It’s time to dive into 2026 fantasy football rankings and tiers for the tight end position, plus important player notes and trends. I’ve already covered wide receivers, running backs and quarterbacks.
Stay up to date with all the moves in free agency with the 2026 NFL Free Agency Tracker. There are a ton of fantasy football tight ends who could find new homes when the frenzy kicks off in March.
- Fantasy Football Research & Advice
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- 2026 NFL Mock Drafts
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2026 Fantasy Football Rankings Notes: Tight Ends
Long story short: It’s not hard to find tight ends who bust. Most of them do, especially in the middle range of the position.
And that’s why going late-round tight end remains a viable strategy, especially in redraft formats. You avoid all costs associated with high-priced tight ends and avoid the bust potential altogether. You might miss the early-drafted tight ends that do hit (a small number, no doubt), but your roster is taking on much less risk.
Drafting an elite tight end is a boom-or-bust strategy (also comes with a high injury risk). As I wrote last season, among the elite tier of Brock Bowers, George Kittle and Trey McBride, chances are one will bust (injury or not).
For every early-round tight end that hits, there’s a late-round tight end that dramatically surpasses their average draft position (ADP) every year. And while you wait for the production that never comes from some early-round tight ends, you miss out on the players breaking out on the waiver wire. The “sunk cost” fallacy.
Focus your strategy on finding tight ends later to avoid this unfortunate outcome and build a potential super team spearheaded by top-tier running backs, wide receivers and quarterbacks in the early rounds.
As to what you need to look for in potential late-round tight ends — yards after the catch (YAC).
The YAC metric was one of the reasons why I have been so high on Tucker Kraft over the last two years.
2023 TE leaders in YAC/reception
Jonnu Smith and George Kittle.
BOTH were top-4 tight ends in 2024.
No. 1 tight end in YAC/reception in 2024?
Tucker Kraft.
— Andrew Erickson™ (@AndrewErickson_) July 7, 2025
Find the tight ends who can create yardage after the catch and target them aggressively if they are cheap in the later rounds. Below is a list of YAC/reception leaders.
| Player | YAC | YAC/Reception |
| Tucker Kraft | 347 | 10.8 |
| Greg Dulcich | 196 | 7.5 |
| Darnell Washington | 228 | 7.4 |
| Colby Parkinson | 373 | 7.3 |
| Sam LaPorta | 273 | 6.8 |
| Tyler Warren | 487 | 6.4 |
| Chigoziem Okonkwo | 345 | 6.2 |
| Pat Freiermuth | 260 | 6.2 |
| Dalton Kincaid | 294 | 6.1 |
With that brief synopsis of the position, let’s break down the top-ranked tight ends for 2026 fantasy football.
Your fantasy football tight end strategy in 2026:
— Andrew Erickson™ (@AndrewErickson_) February 4, 2026
2026 Fantasy Football Tight End Rankings
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