August 27, 2026
Once upon a time, you'd be crazy to draft a tight end anywhere near the first five rounds of your fantasy football draft.
In 2026, the best tight ends might be gone before the end of Round 2.
Not very many tight ends are productive enough to be true league-winners, but the fact that there are even a few exemplifies how far the position has come for fantasy owners.
If you're fortunate enough to get the cream of the crop early, you can capitalize on the deep class of wide receivers in the middle and late rounds. If you're not in position to grab an elite tight end, that's also OK, you might have missed out on the few league-winners but there are ample sleepers and breakout types capable of "spurt games" that can help you win any given weekend.
Let's go through the top 20:
PhillyVoice Fantasy Football rankings: QB, RB, WR, K
| Rank | Player | Team |
| 1 | Brock Bowers | Raiders |
| 2 | Trey McBride | Cardinals |
That's it. That's the list. It's short, but on the flip side, both Brock Bowers and Trey McBride can make legitimate arguments for going in Round 2.
Bowers commanded an astounding 153 targets as a rookie in 2024 before an injury marred 2025, and McBride's 169 targets last season were the most in NFL history for a tight end.
Bowers came out of Georgia with transformational talent. We've already seen what his new HC and play caller Klint Kubiak can do with just one pass-game weapon when he turned Jaxon Smith-Njigba into a target monster and Offensive Player of the Year last season in Seattle. Bowers will be the epicenter of a Raiders passing attack that has no other pass-catching weapons who should be drafted in the top 150. Don't be stunned if Bowers turns in the best fantasy season ever for a tight end.
McBride's 126-1,239-11 season last year placed him as the fourth-highest scoring pass catcher, including all wide receivers. He basically put up WR1 numbers. No reason to think he'll be any less productive in 2026.
| Rank | Player | Team |
| 3 | Colston Loveland | Bears |
| 4 | Tyler Warren | Colts |
| 5 | Kyle Pitts | Falcons |
| 6 | Sam LaPorta | Lions |
Colston Loveland and Tyler Warren, both 2025 first-round picks, finished top five in tight end targets. Warren immediately became an impactful player for the Colts while Loveland's role increased around Week 7 and took off from there. Each could lead their team in respective targets for the season, and on any given week either one could help you be a game-winner. Loveland had the fourth-most receptions by a tight end from Week 7 on, and I'm buying tons of stock in Chicago's offense this season.
It's taken a while for Falcons TE Kyle Pitts to fully recover from the knee injury 10 games into his sophomore season after a 1,000-yard rookie campaign in 2023, but Pitts reemerged last year with the second-most targets at his position behind McBride along with 928 yards and five TDs. The potential for an even better 2026 in an offense that only offers WR Drake London for target competition makes Pitts a very viable fantasy TE.
Lions TE Sam LaPorta played just nine games before a back injury ended his season, but before going down he was averaging a career-best 54.3 yards per game, which averages to about 923 yards for the season. If he wasn't currently dealing with a hip injury, I might have ranked him higher. Invest early and often into Lions skill position players.
Browns TE Harold Fannin Jr. was another promising rookie who placed top 10 at his position in targets, receptions and yards. If the Browns QB situation wasn't such a mess, he'd rank higher. The Browns also spiced up their WR corps with two new rookies – KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston – who could threaten to take targets away from Fannin. But the potential is still there for an 80-catch season.
There are plenty of reasons to buy stock in Saints TE Juwan Johnson, who technically broke out last year but is primed for even better 2026. The South Jersey native finished with 77 receptions for 889 yards, both career bests, as the Saints' offense gained traction when HC Kellen Moore made the QB change to Tyler Shough. With first-round WR Jordyn Tyson expected to be out until October (hamstring), Johnson should be the second-most targeted weapon behind WR Chris Olave. He could threaten 1,000 yards this season.
Bills TE Dalton Kincaid appeared headed for stardom after his 73-catch rookie season in 2023 but the first-round pick suffered a PCL injury the next season, and those can take a while to come back 100 percent from. He started to reemerge last season, with two 100-yard games, and the Bills' only addition to their pass attack was WR D.J. Moore. Look for Kincaid to see an uptick in targets this season and become more of a factor in a high-scoring Bills offense.
Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert comes off an 11-TD season but that's six more TDs than he's ever had, suggesting an outlier year. He's the second or third option in an offense that doesn't pass much, and he's 31. Goedert will have his spurt weeks, but he also had nine games last season of fewer than four receptions and fewer than 34 yards.
49ers tight end George Kittle appears to have made a miraculous recovery from an Achilles tear in January, but he's 32 and the Niners brought in WRs Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel, used a high second-round pick on WR De'Zhaun Stribling, and still feed the ball to RB Christian McCaffrey in the pass game at a high rate. Kittle's days of 90 receptions and 1,000 yards are in jeopardy.
| Rank | Player | Team |
| 7 | Tucker Kraft | Packers |
| 8 | Juwan Johnson | Saints |
| 9 | Harold Fannin | Browns |
| 10 | George Kittle | 49ers |
| 11 | Dalton Kincaid | Bills |
| 12 | Travis Kelce | Chiefs |
| 13 | Mark Andrews | Ravens |
| 14 | Dallas Goedert | Eagles |
| 15 | Jake Ferguson | Cowboys |
| 16 | Chig Okonkwo | Commanders |
| 17 | Greg Dulcich | Dolphins |
| 18 | David Njoku | Chargers |
| 19 | Isaiah Likely | Giants |
| 20 | Brenton Strange | Jaguars |
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