Explosive playmaker
Offensive coordinator: Press Taylor (new, Bears passing game coordinator in 2025)
If it wasn’t for Tyler Warren, right now everyone would be talking about Colston Loveland as the best TE of the 2025 draft class, and possibly the best second-year tight end in the league.
Loveland can race away from defenders for long gains and run through them with equal ease, and his elite size and catch radius makes him an efficient target (8th among TEs and 16th among all players in average passer rating when targeted) and easy hot read for Caleb Williams
He truly might have the most optimal strength/speed combination of anyone on this list, and in 2025, in terms of tight ends, Loveland ranked:
- 16th in fantasy PPG & 12th in PRK
- Tied for 8th in receiving TDs
- 9th in receiving yards
- Tied for 9th in catches 20+ yards
- 12th in targets
- 13th in receptions
Loveland projects to outperform his totals last season in his second NFL season with a higher workload and the departure of Keenan Allen.
He had the 7th-highest air yard share of any 2025 TE, accounting for 16% of all of Chicago’s air yards, and that number figures to only increase in 2026.
7) Sam LaPorta
Playstyle: Hybrid
Team role(s): Explosive playmaker, YAC maven
Offensive coordinator: Drew Petzing (new, 2023-2025 Cardinals OC)
As long Gibbs and Goff are healthy and their head coach remains the same, the Lions will have one of the highest-scoring offenses in the NFL.
When he’s healthy, LaPorta is a key cog in that machine and should be one of Detroit’s top three offensive playmakers on any given night.
Like Bowers, LaPorta is a do-it-all tight end who never comes off the field due to his superior blocking technique and prowess and being a nightmare of a mismatch for the overwhelming majority of defenders.
While he missed basically half the season, LaPorta ranked (among TEs):
- 7th in fantasy PPG
- 1st in receiving success rate (3rd among all players)
- 4th in catch rate
- 5th in receiving yards per route
- 6th in YPG
- 11th in receptions per game
Reportedly, LaPorta is expected to be fully healthy coming into the 2026 season and when we last saw the high-caliber target on the field he was one of the best weapons in the league.
Last season he led the position group in YAC per reception (5th when comparing all positions), had the fourth-highest TE passer rating when targeted last season (16th in the NFL), and had the sixth-highest YAC over expectation mark among his tight end peers.
8) Jake Furgeson
Playstyle: Possession receiver
Team role(s): Red zone weapon, Target hog
Offensive coordinator: Drew Petzing (new, 2023-2025 Cardinals OC)
Jake Furgeson is the top tight end in one of the pass-heaviest offenses in the NFL as the Cowboys ranked among the top three teams in completions, attempts, and passing yards last season which means as long as he’s healthy, he’ll be in the fantasy TE1 conversation.
Furgeson wasn’t just in the conversation though in 2025, he was the fifth-highest scoring TE.
Here’s how the rest of the Cowboys pass catcher’s stats compared to his TE counterparts:
- 11th in fantasy PPG & 5th in PRK
- Tied for 2nd in receiving TDs
- 3rd in receptions
- 7th in targets
- 11th in YAC
- 13th in receiving yards
Tied for 3rd in broken tackles as well, Furgeson is essentially a moving mountain in comparison to the defensive backs and even smaller linebackers that he gets matched up with in the passing game.
Finally, he also ran the eighth-most routes with 464 when it comes to 2025 tight ends.
When one compares his 2025 numbers with Mark Andrews and considers the prospect that the Cowboys play at least half of their games in perfect passing weather, its easy to see why he takes the eighth spot over someone who was once one of the top stars at the position.
9) Mark Andrews
Playstyle: Receiving TE
Team role(s): Explosive playmaker, Red zone weapon
Offensive coordinator: Declan Doyle (new, Bears OC in 2025)
With Isiah Likely gone, Mark Andrews is now once again the undisputed top TE in Baltimore, the Ravens’ second-best pass catcher trailing only Zay Flowers, and the top red zone weapon through the air.
While definitely on the tail end of his illustrious career, Andrews is still a physical nightmare for defensive backs and has a knack for making some of the most spectacular catches at the position.
Among ’25 tight ends, Andrews finished:
- 16th in PRK
- 6th in red zone target share (26%, 15th among all positions)
- 8th in average targeted air yards
- 8th in air yard share (16% of all 2025 BAL air yards)
- Tied for 13th in TD receptions
- 20th in targets
Andrews carries as much risk as anyone on this list as his 2025 totals were dismal compared to the rest of the TEs on here even though he didn’t miss any time with significant injures.
His 2026 projections and rankings across most fantasy sites including this one rely mostly on the idea that Isiah Likely’s departure will be massive for opening up more opportunities for Andrews and he’ll return to TE1 form in 2026.
If Baltimore’s top tight end can’t even crack the top 15 TEs in PRK like last season, all of us will be questioning why we and ESPN thought an old tight end that didn’t even rank top 10 last year was going to have some kind of late-career breakout season or resurgence.
His high red zone target share or 26% (6th among TEs) in one of the most high-octane offenses football has to offer coalesced with his top-notch air yard share (8th among TEs) is what keeps him in the top 10 this year, as its hard to imagine that volume doesn’t yield fantasy TE1 results in an offense that includes Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry.
10) Juwan Johnson
Playstyle: Receiving TE
Team role(s): Target hog, YAC maven
Offensive coordinator: Declan Doyle (new, Bears OC in 2025)
While Johnson isn’t ranked as TE1 across most fantasy rankings this season, his 2025 numbers are impossible to ignore, the Saints just paid him. and New Orleans should continue to still be one of the pass-heaviest offenses in the league.
A converted receiver, Juwan Johnson is the biggest physical freak on this list as his six-foot-seven frame means he can box out and out-leap opponents for footballs, and a pass does not have to be even remotely accurate in order him to snag it.
Last season, Johnson achieved these impressive TE statistics:
- 12th in fantasy PPG and 8th in PRK
- 3rd in receiving yards
- 5th in receptions
- 5th in YAC
- Tied for 5th in catches for 20+ yards
- 8th in targets
He ran the sixth-most routes too, was tied for sixth in broken tackles, and ranked 10th in air yard share.
Johnson seems to be faded across many fantasy sites, but I’m not sure his NBA size, strong hands, and unreal speed/strength combination are skills that will evaporate in a year.
His skillset (and arguably height itself) makes him any QBs best friend and an unmissable target. In a pass-centric offense that figures to be throwing a ton as probably the worst team in their division, Johnson’s role as one of the team’s top three pass catchers should yield TE1 results again in 2026.
