Fantasy Football Rankings & Tiers: Tight Ends (2026)

Tight end is always the position where fantasy football managers want certainty, then end up drafting vibes. On a recent podcast episode, we worked through the 2026 tight end rankings and tiers and, more importantly, the logic behind them: what’s bankable, what’s fragile, and what profiles actually have league-winning upside.

Fantasy Football Rankings & Tiers

Tier 1: The “you’re paying for targets” TE

Trey McBride (TE – ARI) was the clear TE1 in this conversation. The appeal is simple: target volume and weekly floor. In most builds, that’s what you’re buying at the top.

Tier 2: The elite young difference-makers

Brock Bowers (TE – LV) was treated as the other tight end with a realistic “break the position” ceiling. Even when tight end is ugly, players like this can give you WR2-like production from a slot you usually punt.

The middle tiers: where arguments matter more than rankings

This is where the show spent real time, because TE3 through TE12 is usually one big blob.

Tucker Kraft (TE – GB): elite ceiling, but the market might not discount the injury

Erickson admitted something a lot of rankers do quietly: he loved Kraft, but he didn’t love the price given the injury risk. The interesting part is that even he acknowledged the “if healthy” outcome is basically a top-3 tight end.

Joey P pushed the key question: if Kraft is healthy, does he actually have fewer questions than the tight ends being drafted around him? That’s the real tension. The TE position busts constantly anyway, so if you’re going to miss, missing on a guy who could’ve been TE3 might be the correct kind of miss.

Bottom line: Kraft is one of the few non-McBride/Bowers tight ends with a path to truly elite outcomes.

Dalton Kincaid (TE – BUF): the “stop trying to make it happen” fade

Ciely planted his flag hard here. His point wasn’t that Kincaid is bad. It was that Buffalo tight ends, as a fantasy archetype, tend to be capped unless the offense shifts dramatically.

His expectation: Kincaid probably needs TD efficiency to climb, and that pushes him into the “fringe TE1” bucket rather than the “difference-maker” bucket. That’s a big deal, because paying TE1 prices for TE10 outcomes is how you lose flexibility in drafts.

Jake Ferguson (TE – DAL) and Juwan Johnson (TE – NO): role stability matters

Erickson talked through why he felt more comfortable with certain tight ends in this range because their usage felt more stable, even if the ceiling isn’t outrageous. That’s valuable if you’re building for floor and don’t want to churn the waiver wire weekly.

The big upside name outside the top tier

Isaiah Likely (TE – FA): free agency could flip the entire position

Both analysts were notably higher on Likely than ECR (in the conversation he was around TE20). Why? Because we’ve already seen what he does when he’s a primary option.

Ciely’s view: Likely is the kind of mismatch weapon who only needs a real TE1 role to jump into the top 10, and in the right landing spot, even higher.

Erickson agreed, with the key caveat: landing spot can make him TE5 or bury him in a committee. Still, the reason you draft him is the upside profile. Tight end is one of the few positions where a single usage change can create a massive fantasy swing.

Fantasy football draft approach takeaway

If you don’t get one of the truly special tight ends, the show’s logic leaned toward chasing ceilings rather than paying for “fine.”

That means:

Be willing to bet on a player like Craft if the health outlook is positive.
Don’t overpay for names that need TD luck to return value.
Take shots on talent plus opportunity (Likely) instead of settling for low-ceiling weekly 6-point outcomes.

Fantasy Football Takeaways

Trey McBride is being drafted as TE1 because he offers the rare combo of floor and volume.
Brock Bowers is the other tight end who can realistically produce like an elite wide receiver.
Tucker Kraft is a true upside bet: if healthy, he belongs in the TE3 conversation, even if the market won’t give you an injury discount.
Dalton Kincaid profiles more like a “fringe TE1” unless Buffalo’s TE usage meaningfully changes.
Isaiah Likely is one of the best upside swings in the mid rounds because his ceiling depends heavily on landing spot and role.